(Nicole: Nonny's last guest post for the LNMC was so popular, I asked her to contribute another)

I have a confession to make: I like drums. I mean, I really like drums. There is something deeply primordial about the pounding rhythm of a drum, which just possibly may be the oldest musical instrument in the world since Homo erectus first did a solo riff with a couple antelope femurs on a rock, a la Stanley Kubric's version of Also Sprach Zarathustra. It may be the only musical instrument to be native to every single country and civilization on earth, and found everywhere from the poshest symphony orchestra to Rastafarian bongos on the beach. I love drums.

But there is one sort of drumming I don't like - the constant beat of the war drums coming from the White House. So tonight's challenge is to post links to any joyous, rhythmic drum or percussion work, from every country around the world, anything that gets your buttocks twitching in your seat, foot stomping, thigh slapping, heart thumping, get up on your feet and embarrass the neighbourhood kids by shaking your bootie, and shouting for joy. Drown out the drums of war.

And to get you started, here are two very different, very jubilant pieces that I hope you like as much as I do. The first is a performance by the amazing Top Secret Swiss Drum Corp at the 2006 Edinburgh tattoo:

And the second is by an artist who is a particular favourite of mine, Australian Tommy Emmanuel, whose virtuosity with just a single guitar is quite simply mindbogglingly awesome:

Sunday! It's a mean old world indeed.

Goodbye Jumbo
	Artist: World Party

I love this song from Goodbye Jumbo, World Party's second release. How many songs can you think of about 'sending a message' to someone?

"The Sting" was one of those vinyls that I begged for and got some long-ago Christmas because the music was so tasty. Years come and go, and palates change, but striking up a little Scott Joplin can always make me smile.

His music has aged so well and still caresses the ear so easily that it's hard to believe it was almost exactly 115 years ago -- in a spot not very far away from where I am right now -- that Scott Joplin began to introduce himself to the wider world by playing outside the midway of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where (the story goes) his quieter music was often drowned out by John Phillip Sousa marches being performed by eight million piece brass bands.

Who knew it translated so well to guitar?

"The Entertainer" composed by Scott Joplin and played by Chet Atkins. In your face, Sousa!

What is this world coming to when a Scary Brown Blind Dirty Farking Hippy Person can reanimate an anti-family-values song by a known deviant for the amusement of a bunch of “Old Yurp” Socialist Germans? Truly the terrorists have finally won.

Not everyone transformed [pic a music genre]. John Coltrane did though. And when people said he was too abstract and difficulty to follow he shocked the jazz world in 1961 with an album called My Favorite Things which left people with their jaws agape. Let's listen to a hybrid of two recent edits-- the original, at almost 14 minutes, is too big for YouTube-- of the title track. Although it has since been covered by artists as diverse as Kenny Rogers, Sarah Vaughan, Bjork, Barbra Streisand, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Luther Vandross, Andre 3000 (OutKast), Brian Setzer, Tanya Tucker, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Rod Stewart and The Supremes, it was Coltrane who took the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein song from the Broadway hit The Sound of Music and made it his own. This was Trane's first release on Atlantic and his first with a quartet that included McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Steve Davis.

The world first heard about Marianne Faithfull as part of the Rolling Stones soap opera in the 60s. She was a great looking singer with an uncontrollable drug habit. She had a series of pretty decent singles over the course of a decade-- and some less praiseworthy albums-- before she released the LP that brought her back to the public's attention after a long and spectacular descent into drug hell: Broken English (1979). One of the most acclaimed songs on the album was a cover of John Lennon's now classic "Working Class Hero," first released by Lennon on his debut post-Beatles project in 1970. More recently-- last year-- Green Day did a great version of it on a charity compilation. Here's Marianne Faithfull's version:

A couple nights ago Gekke requested some Black Eyed Peas. How about this one-- my favorite Peas song, "Where is the Love" from their 2003 breakthrough album, Elephunk? It hit #1 almost everywhere in the world (except in the U.S., where he just managed to eke out a top 10-- despite the presence on it of Justin Timberlake).

The winner of our Aswad contest was Bill W. Congratulations, Bill-- and thanks for everyone who entered.

Americans aren't that familiar with Aswad. People in the rest of the world are. These British reggae/r&b rockers have released over 20 albums since the 70s. "Don't Turn Around," one of their biggest hits, came out in 1988-- although the Ace of Base cover became even better known. Most C&L readers are probably aware that quite a few politicians are getting ready to leave Washington-- or at least to move from Congress to K Street. We'll dedicate the Aswad classic to them all. Identify the ones pictured in this clip and win a Best of Chris Isaak CD/DVD package. Send your list to downwithtyranny@aol.com/ Only include names of politicians from this clip who will be leaving office next year.

Cheese and crackers, Thelma Lou! What in the world has gotten into these kids today with their crazy hair, their e-lectrical guitars and that yeah-yeah-yeah devil music?

Back Door Slam gets it done with "Ain't No City".