Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2022 Thread (Often African bands)

Another year. This thread is mainly for polyrhythmic, international sounds that aren't big enough to get threads of their own (and often include use of old-school non-programmed instrumentation). I lean toward south of the equator sounds here that are sometimes less club-oriented than those of artists highlighted on Afrobeats, dancehall, soca, etc. threads. Sometimes, but not always, the artists are older than those on those other threads. More old-school bands too. Often less digital programming but if it includes such playing/programming it is usually less popular

last year 2021 thread -

Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2021 Thread (Often African bands)

https://www.passionweiss.com/2022/01/05/afro-jams-of-the-week-january-5-2022/

I am still in 2021 mode -- listening to Ballake Sissoko; plus need to hear Susana Baca's album from last year too

i thought it was really good! took a bit to get into but there's not a weak song on there.

https://theatticmag.com/features/2425/favourite-albums-of-2021.html

I don't think this list of 2021 international and jazz and more selected by contributors to the Attic mag has been discussed

I'm also still catching up with 2021. I think I first saw this on the Afropop 360 list: https://comorian.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-an-island-but-we-re-not-alone

Songs from Grande Comore island (Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and Tanzania), some of which are quietly beautiful folk songs while a couple have unexpectedly unhinged vocals—the first track is exceptionally wild—definitely worth checking out; it's from the same producer/label who recorded Ustad Saami

Jan. 18-20 each night at 8:00 p.m. EST:
https://www.globalfest.org/attend/globalfest

Tiny Desk and global fest combined virtual events

“If you leave me,” blasts the singer, Hassan Shakosh, “I’ll be lost and gone, drinking alcohol and smoking hash.”

The song, “The Neighbors’ Daughter,” has become a giant hit, garnering more than a half- billion views of its video on YouTube alone and catapulting Mr. Shakosh to stardom. But the explicit reference to drugs and booze, culturally prohibited substances in Egypt, has made the song, released in 2019, a lightning rod in a culture war over what is an acceptable face and subject matter for popular music and who gets to decide.

The battle, which pits Egypt’s cultural establishment against a renegade musical genre embraced by millions of young Egyptians, has heated up recently after the organization that licenses musicians barred at least 19 young artists from singing and performing in Egypt.

The organization, the Egyptian Musicians’ Syndicate, accused Mr. Shakosh and other singers of the genre, known as mahraganat, of normalizing, and thus encouraging, decadent behavior, of misrepresenting Egypt and of spoiling public taste.

The barred singers have been iced out of clubs, concerts and weddings. Some have continued to perform abroad or at private parties, but they have had to say no to advertising deals and other income opportunities.

The syndicate’s stance has also cast a pall over Egypt’s cultural scene, ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/16/world/middleeast/egypt-mahraganat-music.html

I think this is that Egyptian song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcAN92OeuD4

http://www.shira.net/music/lyrics/bint-el-geran.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pVHKv2PxQ8

A few years ago a viral video of a Gabonese harp-player named Papé Nziengui was going around the web. He is seen performing during what appears to be a ceremony, in black and white, just totally astounding and like nothing I’d ever heard. Many music people know the video and will be pleased to know Awesome Tapes From Africa will re-release his most popular album Kadi Yombo on April 8 (LP/CD/Tape/Digital).

I searched around for more music by Papé Nziengui, who I learned is an icon of Tsogho initiation music and the modernized version thereof, having performed worldwide the last thirty years. There isn’t much trace of his music or story online but I tracked him down in Libreville and managed to eventually source audio of his groundbreaking early foray into a new kind of music. With a virtuosic group at his side that marries distorted guitar shredding and drum machines with lysergic mouth bow and Nziengui’s own ngombi harp. Half the songs are acoustic , half electric, all captivating. We asked a Gabonese scholar to compose liner notes in French and English to provide context.

Below are visible and archived on Youtube. I like Kombilesa Mí from Colombia who mix traditional funky Palenque rhythms with rapped vocals . I haven't seen anything else yet. I did see Kiran Ahluwalia live once and she's not bad.

This year, globalFEST will be presenting three nights of music through Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. Last year, gF was able to expand the reach of artists through this growing partnership with NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series, and we are thrilled to continue it again.

Tune in January 18 - 20, 2022 at 8pm EST on NPR Music's YouTube Channel.

Tuesday, Jan 18 – 8pm EST / 5pm PST
Suistamon Sähkö
Bedouin Burger
Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7)

Wednesday, Jan 19 – 8pm EST / 5pm PST
Kombilesa Mí
Northern Cree
Son Rompe Pera

Thursday, Jan 20 – 8pm EST / 5pm PST
Al Bilali Soudan
Kiran Ahluwalia
Tufan Derince Group

Globalfest has been good! Son Rompe Pera and Ak Dan Gwang Chil in particular were awesome.

Had heard good things about Son Rompe Pera. Need to watch and hear them

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/amr-hamid-the-egyptian-cassette-archive-graphic-design-200122

Awesome cassette tape covers from Egypt

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/20/elza-soares-one-of-brazils-greatest-ever-singers-dies-at-91

X-post up

Son Rompe Pera with that punk rock energy on a marimba I think

New Imarhan album Aboogi

Algerian rockin desert music

Imarhan album is laidback desert music with a couple different vocalists . I like it. Pretty sure I heard an earlier release from them .

Fatoumata Diawara, who is very charismatic live, is touring the USA now and in March

https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/how-i-learned-accept-my-egyptianess-through-vulgarity-mahraganat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pqJeIa3Ic8

Malian singer Oumou Sangare is releasing a new album in April. This new song/ video is out now though

Great news! I listened to her Acoustic set the other day for the first time, really great stuff.

love her!!

I think around 2004 Mali was a country taking part in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC. They had musicians performing every day and special shows at night. Alas, I was busy at home parenting the night Oumou Sangare performed (but I did make it the night ALi Farka Toure played). Not sure if she has ever come back my way. I did sometimes take my kid to the fest, but didn't that night.

But yeah she's great.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/15/france-mali-troops/?fbclid=IwAR3EOPLTLYne8aCG6415c_k_ADmS8QSdeVwi54SOvlSV26qEez8GFWHpDcc

France is weighing a total military withdrawal from Mali, blaming soured relations with the West African nation’s military rulers and the arrival of Russian mercenaries, according to the European power’s top diplomat and two Western officials with knowledge of the plan.

“If the conditions are no longer in place so that we can act in Mali — which is clearly the case — then we will continue to fight terrorism next door,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France 5 late Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron plans to announce the departure from Mali this week during a European Union-African Union summit in Brussels, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly....

Mali’s biggest defense ally — has about 4,000 troops in West Africa, which is grappling with the world’s fastest-growing Islamist insurgencies. That number is set to shrink to 2,500 this year, and the remaining troops are expected to be redeployed elsewhere in the region, the officials said, including Niger and Ivory Coast....France sent troops to Mali in 2013 to stop al-Qaeda-linked militants from storming the capital, Bamako, after the fighters had seized cities in the north, including storied Timbuktu. After that successful mission, French flags were draped over balconies as people cheered on the foreign soldiers.

But since then, the extremists have regrouped and drilled farther into Mali’s countryside while spilling into neighboring countries. Malians wondered why the French forces in West Africa — which stood at 5,100 last year — could not stop the menace. Some accused the former colonial power of making it worse.

Playing for over 25 years, Etran de L’Aïr has emerged as stars of the local wedding circuit. Beloved for their dynamic repertoire of hypnotic solos and sun schlazed melodies, Etran de L’Aïr’s sound invokes the desert metropolis of ‘Agadez’. The group’s new album is streaming three days ahead of its official February 18th release date care of The Wire.

Stream Etran de L’Aïr’s ‘Agadez’ care of The Wire at www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/premiere-tuareg-guitar-group-etran-del-air-present-agadez

Kora player Sona Joparteh sounds good on that harp like instrument. She’s of Gambian & UK decent and is one of the few professional woman kora players from a family with griots in it .

She hasn’t put out an album of her own since 2011 but has guested on records by others . Is putting a new one out soon. Is touring the US in March

Rokia Kone, Malian singer who is part of Les Amazones d’Afrique has a new album out produced by pop producer Jacknife Lee, and she’s gotten nice reviews in Bandcamp and from Jon Pareles in NY Times. I haven’t heard it yet

https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/rokia-kone-bamanan-review

I don't know Jacknife Lee at all, but the embedded track in that review is fantastic

for my nyc peoples, last call to buy tix for ata kak

https://dice.fm/partner/le-poisson-rouge-group-nyc-llc/event/de566-ata-kak-2nd-apr-le-poisson-rouge-new-york-tickets

Ghanaian Ata Kak doing NYC and Philly gigs but not DC :(

Malian singer Rokia Kone, x-post , sounds good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxfFYV4Lfek

Fatoumata Diawara on NPR Tiny Desk with lyrics translated into English in subtitles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxfFYV4Lfek

Fatoumata Diawara on NPR Tiny Desk with lyrics translated into English in subtitles

I'm only on the second track, but this gwoka comp is sounding great; accompanied here by a write-up from Andy Beta: https://daily.bandcamp.com/scene-report/gwoka-new-directions-list

actually that article discusses a few albums & comps, lots to check out there

So gwoka is a pre-zouk genre from Guadeloupe? Just glanced at article. Maybe need to really did in and listen later.

It’s almost Carnival time , folks.

yes from what I gathered, zouk is something of an offshoot of gwoka, though it also seemed like calling gwoka a genre isn't exactly right?

The roots of Gwoka date back to the 1600’s, born from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Inherited by the African ancestors brought through via the slave trade, gwoka is found in beguine, zouk, jazz, urban music, etc.,” writes Guadeloupean artist Maria-Line Dahomay. “More than music, this genre has what we call a special ‘santiman’ which is a unique sign of true cultural identity.”

in a way it reminds me of "reggae" which covers a lot of ground too

anyway, this comp was superb: https://seance-centre.bandcamp.com/album/l-spri-ka-new-directions-in-gwoka-music-from-guadeloupe-1981-2010

absolutely love this
https://fulumiziki.bandcamp.com/album/ngbaka-ep

"FULU MIZIKI roughly translates as “music from the garbage”, which in a literal sense is an accurate description of the thrillingly chaotic eco-friendly Afro-Futurist collective. The instruments they design, build and play are masterclasses in upcycling.

From guembris built out of computer casing, to jerry-can drum-kits, keyboard inventions from wood, springs and aluminium pipes, and old flip-flops used as pads by plastic tube-wielding percussion players, the Democratic Republic of Congo-formed group’s ethos lies in the respect of nature, the celebration of its gifts and the importance of its preservation through environmentalism."

I think Chxck eddy was touting Fulu Miziki on FB. I need to give them more than the 30 seconds listen I started to give them the other day, before i got interrupted

same producer too, on the always fun nyege nyege tapes

https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/liye-liye

Burundian drumming is a global phenomenon, featured in blockbuster movies and best-selling albums. But at home, authorities have restricted it to official functions — and banned women from performing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/world/africa/burundi-drumming.html

Here’s the Burundi drumming article

X-post - I kinda like Fulu Miziki best when they’re not locked into a club friendly high bpm formula. So much of this is not for me

Malian singer/ guitarist Fatoumata Diawara who did a recent Tiny Desk that I posted up thread is in DC tonight with her band & me & the missus are going . First indoor gig in a bit for us

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/550345/malian-singer-fatoumata-diawara-charts-her-own-course/

Not sure if this is the right thread (please refer me to any more appropriate ones!), but Iranian percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi released a new EP. It’s called Prisma and it’s at least as minimalist as the two Yek projects with Burnt Friedman that I know him from. I love it - I mean, just listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9JNxg7fIaM
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi • Eleven

(I’m reminded somewhat of the Emeka Ogboh project from last year that placed in the EOY Albums)

xp thats lush

v cool

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/nyregion/brazilian-samba-star-dom-salvador-river-cafe.html

NYC based Brazilian samba funk lounge musician

Oops that’s an old article. But I think he’s still at it

Les Filles de Illighadad doing a short April tour in North America I see. Publicist says they will be back in summer too. No Dc date this time. I did see them here a few years ago

https://afropop.org/articles/oumou-sangar%C3%A9-premieres-wassulu-don-on-international-womens-day

Nice new Oumou Sangare video

Movie doc Elder's Corner about Nigerian juju, highlife, and afrobeat is showing again in DC area on Sunday March 20 at the AFI Silver as part of an African Film Fest. Might be showing near you all too at some point. Worth seeing

Seeing a Bandcamp article--

Hamid Al Shaeri is recognized as a monumental figure in Al Jeel music. As both a solo star and writer/producer for many other Al Jeel artists throughout the late 1980s and ‘90s, he blessed Cairo with a homegrown alternative to foreign pop sounds. One cannot tell the story of the genre without invoking his name.

“It’s very much associated with Hamid,” says Cairo-based Egyptian music expert Malak Makar, speaking about Al Jeel. “He is the leader of that music.”

New compilation The SLAM! Years (1983 – 1988) is the origin story. Released as part of the always excellent Arabic music series Habibi Funk, it draws from El Shaeri’s first five solo albums, all released on the Cairo-based label SLAM!, the set captures his burgeoning interest in exuberant and glitzy pop music. There is an abundance of synths, glowing melodies, a generally upbeat atmosphere. Not as commercially successful as his later work, Makar considers this era as more of a precursor to El Shaeri’s influential Al Jeel style than representative of the genre. Nonetheless, it’s a crucial encapsulation of his early career...

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/hamid-al-shaeri-the-slam-years-1983-1988-feature

loving this

Have only listened to one song so far and I liked it. Fun Egyptian rhythmic pop

I'm becoming obsessed with this new album of Verdean koladera by the Ano Nobo Quartet: https://ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-strings-of-s-o-domingos

The Ano Nobo Quartet’s Koladera is a global story with Cabo Verde at its center, a creole melting pot in the middle of the Atlantic attracting the best from four continents: hypnotic, haunting Koladera guitars inflected with twangs of Salsa Cubano, Spanish Flamenco, Brazilian Samba Canção, Jamaican Reggae, Argentine Tango, Mozambican Marrabenta, and finished with a dash of Black American Blues. It’s all here. Pascoal even picked up a few notes from a group of Chinese guitarists—a traditional instrument in China resembles the cavaquinho—who arrived on a socialist cultural exchange in Cabo Verde. Absent percussion, the quartet’s sound still drips with rhythm.

^this rules

v much enjoyed this
https://hakunakulala.bandcamp.com/album/mmaso

"Since the appearance of his cult breakthrough debut Tuli Banyo released on Hakuna Kulala in 2018, Ugandan conscious rapper and MC, Ecko Bazz has challenged perceptions of East Africa's burgeoning rap scene. His style is hard to categorize blending elements of grime, dancehall and US hip-hop and twisting politicized lyrics in Luganda that explore violence, religion, drug abuse or the poverty in the Ugandan slums. This personality anchors his debut album Mmaso, an explosive call to action that balances his manic presence with production from MC Yallah collaborator Debmaster, Kenyan club futurist Slikback, Berlin-based Japanese beatmaker DJ Die Soon and the inimitable DJ Scotch Rolex."

Yes! That Ecko Bazz record is awesome and distinctive.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/congotronics-international-konono-no1-deerhoof-juana-molina-more-prep-debut-lp-stream-2-tracks/

2 songs on the link

Congotronics International is a supergroup featuring Konono Nº1, Kasai Allstars, Deerhoof, Juana Molina, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, and Skeletons’ Matt Mehlan, and they'll release their debut album, Where’s The One?, on April 29 via Crammed Discs. This is a project that's been brewing for 11 years, and features s 21 tracks, including live concert recordings and studio tracks produced in the years before, during, and after the 2011 "Congotronics vs. Rockers" tour that featured all of groups and artists mentioned above.

I haven't seen anyone talk about Silvana Estrada's new album. It's a powerful, quiet, stripped down singer-songwriter "love aches" album with gorgeous, contrasted, nuanced songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMG7ePKkLnI
Te guardo (Live on KEXP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egnp-WbtPs4
Tristeza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDOeju9atXE
Marchita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmj-Vm7SJ9M
Ser de ti

I like her too (briefly mentioned her on the Rolling Afro-Latino thread )

Her melodies and the production help make it more than just singer/songwriter formula

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/04/02/1090278433/opinion-grammys-global-music-category-ignores-musicians-from-much-of-the-globe?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2uEUlgMBxq-sSmOwc3Atw2ZOhskMEHST0M7pLNn_dZ9mUxKcCVapxo50w

new Oumou Sangare song from upcoming album Timbuktu. She's got such a great voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vrl2S3tOE

Awesome Tapes From Africa just released Kadi Yombo by Papé Nziengui. Impressive percussion and call & response chants from Gabon

https://papenziengui.bandcamp.com/album/kadi-yombo?from=fanpub_fb_pr

loving this

I saw Ata Kak perform last night, it was a delight. Instant dance party, just a very wholesome experience all around.

ah man, saw him a few years back
so joyous

Chontidelia for free from 6 to 7 @ Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Friday April 15 (Afro-Colombian band from eastern part of Colombia)

I think this east coast gig is being streamed live east coast time on the Kennedy Center youtube and Facebook page (and archived too). The band was just in NYC recently. Have heard good things about them. Plus heard them backing Kumera Zekarias on his his ep from last year

I recommend "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988" compilation of Angolan samba by Mário Rui Silva that came out last year. It's light, gentle, elegant grooves, often just guitars, vocals, percussion, occasional flute, with a nice dated fade. Super nice.
https://timecapsulespace.bandcamp.com/album/stories-from-another-time-1982-1988

Also enjoyed Ata Kak live, I had trouble believing that he was in front of me in the flesh, and did not only exist in a corner of the museum of music nerdom

Seeing on Facebook and twitter that Nigerian hornman and bandleader Orlando Julius (OJ Ekemode) has died at 79. He and his band always put on a fun live show when I saw him circa 2015 to 2017.

Shame, discovered him with his last album with the Heliocentrics, already 8 years ago. I still have the groove of the opener Buje Buje in my head.
There are so many of these afro-funk / highlife legends that are overshadowed by you-anikulaknow-who. I was listening to Tunji Oleyana today (born 1939, who knows if still alive) and a little while ago to Babatunde Olatunji (died a long time ago), and it gives the same impression of infinity of riches as the more famous musical countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gDOyC0ktcw

Ata Kak played a 5 minute walk from me and I'm very bummed I couldn't catch that show. One of my favorite albums of all time probably, and the show looked very fun in the IG stories that I saw.

I listened to Susuma by Jembaa Groove, a duo based in Berlin playing very consistent and warm afro-funk / highlife.
https://www.jembaamusic.com/
They sound like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZxm0EyvFjA

I recommend "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988" compilation of Angolan samba by Mário Rui Silva that came out last year.

Thanks, this is really great, though I don't know how much of it I would categorize as samba. Reminded me of this Fausto album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTh95tUNOs

Angélique Kidjo stars in Yemandja, a new music theater work that is at once family drama and historical thriller, redolent of Greek tragedy and infused with themes of love, betrayal, honor, free will, and the horror and injustice of slavery. Named for a Yoruban deity, this MASS MoCA co-commission is a panoramic work of magical realism, a parable about gods and humans that illuminates through song what can happen when people are robbed of their culture.

This is coming to Kennedy Center in DC for 2 performances

Yemandja is featuring a cast of eight performers and four musicians

Conceived by Angélique Kidjo, Jean Hebrail, and
Naïma Hebrail Kidjo
Book and Lyrics by Naïma Hebrail Kidjo
Music by Angélique Kidjo and Jean Hebrail

very old news of course, but:

just chanced upon Samba Touré’s Albala album, a 2013 Glitterbeat release. fantastic stuff, just beautiful.

also the 2015 follow-up, Gandadiko

Oh yeah, Toure with that Mali north African desert guitar sound and his warm vocals

Nice Haitian folky voice --Nathalie Joachim w/ Spektral Quartet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Cclla3k2w

I missed the Kidjo theatrical show in DC but someone who I know saw it and said it was as bad as this reviewer in San Francisco thought

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/review-marquee-name-grand-venue-host-amateur-hour-in-angelique-kidjos-yemandja

https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lookback-dakar-diary

Christgau diary of 2010 visit to Dakar

Awesome Tapes From Africa just released Kadi Yombo by Papé Nziengui. Impressive percussion and call & response chants from Gabon

https://papenziengui.bandcamp.com/album/kadi-yombo

― curmudgeon, Friday, April 8, 2022 7:29 AM (one month ago)

I'm finally getting to this: it's really good! manages to remind me of an impressive range of other acts (Sunny Ade, Thomas Mapfumo) while remaining unique

Visitors to this thread might like Haitian American Leyla McCalla's new album: https://leylamccalla.bandcamp.com/album/breaking-the-thermometer

I've only listened to it once, but I thought it was excellent. Among other good things, she does a great cover of Veloso's "You Don't Know Me"

This is a bewitching mixture of traditional music and experimental, sub-testing leftfield bass music from Kinshasa. Truly rad.

https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/liye-liye

yes! posted before but maybe not on this thread, amazing album

silvana estrada album is incredibly beautiful, wow

yes yes to Silvana Estrada

Listening to Somi album now (seeing what I think. Some I like and some of her vocalizing is too afro-jazzy melodramatic and overwrought for me). Her Off-broadway production "Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba" is @ The NY Theatre Workshop through June 26. She's been researching Makeba. Seun Kuti has a co-writing credit on one song; Gregory Porter also; Angelique Kidjo & Ladysmith Black Mambazo too

Washington Post article on her (not sure if it's paywalled)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/05/19/somi-miriam-makeba/

A journalist friend of mine who likes some of Kidjo's music said he saw her musical/show/play I referenced above a short while back and he thought it was not good and poorly written. He said the story lacked subtlety

https://www.songlines.co.uk/best-new-albums/the-10-best-new-albums-from-around-the-world-june-2022

Some of these (out now or upcoming) releases look worth checking out

I missed Reyna Tropical (afro-Mexican tropical pop) live in DC last night, but the little I have heard I have liked. In an IG story I saw, there was a bit of guitar playing that sounded like Congolese soukous/rumba

https://pan-african-music.com/categorie/articles/?fs=e&s=cl

French website with some interesting articles

Just heard a late night radio dj play this year-plus old song “Jerusalema” by Master KG ft. Nomcebo Zikode and it still sounds great (as many ilxors have noted on various threads in recent years)

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3036461062_10.jpg

A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.

Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, haunting tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.

A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old.

The Beja community has been on the forefront of political change in Sudan for decades because successive Sudanese governments have turned a blind eye to their calls for recognition and access to the gold wealth of their own soil. Noori believes an unleashing of Beja music would form the most potent act of resistance in their quest for equity and justice.

Read the full story and finer details: www.okayafrica.com/sudan-music-noori-dorpa-band/

In a way, "Jabana" is my fave because in striking contrast to their usual, faster (though equally reflective) groove approach, and a helluva ballad anyway--but also "Al Amal" and "Wondeeb" and then "Daleb" kind of melds the slower and faster, without seeming nearly its official playing time, which is nearly twice the usual. Really the whole album, of course. (Will also have to check out that other Ostinato Records 2022 release, The Strings of Santo Domingos, and the earlier sets.

Haven't listened to "Jabana" yet, but groove songs sound good

I recommend "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988" compilation of Angolan samba by Mário Rui Silva that came out last year.

Very much enjoying this, thanks for the recommendation. Quite an eclectic mix of stuff on there - semba, into clattery marimba stuff, into some random Roots horns, into almost sophistipop territory by the end.

Smithsonian Folklife Fest in DC will be live on National mall and on Youtube starting this week Wednesday June 22 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm with cellist Yo Yo Ma playing with a largely Afghan band . Details and Youtube link on the below

https://festival.si.edu/schedule?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D159951024

Folklife fest evening concerts will be broadcast, not daytime events.

https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/vieux-farka-toure-les-racines-138796/

I really need to give latest Vieux Farka Toure a listen. Lyrics about Mali's politicial situation and music that hearkens back a bit to his Dad , say the reviews

Feli Colina turning cumbia into a dark nocturnal affair on "Diabla" with percussive piano and spirited vocals alla Rosalía. It's on her 2022 album which is half influenced by industrial (Chakatrunka), the other remaining rather delicate and sparse. She's from Argentina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDSjhlqC0fQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iodtNBYsv2Q

Just saw Femi Kuti and Positive Force tonight. I don't know their catalogue that well but it was a great show, very tight and energetic, really had the crowd moving.

Have enjoyed Femi Kuti live also when I have seen him in the past

Femi's in DC Thursday

https://pan-african-music.com/en/orchestre-massako-analog-africa/

Nice reissued old-school Gabon 70s afropop

I need to listen to Orchestre Massoko again and read more about 'em. Impressive on initial listen

Enjoyed that thanks, warm music, strong Soukous influence but sung by a singer from Guinea. The closer Temedy is as good as anything from the heyday.

I saw the play “The Band’s Visit” and the Israeli woman cafe owner sang a song called “Oum Kalthoum and Omar Sharif” and she and the Alexandria, Egypt Band leader quoted Sharif movie lines. The cafe owner mentioned growing up and hearing Kalthoum songs on the radio.

The play/ musical is a bit corny and feel good about this Egyptian band arriving in the wrong town in Israel, a dull nothing small location for a night. But the music including oud and clarinet playing is wonderful. References to Chet Baker also. It’s a Tony theatre award winner, for what that’s worth, that has been in NY for awhile, but just opened a short DC run where I saw it at Kennedy Center.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/arts/music/afghan-national-institute-of-music-lisbon.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20220717&instance_id=66875&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=37355772&segment_id=98762&user_id=062566bcd9872d3bfa0c4b1ac1e046b4

Afghan National Institute of music members fled to Lisbon Portugal. Article has music links and covers both how the musicians are doing in Portugal as well as what is still happening in Afghanistan where Taliban are taking actions against music

https://www.passionweiss.com/2022/07/12/afro-jams-of-the-week-july-13-2022/

thanks for reminding me of the existence of that column, curmudge! if you ignore its pompous blurb it’s a useful source of recommendations outside of the Nigeria/Ghana-South Africa axis.

anyway, it alerted me to Tonton Pal, who together with fellow Malian Binguini Bakhaga appears to be responsible for what might be the best commercial ever - for the Reaktor energy drink, what else?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU1o0gR9Lgw

also loving this Tonton Pal track from 2019: “Ne Diarabi”:

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

(perhaps better at home in the Afropop thread, but since we’re here…)

Reaktor partner Binguini Bakhaga also has a “Diarabi” song (or “Ne Diarabiledo”, according to the video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cR3h4tuh8c

this one is from 2020. it’s very pretty.

ah, I see: https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaraby

That Tonton Pal Reaktor Energy drink commercial is awesome

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/world/asia/27phyo-zeya-thaw-dead.html

Phyo Zeya Thaw, Burmese Pro-democracy Rapper, 41, Is Executed
A hip-hop star, he was a democracy activist in Myanmar and then a lawmaker. After a military coup, he joined the resistance and was hanged for it.

Mr. Phyo Zeya Thaw, who was commonly known as Zayar Thaw (pronounced zay-yahr thaw), was adept at career makeovers.

Toward the end of the military’s first round of iron-fisted rule, in the early 2000s, he fronted one of Myanmar’s first hip-hop groups and co-founded Generation Wave, a collective of rappers, activists and other young people who used music as a medium of dissent.

“With hip-hop, we can express ourselves without fear,” Mr. Phyo Zeya Thaw said in a 2011 interview, shortly after he was released from his first stint in prison. “Music can make us brave.”

A friend saw 86-year old Ghanaian Ebo Taylor and band in NYC. Said Taylor's band played a bunch to open and close the set with Taylor singing 5 songs in the middle portion but not playing his guitar. He said Taylor's voice was too low in the mix as well. He said the band's closing portion was strong. The show was promoted by Jazz is Dead, a label/group/promotion entity spearheaded by producer Adrian Younge. Taylor will be doing a Chicago gig and some US west coast ones as well. He and his band didn't go south or north of NYC for more East Coast shows

family stuff meant I missed 2 movies on Sunday at a DC African Diaspora Film Fest:

"Dancing the Twist in Bamako" @ 2:10 pm ; "The Mali-Cuba Connection" @ 7:30

Haven't checked yet to see whether they are available online. Movie doc I saw about old-school Nigerian musicians "Elders Corner" came back to DC for 2 different one off showings recently.

this record is fantastic: http://siromband.si/sl/portfolio-items/the-liquified-throne-of-simplicity/

[googles name Sirom Band sees description avante folk ....ok will give it a listen ]

saw another person write that they felt sorry for 86 year old Ebo Taylor on a tour gig when they hoped to be enthused.

https://pan-african-music.com/en/music-from-saharan-whatsapp/

Need to listen to this some more

https://www.qwanqwa.net/live

Ethiopian band Qwangwa is touring the US of A from September through late November . Former ilxor H in Addis emailed me and encouraged people to go see them

That is Qwanqwa

Short Oumou Sangare tour of North America

October 23—Vancouver, BC—Chan Centre
October 25—Berkeley, CA—Freight & Salvage
October 26—Berkeley, CA—Freight & Salvage
October 28—Princeton, NJ—McCarter Theater
October 29—New York, NY—Apollo Theater

Not coming my way. I think the last time she was in DC was when the Smithsonian Folklife Fest brought a bunch of Malian musicians to town somewhere around 2004 I think. I was home with my kid who was young then. I did see Ali Farka Toure and some others though.

Speaking of Mali

singer-songwriter and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré’s brand new album ‘Les Racines’ is available to buy and stream now via World Circuit.

Is anyone familiar with Mdou Moctar? A buddy just offered me a free ticket. Do I go?

Yes.

I’s happily accept that ticket if I were you

I’d

Yes see Mdou Moctar and his band.

Upthread I mentioned that Ethiopian band Qwanqwa are on a long US tour. When I listened to a few cuts online they were instrumental and a few had a violin sound added that didn't quite sound Ethiopian. Decent but didn't wow me. Turns out the violinist is from the US but has spent lots of time in Ethiopia I think. More importantly when I saw them live they used a singer on many cuts and wow is she powerful .Vocalist Selamnesh Zemene Taye was the highlight of the gig tonight, although the bass krar player and the one string masinko musician were also impressive.

Tinariwen, the Tuareg band from North Mali which has been to the US a number of times just had to cancel their North American tour because of US Immigration slowness on visa issues. Also Malawi duo Madalitso has had to cancel dates for same reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sl5HR4a8W0

Maki KB on Nahom
New Ethiopian music

Maybe I will post that on the Ethiopiques thread

❗It is very sad to hear the passing away of Madingo Afework.

Madingo, the Melvin Franklin of #Ethiopia singing many melodious songs with his deep voice had many popular ballads that made him star for decades.

Rest In Peace! pic.twitter.com/xG9WCiCsL5

— Naty Yifru (@NatyYifru) September 27, 2022

RIP Ethiopian singer Madingo Afework

All of the Ethiopian folks I am friends with on FB are mourning Madingo Afework who died too young

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/28/arts/how-ata-kaks-long-forgotten-awesome-tape-turned-into-an-awesome-tour-30-years-later/?fbclid=IwAR2xi66-8YWbOOQBR3f-79pLR6If2NmnRWRTUjCAeb7quxOsY2KBEzGwM-0

Recent ata kak interview that also includes comments from Brian of awesome tapes who found an ata kak tape and tracked him down. Article is in relation to ATA kak Boston gig on us tour

thanks for this, enjoyed the read

https://chicagoreader.com/music/the-readers-guide-to-world-music-festival-chicago-2022/

Going on in Chicago now. Posting here to look at and see if it will give me us some ideas re who to listen to

Movie docs in DC area

Oct. 9- "Omara" film doc at 2:45 @ AFI Silver (a one time showing of doc on Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, who came to fame for many via her role in the Buena Vista Social Club. Showing as part of AFI Latin American Film Festival. There will be a Q&A with filmmaker Hugo Perez)

Oct 30-Movie doc "Em and Trinh" North American premiere @ 1 pm @ Asian Art Freer Gallery about late Vietnamese singer-songwriter Trịnh Công Sơn (1939–2001) known to some as “Vietnam’s Bob Dylan”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u682Fp4HWk

Nobuntu female Zimbabwe a cappella quintet

Isokratisses free on October 13 from 6 to 7 @ Kennedy Center Millennium Stage ( vocal ensemble of eight women who carry the ancient tradition of polyphonic songs from Epirus—a region in northern Greece and southern Albania)

Their approach sounds cool to me in small doses, then I get bored. Their gig tonight can be seen on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage youtube page and maybe Facebook too

Of some of the groups who were in Chicago at that fest there, I intend to check out Kaleta & Super Yamba Band , who have played in DC as well

La Dame Blanche (Cuba by way of France) pairs her fierce rhymes and dramatic flute with colossal beats from across the African diaspora; Paolo Angeli (Italy) turns his cleverly modified Sardinian guitar into a percussion engine; Gili Yalo (Ethiopia by way of Israel) honors the jazzy, funky grooves that his homeland made immortal in the 60s and 70s; and Kaleta & Super Yamba Band (Benin and Nigeria by way of New York City) fuse Afrobeat and juju for a driving, danceable sound that’s as cheerful as it is aggressive.

I wonder if there are any young Congolese musicians playing rumba/soukous ? Similarly are there young Senegalese mbalax musicians? And are veterans in these genres doing anything interesting still?

What genres did everyone start getting into this year? For me the big ones were pagode romântico (Brazil), campus folk (Taiwan), cumbia villera (Argentina), and I also had a blast finally listening through as much as I could from Lance Scott Walker's "Houston Rap Tapes" book.

— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) October 25, 2022

Looking fwd to this---so far, most of my favorite tracks are on their early albs:

Last month, Touareg collective Tinariwen announced the reissue of Kel Tinariwen, marking the project's first-ever official release since it appeared in 1992 locally in Mali on cassette, out November 4th via Wedge. Kel Tinariwen will see release alongside two additional Tinariwen reissues, Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion, out for the first time on vinyl the same day via Craft Recordings. Today, the group is thrilled to share Kel Tinariwen’s opening track, “À L’Histoire,” following lead single “Arghane Manin.” There’s a waltzing, whimsical edge to “À L’Histoire,” as voices call back to each other over springy percussion and guitar.

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band's already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound that they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop. Alongside this record, Tinariwen are also reissuing Aman Iman and Imidiwan: Companions - their third and fourth studio albums respectively. A blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll – a sound that critics have called “desert blues”.

Aman Iman: Water Is Life was Tinariwen’s third studio album, originally released in 2007, and recorded in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Produced by Justin Adams (Robert Plant’s guitarist and producer of the Tinariwen’s debut album The Radio Tisdas Sessions), and recording engineer Ben Findlay. The whole Tinariwen story breathes through its twelve songs, beginning with the first Touareg rebellion of 1963, which lies at the root of so much pain and trauma in the Malian Touareg mindset and which is vividly recalled by Ibrahim in his brooding song ‘Soixante Trois’.

Imidiwan: Companions was the band's fourth album, and it possesses all the elements that have made them so alluring; raw simplicity, melodic beauty, songs ranging from the epic and universal to the intimate and personal. The 13-track album, produced by Jean-Paul Romann, was recorded in Tessalit, the Malian desert village home of band members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib & Hassan Ag Touhami.

Kel Tinariwen Tracklist:
1. À L'Histoire
2. Khedou Khedou
3. Adounia Tarha
4. Matadjem Yinmexan
5. Awa Idjan War Infa Iman
6. Sendad Eghlalan
7. Sendad Eghlalan
8. Arghane Manine

Aman Iman: Water Is Life Tracklist:
1. Cler Achel
2. Mano Dayak
3. Matadjem Yinmixan
4. Ahimana
5. Soixante Trois
6. Toumast
7. Imidiwan WinakaliN
8. Awa Didjen
9. Ikyadarh Dim
10. Tamatant Tilay
11. Assouf
12. Izarharh Tenere

Imidiwan: Companions Tracklist:
1. Imidiwan Afrik Tendam
2. Lulla
3. Tenhert
4. Enseqi Ehad Didagh
5. Tahult In
6. Tamodjerazt Assis
7. Intitlayaghen
8. Imazighen N Adagh
9. Tenalle Chegret
10. Kel Tamashek
11. Assuf Ag Assuf
12. Chabiba
13. Ere Tasfata Adounia

https://www.tinariwen.com/
For more information, contact:
Sam McAllister | Pitch Perfect PR - sam at pitchperfectpr dot com

That old Tinariwen stuff does look like its worth checking out

https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/01/22/beneath-the-rhythm-congolese-rumba-is-a-link-to-the-past?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuem45dOA-wIVfsmUCR0AZAgqEAMYASAAEgLNJPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

paywalled and I don't have access to this Economist mag article on Congolese rumba and politics

https://therumbakings.com/

Rumba Kings doc on Congo music still at festivals worldwide

Did any New Yorkers here catch any of these October 2022 events?

http://congoinharlem.org/lineup2022

Lagos, Abidjan, and more

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/megalopolis-how-coastal-west-africa-will-shape-the-coming-century

x-post- Some of the films about Congo musicians, art, etc on the Congo in Harlem link are streaming through October 31 . Rumba Kings, a Congolese rap one and more

Speaking of Congo musicians

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1370979743_16.jpg

ALBUM OF THE DAY
Lady Aicha & Pisko Crane’s Original Fulu Miziki of Kinshasa, “N’Djila Wa Mudujimu”
By James Gui · October 25, 2022

yes, it sounded very good on first encounter. Chris L mentioned it on the 2022 AOTY So Far thread and I forgot to otm them.

(otm them for it being a vg album - way too early for me to make any aoty announcements)

I liked it a lot; I was already in a mood to trust the label because they put out the Phelimuncasi album, which is definitely an AOTY candidate for me. I can definitely tell they're using home-built electronics, junk percussion, and even some power drills and stuff (like a West African Einstürzende Neubauten). This video really lets you see what they do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri2oK4gApMU

Nyege Nyege doesn’t put out bad stuff afaic— it’s all interesting if not really great. Their companion label, Hakuna Kulala, does more dance oriented stuff, and is also excellent

do we not have a Nyege Nyege thread? I could've sworn dog latin started one

Maybe .

For those interested in the history of Congolese music (that laid the groundwork for the experimental methods of the musicians on Nyege Nyege), the documentary Rumba Kings that I mentioned above is definitely worth seeing. It's available just through Monday for free. It covers the roots of Congolese rumba and covers the period of 1940 through 1980, with a focus on musicians Grand Kalle, Dr Nico, and Franco with lots of old footage mixed in with newer interviews with musicians from the bands as well as African music historians. It also covers the ugly colonialist history , the segregation, and the exploitation. The doc shows shows how a small but star-filled Congolese Orchestra flew to Belgium in 1960 the night when Congolese and Belgians were negotiating independence there, and how the music helped the transition to independence. Someone in the film says about the Grand Kalle and African Jazz song "Independence Cha Cha " that it even made the colonizer dance.

that twitter thread on genres you got into this year had some interesting recommendations, was not familiar with freebeat / cruise but it's nice:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/nigerian-cruise-freebeat-feature

Yep, didn’t know that Nigerian one either

I should pay a lot more attention to this thread.

Few things I've been enjoying:

CRRDR - DAMNBOW
I don't understand this but I love it. Dembow and Reggaeton tunes sped up and gabba'd-up

Anti-General
If you liked that Birdy Island by Howie Lee, check this out

xpost

McQuaid points to the success of the track “Zazoo Zehh” by Portable—which features established singer/rapper Olamide, and which is now approaching 10 million streams—as a sign that vocalists are becoming more willing to jump on the uptempo beats, bringing the music further into Nigeria’s mainstream.

this song was the first post on rolling afropop this year! not that I claim to know much about the genre in general

Cool.

http://davidbyrne.com/radio/the-heart-of-arabia

David Byrne list of songs in Arabic, Farsi, & some African languages that he is listening to now. Says most are within last 10 years.

if you’re going to include artists from places like Senegal, Iran, Pakistan and… the Netherlands (by way of Iran), why call your playlist From the Heart of Arabia for crying out loud? given his age and experience Byrne *really* should know better than that

The Heart of Arabia, sorry. but this kind of stuff just pisses me off

https://ethiopianstoday.com/2022/11/06/legendary-ethiopian-artist-ali-birra-passed-away/

RIP Ali Birra, Ethiopian Oromo vocalist. Ethiopian twitter and Facebook and elsewhere is seriously mourning his passing

Ali Birra was on an Ethiopiques comp and last year was on a duet song that got attention from younger Folks who listen to Ethiopian music

On the heels of his already critically acclaimed (yes, already!) forthcoming retrospective, World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah, Alhaji Waziri Oshomah — the Oyoyo King, the Godfather of Afemai Music, the Etsako Super Star, Mr. Please Please Please, Mr. Dynamite — returns with his complete Volume Series, compiled for the first time in a 5 LP box set.

Waziri hails from a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afemailand, known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live — and dance — together. And there, as a devout Muslim and an exemplar of religious piety, Waziri fuses Etsako/Afemai folk styles with pan-Nigerian highlife and pop to create a sublime vehicle for his Islamic philosophy that gets everyone — Muslims, Christians, whoever — on the dancefloor.

This 5 LP set, Vol. 1-5 (1978-1984), focuses on Waziri’s illustrious mid-career output — the music he created during the years leading up to and after he performed his first hajj (you might recognize some of the hits from The Muslim Highlife) — and includes a copy of The Journey So Far, a limited-edition book written and designed by his children, to celebrate Waziri’s remarkable life and career.

lots of streaming etc. options here:
https://linktr.ee/luakabop

New Wau Wau Collectif: https://wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com/album/mariage

Not quite as mesmerising as Yaral Sa Doom (so far anyway) but it's good!

ha I had the exact same reaction. It is very good though, just not quite as magical, possibly because now I know what to expect

Another quality Natalia Lafourcade release (De todas las flores). It's not fully out of the demonstrative homage territory (which she was acing tbh), it's probably a little bit too impeccably in place, the backing band is definitely very comfortable behind a singer so in command, but she's so good at it. And it's closer to a songwriter album, with plenty of latin jazz arrangements and more thrown in.

I like Natalia Lafourcade a lot, but the presence of Marc Ribot on guitar is about the only thing keeping me awake. It's just so...gentle. It doesn't get revved up until about 3/4 of the way in.

Thanks for heads up on Lafourcade latest.

I am listening to the more pop 2022 effort by Jorge Drexler who with his band impressed me last Friday night in Washington DC. Uruguayan born, and living in Spain for over 2 decades, he has some lilting melodies that sound Brazilian, folky pop numbers with various Latin influences, and some polyrhythmic cuts with dashes of Brazil, Spain, rock en espanol from Mexico, & Talking Heads .

only learning of Lafourcade today

world sure is full of music

ty curmudgeon for alerting me to the new Jorge Drexler, very excited to check it out

Just read that Jorge Drexler was on a song with Gal Costa on her final album before she passed

Drexler won song of the year at Latin Grammys for “Tocarte”.

Saw Oumou Sangare on a best of 2022 list

So much to listen to , so little time

Caramanica NY Times list has Nigerian Asake and Pareles list of additional top albums has Malian Rokia Kone ( w/ Jackknife Lee) And Jorge Drexler

Brad Luen (stumbled on a retweet of his) posting on various intenational things he is listening to including South African

https://bradluen.substack.com/p/odds-and-ends-125?r=2ck1y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

not sure Etran de L'Aïr have been mentioned here? found on ted gioia's honourable mentions, very nice on first listen

https://etrandelair.bandcamp.com/album/agadez

I feel like they were once mentioned but maybe in a prior year. I recall liking Etran de L'air

Etran de L’air and Oumou Sangare are both on Ted Gioia list of 50 other albums he liked ( that didn’t make his top list that will be on his paywalled part of his substack)

Brad Luen just wrote about Montparnasse Musique album “Archaeology “
MM are the French-Algerian Nadjib Ben Bella and South Africa’s Aero Manyelo, and are a DJ/production duo who met in Paris. They like Konono #1 style Congolese music and South African club stuff too.

Montparnasse Musique didn't wow me on first listen, but its clubby approach to melding various African genres may grow on me.

https://www.theafricareport.com/265333/why-kenyans-are-not-listening-to-their-own-music-and-the-eric-omondi-factor/

Some random article I saw on twitter

Aboogi by Imarhan is very nice, not a lot of fire but full of nuance and gripping in its own contemplative way. Well produced without being polished.

Yes to Imharhan too

AFRICAN PYSCHEDELIC ROCK ENSEMBLE ORCHESTRA GOLD TO RELEASE THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM "MEDICINE" JANUARY 20, 2023

RIYL: ANTIBALAS, SONGHOY BLUES, BUDOS BAND, GOAT

Oakland, CA-based ensemble Orchestra Gold offers a kaleidoscope of sound deeply rooted in the Malian tradition while introducing a genre-bending nod to the future through their rare and artful fusion of African Psychedelic Rock. This original sound with a retro feel results from a decade-long collaboration between Mariam Diakite of Mali and Erich Huffaker of Oakland. The music of Orchestra Gold represents this powerful intersection, transcending borders and boundaries to be a force of healing within the community.

OG’s vibrant sound is spearheaded by the dynamic Mariam Diakite, whose raw, hypnotic vocals deliver heartfelt and thought-provoking lyrics in the highly symbolic Bambara language. While paying homage to Malian musical traditions, this fierce new sound thrives with heavy swinging rhythms, a funky fresh brass section, and cosmic guitar licks. With the January 2023 release of their third album, Medicine, this profoundly spiritual and dance-inducing ensemble continues their pursuit of spreading healing and community through the universal gift of music.

Just last month OG opened for Afrobeat living legend Ebo Taylor at The UC Theatre, and they've performed live at Treefort, Oakland Museum of California, Bandcamp, Commissioned for Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and Joshua Tree Music Festival.

Orchestra Gold’s new studio album Medicine will be available on vinyl, CD and all digital/streaming platforms on January 20, 2023.

“The new single ‘Keleya’ by African psychedelic rock group Orchestra Gold hits you with a certain level of profundity, cosmic swirl, and Fela-like groove. Mariam Diakite delivers raw, mesmerizing vocals. Attacking saxophone charts, measured bass lines, and galvanic meter serve as the ideal foundation for expanding guitar lines that squall through. In a nutshell, it’s dope.” - John-Paul Shiver, 48 HILLS

"'Keleya (Jealousy)' combines brass horns along with cosmic guitar licks to a hypnotic effect. This is the kind of music you can truly get lost in." - Ken Sears, IF IT'S TOO LOUD

"Orchestra Gold’s latest single 'Koniya (No Benefit to Envy)' features shuffling rhythms, scorching feedback and distortion-driven riffs serving as a lysergic and sinuous bed for Diakite’s gorgeous vocal. The end result is a song that arches upward towards the cosmos while rooted in earthly matters." - William Ruben Helms, THE JOY OF VIOLENT MOVEMENT

“They are grounded in tradition and moving the conversation of African diasporic music forward. The album implores the listener to join in and get lost in the magic.” - CHICO MANN, ANTIBALAS / HERE LIES MAN

“Mali’s musical heritage is vast…and Mariam’s voice channels that history.” - BANNING EYRE, SENIOR EDITOR AFROPOP WORLDWIDE

“I am impressed at the delicate balance Mariam has struck between paying homage to the roots music of the ancestors and looking to the future - STEPHEN KENT, PRODUCER: MUSIC OF THE WORLD KPFA RADIO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Website | Instagram | Facebook

FOR BOOKING REQUESTS:
Hannah Rouwhorst
Hannah.Rouwhorst at gmail.com

FOR RADIO AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Tony Bonyata
Pavement PR
p: 262.903.7775
e: tony at pavementpr.com
http://www.pavementpr.com

Saw table give it a shout-out way upthread, but I'm just now getting to that Sirom record and can confirm that it is indeed fantastic. Lengthy free and avant-folk jams from a trio of Slovenes.

I just listened to new single from Fally Ipupa , Congolese rumba artist. He had a new album out too. Single was just ok but am still cute hear the album

good luck with that lol, it’s 31 tracks, 3h30 playing time - has he gone amapiano, is what I’d like to know

good question! Latest single/video was pretty long in fact

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1721707611_10.jpg

From 2018; a friend just now sent it. African Victime's shrewd studio presentation got more attention and was enjoyable, but I found it a hair too slick for full engagement. Here he just lets fly, w/o getting too self-indulgent, and band is usually groovy, esp. on finale.

Recorded in the spring of 2017 over 3 evenings. These raw, unedited, live recordings were fueled by laughter, and Azawad gunpowder tea.

https://elitebeat.bandcamp.com/album/mdou-moctar-meets-elite-beat-in-a-budget-dancehall

Azawad gunpowder tea

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/arts/music/tshala-muana-dead.html

RIP Congolese singer Tshala Muana at too young an age. I liked her album Mutuashi

Looks like this new release of his early work has some of that xxpost Budget Downhall appeal, and maybe more:

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mdou-moctar-niger-ep-vol-1-and-vol-2/

I just listened to new single from Fally Ipupa , Congolese rumba artist. He had a new album out too. Single was just ok but am still cute hear the album

― curmudgeon, dinsdag 20 december 2022 17:21 bookmarkflaglink

good luck with that lol, it’s 31 tracks, 3h30 playing time - has he gone amapiano, is what I’d like to know

― the shaker intro bit the shaker outro in the tail, hard (breastcrawl), dinsdag 20 december 2022 17:58

listened to the entire album over the course of this last day of 2022. I’ve never listened to Ipupa (or Congolese music in general) much, so can’t compare it to (his) other/earlier stuff, but I enjoyed this (I mean, I stayed the course until the end!) - the quality level stays comfortably high throughout. don’t expect modern beats, amapiano or otherwise, the whole thing is relentlessly old-school.

Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2023 Thread (Often African bands)

2023 thread here

https://afropop.org/articles/new-africa-2022-video-playlist

https://afropop.org/articles/2022-afropop-best-of-amapiano-and-afrobeats-top-10

These afropop. org lists are kinda randomly chosen it appears , but y'all might still find them of interest