Ashkhabad, where little blooms in the shade of the great Turkmenbashi
Ashkhabad or "City of Love" is not only the capital of Turkmenistan, it is also the name of a band from that country and their one album of beautiful, energetic, romantic music. It features accordion, clarinet, violin and folk drumming and sweeps up a great cultural swath from European cafes through Russia and Turkey and into Central Asia.
I inquired a few years ago what had happened to Ashkhabad (the band) and was told that they were lying low because of government disapproval of their work. I've never been able to figure out what view of itself Turkmenistan had that was violated by these lovely, infectious tunes; perhaps they constituted too conscious a fusion of ethnic Turkmen and international or European elements? But in the light of this recent article, it seems more likely that they simply threatened to outshine the gloomy personality cult of the fellow calling himself "Turkmenbashi the Great". (Via Reenhead.)
P.S. Here's another view of Turkmenbashi from a travelog by cartoonist Ted Rall, and some travel photos courtesy of Galen Frysinger and Google. (Ashkhabad, Ashgabat, Ashkabad, Ashkabat. Take that, you spell checkers!)