Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2024 Thread (Often African guitar led bands)

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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 like guitars). 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.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 January 2024 05:01 (eleven months ago) link

Here's last year's 2023 link

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

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 January 2024 05:03 (eleven months ago) link

Chuck Eddy from his latest long essay about his fave 2023 albums:

Beyond that, I’m not sure how much more I can generalize, except to say that what I’m hearing out of Africa lately sounds a decade or more ahead of what I’m hearing from just about everywhere else. Who knows, maybe it always was. My favorite places on the Internet to find out about new music these days, for whatever it’s worth, are Pan African Music and the Brussels-based Rebel Up Nightshop; favorite record labels right now are Kampala’s Nyege Nyege Tapes (and its subsidiary Hakuna Kulala), Lisbon’s Príncipe (“most closely associated with a bouncy, staggered and sometimes roly-poly club sound—a syncretic blend of Angolan and Afro-Portuguese styles known as batida,” Resident Advisor puts it), and Geneva’s Les Disques Bongo Joe (“explores contemporary undergrounds to dig out extraordinary sounds and plows the furrows of time to unearth rare nuggets from here, there and everywhere” — bandcamp.) Not sure I could map out how exactly they interrelate, but it sure sounds like they do.

curmudgeon, Friday, 5 January 2024 17:02 (eleven months ago) link

https://www.allmusic.com/year-in-review/2023/favorite-latin-and-global

Allmusic,com list of fave Latin and Global is more pop than Xchuck Eddy

curmudgeon, Friday, 5 January 2024 20:04 (eleven months ago) link

Bassekou Kouyate and his family band are doing a short US tour in February. Worth seeing these Malian greats if they’re near you.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 January 2024 20:53 (eleven months ago) link

New Les Amazones D'Afrique is great and has a fantastic video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ob0ic-wyfo

...eh you get the gist of it (dog latin), Friday, 12 January 2024 09:11 (eleven months ago) link

That is great. Nice mix of sung and rapped vocals and fun closeups and moves in the video

curmudgeon, Friday, 12 January 2024 19:28 (eleven months ago) link

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/arts/blacklisted-west-bank-basel-zayed-has-settled-into-his-new-musical-home-boston/

Oud player ( & psychotherapist) Basel Zayed some years back angered both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank , so he moved to the U.S.

curmudgeon, Friday, 12 January 2024 21:20 (eleven months ago) link

Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff: Magg Tekki

Bounaly: Dimanche à Bamako

Azuka Moweta and His Anioma Brothers Band of Africa: Nwanne Bu Ife

Saw someone named Sidney Terano’s substack and his list of 2023 albums liked included the above 3. I only know Bounaly whom I like

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 16 January 2024 20:26 (eleven months ago) link

I saw Senegalese kora player and singer Ablaye Cissoko duet last night with French accordionist Cyrille Brotto in Washington DC last night. Cissoko’s voice, singing in Wolof I think, was so moving as was his harp like kora sounds . They spoke in French between songs. Someone who spoke French and English came on stage before 1 song and translated into English the Cissoko explanation of a song that was about the current numbers of Africans fleeing the continent on boats to go to Europe and many not surviving ( and others losing interest in these sad experiences as they happen again and again).

curmudgeon, Friday, 19 January 2024 22:28 (eleven months ago) link

Cissoko and Brotto played NY at Carnegie Hall a few nights before

curmudgeon, Saturday, 20 January 2024 14:41 (eleven months ago) link

They are in Los Angeles tonight.

They're still touring behind their 2022 album https://ablayecissoko.bandcamp.com/album/instant

curmudgeon, Saturday, 20 January 2024 14:43 (eleven months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks5hx_U-ilU

Cissoko and Brotto video

curmudgeon, Monday, 22 January 2024 14:01 (eleven months ago) link

RIP DJ Katapila from Ghana. He blended Ghana styles with Chicago & Detroit style dance. He dj’d parties, funerals and more at home, and after Brian of Awesome Tapes from Africa found 2 of his tapes and re-released them, he did Europe gigs as well.

There’s a long heartfelt Awesome Tapes from Africa Instagram post

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2iRl0mo2ud/?igsh=aWQwamF1dWNuemNz

curmudgeon, Friday, 26 January 2024 16:48 (ten months ago) link

That is very sad. I saw him play alongside Ata Kak in Bristol and it was so much fun

...eh you get the gist of it (dog latin), Friday, 26 January 2024 16:57 (ten months ago) link

Sorry to jump straight in here and derail slightly, but some of you might be interested in this thread Rolling DESI and SOUTH ASIAN music thread 2024 - Bhangra, Bollywood, Chutney Soca, Baila etc...

...eh you get the gist of it (dog latin), Friday, 26 January 2024 16:57 (ten months ago) link

dunno if if north African crate-tape-digging fits here but listened to A Moi La Liberte: Early Electronic Rai a lot over Christmas and enjoyed it as much as anything I heard last year.

woof, Friday, 26 January 2024 19:26 (ten months ago) link

Yes it fits. Am leaving current programmed beat afrobeats/ afropop to the afropop thread, but almost anything else can go here.

curmudgeon, Saturday, 27 January 2024 06:34 (ten months ago) link

DJ Katapila has died, per Awesome Tapes from Africa:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2iRl0mo2ud/?img_index=1

https://djkatapila.bandcamp.com/

alpine static, Friday, 2 February 2024 18:30 (ten months ago) link

Brian from Awesome Tapes said DJ Katapila was one of his biggest supporters. I need to try to keep up better on the various Awesome Tapes reissues and such.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:44 (ten months ago) link

Busy listening to Pakistani vocalist Ali Sethi who did an album where he improvised ghazals over the electronic sounds of Nicolas Jaar. His more pop effort, a collaborative single with fellow Pakistani singer Shae Gill “Pasoori,” a Punjabi word that translates roughly to “difficult mess, went viral on Youtube in 2022 with hundreds of millions of viewers

curmudgeon, Sunday, 18 February 2024 17:32 (ten months ago) link

The Ali Sethi 2023 album with Nicolas Jaar music is called Intiha

curmudgeon, Sunday, 18 February 2024 19:13 (ten months ago) link

More 2023 music I am catching up on DJ FINALE - Pitschu Debou (feat. DeBoul & Le Meilleur)

Kinshasa’s DJ Finale ( a key member of Fulu Mziki) smelts soukous, trap and Afrobeats with flexibly jazzy electronics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8HgFBDsAyo

curmudgeon, Monday, 19 February 2024 00:37 (ten months ago) link

That's on the Nyege Nyege label

curmudgeon, Monday, 19 February 2024 00:40 (ten months ago) link

RIP Gustave Bentho Titiou dit Junior bassist and composier of Tout Puissant Poly Rythmo , at 73 . Am awesome old school band from Benin

Saw the news on Facebook and Twitter

curmudgeon, Thursday, 22 February 2024 05:28 (ten months ago) link

New Mdou Moctar out on Matador I think in a day or 2

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 February 2024 21:17 (nine months ago) link

They're announcing the new Moctar album tomorrow; actual release date is in May. There will be a tour in June.

April 14 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
April 21 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
June 5 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club
June 6 - Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar at ABC
June 7 - Richmond, VA @ Cheers Brown’s Island
June 8 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
June 9 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
June 11 - Charleston, SC @ Pour House
June 12 - Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
June 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
June 14 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
June 15 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
June 18 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
June 19 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
June 20 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
June 21 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
June 22 - Greenfield, MA @ Green River Music Festival
June 23 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
June 26 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
June 27 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
June 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Tuesday, 27 February 2024 21:20 (nine months ago) link

Ah yes. Moctar Funeral for Justice album title track here

https://www.stereogum.com/2253502/mdou-moctar-funeral-for-justice/music/

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 16:11 (nine months ago) link

But Stereogum writer and editor doesn’t know the difference between Nigeria and Niger. Someone has mentioned it in the comments but they haven’t corrected it yet as of Wednesday morning ET

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 16:15 (nine months ago) link

Ethiopian band Qwanqwa are returning to US for another tour. Their violinist is not Ethiopian but speaks Amharic and lives or lived there

curmudgeon, Thursday, 29 February 2024 17:29 (nine months ago) link

They had an earlier IG post on how relieved they were to finally get visas approved for this tour, although the process was expensive, involved multiple languages, Gregorian and Ethiopian Ge’ez calendars, translation work, lawyers, and clunky government websites

curmudgeon, Thursday, 29 February 2024 17:42 (nine months ago) link

Listening to Egyptian singer Mohamed Hamaki now . He's doing a short US tour. In suburban Washington DC Saturday

curmudgeon, Friday, 1 March 2024 03:46 (nine months ago) link

North American tour I mean. He did a Toronto show

curmudgeon, Friday, 1 March 2024 03:47 (nine months ago) link

Awesome Tapes From Africa and Sahel Sounds are offering digital albums for "Name Your Price" on Bandcamp Friday (today!):
https://awesometapesfromafrica.bandcamp.com/
https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/

ernestp, Saturday, 2 March 2024 01:23 (nine months ago) link

Did you get anything? I got busy and well, maybe next time

curmudgeon, Saturday, 2 March 2024 20:31 (nine months ago) link

Kaethe Hostetter, American violinist from Ethiopian group Qwanqwa , who lived in Addis for 11 years, but is now based in Brooklyn has been doing some solo violin and electronics gigs playing music influenced by her time in Ethiopia. Alas, I missed her Baltimore gig. Saw a video clip on Facebook that looked good. Qwanqwa are starting a north American tour March 31

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 5 March 2024 15:53 (nine months ago) link

Music from Saharan WhatsApp 04
by Alkibar Junior

"We've made this release available again as the band was recently a victim of radical extremists who destroyed all of their musical equipment. The band is currently raising funds to bring music back to Niafounke, and all proceeds to to the band"

https://alkibar.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-saharan-whatsapp-04

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Wednesday, 6 March 2024 22:02 (nine months ago) link

more info here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-alkibar-junior-bring-music-back-to-mali

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Wednesday, 6 March 2024 22:04 (nine months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk4mn4CKVXA

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Wednesday, 6 March 2024 22:06 (nine months ago) link

curmudgeon asked: "Did you get anything?"

I got these, all are wonderful:
https://awapoulo.bandcamp.com/album/poulo-warali
https://hailumergia.bandcamp.com/album/pioneer-works-swing-live
https://lesfillesdeillighadad.bandcamp.com/album/les-filles-de-illighadad
https://lesfillesdeillighadad.bandcamp.com/album/at-pioneer-works

I was already familiar with the Awa Poulo and first Les Filles albums and threw down some cash to keep myself honest.
Love love love Hailu Mergia and will buy anything he puts out.

ernestp, Wednesday, 6 March 2024 23:38 (nine months ago) link

Nice haul

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 13 March 2024 19:41 (nine months ago) link

Sahel Sounds Go Fund Me fundraiser to get instruments for for Alkibar Jr , still going

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 13 March 2024 19:43 (nine months ago) link

So this old-school promoter who doesn’t plan well in advance or research well is booking the Bassekou Kouyate tour ( that is skipping DC because she insists band wants a guarantee in advance and no venue will do that) and she’s booking the Mokoomba tour . For Mokoomba I have now given her a list of clubs and contact information. Hopefully she will be successful

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 March 2024 13:22 (nine months ago) link

She means well.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 21 March 2024 14:29 (nine months ago) link

Florence Adooni debut album is on its way on Philophon, new single is wonderful:

https://florenceadooni.bandcamp.com/album/uh-ah-song

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Monday, 1 April 2024 18:51 (eight months ago) link

...and this is a different song from a festival appearance last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypv0_LM4c60

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Monday, 1 April 2024 18:53 (eight months ago) link

pure heat

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Monday, 1 April 2024 18:57 (eight months ago) link

Yes to Florence Adooni and she and her band’s frafra music.

curmudgeon, Monday, 1 April 2024 19:22 (eight months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR51MWK_o2M

South African singer Thandiswa Mazwai on Tiny Desk Global Fest .

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 05:08 (eight months ago) link

Christopher Kirkley of Sahel Sounds has a nts show coming up on Thursday called Autotune the World

https://www.nts.live/shows/christopher-kirkley

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 17:12 (eight months ago) link

Qwanqwa are going to put out a live album soon I hear.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 4 April 2024 17:18 (eight months ago) link

Cute South African kids band Biko's Manna are in the US doing some gigs now. They've gone viral on tiktok and Instagram reels, and Jennifer Hudson loves them

curmudgeon, Thursday, 4 April 2024 17:21 (eight months ago) link

Thiam

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 April 2024 00:30 (eight months ago) link

https://mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/album/rail-band

Mississippi records has reissued on vinyl an old 70s album from Mali’s Rail Band

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 April 2024 14:10 (eight months ago) link

Was out of town and missed recent gigs by Sona Jobarteh, and Blick Bassy.

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 10 April 2024 12:29 (eight months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt3BYPw-3uk

1 hour performance of a special collaboration between Sunken Cages ( Ravish Momin), dragonchild ( Ethiopian sax & keyboard player DA Mekonnen) , Faraway Ghost ( Iranian Dc area percussionist Kamyar Arsani) & guest dancer Amirah Sackett , at the Kennedy Center

curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 April 2024 15:38 (eight months ago) link

Ethiopian music band Qwanqwa, most of whose band members are based in Addis, were great tonight at little Makeba in Alexandria , Va just south of DC . Crowd was mostly dc area based Ethiopians . The singer of Qwanqwa can sing powerfully with melisma; as well as ululate and do that Ethiopian shoulder dance

curmudgeon, Monday, 15 April 2024 04:50 (eight months ago) link

Oumou Sangare , Malian singing great, is doing some US gigs again, but it doesn’t look like she’ll be near me in the Washington DC area

curmudgeon, Monday, 15 April 2024 14:34 (eight months ago) link

https://occidentalbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/likambo-te

Jordan noted on the Rolling Jazz thread that the Chicago-based Occidental Brothers are back and have a new highlife album with drummer Mackaya Macraven. Circa 2009 I was a fan of their a bit gimmicky highlife cover of New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 16 April 2024 05:18 (eight months ago) link

Reyna Tropical were highlighted by Rob on the Afro-Latino, Latin Pop etc thread, but the occasional use of soukous guitar & some other touches might intrigue folks on this thread too. I like the new album a lot

curmudgeon, Friday, 26 April 2024 03:44 (seven months ago) link

Saw on Facebook a great video clip of Malian singer Oumou Sangare guesting with Colombia band Rancho Aparte from Colombia at the Blue Moon Saloon in Louisiana as its festival time down there

curmudgeon, Monday, 29 April 2024 13:38 (seven months ago) link

Mokoomba from Zimbabwe got a US date in June in DC

curmudgeon, Sunday, 5 May 2024 21:47 (seven months ago) link

Apologies if there's a specific nyege nyege thread I can't find but loving this
https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/izigqinamba

nxd, Thursday, 9 May 2024 09:13 (seven months ago) link

Interesting contrasts there between the vocals and beats

curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 May 2024 20:34 (seven months ago) link

Ghana special 2 arrived in the post today but it might wait bcz that can't stop with that new Mdou Moctar album

woof, Friday, 10 May 2024 15:19 (seven months ago) link

Ghana Special 2 sounds good so far to me (decided to check it out before the Mdou Moctar )

curmudgeon, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:24 (seven months ago) link

Yeah very much looking forward to getting that one, soundway comps never disappoint

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Friday, 10 May 2024 22:27 (seven months ago) link

Meridian Brothers are more for the Latin thread, but they're hyping this new one for adding some Congolese soukous guitar

https://meridianbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/mi-latinoam-rica-sufre-2

curmudgeon, Saturday, 11 May 2024 00:05 (seven months ago) link

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

Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Derek Gripper (guitar) are putting out another album. Gripper is on tour in US now (In DC Monday night the 13th ) . Mellow but good

curmudgeon, Sunday, 12 May 2024 14:59 (seven months ago) link

Absolutely loving Ghana Special 2, listened to it about 4 times straight through yesterday. I knew a few of these tunes beforehand but there is so much more great stuff on it. Kwasi Afari Minta - Barima Nsu is possibly my favourite new thing, but that MC Mambo song is super fun too. Top work Soundway!

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Sunday, 12 May 2024 22:27 (seven months ago) link

It's definitely a good Ghana comp-

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 15 May 2024 19:19 (seven months ago) link

Sahel Sounds just announced a listening party for Africa Yontii by Tidiane Thiam:
Africa Yontii Listening Party with Tidiane Thiam!
The event is scheduled for:
Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 6:00 PM EDT

More details via label bandcamp

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 15 May 2024 19:52 (seven months ago) link

I could have sworn we had a dedicated Mdou Moctar thread. Anyway, I was already a huge fan, but the new one absolutely rips. "Imouhar" is the one I keep coming back to most.

Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 16 May 2024 14:08 (seven months ago) link

X-post - that Tidiane Thiam album is mellow but beautiful guitar playing from Senegal

curmudgeon, Monday, 20 May 2024 18:24 (seven months ago) link

https://wapo.st/3UQ292T

gift link should hopefully work- Washington Post article title--With Europe’s support, North African nations push migrants to the desert

A year-long joint investigation by The Washington Post, Lighthouse Reports and a consortium of international media outlets shows how the European Union and individual European nations are supporting and financing aggressive operations by governments in North Africa to detain tens of thousands of migrants each year and dump them in remote areas, often barren deserts.

European funds have been used to train personnel and buy equipment for units implicated in desert dumps and human rights abuses, records and interviews show. Migrants have been pushed back into the most inhospitable parts of North Africa, exposing them to abandonment with no food or water, kidnapping, extortion, sale as human chattel, torture, sexual violence and, in the worst instances, death.
Spanish security forces in Mauritania photographed and reviewed lists of migrants before they were driven to Mali against their will and left to wander for days in an area where violent Islamist groups operate, according to testimony and documents.
In Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, vehicles of the same make and model as those provided by European countries to local security forces rounded up Black migrants from streets or transported them from detention centers to remote regions, according to filmed footage, verified images, migrant testimony and interviews with officials.
European officials held internal discussions on some of the abusive practices since at least 2019, and were flagged to allegations in reports by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Frontex, the E.U. border agency.

The E.U. provided more than 400 million euros to Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania between 2015 and 2021 under its largest migration fund, the E.U. Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, an initiative to foster local economic growth and stem migration.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 May 2024 15:56 (seven months ago) link

That's just some context for the music that I try not to overlook

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 May 2024 16:12 (seven months ago) link

guitar led band Etran de L'Air touring Europe in May and most of June, then touring North America in end of June and July

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:41 (six months ago) link

xp they were great when I saw them last year

JoeStork, Wednesday, 29 May 2024 03:35 (six months ago) link

Mdou Moctar were on Office Hours two weeks ago and they fucking ruled

frogbs, Wednesday, 29 May 2024 03:37 (six months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xeQKXQrWIo

Office Hours performance in California

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 29 May 2024 14:07 (six months ago) link

https://matsulimusic.bandcamp.com/album/ballak-sissoko-derek-gripper

very nice kora/acoustic guitar duo here, two master musicians who don't fuck about + put this together in 3 hours.

vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Sunday, 2 June 2024 18:08 (six months ago) link

Yep been meaning to listen to that .

curmudgeon, Monday, 3 June 2024 03:22 (six months ago) link

Also this:

Congo Funk! - Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa​/​Brazzaville 1969​-​1982)

curmudgeon, Monday, 3 June 2024 03:22 (six months ago) link

some might consider Arooj Aftab outernational

corrs unplugged, Monday, 3 June 2024 10:39 (six months ago) link

Some recent things I've been digging (mostly dance music, but not sure where to put it otherwise - thought we had a thread for it but can't find it)

Most of these came recommended via the Terrain Facebook Community - join up if you're inclined!

Gqom vibes from Mr Thela - Wetsalang Remake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_UCkqk55vY

Polyrhythmic Arabesque techno: Muskila - QAAR A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H82_LZDXnzw

UK/Uganda team-up: Swordman Kitala x Burland - Sweet Bebe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuIXUBojWv0

A real favourite here from young Turkish artist Fevzi Kaan alongside Şenol Evgi - Size Mi Kaldı

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KkLGb4kzJE

Cambodian Drill: B-Side Khrew - Phlerng Jonk Keang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R__05EYHocU

your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Monday, 3 June 2024 11:09 (six months ago) link

Thanks . I need to check those out

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 4 June 2024 21:15 (six months ago) link

thanks for the re-up!!

sean gramophone, Wednesday, 5 June 2024 14:29 (six months ago) link

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sisso-maiko-singeli-ya-maajabu/

sisso Maiko on nyege nyege might be better placed on an electronic or club thread but whatever

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 5 June 2024 19:10 (six months ago) link

I thought we had a "global club" thread, but I couldn't find it, so here will do. Thanks for this

your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 5 June 2024 20:06 (six months ago) link

It's been on a couple of threads already! it's fantastic

nxd, Thursday, 6 June 2024 14:51 (six months ago) link

three weeks pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrKO9JB30gI

Great 1 hour set by Le Etran de L’air , Agadez Saharan guitar led band at free show at Kennedy Center in Washington DC yesterday

curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 June 2024 16:59 (five months ago) link

I missed Mdou Moctar in dc last night but have seen a bunch of times before. Folks on social media seem to be enjoying this tour , especially some who I sense have not seen him before.

That Le Etran de L’Air show from Wednesday is really strong I think

curmudgeon, Friday, 28 June 2024 16:07 (five months ago) link

Dobet Gnahoré, the Ivorian “Best Urban/Alternative Performance” Grammy-winner, drums, sings, and dances afropop afrobeats in a family presentation for Summer for the City; in Hearst Plaza at Lincoln Center; on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 12pm. FREE

Not seeing a date near me, just this NYC show. I saw her many moons back and she was good.

curmudgeon, Friday, 28 June 2024 17:13 (five months ago) link

Put up some new recommendations on the site. We've got Portuguese art pop that occasionally folds in fado, Chinese dream pop from a band whose follow-up record was IDM, a 2000s bounce classic with a track that samples "Liberian Girl," and more

all this at https://t.co/paf6UPDYsW pic.twitter.com/2aGsmAWoD0

— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) July 3, 2024

curmudgeon, Friday, 5 July 2024 18:13 (five months ago) link

Hah, interesting to see Mler Ife Dada show up there. Would've expected them to get revived by the post punkers as opposed to within a world music context but it makes some sense.

Daniel_Rf, Monday, 8 July 2024 09:43 (five months ago) link

Joshua Minsoo Kim is into post-punk, including post-punk from everywhere

curmudgeon, Monday, 8 July 2024 12:40 (five months ago) link

https://www.jazzisdead.com/news/ebo-taylor-amp-pat-thomas-north-american-tour

Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas old-school afropop North America tour in October and November

curmudgeon, Monday, 8 July 2024 19:22 (five months ago) link

I need to get my tickets for the dc show on that tour.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 July 2024 19:02 (five months ago) link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyedu-Blay_Ambolley

Ghana hi life and hiplife veteran musician also on tour

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 July 2024 20:31 (five months ago) link

All the album of the year "so far" lists I see barely include any acts from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, or Asia

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 19:47 (five months ago) link

seeing Etran de L'Aïr tonight, excited!

moral ziosk (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 10 July 2024 21:12 (five months ago) link

Enjoy. Etran de L'Air were great in their Washington DC shows . Their guitar sound and a bit of onstage charisma combined to make their gigs work

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 21:27 (five months ago) link

Oh no. Malian kora great Toumani Diabete has died at age 58. Have seen some posts about this on twitter/x and one on Bluesky

curmudgeon, Friday, 19 July 2024 20:56 (five months ago) link

Toumani Diabate at Other Music in NYC some years back

https://vimeo.com/5415073

curmudgeon, Saturday, 20 July 2024 16:27 (five months ago) link

According to the ilx search, I posted in 2007 that I was going to see Toumani Diabate and band in 2007, but I don't really remember that. Doh.

curmudgeon, Monday, 22 July 2024 01:15 (five months ago) link

I do remember the other show I said I was seeing that weekend, Venezuelan salsa singer Oscar D'Leon

curmudgeon, Monday, 22 July 2024 16:34 (five months ago) link

https://afropop.org/articles/festival-international-de-jazz-de-montreal-2024-an-overwhelming-musical-feast

This Montreal fest always has a fair amount of performers from Africa

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 July 2024 18:05 (five months ago) link

This year's already happened! I saw Chief Adjuah and Shabaka Hutchings but no one from Africa this year. Nor did I make it to the Nuits d'Afrique festival the week after Jazz Fest (meant to see Bombino but forgot). I do hope to see RAM and Boukmans at this on the weekend: https://montreal.haitienfolie.com/

rob, Tuesday, 23 July 2024 18:09 (five months ago) link

Yes, sorry my language wasn't clear but that link is a review by someone of what happened. I know the fest already happened-

Some of the acts they liked are :

an ecstatic set from Ugandan-British Alfa Mist with his mix of jazz and hip-hop; we melted into our chair listening to the voice of Angolan-Portuguese Fado diva Ana Moura (we will soon post an interview with Moura);

La Lom (which stands for Los Angeles League of Musicians) grooved us with their Latino meets surf guitar sound; Nigerian-British singer Ego Ella May and Cameroonian-American singer Ekep Nkwelle both delighted us in very different ways (and we'll be featuring interviews with them shortly), the incredibly energetic Thai-Canadian drummer Salin who brings together traditional Northern Thai sounds and Afrobeat rhythms;

Other world music acts of note included Tuareg guitar band Etran de l'Air, the Django Festival Allstars, Os Mutantes from Brazil (only featuring one original member), and the Congolese group Kin'Gongolo Kiniata (who will also be performing at Nuits d'Afrique festival next week).

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 July 2024 19:23 (five months ago) link

my bad, I didn't click through. The Jazz Fest is a treasure, but that review is v otm about it being overwhelming, and this year I was moving house during it which sapped my going-out energy big time

rob, Tuesday, 23 July 2024 21:19 (five months ago) link

Tinariwen are on tour again but I missed their Washington DC gig last night. Have seen em 3 times I think. Anybody seen em lately? I think their membership might have changed slightly based on a comment I read somewhere.

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 July 2024 21:23 (four months ago) link

Funny enough, I checked in on this thread to say that I am seeing them tonight in Philly, as my husband is an enormous fan. Will report back.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Wednesday, 24 July 2024 22:05 (four months ago) link

Incredible show tonight in Philly. We ran into a friend who called it “euphoric,” and yeah, that’s a good superlative.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Thursday, 25 July 2024 03:16 (four months ago) link

Saw a nice video clip of Tinariwen dc gig.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 July 2024 19:30 (four months ago) link

Congolese group Jupiter & Okwess are back in Washington DC on Friday. I might go .

curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 July 2024 19:31 (four months ago) link

Washington Post re range of music at Olympics opening ceremony

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/07/26/paris-olympics-opening-ceremony-arson-attack-live-updates/#link-FDE573U75JACRHAJ2JC7PCPGX4

curmudgeon, Friday, 26 July 2024 18:38 (four months ago) link

From a heavy metal band to the orchestra of the Republican Guard, the musical range of these Opening Ceremonies is impressive. After the masked torchbearer lit a fuse that opened the doors to the Institut de France, French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, dressed in gold, performed on the Pont des Arts accompanied by the orchestra and six dancers.

curmudgeon, Friday, 26 July 2024 18:40 (four months ago) link

Jupiter & Okwess from the Congo were a lot of fun last night. The singer was energetic and constantly moving. The drummer with a Mexican wrestling mask on was really good, shifting between fast tempos & shower ones along with the guitars melding a small bit of old school souokous rumba with funk and southern African rhythms . They had cool visuals behind them - black and white ones of people in the Congo switching to mult- colored psych art and then to animation

curmudgeon, Saturday, 27 July 2024 13:23 (four months ago) link

Lots of videos of them on Youtube

curmudgeon, Monday, 29 July 2024 04:46 (four months ago) link

I went to see Reyna Tropical in DC last night which meant I missed Plena Libre from Puerto Rico and Swanky Kitchen from the Cayman Islands, elsewhere in DC. A busy Wednesday. Saw some social media video clips of Swanky Kitchen and they sounded great.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 1 August 2024 16:16 (four months ago) link

Anybody know anything about the Sauti Za Busara fest in Zanzibar, Tanzania that takes place there in February ?

https://busaramusic.org/

curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 August 2024 05:29 (four months ago) link

I guess not.

curmudgeon, Friday, 9 August 2024 18:25 (four months ago) link

I saw Amadou & Mariam open for Andrew Bird at kinda big outdoor shed Wolf Trap near Washington DC (3,000 people maybe there) . Amadou's guitar sounded great (when I could hear it as sometimes it was too low in the mix. Was re-reading an old Guardian article about how Amadou is familiar with every Malian and many West African genres and can play many of them). Their vocals were strong and one could hear their great melodies. I read that in July they were in London on a bill with Fatoumata Diawara in London. So they're making the rounds.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 22 August 2024 19:29 (four months ago) link

Ghanan highlife dipped with disco strings and acid squelches sounds like a mess but I am into it: https://florenceadooni.bandcamp.com/track/otoma-da-naba-2

tortillas for the divorce party (seandalai), Monday, 26 August 2024 23:41 (three months ago) link

Nice. I like Florence Adooni's vocals and the strings. I see she has a group with folks from Kumasi, Ghana and has been touring Europe

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 August 2024 13:30 (three months ago) link

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/13/british-punjabi-music-star-raf-saperra-id-be-listening-to-giggs-on-the-bus-then-bhangra-at-home

UK based Punjabi vocalist Raf Saperra is gonna be at the Howard Theatre in Washington DC on September 4th

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 28 August 2024 03:40 (three months ago) link

He's fantastic

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Wednesday, 28 August 2024 15:32 (three months ago) link

this guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYXP0rDJiLY

nice!

corrs unplugged, Thursday, 29 August 2024 07:38 (three months ago) link

Yes. I need to listen more

curmudgeon, Thursday, 29 August 2024 22:08 (three months ago) link

Saw Florence Adooni at the End of the Road festival on Sunday - terrific, I thought. Great voice, funny and charming. Fabulous band - I think (understandably/obviously) player overlap with the Alogte Oho show I saw same time same place last year. Philophon def know how to organise a party show for a big crowd who might not know the music.

woof, Tuesday, 3 September 2024 09:16 (three months ago) link

oh was also going to see Mdou Moctar there but he dropped out - haven't seen a reason but I hope he's ok.

woof, Tuesday, 3 September 2024 09:26 (three months ago) link

Based on the stunning/dazzling/transcendent show I saw him play last night, Mdou Moctar is very much OK!

mike t-diva, Thursday, 5 September 2024 08:37 (three months ago) link

Saw Florence Adooni at the End of the Road festival on Sunday - terrific, I thought

super jealous of this fyi <3

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Thursday, 5 September 2024 08:39 (three months ago) link

Xpost- Mdou Moctar Instagram says he just finished UK and Europe tour with a gig in Leeds

curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 September 2024 13:10 (three months ago) link

“The Handover elegantly combines the delicacy of classical Arabic music, the raw expressiveness of Egypt's countryside music, and the spontaneity of free improvisation, carefully obliterating the artificial separation between acoustic and electronic instruments

Sublime Frequencies release on Bandcamp

https://sublime-frequencies.bandcamp.com/album/the-handover

curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 September 2024 20:25 (three months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0GsALW1w8

Mdou Moctar band Tiny Desk

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 11 September 2024 20:10 (three months ago) link

Happy Ethiopian New Year. There were a number of Ethiopian New Year’s Eve gigs last night in the Washington DC area

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 11 September 2024 20:12 (three months ago) link

London-based Kokoroko who mix polished Afrobeats and jazz are coming to North America for a tour . They’re at Howard Theatre in DC in October

curmudgeon, Monday, 16 September 2024 20:36 (three months ago) link

https://chicagoreader.com/music/world-music-festival-chicago-2024-guide/

Lots of acts coming to Chicago over next 10 days or so

curmudgeon, Saturday, 21 September 2024 18:03 (three months ago) link

I decided not to see Le'Etran de la Air for a second time tonight, and instead saw Colombian chirimia carnival band Rancho Aparte in a little bar in DC. They were full of energy and fun.

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 04:07 (two months ago) link

I think the cost and paperwork and struggles involved in getting visas now is definitely reducing the amount of acts who come to the U.S. .

curmudgeon, Friday, 27 September 2024 19:20 (two months ago) link

I hadn't seen Bombino in years, but saw some of his set at the Richmond VA Folk Fest and he and the band were great. Interestingly, he had Pakistani Shahzad Ismaily on bass & percussion. Ismaily is known most recently to me for playing with Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer. Ismaily also played at the Fest with Lonnie Holley. Bombino has come to the US enough that I guess he can now make the finances work

curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 September 2024 21:16 (two months ago) link

Saw Colombian brass band and more Rancho Aparte again, at the Richmond Folk Fest. They were lots of fun.

curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 September 2024 21:17 (two months ago) link

From Brad Luen's Semi-Pop Life Substack (I sometimes disagree with him. Haven't heard this one yet)

Les Belgicains: Na Tango Ya Covadia 1964​-​70

Just because Congolese rumba is the deepest well of 20th century music doesn’t mean you can’t tell you’ve reached “not mentioned in Rumba on the River” depths (“Ngaï Dhesolé”, “Palado Palado”)

curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 September 2024 22:10 (two months ago) link

https://pitchfork.com/news/mdou-moctar-re-record-funeral-for-justice-for-new-album-share-song-listen/

Mdou Moctar and band re-do and reimagine latest album with acoustic and traditional instruments only this time

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 October 2024 14:45 (two months ago) link

i somehow missed this but Florence Adooni played some Ghanaian tunes on NTS a couple of weeks back...

https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/florence-adooni-23rd-september-2024

Also her debut album comes out on Philophon in Feb next year, super looking forward to that!

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Friday, 4 October 2024 07:57 (two months ago) link

really shouldve made more of an effort to go and see her live this year...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGOsBFn-1Ks

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Friday, 4 October 2024 08:00 (two months ago) link

Adooni sounds good there live

curmudgeon, Friday, 4 October 2024 15:44 (two months ago) link

right at tbe end of her show, she plays the title teack off the forthcoming album and its amazing, starts off slowly like early 60s coltrane in a contemplative mood and then breaks into highlife in the second half and it is totally a thing of beauty, gonna be a killer album for sure

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Friday, 4 October 2024 16:07 (two months ago) link

seeing Etran de L'Aïr tonight, excited!

― moral ziosk (geoffreyess), Wednesday, July 10, 2024 4:12 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

forgot to say, not sure I've ever enjoyed a show as much as that one. just blissfully suspended in notes, could've stayed for hours. love the new album too, very happy that it captures some of that feeling.

moral ziosk (geoffreyess), Saturday, 5 October 2024 03:00 (two months ago) link

https://www.jazzisdead.com/news/ebo-taylor-amp-pat-thomas-tour-postponed

Visa issues seem to have caused postponement until next year of Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas Ghanaian music legends tour

curmudgeon, Monday, 7 October 2024 01:11 (two months ago) link

Nice Guardian article on the talented oudist Huda Asfour , a Palestinian who lived in Egypt for awhile, later in the Washington DC area where I saw her perform and met her, and now she’s in the NYC region

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/huda-asfour-palestinian-music

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 9 October 2024 17:16 (two months ago) link

https://www.objectsandsounds.com/product/dun-dun-band-pita-parka-pt-i-xam-egdub/

Dun-Dun band is influenced by some African sounds

curmudgeon, Saturday, 12 October 2024 15:40 (two months ago) link

https://www.hearingthings.co/lollises-afrofuturistic-pop-utopia/

Lollise is a Botswana raised singer now in NY and her afropop could maybe be on the Afropop thread but it also works here . Her producer Morgan Greenstreet is also a drummer with NY based Congolese band Loboko, and a DJ

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 October 2024 15:46 (two months ago) link

NY-based Congolese band Loboko have one single out (also on Bandcamp) and there are a few videos of them on Youtube

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 16 October 2024 16:20 (two months ago) link

Turns out that legendary band Karantamba from The Gambia had another album out in the 80s next to Ndigal (which is a must-hear)
https://terangabeat.bandcamp.com/album/galgi

I'm playing it right now and it's the right kind of hypnotic grooves, part desert, part coast.

"When I visited Bai Janha in August 2010 in his house in Kololi to prepare the release of Ndigal, he told me that he had another unreleased album on two master reel tapes. The next days we were trying to find in Gambia a reel to reel machine to listen to them. We finally found one, but it was not in a good shape, so the sound was coming out poorly, it struck me though the ‘80s sound of the synthesizers and guitars and I hoped I would have another chance to listen to them properly."

Nabozo, Friday, 18 October 2024 07:27 (two months ago) link

That Karantamba does sound good

curmudgeon, Thursday, 24 October 2024 15:28 (one month ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGX33GsNHg

Songhoy Blues doc

curmudgeon, Thursday, 24 October 2024 15:29 (one month ago) link

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/10/nx-s1-5147220/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-music-middle-east-war

Fairuz and other Lebanon musicians now

curmudgeon, Friday, 25 October 2024 20:14 (one month ago) link

thank you

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Friday, 25 October 2024 20:28 (one month ago) link

I saw NY-based Congolese band Loboko last night in DC. Energetic show of danceable Congolese guitar-led rumba before a small crowd. They just have a single out (on their bandcamp) plus some video footage on Youtube

curmudgeon, Saturday, 26 October 2024 16:14 (one month ago) link

x-post-- You're welcome. That Lebanon musicians at a time of war article is informative and emotional

curmudgeon, Saturday, 26 October 2024 16:18 (one month ago) link

yes i didnt know what else to say really, any other words seemed so banal given the awful context :/

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Saturday, 26 October 2024 16:23 (one month ago) link

So Loboko kinda reminds me of 80s and 90s soukous, but the band members insist that they're as modern and contemporary as Fally Ipupa , who is a bigger star and plays larger room. I need to listen more and research how Congolese music has changed over the years.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 16:18 (one month ago) link

two weeks pass...

Fally Ipupa North American tour got cancelled at last minute

curmudgeon, Thursday, 14 November 2024 06:30 (one month ago) link

Need to get some albums here considered for 2024 critics polls

curmudgeon, Thursday, 14 November 2024 06:30 (one month ago) link

I am forever bored with end of year lists that just have rock and rap and pop on them, but I haven't had time to really dig for other stuff myself that much this year.

curmudgeon, Sunday, 17 November 2024 21:09 (one month ago) link

Saw Apache Indian and Panjabi MC on a double bill at the weekend in London and it was so so much fun. Audience was around 70% South Asian heritage, many in the 40-60 age bracket and you could tell this was a big night out and a special occasion for a lot of people. And it was! Just so much energy from beginning to end. It felt like a proper party.

I was fairly young when "Boom-Shaka-Lak" came out, but the more I read about Apache Indian the more I realise he was streets ahead in fusing the (hugely popular) ragga/dancehall/reggae-pop style with the (hugely unappreciated outside of Indian-heritage enclaves and the odd novelty appearance on light entertainment shows) Bhangra style. You look at where he recorded and who he recorded with and it shows he was always much more than a one-hit wonder

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 09:56 (one month ago) link

Here are a few things I've been enjoying that may or may not be relevant to the thread. We kind of need a revival of the outernational dance threads I guess

MOMO. - P​á​ra (feat. Jessica Lauren)
This wonderful slice of moody, relaxing Brazilian jazzy grooviness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unC7q5S6Gn4

Sliime x Gagan Kooner - Punjabi Queen
UK Punjabi rap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmk8j_oBtY

Jaubi - Chandrakauns
Pakistani jazz troupe exploring fusion and Northern Indian classical music who had an album out this year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsvBJ914reg

Tshegue - Shuffle
Congolese-French collab band return with this slammer. Whole EP is very good indeed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amgdlvPSAP8

Kalash - So Coman
French-Martinique rapper Kalash is such a force and this is one of the best things I've heard from him so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14GClBV33jQ

Freebot x Rosa Pistola - Regarega
Mexican hard-psy? Strap in!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7iQRISCdvo

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 11:16 (one month ago) link

wow, love the MOMO song. thank you for sharing these, great variety.

sean gramophone, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 19:06 (one month ago) link

Heard that Tshegue track a month or two back on a recommendation from Kevin Martin (The Bug). Great stuff but the other tracks I heard weren't so blown-out, which was disappointing. I'm always up for noisy African stuff like that or Phelimuncasi.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 20:23 (one month ago) link

Xp Yeah thats a great song

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 20:23 (one month ago) link

Xp unperson have you heard Muanapoto by them? Really like it

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 20:24 (one month ago) link

I saw a nice traditional Malian music gig last night by singer/guitarist Habib Koite and his band. The group included a balafon player, a kora player, and a percussionist with djembe drums and one of those globe shaped drums. This was the last show of their month long tour of the US.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 01:07 (three weeks ago) link

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/21/malian-singer-rokia-traore-to-be-extradited-from-italy-to-belgium

This is a sad mess. Singer Rokia Traoré facing charges due to a custody battle

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 15:13 (three weeks ago) link

oh wow, that's awful, i hadn't heard any of it

sean gramophone, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 15:54 (three weeks ago) link

Mdou Moctar making some best of lists

curmudgeon, Monday, 2 December 2024 18:57 (three weeks ago) link

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/891302-mohammad-syfkhan-i-am-kurdish.php

Syfkhan I am Kurdish album on quietus albums of year list . I haven’t heard it yet

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 December 2024 00:10 (two weeks ago) link

Sorry to spam/blow me own trumpet, but some of you might be interested in my latest "Bangers Without Borders" mix that ties in with the Terrain community / club night I run: https://soundcloud.com/charliestoicdj/2024-bangers-without-borders-pt-1

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Wednesday, 4 December 2024 11:30 (two weeks ago) link

listened to it last week, it was a lot of fun! need to go back to it with the tracklist in front of me so i can figure out whats what

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Wednesday, 4 December 2024 11:42 (two weeks ago) link

xxp mohammad syfkhan in a tiny pub in brighton was one of the greatest things i saw this year...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4nEoV1A5yE/?igsh=MWF4M2t3YW1hNGYwNQ==

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Wednesday, 4 December 2024 11:47 (two weeks ago) link

Thanks for listening NickB! :-)

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Wednesday, 4 December 2024 13:35 (two weeks ago) link

Palestinian oudist and singer Huda Asfour is back in Egypt where she has family and lived for awhile. I met her when she was in DC getting an engineering degree and a masters and performing sometimes at night. I don’t think she has anything new out , but her occasional IG stories and posts of gigs are worth checking out. She also lived in NYC for a bit. She has some music on streaming and I think on YouTube and Bandcamp

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 December 2024 17:13 (two weeks ago) link

Jon Pareles additional 15 standout albums after his top 10 includes Arooj Aftab, “Night Reign”; Les Amazones d’Afrique, “Musow Danse (Bonus Edition)

curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 December 2024 04:31 (two weeks ago) link

An Arabic music dj in DC tonight is billing his session tonight as "Free Syria." He's excited about the rebellion gaining ground there

curmudgeon, Saturday, 7 December 2024 03:20 (two weeks ago) link

Just noticed that Syrian electro-dabke singer Omar Souleyman who fled Syria around the time of the 2011 rebellion and ended up in Turkey for awhile has recently been living in Erbil, Iraq and his earlier 2024 album is called Erbil. I haven't listened to it yet, but I see Pitchfork wasn't crazy about it. I saw him in DC once at the 930 Club. He's doing some European shows this month

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/omar-souleyman-erbil/

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 December 2024 13:56 (one week ago) link

Mdou Moctar is doing a solo acoustic tour of US in February

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 December 2024 18:20 (one week ago) link

Mdou Moctar acoustic seems like an artist fundamentally misunderstanding their own appeal, but OK.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Tuesday, 10 December 2024 18:30 (one week ago) link

I think he’s just trying to vary things a bit , as he and the band have toured a lot. Oh, his tour includes Canada dates as well.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 December 2024 18:41 (one week ago) link

Let an artist do what he wants ( if this is done because he feels like varying things musically). I have seen him at least 5 times with a band over the years .

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 December 2024 18:47 (one week ago) link

Seeing Senegalese guitarist Tidiane Thiam on some best of lists .

curmudgeon, Friday, 13 December 2024 15:15 (one week ago) link

This man is on Sahel Sounds

curmudgeon, Friday, 13 December 2024 15:16 (one week ago) link

this could also go in jazz or modern brazil: Fabiano do Nascimento and Shin Sasakubo on guitars, gorgeous stuff

https://fabianodonascimentoandshinsasakubo.bandcamp.com/album/harm-nicos

corrs unplugged, Monday, 16 December 2024 14:16 (one week ago) link

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2exzm9r043o

RIP Zakir

Zakir Hussain, one of the world's greatest tabla players, has died at the age of 73.

The Indian classical music icon died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, at a hospital in San Francisco, his family said in a statement.

Hussain was a four-time Grammy award winner and has received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award.

Through his performances, he transformed the tabla into a globally loved solo instrument that was the star of the show.

The tabla - a pair of drums used in Indian classical music - was historically viewed as an accompaniment to the main performance.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 17 December 2024 00:27 (six days ago) link

Former ilxor Keith Harris has this in his best-of list for Racket , his Minnesota site

19. Sisso & Maiko, Singeli Ya Maajabu

Sisso is among the better-known producers of singele, a Tanzanian dance music style supposedly derived from Zanzibar’s taarab (a style I know even less about) and so wildly sped up it should be measured in beats per second. Jamming live to Singele’s beats on keys is Maiko, who vamps with ostinatos, doodles wildly on top, and occasionally runs a finger along the keys till he reaches the highest note, just to be funny. I’m told singele is often tough-guy music, but the effect here is comic, even cartoonish. During the nearly six minutes of the frenetic, dayglo “Kazi Ipo,” I feel like a paper cone that’s been stuck into a cotton candy machine.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 19 December 2024 06:55 (four days ago) link

More from Keith -

2. Various artists, Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola

A compilation of mostly decades-old Afropop? Isn’t that… cheating? Well I make the rules here, bub, and despite two familiar Congolese names (Samba Mapangala and Tshala Muana, their great ’90s records are streaming, check ’em out) all these tracks are new to me and—don’t front—you too. Yet to Kampire, a Ugandan DJ and part of the crew behind the Nyege Nyege festival and label (they put out the Sisso & Maiko album) these have nostalgic appeal, as they might to a queer party thrower in a country where gay sex is a capital crime. Sureshot opener Princess Aya Shara’s “O Wina Tienge” sets the tone with soukous guitars from Zaire trading elegance for the frisky, chattering melodies that appealed to Kenyan audiences, though the comp also dips into South African for added sass (the Township bubblegum of V-Mash’s “Naughty Boy,” the early kwaito of Di Groovy Girls). Artifacts of a simpler time? Not if you know your history. More like reminders that the beat goes on, in good times and bad.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 19 December 2024 07:06 (four days ago) link

On Keith's runner up list --Les Amazones d’Afrique, Musow Danse;

curmudgeon, Thursday, 19 December 2024 07:07 (four days ago) link

This is all over the internet at the moment. An African Country Gospel song, by (I think) SDA Youth Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh2v_CYMayo

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Friday, 20 December 2024 10:57 (three days ago) link

or maybe those are the publishers. The artist is MAOMBI SAMSON

Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin), Friday, 20 December 2024 10:58 (three days ago) link

Seems like a TikTok viral thing too.

Less viral things I have been enjoying watching are Sahel Sounds on Instagram sharing Instagram stories and posts from a rural Fulani area of Senegal by an ethnomusicologist I think who has an IG page called blind.in.1.eye

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDfy3lnIYbg/?igsh=MTY0MDRnNTlkZHo3YQ==

curmudgeon, Friday, 20 December 2024 16:40 (three days ago) link


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