Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2015 Thread Once Known as World Music

Per Mordy's note from 2014:u kno what belongs in here must we really quibble about genre catchalls? this is the thread for funky, bluesy, new + reissued music from lots of different places that may include ghana, congo, kenya, niger, mali, south africa, syria, lebanon, israel, iraq, iran, turkey, and other places that make cool music that doesn't always get enough press in the west. some labels that might be relevant here: sublime frequencies, honest jons, sahelsounds, light in the attic, voodoo funk, awesome tapes from africa, analog africa, kindred spirits, soundway.

Plus I like to hear about live music

Last year's thread: Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2014 Thread Formerly Known as World

International acts visiting nYc shortly

http://www.globalfest-ny.com/

http://babysallright.ticketfly.com/event/731023-okayafrica-multiflora-brooklyn/

Hailu Mergia live in Ny

The Nile Project are gonna be at Globalfest:

Designed to captivate local audiences but feel equally accessible to international listeners, the Nile Project uses music to inspire curiosity about and active engagement with the cultural, social, and environmental challenges of the world’s longest river. The Collective’s collaborative model is a blueprint for a new way to organize the Nile.

The project began in 2011 by two San Francisco-based East Africans in response to the deepening water conflict in the Nile Basin. In a few years, the vision of Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis and Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero rapidly expanded to bring together musicians of all 11 Nile countries through Nile Gatherings and African and international tours. Building on the success of its musical program, the Nile Project is launching education, leadership, and innovation initiatives to empower university students around the world with the tools they need to make the Nile more sustainable.

Emel Mathlouthi is interesting. Might look into her stuff.

Tunisian singer/songwriter ...

My niece was in Ethiopia with others from her university and she said she kept hearing this Mehari Degefaw song Raya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz95EmQEHHI&app=desktop

I did Emel's last NYC show; she's solid.
Doing Globalfest; hope to see y'all there.

for those in the UK interested in choral singing/chanting and photos of Syria from before the current fighting, Jason Hamacher of LostOrigins.com will be speaking in Cambridge January 5th

ARADIN Christmas Concert
Monday January 5 from 19:30 to 21:00
The Epiphany, ARADIN fundraising concert with a surprise, at at Great Saint Mary’s Church, Cambridge, 7:30-9p.m, Monday 5th January 2015

ARADIN supports education and cultural preservation of the minorities in the Middle East, in particular Christian communities.

Tickets: £12.00, (£10.00 concessions). Tickets can be purchased at the door or at the shop of Great Saint Mary’s).

* Special guest, Jason Hamacher, founder of Lost Origins Productions, a production house that explores ancient civilisations to discover unique stories from the past and present, will be joining us to give a testimony on his research into Syrian and Armenian chant.

There will be a prayer vigil before the concert between 6:45-7:15pm. in particular for the Christians in Iraq and Syria. All welcome.

Liking some of the new Dobet Gnahore album. She's from Cote D'ivoire but has been living in France for awhile. Some of the songs are a tad too polished in a bland way, but others work (and I like her vocals, charisma, and dancing live). She is doing a short US tour starting this week

yeah, loved that gnahore album. made my top 50 for last year.

x-post--- Forks, gotta admit that Globalfest lineup this year does not have me want to get on a Megabus up to NYC. Zap Mama are fun, but they've been coming to the US on and off for years (and are coming my way this month too). The Jones Family Gospel Singers are gonna be in DC, and they too have been appearing everywhere, already. If I lived up there maybe...

from Forced Exposure:

https://mail.aol.com/38865-418/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30801021&folder=Inbox&partId=8

JOSE PRATES/MIECIO ASKANASY: Tam... Tam... Tam...! CD
TRUNK (UK) / JBH 055CD
release date: 1/20/2015

DESCRIPTION

Trunk Records presents the first reissue of Tam... Tam... Tam...!, an incredibly rare Brazilian LP by José Prates and Miecio Askanasy. In August of 2014, London-based DJ and record collector Gilles Peterson, who had been offered an original copy for $4,700, sent out a request for someone to reissue this extraordinary album. Originally issued in a one-time 1958 pressing as part of Askanasy's 1950s touring Braziliana show, Tam... Tam... Tam...! is a landmark in the development of the Brazilian sound that would explode around the world in the decade to follow. It's stunning both as a historical touchstone and as a standalone musical triumph. The solid blueprint of 1960s Brazilian music runs through it; for example, "Nānā Imborô" clearly prefigures Sérgio Mendes's 1966 hit "Mas Que Nada." The infectious rhythms, melodies, and exotic sounds that fill this album are deep, raw, and totally engaging. And the more one listens to Tam... Tam... Tam...! the more one hears its importance and future influence. This reissue comes at a time when, in a world saturated with information, few important things have escaped attention and reappraisal. Finding anything new and genuinely incredible is a rare feat. This is a prime example of amazing, influential music that until now has remained hidden. In producing this reissue, spurred on by Peterson's request, Trunk Records found that no master recordings could be located. The original 1950s label showed no interest in a reissue, but Ed Motta, the renowned artist, producer, and record collector, agreed to transcribe his original copy on his EMT deck and send the files from Brazil to the UK. The sound was not in the best condition, and the original 1950s vinyl pressing has several musical inconsistencies. Trunk Records painstakingly worked toward a suitable sonic balance, making sure to maintain the bright and driving original sound without cleaning it up so much that the life of the music was diminished. Accordingly, the vinyl edition of reissue was pressed with some very slight surface noise -- any more cleaning would interfere with the true wax sound. The CD edition, however, was pressed with more digital enhancement. Vinyl edition includes original full color LP sleeve. CD edition includes four-page booklet.

TRACKLISTING

01.Imbarabaô
02.Imbaê-Sofá
03.Nānā Imborô
04.Fá-êu-á
05.Oniká
06.Ogum Olojô
07.Maracatú da D Santo
08.De Luandaô
09.Maracatú Elegante
10.Nêga Zefinha
11.Tem Brabo no Samba

my first outernational listen of the year:

http://www.noformat.net/images/0.48316500%201414071657.jpg

super pleasant but not the kind of thing i imagine sticking w/ me for very long

https://soundcloud.com/forcedexposurepublicity/malimba-song-taken-from-the-forthcoming-music-of-tanzania-sublime-frequencies

VA: Music of Tanzania 2LP
SUBLIME FREQUENCIES (United States) / SF 096LP
release date: 2/3/2015

DESCRIPTION

Music of Tanzania is a spectacular collection of field recordings gathered by Laurent Jeanneau between December 1999 and March 2000. This debut volume of Sublime Frequencies' exploration of indigenous Tanzanian music compiles sacred and profane songs and dances of the Hadza, Datoga, and Makonde people. Highlights include stoned ecstatic dancing in a Hadza encampment; a drunken celebration of preteen sexual initiation from a Makonde fishing village; baboon imitations performed on the malimba; electrified Islamic trance percussion; and useful tips for amateur hyrax hunters. Many of these poignant, exhilarating performances come from dwindling minority groups whose way of life stretches back to the Stone Age, and who are capable of creating breathtaking music with anything from agricultural tools to tin cans and plastic tubes. Laurent Jeanneau is absolutely fearless in his pursuit of rare, exceptional and vibrant performances. He views his ongoing documentation of ethnic minority music as an act of resistance to globalization, state-sanctioned "peasant traditions," and cultural homogeneity, and accordingly spends months living under harsh and dangerous conditions in order to capture impromptu performances in their everyday cultural context. Using this method, Jeanneau has self-produced almost 100 albums preserving threatened musical traditions from some of the most remote regions on earth, in addition to compiling multiple volumes for Sublime Frequencies. This limited edition double LP tip-on gatefold package includes striking photographs by James Stephenson and detailed liner notes by Jeanneau.

TRACKLISTING

Disc 1

Side A: Hadza (Northern Tanzania)

01.Sitoti Plays Malimba I

02.Sitoti Plays Malimba II
03.Malimba and Song
04.Sitoti Plays Malimba and Sings

05.Zeze and Song

Side B: Hadza, Datoga (Northern Tanzania)

06.Hadza Epeme
07.Hadze Epeme II

08.Hadze Berimbau
09.Datoga Troubadour

10.Datoga Dance

Disc 2

Side C: Makonde (Southern Tanzania)
01.Makonde Ceremony

Side D: Mtwara (Southern Tanzania)

02.Muslim Ceremony I

03.Muslim Cermony II

oh that looks really interesting - i'll def check it out

BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND: Juguya LP
SUBLIME FREQUENCIES (United States) / SF 097LP
release date: 2/17/2015

DESCRIPTION

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary group from Burkina Faso. Coming from Bobo-Dioulasso, the group is steeped in the Mandingue musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) is an original and eccentric character who is well respected in the Burkinabé musical community. A sort of punk Faso Dan Fani activist for traditional Mandingo music, Baba continues to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he embarked on his current musical direction as a singer, first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band. His current band -- when he's not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé -- is the Mandingo Band. At present, he is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia. Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprises multiple generations and strata of Burkinabé society; he accordingly adapts his repertoire to his surroundings, which range from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Dioulasso to the sound systems of Ouagadougou. Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a formidable force steeped in Ouagadougou's DIY underground musical culture. Juguya is their sound. Limited edition LP housed in a Stoughton tip-on sleeve.

TRACKLISTING
Side A
01.Tilé
02.Djanfa
03.Wasso
04.Folon
Side B
05.Ntijiguimorola
06.I Kanafo
07.Siguisso
08.Juguya

Gonna see Dobet Gnahore and her band live tonight

Great show. Better than the album (she did some older songs but the emphasis was on her most recent album). She really is quite ambitious, and mostly makes it work without turning it into watered down, whirled music cliches (I say mostly because some songs didn't work and the bassist/keyboardist sometimes threw in unnecessary jazz fusion licks). I've read interviews where she cites Miriam Makeba, Oumou Sangare, Buika, Bjork and more; she sings in multiple languages; and has worked with African diaspora dancers. In the show I saw, she opened some songs by trilling across the scales ala Buika but then brought her voice back into a more potent and strong melodic range. She danced African style athletically at times, kicking her legs up high and raising her arms, plus doing some African and hiphop shakes. Her guitarist husband added some nice Congolese rumba/soukous strumming as well as styles from elsewhere. The keyboardist also played bass. Her drummer was sometimes too aggressive, but Dobet turned towards him and made him get more subtle at times. She did her best to explain the songs, trying to do so in English but sometimes switching to French and other tongues.

saw her at joe's pub, yes? i'm sure that was a great place to see her.

No, that's tonight. I saw her last night 4 to 5 hours south, in the Barns of Wolf Trap.

She's just doing a short US tour it appears.

ah, cool. a friend of mine programs the Barn. How was the turnout?

Not packed (people in the small balcony and back of the floor seats moved up), but a decent sized crowd. There was a W. Post piece on Dobet last Sunday. They probably did not do any street-team pr--flyers at African restaurants; and/or contacted the embassy. The Virginia location is pretty far from D.C. and from Maryland, which makes it hard on a weeknight, especially when the artist is not well-known.

yeah, i had some conversations along those lines. glad to hear it was a good show though!

Did anyone see Dobet Gnahore at Joe's Pub?

She got 1 vote in the Pazz & jop critics poll. Not from me, I dropped her out of my top 10 at the last minute.

6 album votes for Noura Mint Seymali

I guy voted for Ricardo Lemvo, La Rumba Soyo on
Cumbancha

Grr, I meant to listen to that and never did. Not too late. I like previous efforts of his---Congolese rumba/soukous meets Afro-Cuban

my 3 'outernational' votes in that poll were
Mamman Sani - Taaritt
Khun Narin - Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band
Zebrina - Hamidbar Medaber

i think i was the only vote for them

Probably. I just read critic Mike Rubin (whose writing I like) tweet from awhile back proclaiming the Kasai Allstars album and the Tony Allen one as the two best African releases of the year. I see the Wire magazine readers list also has the Kasai Allstars. I only listened to that once, and I liked a little of it but wasn't wowed. Never heard the Tony Allen, though I like stuff he's done in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vr5lxiTx4A

I voted for Noura's album, also for Nacao Zumbi and Jucara Marcal album tracks as Singles. Here's some of that there xpost tam...tam...tam...--several on this page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va63SOhcwco

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO PSYCHEDELIC SALSA

Release Date: 23 February 2015
Cat No: RGNET1304CD
Barcode: 605633130423
Format: CD & Digital Download

This Rough Guide explores the heady influence of psychedelia on salsa, from the fuzzy tropical guitars of the sixties and seventies to today’s cutting edge bands experimenting with weird & wonderful psychedelic sounds.

Psychedelic rock and salsa came of age together in the mid to late 1960s under parallel socio-cultural circumstances of upheaval, unrest and experimentation within the respective youth cultures of their core audiences.

Historically there are direct connections between the world of the hippie counter-culture and Latin music (from Fania’s Jerry Masucci being friends with Woodstock’s Michael Lang to ‘mambonik’ Bill Graham urging Santana to cover Tito Puente. In places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and especially Peru, non-Latin global youth culture – or at least some of the music, dress, art, and social attitude – was quite influential as well, producing tropical music with fuzzed out guitars, echo effects, and electric keyboards.

In the late 1970s through to the 1990s, discotheque remix dance culture spawned the psychedelic extended salsa mixes of studio wizards like Baron Lopez and the wild playing of Cuban violinist Alfredo de la Fé (featured here with Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana), both of which factored in trippy dub effects borrowed from another Caribbean music with psychedelic leanings, namely reggae.

This collection explores not only those early connections and cross-pollinating influences but also the resurgence of interest in the subject of the psychedelic sound today, from a revival of the experimental vibe that made the early years of salsa so varied and interesting to the equally intriguing phenomenon of retro analogue aesthetics that seems to be on the rise.

Current Latin artists like Bio Ritmo, La Mecánica Popular, Bacalao Men, Quantic, Fantasma and San Lázaro have found themselves looking back to the days of progressive, open attitudes when the emphasis was on message and music, not on singer as star or producing bland pop for mass consumption. This is, perhaps, a reaction to the fallout of the over-commercialisation and dilution of salsa in the 1980s and the concurrent ascendance of merengue, bachata and (later) reggaeton. The influence of rare groove collecting, DJ-driven investigations into the golden era, and a spill-over from the success of retro funk and soul acts like Sharon Jones have shaped current ‘indie’ salsa production as well.

Track List

01 Grupo Fantasma Feat. Larry Harlow: Naci De La Rumba Y Guaguanco
02 La Mecanica Popular: La Paz Del Freak
03 Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno: Dub Y Guaguanco
04 Conjunto Siglo 21: Jud Ross
05 Ray Perez Y Su Orquesta: Recordando Los Soneros
06 San Lazaro: Muchacho Tranquilo
07 Bacalao Men: Japones
08 Nelson Y Sus Estrellas: Londres (London)
09 Los Sander's De Nana: Recuerdos
10 Los Pambele: Cannabis
11 Fruko Y Sus Tesos: El Son Del Carangano
12 Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana: Vamos Pa' Dakar
13 Bio Ritmo: Chuleta 07:00

Total Playing Time: 61:32
music from this and other releases here: https://soundcloud.com/world-music-network
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuXmXG9qbF8

the wild playing of Cuban violinist Alfredo de la Fé (featured here with Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana),

Saw and reviewed he and a band live sometime in the mid-2000s. His playing was still wild

the globalfest standouts for me were bixiga 70 and sam lee

So Bixiga 70 are like a Brazilian Antibalas?

they're pretty much straight afrobeat honestly

http://www.npr.org/2015/01/15/377527029/rapping-the-news-in-west-africa

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO AFRICAN RARE GROOVE (VOL. 1)

Release Date: 23 February 2015
Cat No: RGNET1323CD
Barcode: 605633132328
Format: CD & Digital Download

From bright Nigerian highlife horns to Ethiopian fuzz-tone guitar riffs, this Rough Guide presents a broad selection of rare African dance grooves. Hard to find but easy to dance to.

For more information contact pr✧✧✧@worldmu✧✧✧.n✧✧

The concept of ‘Rare Groove’ has come a long way since its origins in the 1980s London club scene, where DJs would try to out-do each other with soul and funk obscurities. These days the blogosphere is full of enthusiasts sharing their latest vintage vinyl finds, with African music providing rich pickings. But there is a largely untapped resource of independent labels in Africa, America and Europe releasing fabulous sounds that deserve a much wider audience. This collection pulls together a variety of African grooves music from Mozambican marrabenta to Nigerian highlife.

Gentleman Mike Ejeagha and his protégé Celestine Ukwu are both known for morally instructive songs in the Igbo language of south-eastern Nigeria. ‘Ikpechakwa A-Akem Kpee’ starts with a clarion call of horns and quickly settles into an old-school highlife groove. Osayomore Joseph is known as ‘Ambassador’ for popularising the Edo language through music. ‘Oyeye’, with its ringing guitar and rasping brass was one of his first hits in the early 1970s.

Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Mocambique takes its name from an urban music style from Maputo, speeding up the rural majika rhythm and adding pulsing horns. Ayalèw Mèsfin started singing with Ethiopian Police Orchestra before developing his own rock’n’roll-influenced sound full of moody fuzz-guitar riffs, keyboard stabs and horn punches. Analogue synths meet old school East African Rumba in ‘Kai Kai’ by Yam Yam, a previously unreleased track featuring the talents of Congolese émigrés Les Mangalepa, now based in Nairobi, and British producer Guy Morley.

West Nkosi’s sax jive style provides a stepping-stone between penny-whistle kwela and mbaqanga, the township music unforgettably dubbed ‘The Indestructible Beat’.

Super Cayor De Dakar described their brand of Afro-Latin music salsa-mbalax. The 1996 version of ‘Dégoo’ included here is more immediate than later recordings, with a sublime combination of keyboards and horns. Saleta Phiri was one of the first two musicians to receive ‘The Malawi Honours Of The Achievers Award’. His songs speak of the hardships of life in the volatile township of Ndirande.

Track List

01 Gentleman Mike Ejeagha & His Premiers Dance Band: Ikpechakwa A-Akem Kpee
02 Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Mocambique: Elisa Gomara Saia
03 Ayalèw Mèsfin: Hasabé
04 Yam Yam Feat. Les Mangelepa: Kai Kai
05 International Orchestra Safari Sound: Homa Imenizidia
06 Osayomore Joseph & The Creative 7: Oyeye
07 West Nkosi: Durban Road
08 Super Cayor De Dakar: Dégoo
09 Saleta Phiri & The AB Sounds: Kalulu Mwana
10 Malombo: Mbaqanga Blues
11 Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National: Onwunwa
12 Francis Bebey: Ndolo

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2015/01/13/376962350/discoveries-from-globalfest-2015

x-post to link Mordy posted--Love the flow of those Senegalese guys rapping the news

i found the jones family singers to be wholly unremarkable; do not get the critical love for that band

Haven't seen or heard them yet, but maybe because they recorded in a guy from Spoon's studio, they are getting more attention from folks who otherwise would not listen to gospel-related music.

http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/torodi

Hama is a multi instrumentalist and electronic synthesizer composer from the Republic of Niger. His music has enjoyed wide acclaim throughout the country through his underground releases of unlabeled digital recordings on memory cards. Creating at the convergence of disparate influences, such as North African instrumental synth, Tuareg tishumaren, 90s Nigerien Hip Hop and second wave Detroit techno, Hama composes music that is futuristic and rooted in tradition, transmitting Tuareg guitar into the 21st Century.
credits

released 18 January 2015

http://f1.bcbits.com/img/a3392759242_2.jpg

Will check that out. I've been checking out Youtube videos of Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara performing with Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, as well as re-listening to her album Fatou from a few years back. She is touring North America in April. She was once a backup singer for Oumou Sangare, learned how to play guitar, and has also collaborated with Blur's Damon Albarn (but don't hold that against her). There's also youtubes of her doing frenetic African dance

fatoumata is a favorite of mine and an absolutely lovely human being

otm fatou is the best

awesome tapes from africa releasing this soon:
http://www.amoeba.com/obaa-sima-lp-ata-kak/albums/3447818/

and this week:
http://www.awesometapes.com/mbilia-bel-phenomene/

http://i2.wp.com/www.awesometapes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/MbiliaBel.jpg?zoom=2&fit=1024%2C1024

no one should sleep on this mbilia bel tape it's so sunny + joyous

Recall her from that time when I would hear and read alot about Congolese rumba/soukous musicians. Will check it out

http://www.npr.org/event/music/378870159/kcrw-presents-the-budos-band

Have never been crazy about Budos Band. Not sure why

http://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/301ODR3qGB9NiVeQrnewAR

i know i'm late on this but holy shit
https://soundcloud.com/insanlar/kime-ne

agreed, that is rad.

Thanks for Spotify lists

74 NOURA MINT SEYMALI Tzenni [243 points, 8 votes]

Over on the ILM 77 Albums of 2014 poll thread

Yay....and others are discovering her on the thread

and khun narin. i'm wondering if that's going to be it for outernational on the poll. can't think of anything else likely to get enough consensus to place... maybe budos band?

http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/zomba-prison-project-2/

http://sixdegreesrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ZombaPrisonProject_IHaveNoEverythingHere_Cover_1500x1500-300x300.jpg

some of the relevant albums from ilx poll:

66 Khun Narin - Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band
74 Noura Mint Seymali - Tzenni
88 Tinariwen - Emmaar
146 Various Artists - Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978
162 Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine
173 Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté - Toumani & Sidiki
182 Eyvind Kang - Alastor: The Book Of Angels vol.21
187 Orlando Julius & the Heliocentrics - Jaiyede Afro
250 EEK - Live at the Cairo High Cinema Institute
271 The Budos Band - Burnt Offering
277 Mamman Sani - Taaritt
406 Kasai Allstars - Beware The Fetish

Zap Mama are gonna be in DC tonight and I am skipping it. I kinda lost interest in Congolese/Belgian Marie Daulne's group after she moved to NYC, changed members and began to incorporate more r'n'b and hiphop. Not that there is anything wrong with that musical change, and I am not inisting that she has to stay more traditional "afropop," I just do not think she and the new Zap Mama do their newer style that well. But I haven't paid attention to her lately, so maybe she's gotten better with her current approach. I wonder if Forks or others have seen her/them lately?

insisting

Feel like EEK would have done a lot better (though probably not 77'd) if more people (e.g. me) had managed to hear it.

Yep, I think I gave up on trying to find that.

Awesome Tapes from Africa pr:

The worldwide release of Aby Ngana Diop’s Liital tape this fall was a long time coming. A much-requested reissue that appeared on the blog years ago, Liital was met with a hail of critical acclaim upon its release. Now, a group of artists known for adventurous work remixes some of Diop’s most striking songs. Black Dice, Orchestra of Spheres and Michael Ozone draw inspiration from Diop’s vivid original recordings, presenting new takes on the seminal griot’s frenetic and highly rhythmic songs.

Although she passed away in 1997, Aby Ngana Diop’s only cassette release lives on through the recent reissue and with these remixes, entering a new chapter of recognition among contemporary musicians around the world.

available on spotify:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61n64V2OGnL.jpg

cool article:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/03/ethiopiyawi-electronic-african-dance

Here's one for all the new york types to put in your calendar now; documentary film by the same name will be at film forum in late april.
http://www.citywinery.com/newyork/tickets/cambodiaslostrockandroll042415.html

Baksey Cham Krong
Considered to be the first Cambodian guitar band, Baksey Cham Krong formed in 1960 and began rocking their local high school in Phnom Penh with songs influenced by the Ventures and Cliff Richards and the Shadows. Soon they perfected a clean guitar sound and soon guitar bands began to pop up all over the capital city.

Three original members including singer Mol Kamach, lead guitarist Mol Kagnol and rhythm guitarist Samley Hong will be performing.

The Drakkar
In the late 60s, long hair and bell-bottoms became all the rage in Phnom Penh. The Drakkar band brought there own mix of current western influences too and created hard rock, Cambodian style. The Rolling Stones, Santana and Deep Purple were huge influences as the Drakkar helped take Cambodian rock and roll in yet a new direction.

Three original members including singer Tana, lead guitarist Touch Chhattaha and drummer Ouk Sam Art will be performing.

The songs of Sinn Sisamouth. Cambodian pop’s most revered singer who tragically disappeared during the Khmer Rouge era will be sung by his grandson, Sinn Sethakol.

The songs of Ros Serey Sothea. Dubbed the golden voice of the capital by the King himself, Ros Serey Sothea’s voice was an instrument like no other. As Cambodia’s most beloved female singer she was unable to hide her identitiy and also perished during the Khmer Rouge. Chhom Nimol, the great singer from the band Dengue Fever will be singing a collection of Ros Serey Sothea’s songs.

Hey hey. For those who haven't heard it, got some amazing Turkish (acid-y) psych disco (featuring Ricardo Villalobos remixes) by Insanlar, some smoking vintage Lebanese disco, a brand new track from Bassekou Kouyaté's new album, some Egyptian hardware house and some Israeli/Assyrian/Armenian death metal in my Guardian MENA playlist column today. The two disco tracks alone are amazing, even if I say so myself.

HAVE AT IT!

yeah! that insanlar vinyl is insane

Ah, I see you posted it upthread… what an great song. 24 minutes and it doesn't quite feel long enough to me.

http://www.liveat365.org/concert05.php

TUE FEBRUARY 10 2015 / 7 PM
THE VOICE OF TIMBUKTU:
AWA SANGHO
365 Fifth Avenue, NYC
(bet. 34th and 35th Streets)
Trains: B,D,F,M to 34th St.; 6 to 33rd St.
Tickets $25

Born in the Sahara Desert in the Timbuktu region of Mali, Awa Sangho is known for her stunning voice and high-energy drumming and dancing. Her music percolates with the rhythms and sounds not only of Mali, but of the Ivory Coast and Senegal, where she has lived, and of Guinea, land of her mentor, Soulemane Koly. Sangho's socially conscious songs, written in various West African languages, reflect on controversial cultural traditions, her hopes for today's youth, the plight of mothers and children, and the people who forged her path. Sangho has performed around the world with her group Koteba, and she recently released her debut album on Motéma Music. Awa Sangho will be joined by Daniel Moreno (Band Leader & Percussionist), Yakouba Sissoko (Kora), Fred Doumbe (Bass), Gustavo Dantes (Guitar), Abou Diarrassuba (Drums), and Balla Kouyate (Balafon).

^ not mine for once but looks like a good'un

Lots going on everywhere.

May need to reconsider my disinterest in Zap Mama (see above). She's still working with hiphop folks including the Roots (and is hopefully doing so in a more interesting manner), but she was also working with various African ex-pats while living in Harlem, and now she's back in Belgium and visiting Benin and other places where she is working with musicians. Banning Eyre has an interview with her:

http://www.afropop.org/wp/22152/interview-marie-daulne-of-zap-mama/

x-post to Doran-- Saw Bassekou Kouyate and a big band a few years back in DC and they were really great. He returned last year with a slightly smaller group (1 less percussionist & 1 less ngoni player but still with wife, son & nephew) that were also good although not quite as rocking

February 9th only. Not perfect but worth seeing online

Starting right now, for 24 hours only (until 10 a.m. Eastern tomorrow), Pitchfork.tv is hosting a full stream of Kiley Kraskouskas' film The Last Song Before The War, a feature documentary about Mali's Festival in the Desert.

Festival in the Desert was a music festival held annually near Timbuktu, beginning in 2001. In 2012, Northern Mali was taken over by separatist rebels and Islamic militants, and the festival was forced into exile. The Last Song Before The War tells the festival's story, featuring performances from the 2011 edition.

The film features Vieux Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Leni Stern, Oumou Sangaré, Habib Koité, Bassekou Kouyate, Amy Sacko, Group Amanar, and Tartit, with appearances from Bono of U2 and writer Banning Eyre.

Watch the full film below, for 24 hours only.

http://f1.bcbits.com/img/a1172387035_2.jpg

http://onomagemothediscojumpers.bandcamp.com/album/cranes-and-carpets

my days of following the reissue market closely have mostly passed, but I am excited for this one: http://www.strut-records.com/nextstopsoweto4/. anyone heard it yet? The Quietus has reviewed it, positively though with too much mention of Paul Simon, imo

i heard this one last year and liked it:
Next Stop Soweto presents Spirit of Malombo: Malombo, Jabula, Jaz Afrika 1966-1984

i assume it's the next in the series?

from what I could tell, the Malombo one is not technically part of the "Next Step...Soweto Volume /X/" series for some reason (it focuses on one dude?). anyway, if you haven't heard the mbaqanga volume (2), that is really excellent. I also like the jazz one (3) quite a bit too, though it's more just a good jazz comp than particularly SA-sounding. I never heard the first one, but I was kind of burned out on afro-funk when it came out.

In conjunction with compiler and highlife researcher Dr. Markus Coester, Soundway Records present a very special release. Double CD & triple 180g gatefold vinyl (with a bonus 7 inch).

This 45 includes the two first ever recordings by a certain Fela Ransome Kuti with his band The Highlife Rakers. Recorded by Melodisc in London in 1960 both tracks have been unearthed after more than fifty years in hiding.

In many ways this compilation is a prequel of sorts to Soundway's groundbreaking Nigeria & Ghana Special compilations, telling the early story of modern highlife's foundation & formulation. It traces the music from West Africa to London, adding elements of jazz, mambo and calypso along the way and paving the way for the afro sounds of the 1970s.

Accompanied by a 44 page CD booklet and 12 page vinyl booklet, the notes by Dr. Coester include rare photographs, labels and advert reproductions alongside some stunning and very rare recordings.

!!!

https://soundcloud.com/soundway-records/fela-ransome-kuti-the-highlife-rakers-felas-special/s-sEqnt

XXXXP: That's good to know. If the album's anything like that track - and I can find out tomorrow as I've finally received it - there's no way I'm going to miss the Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Power show over here in London this May.

new samba toure - gandadiko - is on spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/album/33aNFeKXCZ15cxpN5S9nSB

fyi this is fantastic:

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/images/SF095.jpg

Radio is an audio compass; the radio antennae, a divining rod. Positioned anywhere, it opens an exclusive window directly into the location in which it sits. Signals received on the Medium Wave (AM) and FM bands reveal programming intended for a local population by governmental, independent, "pirate", or corporate media broadcasters. Anything from low-powered ethnic minority transmissions, high-powered westernized pop stations, and omnipresent state-run radio can be found on these bands. Shortwave bands expand the breadth and scope – pulling in regional and international receptions. Everything received factors into the experience. Music, news, talk shows, advertisements, station IDs, cross-phased interference, errant or intentional static-generated sounds, distant detritus and random broadcast anomalies all become equally relevant.

This disc continues the Sublime Frequencies locale-specific radio collage series with Vietnamese radio recordings culled and assembled from signals received in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City between December 2013 and November 2014.

Inside the program are moments of outstanding folkloric, traditional and pop music – including performances on the electric guitar and the dan bau (one stringed guitar-like instrument), eclectic Vietnamese folk and rock stylings, dramatic effects-laden radio theater and musical segues, new wave pop forays, traditional percussion and vocal chants, news segments, dynamic radio bumpers, jingles and advertisements, comedic interludes, phoned-in karaoke sing-a-longs, English-language programming, early-morning exercise regimens, and coded messages from the outer ether.

Cool, thanks

I really like that new Samba Toure, it has some of the nicest intricate desert bluesy guitar work on it since tinariwen's last.

Don't really know Samba Toure, will have to check out his new one-- http://glitterbeat.bandcamp.com/album/gandadiko

looks like its on Spotify US

I need to get to it. Busy instead reading about 80s reggae in Dr. Dread of RAS records book coming out soon

Ivory Coast singer Serge Beynaud has some old-school aspects that should appeal to folks on this thread, and some dance-pop aspects that should appeal to those on the Afrobeats/Afropop thread. He is doing some US live dates in March

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEr8M4XvQWE

that's one hell of a screencap.

Ha. Yes, I think the video itself is safer...

Samba Toure's easy-going Sahel desert guitar sound made for nice getting up music this Friday morning

Speaking of...

http://www.afropop.org/22260/accounting-for-taste/

On air this week is “Accounting for Taste.” We’ll find out how the fluid guitar playing of ’70s rock band Dire Straits became massively popular in the Sahel, influencing Tuareg rockers like Tinariwen and Tamikrest. We’ll hear about the American country superstar Jim Reeves’ African career, and the unlikely story of how the pedal steel made it from Hawaii to Lagos, Nigeria. Finally, we’ll travel to Angola to explore that nation’s death metal scene. Produced by Sam Backer with help from Jesse Brent.

Mauritanian Noura Mint Seymali's guitarist husband told me he listened to Dire Straits. But his guitar playing is such edgier and funkier (than I recall from Dire Straits).

Sam Backer is good people

Cool. I still haven't listened to that yet, but want too.

Awesome Tapes From Africa:

When I came across Ghanaian singer-producer Ata Kak’s self-released cassette in 2002, I had no idea the music would ignite such curiosity and interest among music collectors around the world. It was the nexus of Awesome Tapes From Africa, a nearly decade-long blog, label and dj project exploring hard-to-find cassette-based music from the continent. The multi-continent, 8 year search to locate this mysterious musician is another story altogether.

This week Ata Kak’s "Obaa Sima" finally comes out worldwide on LP, CD, MP3 and limited edition tape.

...

After 20 years, Atta’s master DAT of the recording degraded in Ghana’s heat and humidity. It split apart when digitization began and the music could not be recovered. With Atta’s only cassette copy too stretched out and sonically-damaged to use—over time, other copies were found but didn’t sound good enough—the original tape Shimkovitz found in 2002 became the source for this release. Jessica Thompson at the Magic Shop in NYC transferred, cleaned up and otherwise restored the sound. Mysteriously, Atta’s original recording was slower than the one ATFA posted (indicating the album might have been pirated at some point). This release maintains that faster sound almost everyone except Atta is used to, mostly because slowing down the faster version revealed too many sonic problems. So a download is included so everyone can hear both versions.

NPR early listen to Omar Sosa - Lie: http://www.npr.org/2015/03/01/388738089/first-listen-omar-sosa-ile

Cuban-born pianist and composer Omar Sosa has carved out a place for himself in the musical landscape that's equal parts musical and spiritual. His playing and his songs are saturated with the beauty and power of West African music dedicated to Yoruba deities, and yet an unmistakable reverence for jazz pervades every note.

Ata Kak album is lots of fun!

http://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/mar/03/mali-musicians-they-will-have-to-kill-us-first-video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7If2d4-fo0

http://www.npr.org/event/music/389309535/latitudes-stream-the-film-the-last-song-before-the-war

I liked that doc (mostly) and met the folks involved in making it as some of them lived near me. Worth seeing.

x-post to my posting about Sahel bands and Dire Straits. I listened to that afropop.org episode and it seems they were also listening to Jimi Hendrix, but he was harder to learn from than Dire Straits. Some younger musicians there now only listen to other Sahel bands, and not Dire Straits as did/do some of the older ones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/world/africa/5-killed-at-a-nightclub-attack-in-mali-capital.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Excerpt:

A masked gunman opened fire on a restaurant in Mali’s capital Bamako early Saturday morning, killing at least two Europeans — a Frenchman and a Belgian — and three Malians.

The gunman sprayed the La Terrasse restaurant, a popular spot with foreigners, with bullets, firing indisciminately, according to residents and officials. Saturday morning, a ranking security official said two people had been arrested in connection with the attack.

“This was a terrorist attack. It’s absolutely clear,” said the official, an army officer who asked not to be quoted by name. The attack took place in a neighborhood of the capital, Hippodrome, that contains a number of bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners.

While Al Qaeda-linked terrorists took over Mali’s sparsely populated north desert three years ago, to be driven out by French and Chadian forces a year later, the distant capital has been spared such attacks. Bamako has been considered a terrorist-free zone, though it has been the scene of considerable political and civil unrest over the last three years, with a military coup in 2012 and frequent score-settling among army factions.

new terakaft album this may! "alone" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfYe94gPxgs

Probably not exactly the right thread, but here for maximum exposure, an Africa special:
https://medium.com/cuepoint/robert-christgau-expert-witness-fe818ad164a8

Despite Christgau flaws discussed on other thread(occasional use of sleazy phrasing re women) he has covered African music more than many other high-profile critics. Haven't yet gone through that to see which Awesome Tape and which other label reissue etc he gives As too and which A minuses etc

Still haven't gone through the whole Christgau reviewed items list, been listening instead to Serge Beynaud's album and singles from last year. He's an afropop/autotuned singer from the Ivory Coast I mentioned above whose coupe decale dance music incorporated bits of more traditional sounds, along with some sappy zouk and some speedy soukous. Serge is in the US now on tour--was just in LA and SF, is heading to Sx SW and then DC and maybe elsewhere

http://bodegapop.blogspot.com/

Forgot this blog was still happening

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/15/391915430/first-listen-buena-vista-social-club-lost-and-found

Hmmmm:

Since the group's initial successes, several of its unforgettable artists — including guitarist and singer Compay Segundo, pianist Ruben Gonzalez, singer Ibrahim Ferrer, percussionist Miguel "Anga" Díaz (father to the sensational new twin-sister duo Ibeyi) and bassist Orlando "Cachaíto" López — have passed away. The remaining Buena Vista artists are saying farewell with an international "Adiós" tour this year, so it must have seemed like a good time for World Circuit to dig through its archives.

Friday night, I saw NYC based Cuban singer Gerardo Contino (who was in Cuban timba group Ng La banda) and his band do an old number from that original Buena Vista Social Club album. Over on the Afro-Latin thread 2015 I discuss them a bit more, and I think I mentioned upthread there how NY critics fave Cuban jazz percussionist Petrito Martinez is opening on the Buena Vista tour

x-post-- the bodegapop site linked to this site:

http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/

From a Jon Pareles blogpost in the N Times:

What may have been the oldest music at SXSW rocked as hard (if not as loudly) as anything newer. It had deep, unstoppable beats, instantly grasped melodies and vocals with a fervent bite. It was a Wednesday night set by Mai Dhai, a singer from rural Pakistan performing ancient songs she learned from her mother. She drummed as she sang, along with two more drummers and a harmonium player whose counter-melodies darted constantly around her voice. Ms. Dhai is a member of the Manganiyar tribe from the Tharparkar desert, with an Islamic culture that has a long tradition of female musicians performing at shrines and festivities.

Pareles also blogged in the NY Times about an artist from Chile the songwriter La Guacha, who has released two albums in that country. She’s a supple, exuberant singer who sometimes raps; her songs dip into cumbia, ranchera, funk and jazzy pop.

http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/isswat <wow!

x-post-I read that there were a bunch of Pakistani groups at S x SW as they were part of a State Department funded trip

malian national anthem writer Banzumana Sissoko tape from 1970:
http://www.awesometapes.com/bazoumana-sissoko-musique-du-mali/

i was trying to find out if he was related to ballake sissoko whose father is djelimady sissoko from rail band and while searching i noticed that he played w/ sidiki diabate who is toumani's dad - i have no idea how they're related to zani diabate from super djata band. anyway it occurred to me that like half the musicians from mali are sissokos or diabates.

Given Toumani's frequent assertion that the Diabaté line of griots stretches back through 77 generations

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/toumani-diabate-sidiki-kora-music-industry-family

This is a quick, quarterly reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a few album selections) are being posted as updated to a thread-specific Spotify playlist that I'm maintaining. I just did a quick sweep prior to posting this message and updated as of today with everything that's been added on Spotify since it was first mentioned.

That playlist is currently a bit more than five hours of music and is clickable below.
Give it a spin and subscribe if you want to listen along through the year.

Rolling Global / Outernational 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

Thanks

*hat tip*

Tal National from Niger have a new album coming out later this month. They are also touring the US. Rockin polyrhythmic sounds with various African guitar music influences. In an ideal world, they'd get a Pitchfork Best Album blurb (ha, actually haven't heard the upcoming cd, but I liked the last one) and even those who prefer autotuned vocals and programmed beats would say, man those kinda old folks can still rock a party.

i heard the new tal national song and thought it was really good. next week i think the new the very best album comes out which i'm really excited for - their two last albums were both in my top 10 for the year

I like The Very Best also.

Although I think they have changed members over the years

hey can someone who reads this thread recommend some music that sounds like omar souleyman's "atabat" in terms of structure, tempo, duration? instrumentation and singing not as important as general groove/feel although i do like the vocals on this song. doesn't need to be new.
THANK YOU

so you don't have to look it up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESh_qPZFLiI

am i lame for immediately thinking of khusara khusara?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo5ghdwYR0w

this song is good but it is maybe too fast? any other ideas?
even being pointed in the direction of keywords to google to find it myself would be helpful. is there a name for this type of song?

try "dabke"

thanks! that means a particular type of dance song iirc? i went to a lebanese wedding with what felt like multiple hours of circular dancing. there was a live band and everything. it was really fun.

He specializes in Syrian wedding songs, although based on my Youtube viewing "dabke" ones are faster than the song you liked. Maybe dabke also includes slower ones. In one interview with him I read an introduction that said he did dabke and other types of Syrian folk songs at weddings.

my (limited) experience with turks/egyptians/syrians who are music heads is that they don't take Souleyman seriously and find his western indie popularity very amusing. one guy informed me "this is music for taxi drivers, not hipsters"

Meanwhile, non-Ethiopians are going to Ethiopia in seek of old Ethiopian vinyl and driving prices up:

After exploring for sometime, we found reliable contacts. This one vinyl record retailer was telling us that he only had 70 records left after a clean up from a regular foreign collector. On top of that, the price of a vinyl record in Birr [Ethiopian currency] has rocketed. The suppliers were sitting on a goldmine with foreign buyers who will pay any price for African vinyl records. “They want them, there is a high demand for East African music. That’s all they keep asking for and they’ll pay any price,” the supplier said, with a nonchalant attitude, arms crossed across his chest.

link is over on the Ethiopiques thread

at the risk of spamming the board, here's the lineup of pertinent shows at NYC's SummerStage for the upcoming season:

FREE SHOWS featuring (in alphabetical order) ANGELIQUE KIDJO, BOMBINO, BUNJI GARLAN, CESÁRIA ÉVORA ORCHESTRA, DIEGO GARCIA, DJ GILLES PETERSON, EBONY HILLBILLIES, EMMANUEL JAL, FANTASTIC NEGRITO, GYPTIAN, HELADO NEGRO, IBEYI, LA IAIA, MAXI PRIEST, MAYRA ANDRADE, NAÇÃO ZUMBI, NATION BEAT, NOT TE VA GUSTAR, OQUES GRASSES, SYSTEMA SOLAR, VICENTICO, YIDDISH SOUL, and many more

• Sunday June 7 - Central Park - 3pm - Angelique Kidjo + Emmanuel Jal + Rich Medina
• Sunday June 14 - Betsy Head Park, BK - 4pm - Brooklyn Family Day with Martha Redbone + Ebony Hillbillies
• Tuesday June 16 - Central Park - 7pm - Yiddish Soul featuring Cantorial and Chassidic virtuosos
• Saturday June 20 - Central Park -7pm - Jungle + Ibeyi
• Saturday June 27 - Central Park - 3pm - VP Records 35th Anniversary with Maxi Priest + Gyptian + Bunji Garlin and Fay Ann Lyons + Massive B (Bobby Konders and Jabba)
• Sunday June 28 - Central Park - 3pm - Catalan Sounds On Tour with Oques Grasses + La Iaia + Silvia Perez Cruz + DJ Guillamino
• Sunday July 5 - Central Park - 3pm - Global Family Day with Shine and The Moonbeams + The Noel Pointer Youth Orchestra + The Red Trouser Show + Batoto Yetu + Ziporah Roney and Collaborative Artists
• Wednesday July 8 - Central Park - 6pm - LAMC presents Systema Solar + Compass + Helado Negro
• Thursday July 9 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 7pm - Cano Estremera
• Saturday July 11 - Central Park - 3pm - LAMC presents Vicentico + Ximena Sariñana + No Te Va Gustar
• Sunday July 12 - Central Park - 3pm - Cesária Évora Orchestra + Mayra Andrade + Dino D'Santiago
• Sunday July 12 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 7pm - Gerardo Contino y Los Habeneros + Film Screening: Celia - The Queen (2008)
• Sunday July 19 - Central Park - 7pm - Jorge Drexler + Diego Garcia + Danay Suarez
• Saturday July 25 - Highbridge Park, MN - 7pm - Jose Peña Suazo y La Banda Gorda
• Saturday July 25 - Central Park - 3pm - Bombino + Young Fathers + Fantastic Negrito
• Sunday August 2 - Central Park - 3pm - Brasil Summerfest with Nação Zumbi + Nation Beat’s Carnival Caravan with Cha Wa + DJ Vinil Pompéia
• Saturday August 8 - Central Park - 6pm - SummerStage 30th Anniversary DJ Celebration with Afrika Bambaataa + Gilles Peterson + Quantic

Bombino is great

i think matching Bombino with Young Fathers (who are also great) is inspired; Fantastic Negrito sounds cool on tape and i'm curious to see him live.

I would love to see Nação Zumbi. I actually like their post-Chico Science stuff better (especially Futura).

they haven't been in new york in over a decade i think; pretty hyped there.

http://www.afropop.org/22465/let-creativity-take-over-the-very-bests-johan-karlberg-on-their-new-album/

recorded in rural Malawi. But the Mumford mention scares me

http://thequietus.com/articles/17619-tal-national-new-album

Read some press thing somewhere that the new Tal National was more traditional, but it sounds pretty energetic and rocking and speedy to me(not that traditional music can't do that but you know...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/movies/dont-think-ive-forgotten-a-documentary-revives-cambodias-silenced-sounds.html?hpw&rref=movies&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

Cambodian garage rock in movie with chilling tales of Khmer Rouge

i got tix for the live show at City winery; there's another in jersey city i'll likely go to as well with Chhom nimal who is always great
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1375644

Can you get them to add a DC show?

lol, i have nothing to do with this one; just going as a fan

this tal national album is rollicking!

Really liking this: African-Scandinavian folk-jazz, with mostly female solo vocals (and a few occasional guests), mbira and acoustic bass pretty much the constants, times effective varieties of reeds and percussion. More shading and intrigue in the second half, like she's leading us further in---To Be Continued.
Distributes by Worldisc/AKA worldmusic.net
Press sheet:

Monoswezi "Monoswezi Yanga"
Riverboat Records
May 26, 2015

Monoswezi weave traditional African songs and instruments with cool Scandinavian jazz. Zimbabwean mbira and vocals are enriched with Mozambican percussion and embellished with Nordic sax and sympathetic rhythm section.

Monoswezi bind themselves together on Monoswezi Yanga , gently singing reworked folk songs and whispering vivid tales. Hope Masike’s dulcet tones guide the album. She assumes the role of storyteller, underpinned by smooth unobtrusive accompaniment. As listeners we are invited to gather round, to sit at her feet soaking up the illuminated myths and legends of her childhood.

Monoswezi Yanga is the group’s second album on Riverboat Records, following the critically acclaimed 2013 release The Village . The recording took place at bass player Putte Johander’s home studio on the Koster Islands in Sweden. The islands are remote and free from cars; the native silence is punctuated by the sound of surrounding waters lapping against rocky coastlines. As the cosmopolitan band live across three countries (Norway, Sweden and Zimbabwe), meeting up in full is a treasured but rare occasion. Studio time is precious and experimentation the order of the day.

Often tracks are laid down in one take and then post-produced by the Scandinavian-living members Hallvard, Erik, Calu and Putte. Mixes are then bounced across the globe to Hope who contributes feedback from her home in Zimbabwe. Though unconventional, this working method imprints their music with a beautifully loose and open aesthetic. The music is not over-thought or preened to pretension. The music is fluid,
organic, and free.

The name Monoswezi is an amalgam of the four nationalities represented in their line-up – Mozambique (Mo), Norway (No), Sweden (Swe), Zimbabwe (Zi) – and the influence from each culture is audible. Hallvard’s Scandi-jazz saxophone approach is round of tone and melodically minimal. The role of the Zimbabwean mbira is paramount to Monoswezi’s style. Hope raises the flag for female mbira players everywhere, unlocking rhythmic routes through the sound on every track. Monoswezi Yanga also experiments with the use of a bass mbira as heard resounding low on last track ‘Nhetembo’. The result is entrancing: a slowly revolving, other-worldly fantasia for mbira .

A reading of the lyrics reveals a rich tapestry of traditional Zimbabwean folk songs and stories. ‘Matatya’ is a plea for a new lover from a young girl tired of ‘kissing frogs’. ‘Lobola’ and ‘Wadadisa’ are songs to celebrate marriage. ‘Dande’ is a prayer asking for protection over family and friends. ‘Mhondoro’ is a cautionary tale, imploring listeners to care for their environment. Each one is reshaped, performed anew and given a unique Monoswezi slant. Hallvard commented that often during the compositional process, he won’t be working with prior knowledge of the folk song in its original form, whereas Hope will have grown up with the tune and lyrics moulded into her musical consciousness. This difference in approach means the creative process can spin off in new uncharted directions uninhibited by a sense of what’s right or appropriate to the original.
The tracks ‘Povo m’povo’ and ‘Nhetembo’ are about fighting for what’s yours and an mbira is used to symbolically illustrate the tale: it is stolen in the first track and returned at the close of the album providing a satisfying symmetry to the work.
Haven't seen the booklet yet, so don't know if the lyrics are translated, but the vibe is vivid.

xpost Speaking of Nacao Zumbi:

Damn, the s/t Nacao Zumbi is really impressive. Only thing (currently) keeping it off my P&J Albums list: the male lead vocalist seems a little too reserved, though if I were Lusophone, might well not think so (my ignorance doesn't keep me as far from xpost Jucara or especially Noura, though). Guest Marisa Monte/s sole guest appearance draws him out, but mainly can't help wishing NZ would hitch themselves to another front person (not "another" Chico Science, can't ask that much). Gotta find room for one of these tracks among my P&J Singles...

― dow, Friday, December 19, 2014 10:18 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The way they use assertive noise, nuanced melodies, tight,flexible mix of rhythms & beats---all seems like, "Of course we do this, now this is what we have to say," but I haven't quite caught enough of the last yet, given limited P&J openings---for my Outernational Top Ten, OHellYes.

― dow, Friday, December 19, 2014 10:26 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I did get a track from this into my P&J singles.

Woah, Monoswezi is from right around where I live! I'd never heard of them, but _The Village_ is on Spotify and sounds good.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/04/09/tal-national-brings-joyous-blend-beats-from-niger/jgNqGU5BtVlQjufym7rWXN/story.html

The band of 14 is in such demand, in fact, that it has two musicians for each spot. While one seven-member Tal National lineup is doing the current North American tour, an equally proficient and feisty crew is back home doing weddings and other gigs.

"We have so many requests that we have to double up,” Almeida says. “People wouldn’t understand why we’re unavailable. And we have to leave something at home because it’s our source. It’s an umbilical cord between us and the Niger public.”

aw

Tal National album is really fun, almost Balearic kind of

They get those dance rhythms going

Changing gears--- there's another acapella release from Syrian church members that Jason H., a former DC rock band member, recorded earlier this century there, before the civil war started. This one is from an Armenian church in Aleppo, but it reminds me a bit of some Jewish cantors I have heard davening mournfully during high holy days

Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chanting from Aleppo featuring Rev.Yeznig Zegchanian (Syria) ECR714 12" LP, possible cd & mp3
Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chanting from Aleppo, is the 2nd release in the critically acclaimed “Sacred Voices of Syria” series. Forty Martyrs is being released in connection with the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Holocaust. It’s a beautiful album of sacred chanting and haunting melodies recorded in 2010 by Jason Hamacher in the sanctuary of the 600-year-old Forty Martyrs Church in Aleppo, Syria, one of the world's oldest cities

think this album comes out next week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOSC1IQ0EI

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/17/konono-no-1-founder-mingiedi-mawangu-dies-aged-85

RIP

Great band and guy. Glad he got some some international success.

So Pitchfork has a new person who has reviewed a couple of international releases. She liked Tal National, but it just got 7.2.

I'm gonna go see them tonight. Last night I saw Fatoumata Diawara and band. Wow, they were great. She is so charismatic. Plus she can sing, dance and play electric guitar (and she used to be an actress). Good band with her---An Asian-American guitarist who played Congolese, malian and psych funk riffs; a Congolese bassist who finger plucked Congolese and reggae dub bass rythms and a Nigerian drummer. In her own way she is kind of an artsy diva who should get Bjork like attention, rather than be simply referred to as "world music."

Fatoumata is super gorgeous and has so much good energy; i agree that she should be a massive crossover sensation but she's not singing in english (though she speaks it utterly fluently) and that seems to be utterly necessary to break out of the 'world' ghetto

Saw Tal National last night before a small enthusiastic crowd. Less of Fatoumata's musical range, just aggressive rocking West African guitar, bass, talking drum, and drum set. Plus a male vocalist and female vocalist dancer. Energetic, wild set. Trap set drummer broke his sticks cuz he was slammin so hard. It almost sounded like raw newschool DC bouncebeat go-go at one point. Plus, not sure how to say this without someone reading it as sexist, but it was night two of the sisterhood of the wiggling butts. Impressive African butt and hip & belly dancing. Some guys onstage both nights shakin, but not as impressively.

Seeing music live and loud with the visuals and with some audience members shouting out phrases to the artists in various languages, and others throwing money onstage at the performers, enhances my appreciation of it. That Tal National gig was no cliched Putumayo world music gig for out of touch old farts.

But yeah, if one's not singing in English than its just "boutique" "niche" music to many English speakers, no matter how popular it is at home or how accessible it feels musically to core devoted others.

I like the new The Very Best album, mostly. Afropop that Vampire Weekend fans could/should like

More coverage of that Cambodian music and more movie

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/the-nearly-lost-story-of-cambodian-rock-n-roll/

Also just realized from the link that it will be showing for 1 night only with an after concert in suburban dc at that AFI in MD on 4-29

going tonight; pretty hyped.
Gilberto Gil last night was wonderful; playful and in excellent voice. all three of his backing musicians were his sons.

I am seeing Gil tonight. I think one of his sons backed Gil the last time I saw him just a few years ago (on a tour where I think he skipped NY for some reason). I know a picky jazz dj/critic who grumbled to me that Gil's voice is not as great as it once was. I thought it was and still is pretty good.

he was doing all kindsa wacky falsetto stuff and call and response. he sounded good to me.

Not sure all of the backing musicians were his sons. NY Times referred to the guitarist /percussion as his son Bem, and listed the others as the drummer Domenico Lancellotti, the accordionist and percussionist Mestrinho.

DC show was nice, and different than the previous times I saw him. More laidback and mellow than when I saw him in 2010 and 2012 (more call and response with the audience at those gigs, and more folks up dancing). I liked the band's percussive additions on certain songs--a plate, triangle, various shakers. Gil's voice still has range and he did the wacky stuff just enough to keep things interesting, but not too often as to become annoying.

yeah, he referred to them as "all of my sons" but he may well not have been serious. The electronics and somewhat more outre tropicalia motifs worked for me. Glad you caught a good show too.

The Cambodian review was excellent; those guys can play! Chhom is an amazing vocalist and Sissamouth's grandson is a heckuva crooner.

Ah, I see (regarding Gil' sons). Was any of the Cambodian review surf-rock feeling? Or more pop-croon style?

little of both, with a heavier dose of crooner material. The lead guitarist was ripping shit up.

fyi the new bassekou kouyate & ngoni ba album - ba power - is now on spotify

Need to check it out. The below from a London Evening Standard review that popped up in google has me a bit apprehensive, despite the reassurance. Will decide for myself later

But despite some American guests and Robert Plant’s drummer Dave Smith, this album remains distinctly Malian in character.

Jon Hassell's on it too

Mixed review of the Cambodian rock concert, but good contextualizing. I've been amazed by some of the Cambodian and other Southeast Asian rock etc compilations on Sublime Frequencies, also Subliminal Sounds' Thai Beat A-Go-Go series Vols. 2 & 3 have most of the good tracks, but Vol. 1 has most of the great tracks). Fascinating to hear overly familiar elements reheard and refreshed in other 60s zones.

By Jim Fusilli
April 27, 2015 5:46 p.m. ET

New York

It was a bittersweet concert, but how could it be otherwise? Veteran Cambodian musicians were celebrating unexpected recognition—in the form of the new documentary “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll”—but were shadowed, as always, by enormous loss. When brothers Mol Kagnol and Mol Kamach of the guitar band Baksey Cham Krong took the stage on Friday night at City Winery here, they were likely to remember at least 20 family members, including their musician brothers, who had been executed or left to die some four decades ago by the Communist mass murderers known as the Khmer Rouge.

Directed by John Pirozzi, “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten” focuses on the vital music scene in Phnom Penh, the country’s cosmopolitan capital in the years following Cambodian independence from France in late 1953 until the Khmer Rouge’s arrival in 1975. The music drew on Western influences without ever stooping to pure imitation. Sinn Sisamouth, considered the country’s greatest singer and songwriter, moved away from crooning with an orchestra at his back to embrace rock instrumentation. Meanwhile, Baksey Cham Krong was playing guitar-based surf rock, with Mol Kagnol reflecting the inspiration of Dick Dale, Hank Marvin of the Shadows, Bob Bogle of the Ventures and others. “I had a nickname,” he said with a modest smile during a conversation before the show: “The Hank Marvin of Cambodia.”

By 1965, the U.S. military was in Vietnam, with troops stationed near the Cambodian border. Musicians in Phnom Penh, some of whom learned of Western music via records brought in from Paris, now heard American rock, blues, soul and pop via a branch of Armed Forces Radio. Superstars emerged: Ros Serey Sothea, who Cambodia’s ruler, Norodom Sihanouk, called “the golden voice of the royal capital”; the provocative Pen Ran; and Yol Aularong, a hard-rocking protest singer, among them.

All three, along with Sinn Sisamouth, were executed or left to die by the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodian genocide that, among other atrocities, sought to eliminate artistic and cultural progressives in an effort to de-Westernize the nation. It is estimated that some 1.7 million people, or about 21% of the population, were killed by the followers of the Communist regime, which fell in 1979. Baksey Cham Krong’s Mol Kamach escaped to Paris via Vietnam; his younger brother Kagnol was stationed in Texas, a member of Cambodia’s Air Force.

Mr. Pirozzi first visited Cambodia while working on “City of Ghosts,” a 2003 film directed by Matt Dillon. When he returned to the States, a friend sent him a compilation album of Cambodian rock music. Doubly inspired, he set to work on what became “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten.” (For a schedule of screenings across the U.S., visit www.dtifcambodia.com.) He contends the country’s music scene was special—a vital force in a rapidly changing nation—and is proved correct by the film and the soundtrack album, which includes instructive liner notes. Though the film succeeds in keeping the focus on the music and musicians, horror becomes reality as the conflict in Vietnam crosses the Cambodian border. Memories linger of the film’s harrowing images, made more poignant by the joy they displace: a man running with a rifle in one hand, an electric guitar in the other; Phnom Penh as a ghost town with record shops destroyed and instruments abandoned; and musicians who had been severed from family, friends and the rewards of earlier achievements now subordinate to a corrupt political creed.

At the concert here, a spirit of resilience was an unspoken undercurrent, but earlier in the day, the Mol brothers addressed the meaning of the event: They were reuniting through music. “I was moved to tears when I saw my brother and heard his guitar,” said Mol Kamach. “When Kagnol was in the States and I was in France, for me it was like missing an arm.” They remembered their brother Samel, who wrote their top hits before dying at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

With fellow original member Samley Hong, the surviving musicians of Baksey Cham Krong played a few of its hits, with Kagnol Mol’s twangy guitar as the centerpiece. But the house band was tentative in its support and the hybrid music failed to coalesce. In a tuxedo and bow tie, Sinn Sethakol sang his grandfather’s hits with a starched formality that was somehow charming. The music came to life when Chhom Nimol of the Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever delivered hits by the remarkable Ros and the fiery Pen, and Touch Seang Tana, a surviving member of the late ’60s Cambodian hard-rock proponents Drakkar, performed its tunes with something close to abandon. With Ms. Chhom and Mr. Touch out front, the music, at least temporarily, superseded dark memories and paid bright homage to the ghosts who inhabit Cambodia’s soul.

Mr. Fusilli is the Journal’s rock and pop music critic. Email him at jfusilli at wsj.com and follow him on Twitter @wsjrock.

x-post-- some good cuts on the new Bassekou Kouyate album

https://read.atavist.com/the-desert-blues

Will read that long and likely sad story later.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/arts/music/review-electronic-africa-pushes-dance-rhythms-to-a-breakneck-speed.html?ref=arts&_r=0

South African electronic music that might be better for the afropop club thread, but since it is described as having some roots, will link to it here

i want to hear this badly:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/07/fatoumata-diawara-roberto-fonseca-at-home-review

Not that it will be as good, but I think there are some videos on Youtube of Diawara and Fonseca together. Forks and I are big fans of her, as noted upthread.

yuppers, would imagine she'll drop a jazz album afore too long

Nigeria's Lagbaja who always wears a mask is touring the US now with his band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPytmuhYDAU

He's got a Latino influenced cut too where he's in NYC riding a bike. Crazy ....

The very best US tour just announced. I grabbed Philly tickets

They were fun live the last time (or 2) that I saw them. DC show for June 10th announced

Lagbaja, from Nigeria whose video I posted above (and who has some more trad Fela like tracks) will be in DC May 17th

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/arts/music/review-feedel-band-and-the-libyans-african-sounds-at-the-global-beat-festival.html?ref=music

I take the DC-based Ethiopian Feedel Band for granted, and haven't seen em live in awhile. They just impressed Jon Pareles in the NY Times, who liked them on a doublebill in NYC with a group called the Libyans, who do Jewish middle-eastern music.

http://www.afropop.org/22673/the-making-of-tuareg-purple-rain/

Movie

I'm busy watching Lagbaja videos on Youtube this morning. This masked Nigerian offers more than just Fela-influenced afrobeat, he adds some tropical pop flavors (I hear little bits of Kid Creole & the Coconuts plus caribbean stylings), Nollywood influences in some videos, and funny self-deprecating touches in songs about relationship gone wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtdLxYfFI1Q

The above cut is more trad; but check out "Bling Bling Panda" and "Did I" on Youtube for the Afro-Latino tropical pop influences. He's in Atlanta, tonight Sunday; NYC at BB Kings next Saturday May 16; and in DC at the Howard Sunday May 17

http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/danbe

Thanks.

Orchestra Omar have an excellent s/t album out. They are a middle eastern guitar band with members from Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt and have a rhythmic-psyche type sound with subtly Arabic influences. The band name is a homage to late Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorsid. It is really good shit.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/11/mbongwana-star-from-kinshasa-exclusive-album-stream (nerdy admission- i've been playing a video game recently where i named the main character Kinshasa)

Oh, former Staff Benda Bilili guys. Cool.

That Orchestra Omar looks good too

Looking forward to seeing Kayhan Kalhor with a percussionist Saturday night (Iranian/Persian musician from Ghazal); and the masked Nigerian Lagbaja and his band Sunday night

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/14/souad-massi-i-believe-in-people-fighting-for-freedom-isis

I remember her. Interesting interview.

Do you Kizomba?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RmCWuYS2Ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_JsjGhJsQ

Lusophone R&B from Angola.

Glitchy Arabesque is the best Arabesque

awal Jamar - Soap&Skin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTEGRiiccIU

Er, that's Soap&Skin's cover of "Mawal Jamar", original by Omar Souleyman.

love it - much different than anything else i've ever heard them do. it's a good sound for them.

Do you Kizomba? Lusophone R&B from Angola.

I follow on Facebook a guy near me who does kizomba dance lessons and events, but the wife and I have yet to go take them

Nice weekend of live sounds with Kayhan Kalhor with a percussionist Saturday night (Iranian/Persian musician from Ghazal)before a largely Iranian American crowd; and the masked Nigerian Lagbaja and his band Sunday night (almost like a birka but with colors and designs on the head portion) before a mostly Nigerian crowd at the Howard Theatre.

Kalhor & his tabla player did an alternatingly intense and zen-like hour and a few minutes gig while Lagbaja and his band did a loose 2 hour gig with some tightly played afrobeat, some sappy calypso influenced pop (done often duet style with a strong-voiced female singer), and a backing music segment for female members from the audience to come onstage and shake their backsides. Lagbaja talked a lot to the crowd in Yoruba and English, plus engaged in lots of call and response with the crowd who knew his songs better than I do

Mbongwana Star summer Europe tour dates...They have more fests that Afropop baands can get gigs at than the US does, it appears

TOUR DATES

Wed 20 May / La Rodia / Besancon / FR
Fri 22 May / Festival Musiques Metisses / Angouleme / FR
Sat 23 May / Festival Music Meeting / Nijmegen / NL
Mon 25 May / Cabaret Sauvage / Paris / FR
Fri 29 May / Afro Ruhr Festival / Dortmund / DE
Tue 2 June / Cafe OTO / London / UK
Fri 5 June / Rich Mix / London / UK
Thu 4 July / Africa Festival / Hertme / NL
Fri 5 July / Roots Festival / Amsterdam / NL
Wed 10 July / Crossroads Festival / Krakow / PL
Thu 11 July / World Meyouzik Festival / Luxembourg / LU
Sat 25 July / WOMAD UK / Charlton Park / UK

http://www.okayafrica.com/news/sauti-sol-north-american-concerts/

From Kenya

Apologies for posting something from '14 but I don't recall seeing this Haitian band on last years thread and their Konpa Lakay album is brilliant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8suLVf4wX8

Thanks, I know some Haitian bands but Boulpik. I see the band's leader has been playing in various groups for years.

His thirty-four year career means that Franckel Sifranc is one of Port-au-Prince’s most senior troubadours. He has no doubts about his status: “I’m the father - or rather the grandfather - of all the troubadour groups in the capital.

http://www.lusafrica.com/30_2.cfm?i=142-boulpik-kompa-lakay-world-music-lusafrica

That should say but NOT Boulpik.

Back to African music--

NPR's website had a piece on 4 African albums, including one from Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara performing with Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca (whose live gigs and youtube videos together we discussed above). The piece also mentions Ben Masekese (Zomba Prison Project)(whom I don't know) plus Tal National (discussed above) and Mbongwana Star (mentioned above). Sound samples on webpage I think.

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/17/406168715/from-four-different-corners-of-africa-four-bold-new-albums

this is wild:
http://jewishmorocco.blogspot.com/2015/05/mediterranean-musical-trajectories.html

Still need to listen to that. Was listening to the bouncy, happy afro-gospel sound of Vumomse from the Cameroon. They have tracks on Spotify btw.

http://www.gallery.oldbookart.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=13656&g2_serialNumber=3

best new world mid-2015

Hama - Torodi (sahelsounds, Niger)
Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile (Transgressive, Mali)
Baba Commandant & the Mandingo Band - Juguya (Sublime Frequencies, Burkina Faso)
Fadimoutou Wallet Inamoud - Isswat (sahelsounds, Azaward/Mali)
The Very Best - Makes a King (moshi moshi, Mali)
Blick Bassy - Akö No Format, Cameroon)
Tal National - Zoy Zoy fatcat records, Niger)
Monoswezi - Monoswezi Yanga Riverboat, Mozambique/Norway/Sweden/Zimbabwe)
The Master Musicians of Joujouka - Into the Ahl Srif Ergot Records, Morocco)
Dele Sosimi - You No Fit Touch Am kudos records, Nigeria)

best old world mid-2015

Osayomore Joseph - Waka Waka (Emotan Records, Edo State, Nigeria, 1982)
Francis the Great - Ravissante Baby (Hot Casa, Cameroon/Paris, 1977)
Ndikho Xaba and the Natives - Ndikho Xaba and the Natives (Matsuli, South Africa/US, 1971)
Ata Kak - Obaa Sima
E.T. Mensah & the Tempos - King of Highlife: Anthology (Sterns, Ghana)
VA - Next Stop Soweto 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco & Mbaqanga 1975-1985 (strut, South Africa)
VA - Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings from London & Lagos 1954-66 (Soundway)
VA - Near Eastern Music in NYC from the Metropolitan-Kaliphon-Balkan Labels, 1940s-50s, Vol. 3: Bulgarian, Greek, Jewish & Turkish Performers (Canary Records)
VA - Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll (Dust to Digital, Cambodia, 50s-70s)
Amanaz - Africa (Now Again, 1975)

* in no particular order, top 10 of each, tried to link each one to an opportunity to listen to the album either on spotify, band camp, youtube, soundcloud, etc. did not include Insanlar - Kime Ne even tho year of impact for me is 2015 bc it's only one track, but it might be the best thing i've heard this year

Oops, didn't close all the parentheses - also forgot, Ata Kaka - Obaa Sima (Awesome Tapes from Africa, Ghana, 1994)

Also, the Very Best are a Malawian-Swedish collaboration not Malian. I like them and Tal national alot, still need to listen more to the others.

Just finally saw the movie --Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll. Beautifully done and often heart-breakingly sad. I wish i had seen the musicians when they were here

Ahmed Mukhtar, master oud player from Iraq (currently a London exile as you can see from the very tasteful vid!), from the Babylonian Fingers album which has become my favourite music to cook to whilst downing all the wine recently. It doesn't reveal all it's majesty on a first listen and is not perfect, but it still shines brightly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJE3zJ4whQs

I like oud playing too.

However, I am getting burnt out on another style---afrobeat. Am listening to the Dele Sosimi album, that Mordy has in his top 10. I see that Sosimi was a keyboardist and music director for Fela and Femi, and was in a band with Tony Allen too. He's great at that style, it just doesn't feel like he is doing anything new with it.

Listening to another Blick Bassy album, Hongo Calling. Nice, mellow Cameroon meets Brazil with suave soulful vocals.

yes, i love the blick bassy. very chill-out sounding music. i hear u re sosimi - it's a throwback afrobeat album really. which i have at least one slot for at a given time ya know.

Will check out more albums on your list shortly

This is interesting and has some excellent traditional Bosnian music:

http://balkanist.net/queering-sevdah-with-bozo-vreco/

Monoswezi off of Mordy's list has a relaxed yet rhythmic southern African feel

this is a track from the new blick bassy that i dig

Metá Metá (Juçara Marçal et al.) goes well into the skronk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4th2tnm0Lw

Every couple of decades Western trance artists seem to rediscover Moroccan Gnaoua. Maalem Mahmoud Guinia has an EP Marhaba with collaborations with Floating Points and James Holden. TBH too reverential, and not a patch on the the now classic Barraka El Farnatshi releases in a similar vein.

Maalem Mahmoud Guinia & Floating Points - Mimoun Marhaba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLGPV3KNU6M

Songhoy Blues left Mali and relocated to London where they recorded their new album.

Been listening a bit to this one off of Mordy's list. OK so far, but need to listen more to their take on the Sahel Tuareg/Tamashek northern Mali sound some more.

x-post-- Here's a recent article about Morocco's Gnawa Fest and its symbolism now as Isis is destroying musical instruments not far away

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32929974

Thought I would be wowed by every song on VA - Next Stop Soweto 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco & Mbaqanga 1975-1985 but was "only" impressed with most of it, on first listen

seeing the very best tnite. very excited :D

small crowd, amazing show

Too bad for the small crowd, glad you liked them. They're in DC tonight. I might have to miss 'em sadly (but have seen them before )

Since they are not based in Malawi and have a hybrid sound that has not been marketed there, they don't have a huge African following, and since they are only sorta popular with the Pitchfork crowd, that leaves their audience a bit small

songhoy blues was supposed to play world cafe tnite but cancelled for some reason :(

loving this nozinja album lately

That Songhoy Blues album is so ace, it has some of the best guitar playing since that last Tinariwen album.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/08/amina-yahya-yemens-first-female-rapper-i-will-find-a-way-i-will-shine

i know nothing about cypriot music (or really cyprus except for its role for jewish refugees during ww2 and its current occupation by turkey) but this album of cypriot folk music is lovely + jaunty:
http://worldmusiccentral.org/2015/06/19/seasoned-cypriot-folk-music/

I have posted on the King Sunny Ade thread that the beginning of his US tour has been cancelled (shows out West and in the south) because getting visas has taken too long, but a DC promoter is saying that the June 27th show is still on, so hopefully others will be as well. The Nigerian king of juju and his big band put a good show(over the years saw him do an all-night gig; a 3 hour one; and a 2 hour one)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/africa/thione-ballago-secks-arrest-at-odds-with-religious-image-in-senegal.html?ref=arts

Sad that this great singer got involved with fraud

https://whatimg.com/i/4NTIzd.jpg

Amara Toure - Amara Touré (1973 - 1980) (2015)
Label: Analog Africa
Genre: Afrique
Duration: 63:23

01. N'nijo (5:58)
02. Temedy (4:18)
03. Lamento Cubano (5:45)
04. Cuando Llegaré (4:25)
05. Fatou (4:52)
06. N'ga Digne M'be (5:04)
07. Salamouti (9:07)
08. Afalago (8:21)
09. Tela (8:07)
10. Africa (7:26)

The whole King Sunny Ade tour is cancelled because they couldn't get the visas approved in time

he's not alone; i don't think ANYONE is getting visas right now
http://www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/news/technological-systems-issue.html

Just been blasting out that Nozinja album and it is crazy fun!

The Amara Toure thing is the best album I've heard this year

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/28/417462792/in-a-kenyan-village-a-65-year-old-recording-comes-home

Wow, what a story. The ending is something. I will not quote it yet, for those who haven't read it.

Peruvian Amazonian chicha meets cumbia meets surf-rock group Los Wemblers were great for free this weekend at the Smithsonian Folklife festival on the national mall. I saw 'em twice. A fun dance band. On July 3rd they are playing a free 1 hour gig on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. That show will be streamed ive on the K. Ct. webpage and video archived. They are gonna do a NYC show on July 9th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn

6 to 7 US Eastern time on July 3rd for Los Wemblers at Kennedy Center

Heard a radio story about State Department tech issues that prevented many many many folks including King Sunny Ade and his band from getting visas. They are gradually working on the backlog now. Hopefully KSA & company can reschedule the tour

http://cdn.discogs.com/TqW8jxON8TTYoELhDEf4Zfhwgrg=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(96)/discogs-images/R-7148956-1434817291-1928.jpeg.jpg

This is a quick, mid-year reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a handful of album selections from each listed) are being posted as updated to the thread-specific Spotify playlist. I just did a top-to-bottom sweep prior to posting this message and have updated as of today with everything that's been added on Spotify since it was first mentioned.

I had been slacking on this thread and made up for it now; adding lots of comp material and generally expanding the options for each artist. It's over nine hours of music now and lots to explore.... even without dust to digital or sublime frequencies availability.

ILX's Rolling Global / Outernational 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

no sahel sounds on spotify either but they're all on bandcamp, and they are have 2 newish excellent albums out: https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com

I have been dancing to and having fun watching Peruvian Amazonian cumbia band Los Wembler's de Iquitos for free at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest. They are also playing Brooklyn July 9th. Their guitarist incorporates surf-rock licks in their sound and they helped inspire chicha music and have been linked to that

this sounds great
https://soundcloud.com/dusttodigital/sets/folksongs-of-another-america

i saw the announcement about this earlier this week but i didn't see the soundcloud!
i bet the book is gonna be enjoyable too

wonderful tape:
http://www.awesometapes.com/bitsat-seyoum-abebe-fekadu/

Afropop Worldwide guide For New Yorkers: It’s getting to be the crazy-busy concert scene here.

Some faves: Bassekou Kouyate, Thurs. July 9 at MetroTech; LAMC comes to Celebrate Brooklyn! on Fri. July 10 with Kinky/Astro/Autenticos Decadentes; zouk megastars Kassav' play Terminal 5 on July 11; it’s a Cape Verde extravaganza at SummerStage on Sun., July 12 with the Cesaria Evora Orchestra and Mayra Andrade; Vieux Farka Toure and Tamikrest at Celebrate Brooklyn! on July 16. And be sure to catch Nacão Zumbi of Chico Science fame at SummerStage on Aug. 2.

bassekou tonight will be dope.
LAMC is also at SummerStage saturday with Ximena Sariñana and Vincentico

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Samba - Download Promo

Rough Guide To Psychedelic Samba
Release Date: 28 August 2015
Cat No: RGNET1331CD
Barcode: 605633133127
Format: CD & Digital Download

Chameleon-like Brazilian samba absorbed psychedelic influences from the 1960s onwards. From original innovators such as Ney Matogrosso (featured here with Vitor Ramil) and Wal Sant’ana, to modern innovators Gui Amabis and Luciano Salvador, dig those spaced out Psychedelic Samba grooves!

In much the same way that the blues have informed so much Euro-American popular music in the last century, so too has the comparatively rough-and-ready but chameleon-like 2/4 tempo of samba, which has leaked into everything Brazilian from funk, jazz and soul to hip-hop, indie rock, folk and psychedelic rock. This compilation takes psychedelia as a starting-point, without being too purist about the 2/4 bit.

Two Brazilian household names appear. The first, Ney Matogrosso, whose gender-defying voice and stage outfits were scandalous in macho 1970s Brazil. As a founder member of Secos E Molhados, one of Brazil’s truly great psych-rock bands. Here he’s a guest of Vitor Ramil, surely the finest Brazilian singer-songwriter that almost no-one’s ever heard of. Then comes Marcos Valle, who needs little introduction for even the novice Brazilian music fan. Valle’s half-century of music-making has encompassed everything from deep jazz to TV commercials, so it’s no surprise to hear him master the psychedelic samba style with such characteristic aplomb.

From Rio de Janiero, Iuri Andrade has effected a near-perfect combination of the best of psychedelic atmosphere with samba rhythm on ‘Folia No Vento’.

Samba-rock had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, but the obscure, highly collectable and only 7” by Wal Sant’ana from 1973 added mescaline to the mix.

From Minas Gerais, Graveola’s wispy close harmonies seem influenced by Mineiro church-choral tradition as much as by The Mamas And The Papas, whilst altogether more intense psychedelic samba-choro is provided by Metá Metá. Sexy Fi and Binario are both signings from the UK’s venerable and venerated Brazil-beat label Far Out, whilst back in Bahia we have a home-run of three heavy-duty Bahia Bass dancefloor cuts with a psych-samba-reggae undertow- Ba_Co, Poeta De Aço and BaianaSystem frontman Russo Passapusso.

Gui Amabis turns in the unsettling and Pink Floyd-esque ‘Trabalhos Carnivoros’ from his 2012 album of the same name and finally, to show that the North Americans can do it too, Washington D.C.’s only 1960s Tropicália-inspired, Alma Tropicália, weigh in with Irene.

Track List

01 Wal Sant’ana: Que Vida É Essa 02:45
02 Graveola: Canina Intuição 04:50
03 Alma Tropicália: Irene 03:01
04 Amabis: Trabalhos Carnívoros 03:56
05 Russo Passapusso: Matuto (Dutty Artz Mix) 02:30
06 Metá Metá: São Jorge 03:33
07 Vitor Ramil Feat. Ney Matogrosso: Que Horas Não São? 03:50
08 Sexy Fi : Loro On Loro 04:46
09 Iuri Andrade: Folia No Vento 04:08
10 Zulumbi: Bumaye 03:02
11 Ba_Co: Paraguaçu 03:14
12 Binario: Tarde Demais 05:08
13 Luciano Salvador Bahia & Ava Rocha: Não Precisa 05:20
14 Marcos Valle: Vamos Sambar 03:46
15 Poeta De Aço: Desiliga A Rede 04:56

Total Playing Time: 59:19

Tracks from this and other Rough Guides:
https://soundcloud.com/world-music-network/

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia - Download Promo

Release Date: 31 July 2015
Cat No: RGNET1337CD
Barcode: 605633133721
Format: CD & Digital Download

In the late 1960s cumbia was reborn psychedelic. This surf guitar groove sprang from the coastal cities of Colombia, Peru and Mexico where, under the influence of the western psychedelic culture, conditions were ripe for incredible experimentation.

‘Psychedelic’ is a buzzword being used a lot these days, especially to sell evermore obscure treasures dug up from the world’s once lost, now rediscovered, international musical archives. In some instances calling the music ‘psych’ is a bit of a stretch – just because it’s weird or dressed up in imported trappings from the same era does not make it necessarily so. Happily this is not generally the case when applied to cumbia, because this venerable genre of Colombian music with an international reach truly did go through a psychedelic period.

Psychedelic rock (especially the Latin-flavoured kind, as practiced by Santana, Malo, Azteca and the like) and cumbia came of age together in the mid to late 1960s under parallel circumstances. In Peru the tools of rock and roll – namely electric guitar and organ – were already quite popular among the youth of the day and it makes perfect sense that this originally acoustic Afro-Colombian coastal social dance music would be reborn under the influence of psychedelic culture by the late 1960s. Add to that the strong surf culture in places like coastal Peru and Mexico and conditions were ripe for just the sort of experimentation sampled here. In addition it can be said that ‘imported’ hippie culture and rock and roll were seen as a real threat to order and decency by dictatorships from Brazil to Cuba. So when many Latin American governments decided to repress the rock and roll ‘rebellion’ and psychedelic youth culture swirling around them, some of that vibe and energy was sublimated and folded into more marginalised and nationalistically acceptable tropical musical formats like samba, cumbia or salsa.

Peru has had its share of great electric guitarists bending strings to the rolling beats of cumbia – from Enrique Delgado to José Luis Carballo – who came from its own important domestic tradition of criollo guitar music as much as rock). So it’s not an exaggeration to say cumbia peruana has had the lion’s share of Carlos Santana influences evident in the mix. For this reason we start the compilation with a suite of five vintage Peruvian recordings from some of the greats like Juaneco y su Combo. Interestingly the Peruvian psych sound so prevalent in the early 1970s had a profound effect on the originators of cumbia; hence we offer the two fine examples from 1970s Colombia that follow. We round out the mix with a gaggle of contemporary artists from Chile, Mexico, USA, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, and Germany, bringing the psychedelic tropical vibe up to date while still retaining the trippy trappings of yesteryear.
Track List

01 Juaneco Y Su Combo: Perdido En El Espacio 03:24
02 Los Wembler's De Iquitos: Bola Bola En El Tres 02:02
03 Los Orientales De Paramonga: La Danza Del Mono​ 02:44
04 ‘La Mermelada' De Jose L. Carballo: Olvidate De Mi 02:25
05 Grupo Rosado: En El Campo 03:32
06 Afrosound: María Isabel 02:45
07 Jaime Gale Y Sus Profetas: Cumbia Profeta 03:50
08 Anarkia Tropikal Feat. Los Chapillacs: El Silbido Del Tunche 05:14
09 Sonido Gallo Negro: Inca-A-Delic 02:46
10 Money Chicha: Yo No Soy Turku 03:13
11 Cumbia All Stars: La Cumbia del Parisino 04:00
12 Chicha Libre: Alone Again Or 03:46
13 M.A.K.U. SoundSystem: Canto Negro 08:26
14 Sonido De La Frontera: La Cumbia Del Panadero 04:19
15 La Yegros Feat. Miss Bolivia: Ya No Llores 04:00
16 Cumbia Cosmonauts: Colombia 02:25
17 Frente Cumbiero: Chucusteady (Dub Version) 04:22
18 Bareto: No Hay Vuelta Atrás 03:15

Total Playing Time: 67:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqV7m1n-1Zc

Tried to make a Spotify playlist of that Psychedelic Cumbia list.
https://open.spotify.com/user/%C3%B8ysteinho/playlist/3xmcYItQSYYoartt7y3UqW

I've made the playlist collaborative in case someone else wants to take another look for any of the seven songs that I couldn't find:
La Mermelada' De Jose L. Carballo: Olvidate De Mi
Grupo Rosado: En El Campo
Jaime Gale Y Sus Profetas: Cumbia Profeta
Money Chicha: Yo No Soy Turku
Cumbia All Stars: La Cumbia del Parisino
M.A.K.U. SoundSystem: Canto Negro
Sonido De La Frontera: La Cumbia Del Panadero

Maybe the whole thing will be on Spotify when the album comes out; some other Rough Guides are or have been on there.

Haven't listened to the samba or cumbia sets yet, but this is a good 'un. First two-three are a bit timid and/or generic, but after that: straight-ahead euphoria, as 1970s blend seamlessly w 2000s.

The Rough Guide To Latin Disco

Release Date: 31 July 2015
Cat No: RGNET1338CD
Barcode: 605633133820
Format: CD & Digital Download

From its underground roots in the nightclubs of New York, disco music had strong connections with the Latino community. The irresistible influence of salsa and Latin percussion permeates this selection, which features many of the legendary artists of the 1970s disco heyday as well as the new wave of Latin disco inspired bands.
From its underground roots in the nightclubs of 1970s New York, disco music had strong connections to the city’s Latino community. They provided many musicians, producers and labels making the music, as well as a large section of the audience dancing to it. Latin percussion instruments were at the heart of the disco sound and the strong influence of salsa can be heard in many tracks.

Disco music boomed for less than a decade and by the early 1980s it faded as newer musical styles came along. However, disco would not be forgotten and it was the inspiration and foundation for the next great global dance movement to emerge in the late 1980s, namely house music.

From the 1970s, we feature five tracks from the legendary Salsoul Records. These include two from Latin soul singer and disco pioneer Joe Bataan (‘La Botella’ and ‘Latin Lover’), plus two from the Salsoul Orchestra (‘Salsoul Hustle’ and ‘Ritzy Mambo’), the label’s in-house band and huge disco stars in their own right. The final Salsoul track is ‘Dancin & Prancin’’ from master Cuban percussionist Candido, released in 1979 at the peak of disco’s popularity.

Of the non-Salsoul 1970s classics, we include ‘Sunny’ by New York salsa/funk band Yambu (a cover of the Bobby Hebb song), US-based Cuban flute legend Fajardo’s hustle inspired single ‘C’mon Baby, Do The Latin Hustle’, and Colombian artist Wganda Kenya’s cover of Carl Douglas’s 1974 disco-soul hit ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, translated into Spanish as ‘Combate A Kung Fu’.

Post-2000, with the nu-disco movement in full swing, a host of new young artists began to produce music heavily influenced by the classic 1970s Latin disco sound. We present four of these new generation bands on the compilation – three from the UK (Grupo X, Malena and Los Charly’s Orchestra), and one from California (Jungle Fire). These tracks feature the trademark Latin disco sound – a four-to-the-floor beat, fingerpopping basslines, scratchy syncopated rhythm guitar, heavy Latin rhythms and sweeping strings. All proof that Latin disco is still alive today four decades on since it first exploded in the clubs of 1970s New York.
01 Joe Bataan: La Botella (The Bottle) 03:35
02 Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Hustle 05:12
03 Yambu: Sunny 04:32
04 Jose Fajardo: C'mon Baby, Do The Latin Hustle 04:58
05 Wganda Kenya: Combate A Kung Fu 02:42
06 Salsoul Orchestra: Ritzy Mambo 07:41
07 Candido: Dancin' & Prancin' 06:53
08 Joe Bataan Mestizo Band: Latin Lover 04:49
09 Grupo X: X-Perience 06:36
10 Malena: No Llores Mas 07:12
11 Jungle Fire: Firewalker 03:52
12 Los Charly's Orchestra: Everlasting Love 04:23

Total Playing Time: 62:51

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/793-the-weeknds-east-african-roots/

Pitchfork piece in comparing The Weeknd to Teddy Afro, neglects to mention Afro's use of reggae music, while focussing just on lyrics and vocal style.

Enjoying the xpost Rough Guide To Psychedelic Samba quite a bit.
From compiler John Armstrong's notes:
This compilation takes psychedelia as a starting-
point, without being too purist about the[ (samba) 2/4 bit.
That would deprive us of the joys of Bahia Bass,
funky 4/4 psych-soul samba and the countless
other permutations of the last few years. Yeah, although the only one I really think of as Bahia Bass is the final track, Poeta De Aco's nimble "Desiliga A Rede." Influences from various subgenres and regions prove compatible with the more expected psych-60s-early70s (maybe a little prog) associations. None of this seems dated, nor takes itself too seriously. Not that there isn't a palpable sense of purpose, drive, even tumult, though for the latter thinking mainly of Binario's "Tarde Demais"---also warily digging the invitation to a whirpool proffered via "Loro On Loro," courtesy of Sexy Fi, from UK's Far Out Recordings (so are Binario, must check that label).
Also! Washington DC's only 1960s tropicalia-influenced outfit, Alma Tropicalia, with "Irene." (skywriting and kites in the leafy overhead). Heard of 'em, curmudgeon??

I have not only heard of 'em, I have seen them live. They were ok. I think they just recently decided to call it quits.

this has a great sound:
http://www.awesometapes.com/vumani-isiqedakoma/

Cypriot band Monsieur Doumani, quite an addictive album this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM-OW5foVRI

stream the new souleyman:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jul/16/omar-souleyman-bahdeni-nami-album-stream

http://hotcasarecords.com/release/roger-damawuzan-les-as-du-benin/

A lot for me to catch up on. Plus need to listen additional times to the Amara Toure reissue collection.

xpost Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia: Several early tracks tend to thin treble sounds (more the instruments than voices. bass is reliable), maybe taken directly from 7" singles, but sound and visions get stronger fairly quickly. Despite the compiler's mention of Santana, Azteca, and Malo, seems like these are more inspirational than obvious influences: points of departure either way. The psych elements---to a peak of fuzz, wah-wah, modal organ, seemingly freestyle, improvised vocal outbursts on "El Silbido Del Tunch," by ANARKIA TROPIKAL FEAT. LOS CHAPILLACS (guessing these two combos might be buddies or mutual admirers recording as a glorious experiment in a garage, which wouldn't mind or mynd being thee Paradise Garage.
And fact, after a version of "Alone Again Or" I prefer to the original, and a hookah salute to Turkish psych, and Dick Dale's Middle Eastern-flaunting surf, as well as evidence of what the compiler calls cumbia's "parallel development(in terms of a 60s resurgence, I think) we do (after passing through the eye of M.A.K.U. SOUNDSYSTEM's multiphasic "Canto Negro") reach the 80s, 90s, maybe beyond, as the Caribbean and Rock En Espanol (bricolage/bric-a-brac: ska tiki bar mitzvah spaghetti western camels & llamas chewing coca leaves) elements get sleeker, with a speedy rap refrain here, a toast there, a chopped & screwed or at least slowed-down vocal, not disturbing the groove, and even a jazzy dub re-tune-up from Mad Professor. As on the other two Rough Guides I mentioned upthread, the earlier and later stuff blends well, keeping the buzz fresh. Nice cruise.

Oh I meant to say that the "psych" elements seem "garage-y" enough to suggest "proto", pre-Santana etc, for a while, and yeah, the surf influence, but there's quite a range, in any case.

Gotta hear the rest of M.A.K.U. Soundsystem's Makumbala.

So far there hasn't been a 2015 Rough Guide devoted to new music. The Rare Groove and Psychedelic series are great but my favourite CDs from that label are devoted to a country or geographical region I otherwise never would have listened to... Indian Ocean, Malaysia, Pakistan, Hungary, Iran, etc etc. Hope they haven't given it the heave-ho in the Spotify age, that was my favourite compilation series for over a decade. Wonder what % of their sales went to libraries.

Anyway, Cambodia's well known for its early 70s psychedelia but this is the only one I've heard with a full-on freakout. Not really in the "canon" of all these these recent compilations, but one of the most interesting, so I thought I'd share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBD47yL9J6A

Laughter refers to being a carefree bachelor, btw.

i've been really enjoying this, not sure if it's been linked already ... be sure to check out if you're a fan of miriam makeba

http://thequietus.com/articles/18090-mary-afi-usuah-ekpenyong-abasi-review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujJvkMYz8ok

I hear a bit of Nina Simone, if she sang over afrobeat

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/guitar-great-mdou-moctar-stars-in-nigers-own-purple-rain-6444269

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/24/the-playlist-middle-eastern-and-north-african-alif-eek-mdou-moctar-and-more?CMP=share_btn_tw

mentioned here too by this sometime ilxer

this is fucking awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NOpCYMVaU

Listened to some of the Vumani "Isiqedakoma" tape linked to above from the Awesome Tapes of Africa site. Fun dancey music (from the 70s or the 80s???). Not finding much of anything on google so far.

Fans of North African Tuareg/Tamashek/Sahel guitar music should definately check out Mdou Moctar on bandcamp (see my posting above), and if anyone sees the Purple Rain homage movie he is in, please do tell us about it here.

That Amara Toure reissue that has a separate thread reminds me of another Cuban-influenced African group, the wonderful Orchestra Baobab.

i've got a copy of it but i haven't watched yet. sahel consistently puts out amazing stuff tho so i'm excited to watch. btw curmudgeon i just sent u a webmail.

Oh, thanks.

<3 47 Soul

Crut, does that Palestinian group sound like some Egyptian sounds I have heard and seen referenced here? I can go listen later, but was curious as well about your take.

Saw a bunch of good outer national music last month at Roskilde. Kasai Allstars was okay, as was Jupiter & Okwess International. Good dancemusic. Saw a bit of Africa Express as well.

Truly great were Khaira Arby from Mali, who played and sang desert blues, but the drummer played African funk, and the lead guitarist shredded constantly with a bunch of guitar pedals, often it sounded like the solos from 'Remain in Light'. Absolutely ecstatic, absolutely great. If you get the chance, you need to check it out.

And Sabir Khan was just beautiful. Played a raga that lasted half an hour, just him on 'sarangi' and a percusionist, the two of them in perfect tune, scales and rhythms and sheer musical joy. And then another percussionist, and some shorter sufi songs. I really really wanna see something like that again, it was really chamber music, as in just a couple of musicians, looking at each other, figuring out how to play together best. So nice.

Anyways, a month late, still wanted to write. If you get the chance, go check them out.

this story looks interesting: http://www.npr.org/2015/07/19/421500012/written-then-heard-now-reimagining-old-texts-through-global-songs

x-post --Yes Khaira Arby and her band are wonderful...

The cutting edge.

https://youtu.be/OJCwfjl_sXc

Saw the Mdou Moctar/Sahel "Purple Rain" film a couple weeks ago. Really great, wonderfully lo-fi and almost mumblecore-y (in a great way). Wrote a bit about it here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/three-songs-you-need-to-hear-sean-michaelss-playlist-of-the-week/article25414796/

Nice

Am listening to the Dele Sosimi album, that Mordy has in his top 10. I see that Sosimi was a keyboardist and music director for Fela and Femi, and was in a band with Tony Allen too. He's great at that style, it just doesn't feel like he is doing anything new with it.

Just listened to it again--I commented on it June 1 and Mordy responded a short while later. A throwback album that is done well and sticks to that genre's original high points. But yea, I guess its me that's the problem as they say.

While I have gotten a little tireed of afrobeat, for some reason I still enjoy North Malian Sahel/Tamashek guitar music. Several US gigs of Malian act Songhoy Blues were cancelled back in June and I figured it was visa issues. But a June recorded appearance on NPR's Tiny Desk happened and was recently made available:

http://www.npr.org/event/music/422880725/songhoy-blues?autoplay=true

Mbongwana Star will perform at this year’s WOMAD Charlton Park, if you're going to the festival you catch their peformance on Saturday 25th July at 6pm in The Siam Tent. The band will also be touring Europe in Autumn 2015

From their label's email

Nigerian singer Flavour N'abania and band are in DC tonight. Its expensive.

Bombino, Young Fathers and Fantastic Negrito in Central Park at 3pm

Saw Bombino a couple of times some years back, and haven't seen him since. But I bet he's still entertaining

It was a good show all round; really dug young fathers

Scotland via Liberia and Nigeria and one of 'em spent time near me in Maryland for awhile. Will have to check out those Mercury Prize 2014 winners

Young Fathers played Roskilde as well, pretty good show. Three vocalists and a guy banging a giant drum. Cool. Love this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ChfQyJN9ow

they are very noisy!

Yeah. And drummy. And they don't sing 'quite' as good as would be nice, to contrast with all the noise. But they're cool, and their Mercury winning album is really good.

fred do u kno these guys? their album is on spotify:

http://cdn.discogs.com/_yvZp1A8wqEYSdtj4iLMHdwvOjc=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(96)/discogs-images/R-7241606-1436958163-5952.jpeg.jpg

I don't personally know them, I don't think, but sounds cool. Denmark has a lot of that kind of bands. Loads of klezmer music as well.

in 'fiddler on the move' mark slobin wrote a chapter about the phenomenon of european klezmer bands as this kind of like heritage performance often without any jewish members of the band. i thought it was really interesting - here's some of it:

http://i59.tinypic.com/2vdlmwg.png

Yeah, it's really interesting. It's definitely mostly 'exotic' for a lot of Danes, it's much more related to Eastern Europe or the Balkans than to Danish Jewish identity, I think. Though I did have a Jewish friend in highschool who played clarinet in a klezmer band. He was replaced with a non-jew because he wasn't very good...

I think the whole fascination with the balkans is pretty tied in with my generation, who grew up with the jugoslav wars in the news nightly, and refugees coming from those places. Not just in Denmark either, this band, Kaizers Orchestra, was one of the biggest bands in Norway 13 years ago, and spoke openly about being inspired by Emir Kosturica and 'gypsy finale'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDSty1MHIFA

Their album Ompa Til Du Dør is definitely one of the weirder examples of Europeans playing what seems 'exotic' to them. But it might just be like a Scandinavian Tom Waits or Vampire Weekend or something like that.

Finally listening to this fun reissue Mordy mentioned as one of his faves for the first half of the year: Francis the Great: Ravissante Baby

One of the most amazing Afro Funk album ever !

Rare funk & Avant- Garde soul from a seven years old kid singer featuring best of French and cameroonian musicians , recorded in Paris in 1977.

The album contains two nicely dramatic tracks .

“Look Up in the sky” ( Negro nature) is a stretched funk groove with psyche synth by Michel Morose , bubbling bassline by the great Victor Edimo , the famous Toto Guillaume on guitar , and a brilliant poetic song by Francis the great who at that time studied in Menilmontant (Paris) .

“Ravissante Baby” ( Negro Phasing) is a long hypnotic funky soukous track with a tremendous lead guitar with a long spoken word and soulful kid vocal about the beauty of nature .

The little kid vocals and the soukous guitar are mesmerizing on that

The cutting edge.

https://youtu.be/OJCwfjl_sXc

― factcheckr (eat my dirt), 20. juli 2015 18:59 (1 week ago)

This song, Mbongwana Star - Malukayi (feat. Konono No.1), is great

seeing Sam Lee tonight for the second time this year; he was devastating first time around so I'm highly hopeful for something special
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/27/425256277/hot-pants-glitter-and-alan-lomax-how-a-rising-singer-found-folk-music

maybe better served in the folk music thread but i think of him as a "global" artist

speaking of lomax, has anyone else heard this? http://www.rebeatmag.com/album-music-for-work-and-play-carriacou-grenada-1962-recorded-by-alan-lomax/

a few other NY shows of note at Le Poisson Rouge
http://lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/dengue-fever-september-11th-2015/
http://lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/os-mutantes-september-15th-2015/
http://lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/tal-national-august-19th-2015/

Speaking of klezmer, I've always found the Klezmatics to be worth checking out, despite and in part because of the changing line-up; also, they know how to bring in different elements without watering down what's always there.

http://www.worldmusic.net/media/releases/fullsize/RGNET1339.jpg

Release Date: 28 August 2015
Cat No: RGNET1339CD
Barcode: 605633133929
Format: CD & Digital Download

This collection of original fresh talent from across the Arab world is selected exclusively from artists entering World Music Network’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition. From the driving grooves of Algerian jazz-head Anis Benhallak to the instrumental oud and violin delights of Al Andalus Ensemble, check out the latest sounds of the Arabic speaking world.

It is true some legends of Arabic music have permeated the international music market: Oum Kalsoum’s powerful voice is respected the world over and Rachid Taha’s modern raïis the soundtrack to the American blockbuster Black Hawk Down. There are many reasons the artists on this album haven’t reached quite the same zenith and it’s certainly not down to a lack of musical talent. The Arab world encompasses twenty-two countries stretching across the Middle East and North Africa. The musical output of such a vast area is huge and much of the music included here is intended for local consumption, created by unsigned artists, or presents new sounds created from mashing together fresh cultural combinations – an approach that doesn’t attract the mighty machinations of the mainstream music industry. World Music Network, an independent record label for over twenty-five years, champions music that has risen up from the streets. This compilation is our selection of rare finds and choice cuts from the Arab musical world and its diaspora.

Algerian-born French-living jazz-head Anis Benhallak opens the album with ‘S’ayda’. Silken yet strong vocals sung in Arabic are offset against a plucky bass and riding rhythm. Limor Oved channells her paternal Syrian and maternal Libyan heritage, her Hebrew-sung track ‘Blessed For Making Me A Woman’ calls for the protection of women’s rights in the Jewish world. Haunting track ‘Ya Mo’ is given to us by Jordan-based group Dozan. Founded by vocalist Shireen Abu-Kader, Dozan’s shimmering sound is influenced by Sufi mysticism and spirituality.

‘Afghano’ is an instrumental delight from Al Andalus Ensemble, a husband and wife team featuring Tarik and Julia Banzi. Al-Andalus was a medieval Islamic cultural domain that stretched across Spain and Portugal. In the ululating oud and impassioned violin lines you can hear distinctive musical references to this great ancient Islamic world. ‘Mijwiz’ is a hard and heavy anthem by the Arabic Rock Orchestra (also known as Khalas), a band who cite influences as wide as System Of A Down to vintage Arab Druze singer Asmahan. Chaabi-groove renegades Groupe Mazagan blast straight out of the contemporary Mahgreb scene with their Moroccan street vibes on ‘Abdelilah’. The gnawa-infused afro-jazz of Gabacho Maroconnection, an eight-strong French-Spanish line-up featuring saxes, ngoni, bass, drums, layered vocals and Moroccan percussion.

Track List

01 Anis Benhallak: S'ayda 04:18
02 Limor Oved: Blessed For Making Me A Woman 05:01
03 Dozan: Ya Mo 03:26
04 Al Andalus Ensemble, Tarik & Julia Banzi: Afghano 09:49
05 Arabic Rock Orchestra: Mijwiz 04:09
06 Jadid Ensemble: Ilm 06:10
07 Groupe Mazagan: Abdelillah 03:55
08 Daramad: Zornery 06:01
09 Gabacho Maroconnection: Moussaoui 04:08
10 Simo Lagnawi: Sandika 04:34
11 Hijaz: Hems 06:19
12 Faran Ensemble: Rain 08:39

Total Playing Time: 66:55

Dunno why the cover pic wasn't posted; it showed the title, The Rough Guide To The Best Arabic Music You've Never Heard.

The TV channel ARTE puts a lot of its concerts online in full here:

http://concert.arte.tv/fr/videos/musiques-du-monde

Any recommendations? From this year's Africa Festival in Würzburg, Germany, I really liked the set by Kouyate (Bassekou Kouyate), with a guest vocal performance from Mariama. Beautifully chilled-out...

Songhoy Blues is probably good

http://www.afropop.org/24512/au-revoir-mogadishu-45-funky-minutes-of-somalian-gold/

Salif Keita reunited with his old group for a European tour and a benefit recording

Les Ambassadeurs: Rebirth

FolkRoots (aka fRoots) website/mag playlists

JULY 2015
KHAIRA ARBY Gossip (Clermont)
STATHIS KOUKOULARIS & MARTHA MAVROIDI Agiorgitiko (Violins)
SIMPSON CUTTING KERR Murmurs (Topic)
FARIS Mississippi To Sahara (Wrasse)
XÁOS Chaos (Pomegranate/IRL)
TOM & BEN PALEY Paley & Son (Hornbeam)
SOLO & INDRÉ Solo & Indré (One Root Music)
AMARA TOURÉ 1973-1980 (Analog Africa)
PEATBOG FAERIES Blackhouse (Peatbog Records)
LINDSAY STRAW My Mind From Love Being Free (Lindsay Straw)

JUNE 2015
EMILY PORTMAN Coracle (Furrow)
LUDOVICO EINAUDI & VARIOUS Taranta Project (Ponderosa)
MBONGWANA STAR From Kinshasa (World Circuit)
THIS IS THE KIT Bashed Out (Brassland)
BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE Farima (Label Bleu)
CHEIKH LÔ Balbalou (Chapter Two)
LE VENT DU NORD Têtu (Borealis)
EFRÉN LÓPEZ El Fill De Llop (Buda)
L’ATTIRAIL La Route IntérieureLes Chantiers Sonores (Les Chantiers Sonores)
PEKKO KÄPPI & K:H:H:L Sanguis Meus, Mama! (Gaea)

http://www.afropop.org/24572/remembering-doudou-ndiaye-rose-1930-2015/

Khaira Arby is coming back to Copenhagen in October! I'm hyped.

She has such a great voice.

Malian Vieux Farka Toure is doing an album project with US art-indie singer Julia Easterlin called Touristes. They are touring North America with it in September.

The amazing Saharawi vocalist Mariem Hassan has died. My favorite album of hers was 2005's Deseos, but they're all great. Here's a half-hour performance from Spanish television:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xclKuQEry6k

Thanks, want to school myself on her a bit.

http://worldmusiccentral.org/2015/08/22/saharawi-music-star-mariem-hassan-dies-in-refugee-camps/

Haven't done so yet. Been listening to some of the advance press download of the Farka Toure with Easterlin effort. Haven't made up my mind yet-- female, artsy Fever Ray meets Fiona Apple vocals over Farka Toure's Malian Sahel region guitar

There's a DC gig coming up billed as "Ethiopian Superstars" ...I admit I have never heard of them

Ethiopian music's biggest stars are coming together for their long awaited concert featuring the well respected & likeable the incredibly talented Jossy in-the House along with the magnificently talented beautiful Abby Lakew & the amazingly talented entertainer Temesgen Temu

Have kinda mixed thoughts on that soon to be released Vieux Farka Toure collaboration with singer Julia Easterlin.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/193162/israels-happiness-revolution?utm_source=tabletmagazinelist&utm_campaign=5d75ce0775-Monday_August_31_20158_31_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c308bf8edb-5d75ce0775-207197409

There is a long-running battle in Israel over the Mizrahi sound, one that crops up more often than you’d think and in language uglier than you’d expect. At issue in this argument is not high-end Middle Eastern music, which is increasingly rich but has limited appeal, but rather mass-market Mizrahi pop. Is this music “terrible garbage” and a “natural disaster,” as the Israeli music icon Yehoram Gaon put it in 2011, deriding the genre’s insipid lyrics and “broken Hebrew”? Does the Mizrahi sound signal—as a government minister once lamented, referring to an Arab city in the West Bank—that “we didn’t conquer Tulkarm, Tulkarm conquered us”?

Mizrahi, which means “eastern,” is also the collective name for Jews from the Middle East, about half of Israel’s Jewish population. So, does disdain for this music conceal disdain for Mizrahi Jews? Should it be marginalized, tolerated, or embraced? Is it Arab music, Mediterranean music, Israeli music? What is “Israeli” music, anyway? Or, in other words, what is Israel?

The noises in my kitchen are echoes of a battle decided. As a friend of mine, a Jerusalem sound man, put it: In 2015 it isn’t accurate to say that Mizrahi is a sub-genre of Israeli pop, or even a successful genre, or that it threatens the mainstream. It is the mainstream. It is Israeli pop. If you put a stethoscope to the country’s chest right now, the rhythm you’d hear would be Mizrahi. Every wedding I’ve attended in the past few years has featured Mizrahi dance music, no matter the ethnicity of the bride, groom, or guests. Even at Russian weddings not only is Mizrahi played alongside Russian pop and greeted with enthusiasm, but people born in places like Omsk can now pull off the wrist-twirling, hip-shaking dance moves that go with it, as Ilya Spitsarov reported for the Mizrahi culture site Café Gibraltar. “The Russian population of Israel, too,” he wrote, “has internalized the accepted link between Mediterranean pop and happiness.”

The oh so awesome Tal National from Niger are playing for free from 6 to 7 pm EST US tonight Wednesday September 2nd at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. They videostream the gigs on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage website and archive them as well, if you can't watch it live.

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/meet-tal-nationals-almeida-a-judge-by-day-and-electrifying-bandleader-by-night/

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/live/?id=M6460

butt-shaking dance at the Kennedy Center

Looking forward to seeing Terakaft. May also try to see Mahmoud Ahmed too

For reasons unknown to me, Tal National showed up here in Knoxville last night and played an amazing two-hour show in a tiny, packed indie rock club. I know two hours is short compared to their 5-hour epics at home, and it definitely felt like they could have gone on and on. So much energy, so much sheer pleasure in the music. Their drummer is amazing -- like watching someone do calculus with a sledgehammer.

They are so energetic. They deserve a larger following

Lots of other stuff to catch up on (including Mizrahi music and other things mentioned upthread) . Was not wowed by Brazilian singer Ana Carolina (2 albums I listened to)...Looking forward to Terakaft live next week. Happy Ethiopian New Year. Mahmoud Ahmed is celebrating with a gig in DC tonight.

going to see him on sunday!! i think it's gonna be super fun
hailu mergia is playing tonight but i don't know if i'll make it
tal national is playing next sunday! nonstop fun here in chicago :)

Ahmed's vocals impressed me when I saw him live. Mergia's keyboard can be more mellow.

His vocals and his band were all SO good -- and the vibe was very festive and super fun. i was down in the pavilion (it's a huge outdoor thing). lots of really cool ethiopian dance moves on display. glad i went! also gonna try to catch orlando julius on friday.

Orlando Julius is just doing a short tour it seems--

September 18th: Chicago, IL / Mayne Stage ‘World Music Festival Chicago’
September 19th: Chicago, IL / Mayne Stage ‘World Music Festival Chicago’
September 24th: Philadelphia, PA / venue tba
September 25th: New York, NY / Le Poisson Rouge
September 26th: Albuquerque, NM / National Hispanic Cultural Center

omg do not miss him
dude is a ball of energy and his band is great

Looks like they moved Orlando Julius' Philly date, and added a DC one for the 24th (at a club that rarely has had international acts), so I have a chance to see him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueOVIQR59Ww&feature=youtu.be

That's awesome (tapes from africa).

https://www.spotify.com/us/jobs/view/oTes1fwk/

Forks, you should see Orlando Julius and his band in NYC tonight. I saw him last night before a tiny crowd in suburban DC, around 30 people (Put together on short notice at a club that does not usually have global sounds-- they didn't get the word out to DC's old-school Nigerian community or to record collecting geeks and whirled music fans and Peace Corps & State Department types). He was just as energetic as La Lechera noted upthread. Not bad for a 72-year-old. Old-school afrobeat just like he taught to Fela. The guitarist is great though he hides back by the drummer. Orlando and woman singer/dancer are up front. Choreographed dance moves and Orlando still sounds great on his sax.

thanks for the recommend, i'm still recovering but had scoped him at LPR. would like to go but think i better lay low. listened to some tracks; he does sound dope.

i hope you recover soon but i must say that the show itself was just SUPER FUN. i was right in the front, it was a small venue and super steamy, afterward there was a torrential downpour outside during which i found a $20 on the ground

i went back sunday and monday nights to see other bands during the festival and now i think i'm ruined for normal shows. typically i just sit/stand, no one talks to me, and then i leave. these shows had talking, dancing, everything good about life. it was an ideal way to spend the last official weekend of summer i guess.

Saw Vieux Farka Toure with a bass player and percussionist (who switched back and forth from calabash to trap drum set) last night and his playing and vocals and quiet charisma were as impressive as always. The gig was supposed to be with Brooklyn-based, Georgia raised indie-artsy singer Julia Easterlin (they recorded Touristes together), but after the gig where she did not appear, I saw on Facebook that she said she had to get off the tour because her family needed her down South. Weirdly there was no mention of this at the Howard. Toure for nearly 2 hours is fine with me.

This is a quick, third-quarter reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and/or an album selection from each listed) are being updated to the thread-specific Spotify playlist as posted. I just did another top-to-bottom sweep prior to posting this message and have revised as of today with everything that's been added since first mentioned. Subscribe if you're into it!

It's 193 tracks, over 15 hours long.

Rolling 'Global' / Outernational 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

Wow, thanks again for doing this

https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a0281924083_10.jpg

Enjoying this DJ Sandji mixtape on Sahel Sounds. A 'name your price' dl on their Bandcamp: https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/100-balani-show

https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/album/ecstatic-wingless-bird-imitation-on-four-continents-ca-1910-40

Some sort of "World Music" "chart" has launched... World Music appearing to mean WOMAD-type material, and "chart" meaning a monthly critics' poll... though not as high on the tributaries as regular posters are likely looking for, it may be a good spot to catch some quality releases we've missed. Link: http://www.transglobalwmc.com/

http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/balake-amadou-in-conclusion-cd/STCD.1125CD.html
This posthumous Amadou Balaké album is some good stuff.

x-post to Mordy, so did you listen to all of the Canary records bird thing--45 minutes of commercial early 20th century recordings of human beings imitating birds, a practice probably pre-dating anything resembling music or language, from France, India, Australia, and the United States.

I haven't yet. Need to listen again to the Fatoumata Diawara cd on that chart and look into the Amadou Balake

I just did, it was a v charming if imperfect work soundtrack. also Charles Kellogg is my new hero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kellogg_(naturalist)

do u know feld's 'sound and sentiment: birds, weeping, poetics and song in kaluli expression'? song really lovely ideas in there about the relationship between music + bird listening/imitating. particularly i remember the chapter re the myth of the boy who became a muni bird. great early ethnomusicology work.

if u haven't heard it yet, the new Les Ambassadeurs reunion EP Rebirth is so warm + poppy:
http://open.spotify.com/album/6xAOiObk3czoo4Md2Fpyr4

guess this could also go in the bobbins thread but i guess here is reasonable too?
this guy's a buddy:
http://thump.vice.com/en_us/track/ravish-momins-tarana-project-artfully-combines-acid-house-jazz-and-psych

A colleague whose opinions I usually respect said Daby Toure's recent gig in front of 20 people in an outer DC suburban club was real good. My prior memories of Toure involved light, glossy, whirled-music friendly afropop, but maybe I should give him another chance? Or maybe he's better live than recorded. I haven't delved back into his catalogue yet to see.

FInally listened to "Amonafi," the latest Daby Toure album. He's of Senegalese heritage but was raised for a time in Mauritania. Nice sweet voiced-vocals and music. A bit too syrupy at times, but I mostly like his blend of singer/songwriter Afro-folk and afropop with Senegalese style melodies and occasional rhythms.

prob going to see Charan-Po-Rantan tomorrow; this promises to be a strange one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTbh66CHOog

From Folk Roots mag website

TRANSGLOBAL WORLD MUSIC CHART
Compiled by a worldwide network of DJs and writers.
1.BASSEKOU KOUYATÉ & NGONI BA Ba Power (Glitterbeat)
2.CONZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO Quaranta (Ponderosa Music & Art)
3.MONSIEUR DOUMANI Sikoses (Monsieur Doumani)
4.TOTO LA MOMPOSINA Tambolero (Real World)
5.TARAF DE HAIDOUKS Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts (Crammed)
6.BALLAKÉ SISSOKO & VINCENT SEGAL Musique Du Nuit (No Format)
7.TITI ROBIN w. MEHDI NASSOULI Taziri (World Village)
8.MBONGWANA STAR From Kinshasa (World Circuit)
9.SAMBA TOURÉ Gandadiko (Glitterbeat)
10.DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA Slide Guitar Ragas From Dusk Till Dawn (Riverboat)
11.TERAKAFT Alone (OutHere)
12.FATOUMATA DIAWARA & ROBERTO FONSECA At Home (Jazz Village)
13.MONOSWEZI Monoswezi Yanga (Riverboat)
14.NOVALIMA Planetario (Wonderwheel)
15.SONGHOY BLUES Music in Exile (Transgressive)
16.KELLY THOMA 7 Fish (Kelly Thoma)
17.LUDOVICO EINAUDI Taranta Project (Ponderosa)
18.EFRÉN LÓPEZ El Fill Del Llop (Buda)
19.PAT THOMAS & KWASHIBU AREA BAND Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band (Strut)
20.AMADOU BALAKÉ In Conclusion (Stern’s)

WORLD MUSIC NETWORK VIDEO 10

Watch all the videos in September's chart (and earlier) at www.worldmusic.net/charts/video/

1.PIERRE KWENDERS Sorry
2.BALOJI ft PETITE NOIR & MUANZA Capture
3.RIZWAN & MUAZZAM ALI KHAN Sakal Ban (Live)
4.BALLAKÉ SISSOKO & VINCENT SEGAL Passa Quatro
5.FANTASMA Cat & Mouse
6.THE VERY BEST Let’s Go
7.TIKEN JAH FAKOLY ft U-ROY Get Up, Stand Up
8.ANOUSHKA SHANKAR Tribute To Ravi Shankar, Sinfini Session
9.SPIRO Will You Go Walk In The Woods (Live)
10.ALBINO MBIE Mama Afrika

From last year, but I haven't found any ILX references to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avEm0Rui2N8

(Oh weird, was just thinking of Steven Feld today while I was getting ready for work. Just stopping in momentarily.)

Some sha'abi with up-to-date production values:

Saad Lamjarred - Lamaallem (Boss)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fwf45pIAtM

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/159/137483/Arts--Culture/Entertainment/Saad-Lamjarreds-hit-single-reaches--million-YouTub.aspx

Emirati Hussein Al-Jasmi is the only other Arab artist to have secured such a large outreach on YouTube with his song Bouchrat Khir.

An LP of that should appeal to fans of Juçara Marçal (and her group Metá Metá), with some Frippish guitarwork. Skronky vanguarda Paulista is now a genre:

Passo Torto & Ná Ozzetti - Thiago França
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXVTixYalws

Meanwhile, Juçara is venturing into straight up noise (with beats):

Juçara Marçal & Cadu Tenório - Anganga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inVo9hZxDPc

I dunno Juçara but just checked out a few tracks of Encarnado and I'm into it. What's the bio there?

Juçara has been singing with various Sao Paulo outfits since 1990: 3 albums with female vocal group Vespers 1998-2004, 4 albums with A Barca 2000-2010.

As far as I can tell, her current music at the nexus of post-Swordfishtrombones Tom Waits with Tom Ze begins with the trio Metá Metá (with guitarists Kiko Dinucci & Thiago França), who have a couple albums Metá Metá ‎(2011) and Metal Metal (2014). Kiko Dinucci features on her solo debut Encarnado, but his project is Passo Torto, with three albums Passo Torto (2011), Passo Elétrico (2013), and Thiago Fraça (2015). Thiago isn't a member of Passo Torto, so I don't know how he features on the album named after him.

The lyrics on Encarnado are reportage of violent life in the favelas, several of the songs recount horrible news stories.

sounds interesting, like the music and the post swordfish assessment jibes with what i'm hearing.

Encarnado's lyrics are more pained than I imagined. Google translation.

Encarnado was one of my favorite 2014 discoveries via ILM

You're welcome.

So that Moroccan superstar Saad Lamjarred video is a bit cutesy and corny, but I like the song. Would love to read an analysis of it by someone more versed than I in Moroccan and pan-Arab culture. Lots of signifiers in that video and interesting aspects re class and race and such. Plus touching on the song's appeal to millions. It could be an EMP Pop Conference presentation.

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/almost-breaking-up-may-have-been-a-wonderful-thing-for-elikeh/

DC afropop band Elikeh --5 bandmembers born here in US while singer/guitarist is from Togo, lead guitarist from Nigeria (also plays w/ OJ Julius Ekemode), and percussionist is from Ghana. They almost broke up after 5 years, but stayed together and have new music out. Elikeh's cd release party is tonight in DC at the Rock n Roll Hotel.

It's not just Moroccan and pan-Arab culture.

http://youtu.be/zN3C3_KH9xA?t=1m4s

Ha, that's great. "We are the world" just came into my head even though that song has nothing to do with the video.

Turkish psych rock band Baba Zula are on a US tour now. Here's a video from 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJPbLB_gZaI&list=PL7YcptvRUgMCpJdbltVdicdfIeYh_hrln&index=4

There is/was apparently a Turkish psych-rock scene. I know little to nothing about it but have been seeing references to several bands.

Turkish psych dates to the 60s.

https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/unreleased-tapes-1981-1984

Turkish psych dates to the 60s.

― There's no Hell, so we'll improvise (Sanpaku

I know. I should have been more clear. The groups I have been reading about all are rooted in that era, or contain members from back then.

I also need to find time to listen to Afropop Worldwide:

On air this week is an encore of “African Sounds of the Indian Subcontinent,” produced by Marlon Bishop. In this Hip Deep program, we explore the musical connections between Africa and India. We’ll delve into the Afro-Indian Sidi communities who have been in India as far back as the 7th century when they first arrived as sailors on Arab merchant ships. Afro-Indians mostly came in the 13th century as soldiers in Muslim armies that conquered parts of India. Their descendants remain to this day and perform Sufi trance music at shrines to the black Muslim saint named Baba Gor. African-American jazz musicians who came to Bombay in the '30s trained Indian musicians, who in turn were instrumental in the rise of the Hindi film and music industry. We’ll also take a look at the Afro-Indo-Portuguese pop music style known as baila.

Plus that afro-futurist 80s synth and more stuff from Mamman Sani that Mordy linked to on that Sahel SOunds link

mamman sani is the best. if anyone here hasn't heard it yet - his "Taaritt" album was among my faves last year:
https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/taaritt

My Middle Eastern and North African column for the Guardian

So, I try and keep the pimping down to a minimum on ILM but I wanted to say thanks to this thread for alerting me to the sensation that is Saad Lamjaared. The good folk at Fortuna did me a mix of Greek tunes from the short lived 'Israeli Craze' of the early 70s, which might be of interest to regulars round these parts.

Fortuna reissued the Grazia album a few years ago which is still fantastic as hell if anyone hasn't heard it yet

Ah, yeah, just got a copy of that last week and a 12" of this gem on the same label:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_oyvEMdSUw

It's been handy, let's say, speaking with my old man's DJ hat on.

Likewise this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peRso_QItLk

EEK!'s Kahraba (Cairo wedding band / electro sha'abi / chiptune + maghreb drums) is really something. Islam Chipsy is a master at a specific form of aggressive synth banging, sometimes with palms and fists, oft emulating the reedy rhaita tones of Joujouka. The two trap set drummers are no slouches either.

Kahraba on Spotify
http://rymimg.com/lk/f/l/0da28d511509149663f5d93644679926/5713541.jpg

I'd jump at a chance to see them live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpGYjZB-gf0

jeez the chiptune elements make this outer fringe stuff for sure.

Today, parts of Mali’s central and northern territories remain a menacing no-go zone where just last week, Reuters reported that government troops said they had killed Islamic jihadists suspected of attacks in the region. An invisible line, running along the Niger River, has torn the country in two as it struggles to rebuild a common identity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/arts/design/african-biennale-of-photography-returns-to-mali-amid-unrest.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/expert-witness-robert-christgau-afropop

Re Grand Kalle; Youssou N'Dour; Amare Toure and more. Christgau is now writing every Friday for Vice, and this one is from a little while back.

I am seeing Youssou N'Dour perform in DC tonight

Youssou's 2 hour 20 minute set featured a lot of Senegalese mbalax dance music. Very little slick crossover stuff.

In other news, I see these 2 albums on a best of 2015 list--

7. Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile

5. Mbogwana Star - From Kinshasa

Oh, no. Hotel attack by terrorists in Bamako, Mali...

Guinean singer Sekouba 'Bambino' Diabate told NBC News that he had just finished his prayers when he heard gunshots ring around the Radisson Hotel in Bamako.

"Initially I thought they were linked with petty criminals," the 51-year-old jazz musician said, but a third shot "from a very heavy weapon" made him realize that this was no ordinary crime.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mali-hotel-assault-survivor-heard-attackers-talking-english-n466941

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/24/457110959/songs-we-love-baaba-maal-fulani-rock

Baaba Maal with Johan Hugo Karlberg, a London-based Swedish producer from the Very Best...sounds promising. Album out in January

Great playlist of what they're describing as Punjabi R&B:
https://soundcloud.com/otinaotina/sets/punjar-b-1

really into the new one from Burkinese rapper Art Melody rn -- beats dense enough to stand up to his guttural flow, touchstones geopgraphically and temporally eclectic. doesn't sound like much else imo, a late contender for year-end props.

whole thing's on bandcamp, rec "Ki Kanga": https://artmelody.bandcamp.com/

on first blush that's pretty fuckin dope

that Abba Gargando album is terrific. thanks don't-call-us-world-music thread!

http://www.okayafrica.com/news/pantsula-dance-video-sons-of-kemet-in-the-castle-of-my-skin-lebogang-rasethaba/

I'm liking the dancing in the video on the link

x-post---Impressed by the busy rhythms and Art Melody's rough voiced rapping on the one track I listened to ...

Abba Gargando have/has that Sahel sound down

Worthwhile report by SPIN on Womex 2015: http://www.spin.com/2015/11/world-music-expo-2015-recap-ana-tijoux/

Would like to see Pat Thomas from Ghana who was mentioned in that piece

As we move to the end of the year, I'd like to drop a quick note to encourage any readers / lurkers / ilxors to post their favorite GLOBALLY BASED (or whatever the fuck it is that we're supposed to be calling it in 2015) tracks from this year to the thread so that I can hoover them into the ongoing spotify playlist. Last chance for any accessible stragglers that may not already be in the lexicon.

Since you ask, these are my favourite outernational tracks this year that aren't yet in the playlist:

Africa Express - Terry Riley's In C Mali
Blick Bassy - Kiki
Francois & The Atlas Mountains - Ayan Filé
Mbongwana Star - Nganshé
Nozinja - Xihukwani
Omar Souleyman - Enssa El Aatab
Owiny Sigoma Band - Changaa Attack
Owiny Sigoma Band - Luo Land
Pridjevi - Kantarion (Ili Gospina Trava)
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - IMF (Robert Glasper remix)
The Soil - Ndibambe Kanje
The Soil - Andinanto
St Germain - Real Blues (his comeback album is a collab with Mali musicians)
Sunkanmi - Singale
Tamikrest - Aratan N Tinariwen (Live)
Thiwe ft Busiswa - Ubuhle Be Ndoda
Uhuru - Saka Nana
Vieux Farka Touré & Julia Easterlin - Little Things

Oh, and also:

Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band - Gyae Su

This thread and its Spotify playlist has introduced me so much good music this year, thanks folks.

Art Melody's really got the Buju Banton (via DJ Arafat?) voice down. Love it.

Interesting production on the Baaba Maal tracks; looking forward to the new album.

Eek! is so much fun; I keep going back to it. I don't even care for 8-bit music... this is rhythm first tho.

Eek!, Mbongwana Star, and Bassekou Kouyate all have albums in the Quietus top 100 album list

Adam: You do know it's not 8-bit right? It's two drummers and a keyboard player recorded live in the studio. The drums are super high EQ'd but it's all organic and analog, even if I can hear the convergent evolutionary links between both sounds.

Curmudgeon: Don't forget Owiny Sigoma, Terakaft, Rizan Said (and possibly even Checkpoint 303 and Melechesh)!

http://www.forcedexposure.com/App_Themes/Default/Images/product_images/product_page/C/CD001LP_PROD.jpg

Recommended 2015 compilation of & ritual music originally released in the 60s and 70s:

Funeral Dance in the Mountains: Rural Percussion (& Vocal) Ethnographic Recordings from Southeast Asia
https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a1969951982_16.jpg

I'm taken with "Annemite Mountains, Southern Laos - Ritual Music"

Sorry I thought it counted as 8-bit even if it was combined with analogue instruments, my mistake.

Been going through that Afropop Worldwide selection curmudgeon posted on the 2015 best-album list thread... stuff I've enjoyed that hasn't been mentioned yet include BKO Quintet & Chico Trujillo. The absolute highlight thus far though has been "Damily - Very Aomby", released on Helico, a difficult-to-follow label.

Guitar-player Damily makes electricity, but electricity connected to the earth. Born in 1968, he is the reat master of Tsapiky, the dance rythm from Madagascar's southwest area, full of East-african flavour. His guitar, covered with the dust of Tulear, the city where Damily comes from, is the steering-wheel of a music deep-roted in malagasy people's life, used in burials, weddings, circumcisions and all the most important social events. Complete and pure Africa in a concert not to miss." - Festival Musicas do Mundo de Sines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHzh5YCCiCs

African guitar is alive and well!

xxp this rizan said album is really good :)

Here's that Afropop worldwide list mentioned above:

http://www.afropop.org/26526/stocking-stuffers-2015-feature/

Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Segal, Musique de Nuit Six Degrees Records
Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba, Ba Power Glitterbeat Records
BKO Quintet, Bamako Today Buda Records
Les Ambassadeurs, Rebirth World Village
Kandia Kouyate, Renascence Sterns Africa
Khaira Arby, Gossip Clermont Music
Terakaft, Alone Outhere Records
Kadi ft. Yeli Fuzzo, Supreme Talent Show, Danbe sahelsounds.com
St Germain, St Germain Warner Music
Phyno feat. Stormrex, “Nnunu (feat. Stormrex)” (single)
Wizkid, Ayo Empire Mates Entertainment
Obrafour, “Pimpinaa (feat. Bisa Kdei)” (single)
Sarkodie, Mary Sarkcess Music
Kuku, Ballads & Blasphemy, the Areligious Gospel of Adebola Kuku Buda Musique
Nneka My Fairy Tales Bushqueen
Chico Trujillo Reina de Todos Las Fiestas Barbes Records
Bomba Estereo Amanacer Sony Music
Gema Corredera, Feeling Marta Gc Music LLC
Jose Alberto “El Canario,” Tributo a Los Compadres – No Quiero Llanto 101 Distribution
Fanfarai, Tani Tour’n’sol Productions
Damily, Very Aomby Helico
Brian Chilala and Ngoma Zasu, Vangaza! SWP Records
Thomas Mapfumo and Blacks Unlimited, Danger Zone Chimurenga Music
Youssou N’Dour and Le Super Étoile de Dakar, Fatteliku (Live in Athens 1987) Real World Records
Cheikh Lo, Balbalou Chapter Two
Pat Thomas, Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band Strut Records
Angelique Kidjo, Angelique Kidjo Sings 429 Records
Buika, Vivir Sin Miedo Warner Music Spain
Badi Assad, Hatched QuatroVentos
Bixiga 70, III Glitterbeat
Toto La Momponsina, Tambolero Real World Records
Souad Massi, El Mutakallimum (Masters of the World) Wrasse Records
Aziz Sahmaoui and University of Gnawa, Mazal World Village
Noura Mint Seymali, Tzenni Glitterbeat
Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa World Circuit
Owiny Sigoma Band, Nyanza Brownswood

The Very Best's Johan Hugo introduced Mumford & Sons to acclaimed Senegalese musician Baaba Maal in 2013 and brought Mumford & Sons' Winston Marshall to Senegal to perform at Baaba Maal's Blues Du Fleuve festival in 2014. Johan went on to produce the latest Baaba Maal album.

Noooooooooo.........

The Very Best are now gonna open for Mumford & Sons on their South African tour. Please don't introduce M & Sons to any musicians there....Or maybe its good for the wallets of the African musicians and spreads their names farther

Crossposting to link the first two tracks of available albums listed in the Transglobal World Music Chart Best of 2015 list: https://open.spotify.com/user/12168710240/playlist/1ZenLua47XVtUenbYXmh9X

Original list: http://www.transglobalwmc.com/charts/best-of-2015-chart/

No electro chaabi or Burkina Faso hip hop, plenty of traditional European, take from it what you will...

The Very Best opening for Mumford, eh? Sounds like the perfect fit. :P

Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band - Gyae Su

Gave a quick listen to this finally, and the guitar playing is sublime

transcendent, blissful

After two years, the Guardian have called time on all their playlist features so this is my last Middle Eastern and North African column for them (bar my best-of round up next week). It was good of them to commission it in the first place. Can't think of any other UK newspaper or general music publication that would have given me the opportunity.

I'm thinking of carrying it on for the Quietus in case anyone's interested.

Damn. I've read every single one of those, and been introduced to so much good music. The Guardian has had the best world music coverage of any newspaper, largely thanks to your column. Please continue at the Quietus!

that 47soul album really is a lot of fun

Thanks Adam! Am leaning toward carrying on with it.

Yes, please do.

Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa World Circuit

This is really growing on me. First, I thought it was just a good but one note melding of Staff Benda Bilili and Konono No. 1, but there's more to it than that and more variety.

Portland, Ore based exiled Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo's 2015 Dangerzone album is pleasant enough, if not dazzling.

http://dublab.com/chris-silver-jewish-morocco-special-guest-set-on-celsius-drop-12-10-15/

Interesting...

AllMusic's favourite Latin and World albums of 2015: http://www.allmusic.com/year-in-review/2015/favorite-latin-and-world

I've only heard 2 or 3 of those, but the Natalia Lafourcade album is fantastic.

I like the Lafourcade too

https://shellachead.bandcamp.com/album/the-lost-45s-of-sudan-shellachead-annual-2015

thx to NPR for spotlighting this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3bjZlmsb4A

Taking some time off from work next week, lots of music here to catch up on.

I'll make my year end list up sometime today

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, Mbwongana Star and likely Tal National are 3 of my faves...But need to listen more to other new stuff plus reissues

Songhoy Blues covering the Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (language not in English)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEoxSE7DTAA

x-post-- Just finally watched Mordy fave video up a few posts-- The singing Israeli Haim sisters front A-WA (pronounced “Ay-wa,” meaning “yes” in Arabic), a band that mixes traditional Yemenite folk songs with modern electronic grooves.

The “A-WA album contains love and protest songs of women in the Yemeni-Arabic dialect, that were passed on as an oral tradition and were first recorded in the early 60’s by the Yemeni singer-songwriter Shlomo Moga’a,” the band’s site reads.

The sisters sing in Arabic.

http://www.israel21c.org/israels-haim-sisters-conquer-arab-music-world/

I like that one

yeah it's great I love the dancing in the music video too

The Balkan Beat Box production stands out for me. Its (surprisingly) as distinctive as Transglobal Underground was in the 90s. Chalk it to the bass line.

Good points.

New Aziza Brahim album next year; I believe some folks here like her.

First track is called "Calles de Dajla":

http://soundcloud.com/glitterbeat/aziza-brahim-calles-de-dajla

New Music 2015

Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile (Mali)
Blick Bassy - Akö (Cameroon)
Hama - Torodi (Niger)
Tal National - Zoy Zoy (Niger)
Dexter Story - Wondem (LA/Ethiopia)
Nozinja - Nozinja Lodge (South Africa)
Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band - Juguya (Burkina Faso)
Fadimoutou Wallet Inamoud - Isswat (Azawad, Mali)
Bassekou Kouyate - Ba Power (Mali)
The Very Best - Makes a King (Malawi)
Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa (Congo)
SK Kakraba - Songs of Paapieye (Ghana)

Old (Reissues) 2015

Francis the Great - Ravissante Baby (France/Cameroon)
Ata Kak - Obaa Sima (Ghana)
E.T. Mensah & The Tempos - King of Highlife: Anthology (Ghana)
VA - Next Stop Soweto 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco & Mbaqanga 1975-1985 (South Africa)
VA - Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings from London & Lagos 1954-66 (Nigeria/Ghana)
VA - Near Eastern Music in NYC from the Metropolitan-Kaliphone-Balkan Labels, 1940s-50s Vol 3: Bulgarian, Greek, Jewish & Turkish Performers (NYC)
VA - Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll (Cambodia)
Mammane Sani et son Orgue - La Musique Electronique du Niger (Niger)
Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Press Color (France)
VA - Disco Dildar (Pakistan)

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/29/461392042/in-exile-burundian-musicians-create-out-of-crisis

Interesting, how they're making the best out of a bad situation.

Still working through a number of 2015 albums from this thread....

Listening to South Africa's Nozinja now...Vocals sounding good so far

i think a lot of ilxors like that one. wouldn't be surprised to see it place in the year end poll.

Has that Shangaan electro thing going

well he created the concept didn't he?

Oops, oh yeah, duh....

A Mulher do Fim do Mundo (spotify link, the 34th album by famed 78 year old samba singer Elza Soares, is great. The hoarse-voiced Soares is joined by guitarist Kiko Dinucci (of Metá Metá and Passo Torto), and "The End of the World Woman" is a similarly bracing affair to his other bands (mentioned upthread), spanning an abyss between 70s samba, the junkyard esthetic of Marc Ribot/later-Tom Waits, and psych noise, with a fringing of electronics. I don't speak Portuguese, but the lyrics apparently address transsexuality, domestic violence, heroin addiction, the São Paulo water crisis, and death.

I would have nominated it in our EOY poll (just discovered it today), but perhaps someone else into this will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I38EcMJX8A8

For what its worth, a Google translate of the lyrics.

Same title as last year, but new year. You know the drill-

this is the thread for funky, bluesy, new + reissued music from lots of different places that may include ghana, congo, kenya, niger, mali, south africa, syria, lebanon, israel, iraq, iran, turkey, and other places that make cool music that doesn't always get enough press in the west. some labels that might be relevant here: sublime frequencies, honest jons, sahelsounds, light in the attic, voodoo funk, awesome tapes from africa, analog africa, kindred spirits, soundway.

Plus I like to hear about live music. Last year's thread: Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2015 Thread Once Known as World Music

Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2016 Thread Once Known as World Music

new thread link

(post scriptum) I used Eek - Trinity (which I found here) for an Argentinian football blooper reel... the audience retention is abysmal, so it will never take off... but hey it was worth it, best track of the year imho.

(I make these for fun and earn no $$$, so consider it a video editor's mixtape. Starts at 4:31 for those on mobile... but the first song is great, too; if you know any Argentinian rock songs you know this one.)

https://youtu.be/JK3Y7x5T7Ug?t=4m31s

I'm wrapping this thread up for the year. If I missed something or if a track comes available sometime in the future, bump here to let me know and I'll add.

Rolling Global / Outernational 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

something very odd is going on with that new 2016 thread link, anybody else having problems?

opening it directly takes me back to this thread, and opening it in a new tab changes my stylesheet.

Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2016 Thread Once Known as World Music

Try again. Although maybe I should have changed the name a bit

that worked, thanks!

that's an issue I've had on ilx in general quite a bit lately.

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/26/483231557/why-was-a-prominent-muslim-musician-gunned-down-in-pakistan

Damn. I preferred Sabri Bros. to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for being more trancey.

Late to the party on this one, I realize, but I love this right now. It reminds me of being up too late by myself playing Nintendo, long after the fun of the actual object of the game has worn off and you're just exploring the terrain on Contra or Mega Man or something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl_sZwVwPE4

I missed out on Mamman Sani, Niger synth musician too. He’s got a Sahel Sounds effort I see, and other stuff on Bandcamp