Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2019 Thread Once Known as World Music

This thread is mainly for polyrhythmic, international sounds that aren't big enough to get threads of their own. I lean toward south of the equator sounds here that are sometimes less club-oriented than artists highlighted on Afrobeats, dancehall, soca threads.

Mdou Moctar is touring the US now again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pqvY9Oh0tQ

2018 releases I still need to hear:
Tallawit Timbouctou, Hali Diallo (Sahel Sounds) and Onkonkolo, Cantos (big crown)

Both on a Vinyl District website best of list

Modern Brazil - s/d

Posted some things about Brazilian music on the Modern Brazil thread. Too many Brazilian musicians are under the radar in the English language world-- like Tim Bernardes and Romulo Froes.

Just saw an awesome video clip on Facebook of BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness), a rap vocals with drummers combo from Soweto, South Africa at Collider 4 in Northampton, MA on their debut US appearance. They're onstage Saturday at a multi-act Secret Planet showcase at Drom, in NYC with Mdou Moctar and band from Niger. On Sunday, BCUC are at GlobalFEST in NYC and next Tuesday Jan 8 at Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Yeah, i'm at globalFest tonight. particularly excited about 47soul doing their US debut, the Magos Herrera/BK Rider collabo, Dakhabrakha offshoot Dakh Daughters, my second show with Orquesta Akokan, blues rocker Amythyst Kiah, and, yes, BCUC.

47 Soul were just down here in DC on either 4th or 5th I think, and they’re coming back next weekend. 1st show sold out quick. Haven’t decided whether to go to 2nd one. I missed the first. Haven’t listened to them online even yet. I saw Orquesta Akokan do a free set of retro Cuban mambo here at Kennedy Center. Singer was in both timba bands and Buena Vista type projects in past. Pretty good if not spectacular dance band

they were outta this world when i saw them this fall
best big band i've seen in many years, maybe ever? the venue was paaaaacked and i probably said all of this on the 2018 thread but it was just that enjoyable. they put on a monster show!!

I don't know if it's been brought up here (probably?), but I was just in Tanzania, and before I left I looked up the music scene and learned about singeli, this crazy 300 bpm music that's like an East African Atari Teenage Riot or something:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH0Xfmotbfg

I saw the clip in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/17/this-cuts-across-society-how-singeli-music-went-from-tanzania-to-the-world

We discussed it (a bit) on last year’s Afropop thread, in the light of this Nyege Nyege Tapes release: https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-of-sisso

From here on down, in fact:
rolling afropop / afrobeats 2018

Okay, that didn’t come out the way I wanted to. Discussion on the thread is from Feb 6 through til Feb 12.

https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=683339663

Banning Eyre was impressed by Mali’s Harouna Samake at the Womex Festival

I was wowed by South African group BCUC at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage yesterday. Energy, chops ( bass, conga, 2 marching band type drums, 3 vocalists including a female one with range), socio-political lyrics, dance moves.

yeah, BCUC were the big surprise at globalfest for me; the EP is okay but they're absolutely dynamite live

this is exciting!

just found some more mamman sani tapes from the late 80s/early 90s so that's coming

— sahel sounds (@sahelsounds) January 9, 2019

[ducks head] I should have bought other Sahel Sounds vinyl at the Mdou Moctar show tonight with Horse Lords opening but I didn’t. At a previous time I saw he and his band I bought a t-shirt.

Oh, it was a good show.

Looks like Alfred S was the only vote in the Uproxx poll of 200 critics for Tal National. I should have voted and made it 2

https://uproxx.com/selection/tantabara/

Saw a track vote on Uproxx for Jupiter and Okwess

Listening to 2018 album by Malian kamala ngoni ( calabash bottom with vertical pole with strings making harp like sounds) musician Harouna Samake and band. Album is Kamale Blues. Strong male and female vocals and uptempo rhythms from band led by Samake. Upthread I noted that Banning Eyre touted Samake’s Womex fest gig

Sahel Sounds definitely worth following on twitter. Both links and random statements all worth checking out.

Mdou pitched a remake of Thriller in Agadez!

Tallawit Timbouctou, Hali Diallo (Sahel Sounds)

great buzzsaw guitar sound on this

Listening to ILX Listen: 2019

Thanks.

Liking this Pat Kalla & Super Mojo album Jongler from 2018. A couple of folks are calling it French-African disco as Kalla now lives in Lyon, France. I hear Cameroon, Angola, and Ghana

https://www.passionweiss.com/2018/12/11/the-consummate-juggler-pat-kalla-and-le-super-mojos-jongler/

During his 1955 overland adventure to India, Bhattacharya crossed through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. (He and Glennie were joined by a third explorer, who dropped out of the trip partway through.)

Geeta D article

http://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/deben-bhattacharya

NY Times article on Nigerian rock

While the crowds at Nigerian rock shows are mostly female, few women have become community leaders. The alternative singer Bianca Adanna Okorocha, 29, who performs as Clay, is one exception. She considers her perseverance an achievement.

“I’m still here when most of the people I got into the scene with have fallen away to assimilate into ‘real life,’” she said.
But more notable is her ability to fuse rock music with Afropop, the predominant contemporary sound in Lagos, and the success she has had in doing so

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/style/emo-metal-rock-music-nigeria.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/style/emo-metal-rock-music-nigeria.html

Fascinating! Where can I hear some of it? Esp Clay

Audio Inferno, linked in the article, has a lot of videos, album reviews, and news stories about African bands.

This video - "Mama" by Dark Suburb featuring Wiyaala (who has stuff out on her own) is pretty good in an Evanescence-y kind of way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58mDulytA0M

Clay seems to be only on YouTube, not on Spotify or Bandcamp

clay's 'the one' reminds me of jewel!

France-based Congolese singer Dadju is on a 3 city US tour- Dallas on 24th, DC on 26th, NY on the 30 th

He’s French of Congolese origin, actually. He’s the younger brother of rapper Maître Gims.

That’s how I should have phrased it, thanks. Saw a video clip of his DC show singing nicely over tracks .

new bassekou kouyate out this week. also new a-wa track ("mudbira") which is fantastic, and sofia rei just made the first album for the new masada cycle "beriah" and it's pretty cool as well

75-year-old, Ustad Saami risks his life daily in Pakistan to keep alive his microtonal, pre-Islamic, multilingual (Farsi, Sanskrit, Hindi, the ancient and dead language of Vedic, gibberish, Arabic, and Urdu) music. Handed down by his ancestors for over a thousand years, he is the only practitioner of Surti left in the world and when he passes, this music will die with him as well. Extremists resent his work as they do anything else pre-dating Muhammad.

http://glitterbeat.com/artists/ustad-saami/

This is some beautiful and hypnotic work.

i had heard about the new album but i was too busy meditating over the meaning (and my opinion of) the title that i hadn't gotten around to listen to it until your recommendation - which i'm so glad you made, really cool stuff! hypnotic is right.

hoo boy the write-up on that is terrible (e.g., "In the land where Osama Bin last hid, Master Ustad Naseeruddin Saami has spent his entire life mastering the nuances of every given note."). But the music is immense (and totally new to me), thanks for posting that

love this track: https://dexterstory.bandcamp.com/track/shuruba-song-feat-hamelmal-abate
and this one: https://open.spotify.com/track/1VCBrYw70cUQRrvd7ybgP4?si=esGXOvbRR0WE_1bOA5Ud8Q (kel assouf - tamatant)
also this album https://nicolacruz.bandcamp.com/album/siku

https://mauricelouca.bandcamp.com/album/elephantine

Egyptian experimental bandleader/composer/musician Maurice Louca's new album with 12-piece ensemble is quite lovely. posted this elsewhere but realised this is probably the right place to park this one.

new mdou moctor single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA2zshM6A8g

Mdou is still busy touring too—US and Europe

I was just in Mexico and didn’t hear anyone playing his music there. But I did hear folkloric Mexican sounds, banda, duranguese, pop, 50s style rock but in Spanish. Also live we saw Puerto Rican salsa romantica singer Victor Manuelle do a late night show in Mexico City. There were some impressive dancing couples in the crowd

https://sahelsounds.com/2019/01/hama-houmeissa/

I'm not as wowed by Hama's laptop fruityloops programming takes on Niger / Tuareg traditional music as some folks like Wayne Marshall are. But I've only heard 2 cuts

i really liked his 2015 album Torodi so i'll be checking this new one out w/ anticipation

X-post- The one Louca composition I heard sounded kinda jazzy. He addressed his relationship to jazz and other genres here I see:
http://downbeat.com/news/detail/maurice-louca-elephantine-northern-spy

i didn't love the new hama :/

I still need to catch up on those other things you posted- Dexter Story etc.

Love the dexter story and I loved their last album so I’m looking forward to this one

I've been watching some of the Kennedy Center's live video stream of Tcheka, a Cape Verdean singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist @ Kennedy Ctr. Mill. Stage. Beautiful vocal melodies and nice rhythmic string accompaniment. Sounds a bit Brazilian or Angolan

He was at Lincoln Center in NY (also for free) the night before.

Kel Assouf's Black Tenere is out today. A lot of this Touareg desert blues stuff is nice, but too reined-in and pretty. This dude plays desert RAWK, though. His guitar tone will take your face off like a sandstorm, and there’s some guitar-organ jam action so heavy I keep expecting to hear Ian Gillan come in on vocals. Definitely recommended.

i haven't gotten to this yet (also came out this week) but it has tracks w/ tony allen and mulatu astatke: https://nubiyantwist.bandcamp.com/album/jungle-run

ooooh!
i just saw that Mulatu Astatke is playing in a local PLANT CONSERVATORY in May but 1) tickets are $47 and 2) I have class that night and I would take my students but 1)

maybe you can get a discount if you tell them it's for students??

I bumped the Astatke thread to ask this, but have any of you seen him live? He's playing in Montreal (though not in a plant conservatory, damn that sounds amazing), but yeah it's pretty pricey and I'm wondering if it's worth it.

i have! i think it was 2 years ago at the world music festival in chicago. it will be pricey and/but you will enjoy it.

idk about discounts -- haggling is not my forte. in the past i have taken them to events that are free (world music fest) or already offer discounted tickets for students (spektral quartet)

thanks LL! the venue is walking distance from my apt so I'm pretty excited

Astatke is playing NYC May 17 & 18, hope he comes down to DC too.

Yea Kel Assouf's Black Tenere rocks

well, some of it

I could do without some of the jam like stuff on it

few albums i'm checking out this week:

Cochemea - All My Relations: digging this, electrosax afrojazz
Eitan Katz - Ashrecha: musician friend keeps bumping this, charedi folk, not sure it's so unique but if you don't know this genre at all it has some nice moments
Saba Alizadeh - Scattered Memories: experimental music w/ persian instruments / electronic / field recording sounds
Constantinople, Ablaye Cissoko - Traversées: light kora + sitar music, mandinka + persian fusion

the assouf is okay - tho a little monotonous to me as a whole (i prefer it a track here and there outside the album) and like a lot of other stuff (that i do enjoy!)

Baaba Maal got an Oscar for best original score for Black Panther

Yemen Blues playing World Cafe Live tmmrw night trying to decide if i want to go..

Banning Eyre Guide to Zimbabwe music from 70s to present. The emphasis is on guitar bands but he acknowledges rap and dancehall near the end. Bhundu Boys, Thomas Mapfumo, Mokoomba are all here.

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/02/zimbabwe-music-history

Liking the new Kronos Quartet with Iranian vocalists Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat album Placeless. Melancholy and powerful delivery of the vocals over the strings

https://kronosquartet.org/news/article/kronos-quartet-mahsa-and-marjan-vahdat-placeless

new sahel sounds release: https://amanardekidal.bandcamp.com/album/akaline-kidal

X-post - Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat was great live backed by Kronos Q. Kronos on their own turned some of their Muslim countries repertoire for the night into standard classical music ( they sounded more interesting when they reached beyond that).

African Film Fest in suburbs of DC

WAHENGA (The Ancestors)
Saturday, Mar. 9, 12:45 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre
8633 Colesville Rd.
Silver Spring, MD
http://afi.com/silver/

U.S. Premiere

WAHENGA follows John Kitime, a Tanzanian musician now in his 60s, as he sets out on a mission to put together an all-star band from the old days to revive the classic sound of Zilipendwa music. Along the way, he meets the people who played key roles in the music scene of Tanzania during the struggle for independence and the nation's formative years under the first president, Julius K. Nyerere. As Kitime plays with the band, spends time with musicians and digitizes reel-to-reel tapes from the 1960s and '70s, he reveals a fascinating and little-known story about the power of music to bring together a people and a nation. Official Selection, 2018 Zanzibar and Film Africa film festivals. (Note adapted from The Tanzania Heritage Project.)

DIR/SCR/PROD Rebecca Corey, Amil Shivji. Tanzania, 2018, color, 93 min. In Swahili with English subtitles

X-post- that Ahmed Ag Kaedy - Akaline Kidal on Sahel Sounds is solo Tuareg guitar. Nice enough

Was working and missed that Tanzania movie. Also missed the screening of “The Burial of Kojo,” directed by NY-based Ghanaian rapper Blitz the Ambassador. This latter one will be on Netflix starting March 31

Saw an Instagram story video clip of Congolese band Kokoko at S x SW and I was impressed. They use junkyard made instruments, a megaphone, and a laptop and wear matching yellow factory overall suits ( kind of Devo like)
Their US dates included 1 NY one a few days back, and now some shows out west. I hope they’ll come to DC next time they tour US

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwjURBSIPA

Yeah I like their new album

Listening to Kokoko on Spotify now & less excited, although some cuts are nice Afro-funk

Mokoomba from Zimbabwe are a great live band and are coming back to the US in April. Mdou Moctor and band are doing gigs out in the western us now I think. Worth seeing too

Oh, saw Habib Koite, Malian singer/guitarist with percussionist Mama Kone do a mostly relaxed gig with pleasant but rhythmic open-tuned guitar playing. A few songs were more upbeat. Some nice stories in between re the tour-- being in more snow than they had ever seen in St. Paul, a barbecue for them in a San Francisco park (with great tasting meat although Habib's doctor tells him to eat less of that). Masterful ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate and others were suposed to be playing with them plus 2 others, but they couldn't get their visas approved.

New Africa Express EP is out now: https://open.spotify.com/album/6IAEqJEVmwBN7m6OkQQaEr?si=s9D9eQi_RraMtmp52QobcQ

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/obituaries/jh-kwabena-nketia-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR2Yd1IT6I-WFidBpyxJAvNqkAlQPnw9E1seAj0YXnUT41g4fMm1VzZtMYg

RIP 97-years old Ghanaian scholar and author re African music J.H. Kwabenia Nketia

His 1974 book, “The Music of Africa,” is widely considered a definitive historical study, and “Ethnomusicology and African Music,” a collection of his writings published in 2005, is used in classrooms throughout Africa and across the world

Mdou Moctar’s new album with his band is an NPR First Listen. Sounds good

i'll check it out but he never sounds as like idk experimental or futuristic or whatever as sahel sounds suggests

True, but I think he's one of the best rockin traditionalists. I've seen him and his band a number of times and enjoyed them as much as Tinariwen. There's a hyperbolic Bob Boilen quote on the npr link-- "Mdou Moctar has made the most insane psychedelic guitar album of the 21st century."

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/21/704818917/first-listen-mdou-moctar-ilana-the-creator

ha yeah that's what i'm talking about. "insane psychedelic guitar album" is what i want and then "rockin traditionalist" is what i get it's fine there's room for both but when there's some great stuff happening that is the former it's weird when it gets applied to the latter

He is a left-handed guitarist and listens to American music as well, and there was that Prince inspired movie he was in, but yeah he's not quite as out there as the hype. But he's far from staid and retro and folky-traditionalist.

Meanwhile over in Mali, sad news--

The slaughter on Saturday of more than 130 Fulani herdsmen in central Mali, allegedly by members of the Dogon ethnic group, is the latest and most deadly incident in an increasingly violent conflict.

In 2018, 202 civilians were killed in communal violence in 42 incidents in Mali's Mopti region, according to New York-based group Human Rights Watch.

While there have been conflicts between the more settled Dogon people and the Fulani herders in central Mali for a long time, they have become increasingly violent since a militant Islamist uprising in the north of the country in 2012.

The government appeared to blame the Dogon self-defence group, Dan Na Ambassagou, for Saturday's attack and has outlawed it, even though the group has denied any involvement.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47694445

CNN-

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that groups affiliated with al Qaeda and ISIS have moved deeper into central Mali, exploiting existing ethnic divisions and sowing chaos....Corinne Dufka, HRW's West Africa Associate Director, told CNN that the violence in Mali was underscored by "ongoing tension over land and water between herders and cultivators but also by the growing presence of armed Islamist groups who ... have committed very serious atrocities and targeted members of the Dogon group."
Dufka said that Dan Na Ambassagou "has been attacked by armed Islamists and then they engage in lethal reprisals, including the one that occurred yesterday."
Saturday's attack is the latest escalation of a cycle of violence that has spiraled out of control.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/africa/mali-attack-analysis-intl/index.html

terrible. i don't know when the last time they held the festival in the desert. for years i dreamt of going and now it looks like i'll never get the chance :/

that Boilen quote re: Moctar caught my eye, too. i mean, the album is one of my favorites of the new year so far, but maybe pump the brakes just a tad, Bob.

Not sure where to post this-- liking new Helado Negro album This Is How You Smile. He's a Brooklyn based, Spanish & English singing electro-folkie w/ a touch of bossa . He grew up in South Florida and his parents are from Ecuador. Been seeing his name since 2014 but never really investigated

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/18/helado-negros-new-songs-bask-in-a-sense-of-discovery

i'm really into the helado album i was just telling someone yesterday that the more i hear it the more i like it. here's a list of first quarter stuff i like that is relevant to this thread:

Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile
Saba Alizadeh - Scattered Memories
The Comet is Coming - Truth in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
KOKOKO! - Liboso
Bassekou Kouyate - Miri
Nicola Cruz - Siku
Ustad Saami - God is Not a Terrorist
Kel Assouf - Black Tenere
Cochemea - All My Relations
Kings Aigbologa Bucknor & His Afrodisk Beat Organization - Katakata (reissue)
John Blek - Thistle & Thorn
Theon Cross -Fyah
Tanya Tagaq - Toothsayer

and then here are some more that i like but need to spend more time with:

Houssam Gania - Mosawi Swiri
Neshama Carlebach - Believe (Shlomo's daughter)
Ahmed Mukhtar - Visions of Iraq
Nigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987
Mdou Moctar - Ilana
Africa Express - Molo
Dexter Story - Bahir
Anoushka Shankar - Reflections
Ahmed Ag Kaedy - Akaline Kidal
VA - This is Frafra Power
Constantinople, Ablyae Cissoko - Traversees
Nubiyan Twist - Jungle Run
Khidja, Balabas - Khidja Si Balabas
Franklin Kiermyer - Solomon's Daughter

Nice list. Dexter Story combines Ethiopian and other Horn of Africa sounds on his album. It was ok on first listen

I guess Japanese band Perfume probably fit better on a J-pop thread, but i was just checking them out. Saw a bunch of mentions online of their NYC appearance. I sensed that was a first time US gig. Some folks traveled from all over to attend.

Not their first US gig; I saw them at the same venue in 2014 and wrote about it for Stereogum. (I met them!)

Oh. Nice.

Just watched Gato Preto live via the video stream from the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage In DC. African club dance music with programmed beats plus a djembe percussionist. They combined Mozambique, Ghana, and Senagalese elements. The vocalist was pretty energetic. The Kennedy Center archives the videos for viewing later as well on the Millennium Stage website

Listened to Haitian band Vayb. They have those syrupy feeling keyboards of current Haitian acts, plus some bachata like romantic melodrama as well as some current r’n’b and Latin pop elements. Old guy me prefers the old school more polyrhythmic funky sound of Tabou Combo.

The Vayb song “kite’m Vayb” is funkier than most of their catalogue.

I need to listen to the Bassekou Kouyate new one

Listened to Bassekou Kouyate once while busy in the kitchen...Some good tracks, others just ok, but he's quite an ngoni player

I'm thoroughly enjoying that Mdou Moctar album today.

Sounds good. In a different vein, I just saw Zimbabwe ‘s Mokoomba again live. A free lunchtime gig at the Library of Congress. They have great group choreography and mix it up musically— some songs with rocking afropop guitar and bass, a capella Southern Africa style on another. Plus great calabash and congas percussion.

that sounds great! i'd love to catch a lunchtime afropop show :D

Saw Mdou Moctar last night and he was fantastic, just a totally joyous show.

X-post- Mokoomba at lunchtime for free, and then wife and I splurged at night for Caetano Veloso with his 3 sons doing lilting, pretty Brazilian melodies

Really enjoying the comeback album by África Negra, a band that revolutionized S.Tomé music by integrating electric guitars into their sound. Take a listen:

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

Love the song on that Africa Negra video—Afro-Portuguese soukous from an island off the Central African Coast.

I am guessing there are a fair amount of African musicians who were in their prime in 1970s through 90s who are probably working dayjobs and not reunited, so good for these folks being able to do so

Yeah, the label they're recording for - Mar & Sol - has a fair bit of hipster cachet in Portugal, very happy to see digger culture get behind something like this - alleviates the culture vulture guilt a bit.

My mum was friends with a guy from Angola, played a lot in our area doing mostly covers of current hits and showbiz tunes. He moved back a while ago and last we heard he was complaining that all people listened to there now was Kizomba.

On their website, Ifriqiyya Electrique introduce their new album with an Adorno quote, in German. I'm pumped.

First impression: it's on par with their debut but the closer, 'Mabbrooka', sounds like they relistened to 'Inertia Creeps' and found it… wanting. Incredible.

I like their semi-traditional chanting more than their industrial electro rhythms, but that’s just me.

Saw 88-year old Omara Portuando from Cuba last night. She sounded strong on some ballads, but wasn't onstage for very long. Her band led by pianist Roberto Fonseco played Latin jazz fusiony tracks while she was resting. It's billed as her farewell tour.

Had read hype for Ethiopian singer Chelina, but her reggae didn't wow me on first listen. Still artists on Mordy's March 31 post I need to listen to (or listen to again)

Pakistani singer Ustaad Sami , on Mordy’s list, is impressive. I need to listen more. His record company bio says he’s the last practitioner of his very old school rooted sound

yeah I really liked that one back when tangenttangent posted it

Yes, back in February! You are right.

Ustaad Sami album is so good!

Sourakata Koite is a skilled, Paris living Senegalese kora player who recorded an album back in 1984, & thanks to awesome tapes from Africa you can hear him in multiple formats

Youssou Ndour’s voice sounds great on new album History, but I am not crazy about the loungey jazz fusiony backing on some cuts

haven't given a listening update lately but i wanted to share about this Altin Gün - Gece album which is turkish psych w/ female vox that i'm digging (Apr 26 release)

I am listening to Ethiopian singer Jacky Gosee now. Album is called Balambaras. Listening now to a ballad called “Hiyaw” with bluesy soul guitar licks and Gosee’s vocals here which are auto tuned on this cut but remind me slightly of Van Morrison if he was younger and lived in Addis. The other cuts I have heard so far are more standard 2019 Ethiopia-pop but slightly less syrupy than some. Less schmaltz is good in my book. A DC Ethiopian Promoter was asserting on FB that Gosee is the man these days for Ethiopians.

don't know where to put this, since i can't find a Middle Eastern electronic thread....feel free to point me to a more appropriate thread

but this is a really lovely track from one of my favorite records of 2019 thus far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ajEvZdUWM

I wonder if Saudi act Msylma who did the above song live in Saudi Arabia or abroad?

Intriguing; brings to mind Björk/Arca – I'll have to check out the rest.

That Nigeria 70: No Wahala comp mentioned above awhile back is wonderful classic afropop

xpost to Curmudgeon, apparently Msylma is based in Mecca. ZULI, his producer (who also has a record out, from last year), is from Cairo.

The remainder of the record is just as interesting as that track, i think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxdf8TBSkdU

I like this video for Iranian fiddler and electro musician Saba Alizadeh

love that, thanks curmudgeon!

Hadn't considered the possibility of melding ambient with traditional Persian music before hearing Saba Alizadeh's album. As a side note, his father is the incredible shurangiz player Hossein Alizadeh.

The Msylma LP is sounding incredible so far. I mentioned Björk and Arca upthread but this holds my attention with more flair than anything the former two have released in years.

Saw Youssou NDour again . Great live. For one of the encores he said the song had a current Senegalese rhythm that he noted is being heard everywhere there. Alas, I didn’t catch the name. Doh.

Liking some of Cochemea album Mordy listed back on March 31, but other times the sax player gets too fusion jazz/ Kenny G for me

Listening now to Houssam Gania folkloric Mid East Northern Africa instrumentation with Call & response chanted vocals. It’s good , doesn’t completely wow me but yeah still good

Kings Aibologa from Mordy’s list is classic old-School afrobeat

I keep coming back to Mdou Moctar's latest album

On the Ethiopiques thread I wrote about the very good Hailu Mergia gig I saw last night in DC

Yeah great show

I saw him earlier this year, thought it was a jam for sure.

I like Hailu better with his DC Ethiopian rhythm section from the Feedel Band, than with the jazz guys

Went to a local Afghan restaurant near me last night and I discovered the large main room was closed to the public for a graduation party. They sat in a side room where we could still hear the loud upbeat Afghan traditional with a modern twist music from. Good stuff. Occasionally we’d see little Afghan kids come out of the hall, and dance in the restaurant’s foyer, or play games on phones & tablets.

The restaurant sat us in a side room I mean

https://wmce.de/

World music chart of what’s being heard in Europe

Am revisiting latest Ifriqiyya Electrique album that is a bandcamp 2019 fave . This (mostly I think) Tunisian band is too industrial at times for me.

I find this oddly grating, but maybe it's because I've been in a cloud of ambient music due to the poll....

Saw Helado Negro the other night. Interesting alt Latin bolero meets alt Brazilian bossa meets wispy Pitchfork indie set ( new album plus older cuts). He’s backed by a woman who plays sax, violin, and keyboards plus a man who plays sax and keyboards while he plays electric guitar or doesn’t use an instrument. They also had pre-programmed sounds up there. He was friendly and talkative between songs. Some of crowd got too chatty at times. I read a Latinx grad student on twitter complaining that Anglos were talking loud during songs in Spanish.

His newest is one of my fave albums of the year - so chill

Chill but more than that I say defensively ( or at least more than my interpretation of “chill” in 2019). Live the saxes brought a jazzy feel at times ( not a smooth jazz one), the violin was kinda avante-chamber music, and his vocal melodies were tuneful and more than background soothing.

I wrote about Ifriqiyya Electrique back in May; I like them a lot. Maleem Mahmoud Ghania meets Treponem Pal. I bet they're a blast live.

His reminiscing about his 2014 DC gig that was promoted by a female alt-Latino collective also was friendly and down to earth.

Yes, I like the new album too. My ILM search alas does not turn up too much for him. Oh well.

Oops. I am referring to Helado.

Unperson , yeah I can see you liking Ifriqiyya Electrique more than me. More your style

you're right that it's not just chill moods but those are the ones that open up all the other stuff (about longing + belonging + wistfulness) it's just an extremely pleasant listening experience that reveals itself upon repeated listens but without being too demanding is all i really mean by chill. my fave track is "pais nublado" which is bilingual.

RIP Folk Roots magazine/website aka fRoots that covered international music

The great Fally Ipupa and band from the Congo will be in DC @ the Howard Theatre Friday the 12th (alas I will be at the beach)

Saw some video clips on Instagram of Ipupa and band and dancers at their Friday gig @ the Howard, and Saturday at the Apollo in NYC. Looked and sounded great. Congolese afropop

They're gonna be in Raleigh next

I used to go on an Afropop music forum chatboard dominated by Congolese ex-pats. I wonder what they’re saying now that Nigerian afrobeats ( & similar sounds from other locales) controls the interests of most; and their poor country still struggles with post-genocide issues, Ebola and more. It’s all very sad. Fally Ipupa is trying to bridge the old Congolese era with the newer sounds.

No other Fally Ipupa fans on this thread I guess. Maybe I should try the afropop/afrobeats one.

Listened to Youssou Ndour’s latest again. Uneven but his voice is still gorgeous

BKO Quintet from Mali are gonna be back in North America. In DC August 1 at Millennium Stage. Their electrified-ngoni player makes them rock and groove in a more than traditional way

Great old-school meets new school Congo band Jupiter & Okwess are @ Newport Folk Fest today Saturday, and in Brooklyn early next week then head out west. Not seeeing any DC gigs on this tour, but if there's one near you, see them. They were just in Europe & UK I think and will be returning there also

ooh i saw them last year (i think?) and they were great
almost world music fest time in chicago!!

Speaking of J&O, next weekend's Pickathon fest near Portland includes these in its lineup:

Khruangbin
Mdou Moctar
Ibibio Sound Machine
Lido Pimienta
Altin Gün
Jupiter & Okwess

I know they livestream some sets ... I will try to remember to post a link here.

Not clear what J & Okwess are doing this Sunday through Tuesday, but they’re in Brooklyn Wednesday then fly west, and then fly back for a Chicago Millennium Park gig, and a Massachusetts gig. Weird scheduling but I guess that was only way it could work

this track showed up in my new releases playlist this week: Tinariwen - Zawal ft Warren ellis, Noura Mint Seymali + Jeiche Ould Chighaly

Ooh that looks good

https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/index/M70251

Mali's BKO Quintet hour long gig at Kennedy Center started traditional but halfway through the set their electrified small stringed ngoni player offers sounds that should please fans of punk and Hendrix, while the kora/ngoni , the djembe & the drumset add funky polyrhythms

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/01/fatou-seidi-ghali-the-worlds-first-female-tuareg-guitarist

Les Filles de Illighadad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqrHX3_J6vY

Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga will be at the Folklife Fest in Salisbury, Md Sept 7 & 8th.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/opinion/mahrou-leilal-concert-canceled-lebanon-blasphemy-wars.html

Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou Leila barred from doing a concert in Lebanon. Had previously played there, but are banned in Egypt and Jordan ( singer is gay)

A posthumous Rachid Taha album due out shortly

Posted on Modern Brazil thread that I kinda like Labaq, Sao Paulo Brazil indie electro pop singer/guitarist. She’s penned and sings some nice melodies

Saw Lila Downs with a big band the other night. Not bad. Missed Labaq though. Can't see em all

That northern Brazil music album Jambu is getting attention due to an enthusiastic review by P. Sherburne for Pitchfork. It didn’t wow me on first listen, but will give it another shot

^I'm really into this! It sounds like Cuban tunes (a la Arsenio Rodriguez or something) with samba rhythms.

Growing on me. First song reminded me of Peruvian chicha music, but yes I hear some Cuban too

And I am hearing old-school Jamaican ska on cuts 18 and 19, although the Pitchfork article says it was all recorded in the 70s and 80s

Contractor employee was blasting Guatemalan folk music while working on my home. It was ok.

It took awhile but Tuareg band Les Filles de Illighadad got US visas so various dates coming in September around the country

Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou Leila coming too

Listened to 2018 Boukman Eksperyans album. Haitian band that combines poly- rhythmic carnival sounds with reggae and rock. Some good call and response vocals. They’re doing a free show in NY tonight and coming to DC September 6. Don’t know about other gigs. They’ve been together as a band since 91 or so.

Actually Boukman have been together since the late 70s I think

https://worldmusic.net/blogs/news/world-music-charts-europe-august-2019

The most interesting effort on this to me is the one led by Congolese guitarist Dizzy Mandjeku--

Uniting Colombian and Congolese musicians, De Palenque à Matongé, de project of Dizzy Mandjeku and Alé Kumá, revives and re-interprets the historical connection between two musical traditions that have travelled back and forth between the New World and the African Motherland.

Just saw a recent video clip of Mdou Moctar live at a club in NYC, on Instagram. He and his band are touring all the time it seems. He's gonna be back in DC shortly

Tuareg band Les Filles de Illighadad play minimalist folk music but with buzzing guitars and ululating or rough-edged vocals. They have 2 female guitarists (still an unusual thing in their part of the world. The leader's dad said she should be working with grazing cows not learning to play guitar (when he discovered she had been taking her brother's guitar and teaching herself to play it

Saw Les Filles live Saturday at a free Celebrate Africa fest. They were good not great but that may be because I like more rocking Tuareg stuff and they’re more folky with slower tempos but still with cool buzzing guitars and nice percussion. The night before I saw a great Boukman E show that had a carnival like spirit; and then a block away I caught end of Mdou Moctar set with his wonderful guitar shredding.

Saw Angelique Kidjo for free tonight at the Kennedy Center. First some duets with classical/opera singer Rene Fleming including "Summertime," and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," then a short set by herself with a DC band where she did Bob Marley's Redemption Song, Miriam Makeba's Pata Pata, and a few others. None of her Talking Heads or Celia Cruz covers, but her voice and her dancing always make her worth seeing .

On Facebook seeing this Saturday pricey event getting attention-- *Sami Dan and Nhatty Man w/ the Ras Band @ Karma (Ethiopian)

Wed. September 25
Toko Telo is a Madagascar supergroup w/ D’Gary, national diva Monika Njava; and Joël Rabesolo, Malagasy guitarist for free from 6 to 7 pm @ Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Will be video streaming on Kennedy Center Facebook and YouTube pages and archived

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/congolese-band-kokoko-prep-debut-album-touring-dates-song-streams/

Congolese band with one French band member on tour. I haven’t listened yet or seen the videos. Press release says they’re a more electronic version of Konono No. 1

DC & Ny and more gigs next week

Kokoko use homemade instruments as well as electronic ones apparently

i like the kokoko album

omfg i saw kokoko! over the weekend and strongly recommend catching them if they are in your town. what a fun show. the homemade instruments were MWAH and they were full of energy and personality and had the crowd in their hand. excellent live band!!!!

they were amazing. i loved every member of that band, even the belgian electronics guy in the pink hat.

oh i guess he's french? idk. he's white.

Yes, listening to Kokoko’s often uptempo , percussion-filled songs now

Now listening to Afro-folk of the Good Ones from Rwanda. And here’s video of Madagascar supergroup

https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/index/M70866

Toko Telo is the Madagascar supergroup

They're kind of afro-folk too. I like the singer's voice

i like the kokoko album

― Mordy, Thursday, September 26, 2019 5:42 PM (five days ago)

Less enthused about French synth player in Kokoko than I am about rest of the band

eh, he was ok -- in the live setup he kept the whole thing moving along, wore a pink hat in case anyone was confused about him being white
what's your beef w him?

His synth is too techno/edm while the homemade instruments are funky

That’s what I like about them! The collision of the two things. One of my students went to see them too and he went because he likes EDM and walked away w respect for their homemade instruments.

LL otm

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article236164663.html

Musicians leading Haitian protests

Rapper Izolan, who led the movement under the theme "Lage Pye Ou" (step on it) with the hashtag Rebat Kat La (reshuffle the deck of cards), was joined by fellow musicians, posting plans on social media and asking participants to wear white shirts, a sign of peace.

https://www.voanews.com/americas/thousands-join-haitian-musicians-peaceful-protest-demanding-president-step-down

lineup for next year's globalfest announced and includes vocal choir San Salvador from France who sound pretty great on first spin
https://soundcloud.com/lostintraditions/sets/san-salvador-live

The rai group looks interesting ( although I haven’t listened to them yet)

Saw and enjoyed Zambia Afro-psychedelic band Witch . Only surviving original member from their early 70s prime is singer Jagari Chanda.

Might make more sense to talk about Witch on a garage rock or psychedelic thread. But they do have some Zambia trad influences. I haven’t seen the movie doc about them. I don’t think they ever found live film footage of the band from the 70s. Just photos. Doc I think follows around Jagari Chanda in recent years and interviews people about the past and present

What is everyone listening to these days?

the new blick bassy a bunch

Listening to Blick Bassy now. Nice Sunday morning music so far (relaxing but not easy listening)

the album is about Ruben Um Nyobé, an anti-colonialist Cameroonian leader who was killed in 1958 and basically any discussion of him and his movement was repressed brutally by the government for the next few decades. it's a politically significant act that blick bassy made this album as well as being quite beautiful imo. the afropop worldwide sorta "primer" episode on it is worth listening to as a compendium for the context i liked the album the first few times i heard it but after listening to the ep i kept going back to it.

blick is good times

i mean, obviously that topic isn't so much but as a performer and artist, blick is a badass

The new album by Iranian percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi has some deep, almost Aphex-y vibes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu282N-6WXM

saw pejman hadadi on drums live recently and his hands were unmappably fast and the beats painfully intricate, didn't really seem possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-HBA0JqNjg

Just saw the Manginyar Seduction in DC. 36 Northern India musicians and vocalists set up in a Hollywood Squares like set w/ 9 across and 4 rows high.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gWOuYAJ1-zI

xp - wow, that guy's got major dancing hands! thanks for posting

Heh, curmudgeon, we are the same person: seeing manganiyar thursday.

Manganiyar were great. I think you will definitely enjoy

i have been making the "Hollywood Squares" comparison when discussing them too; also "advent calendar"

Am liking that Nigerian afrobeats/ afropop Lady Donli album that’s been mentioned on that other thread.

It has now been mentioned on three threads no less, it’s that good. It has a retro vibe, but still sounds real fresh and punchy.

Let me post that Fader feature again:
https://www.thefader.com/2019/10/31/lady-donli-enjoy-your-life-interview

Mauritania singer Noura Mint Seymali and her band have been to the US a bunch of times, but this time her husband guitarist Jeich Ould Chighaly and the bassist were denied entry. At Kennedy Center Seymali and her drummer were joined by her US-based brother and another guy. Not as much Afro-psych guitar but the keyboardist adds good sounds and Seymali’s vocal range still sounds impressive
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nllls4f7Png

Chighaly is a great guitarist who also gave some lessons to The 75 Dollar Bill guitarist. So lame that he got barred this time

getting them into the country has always been a deal as i understand it; unsurprising but yes, very shitty.

new staff benda bilili out today!

it's been 8 years since the last one

I wonder who’s in the group now. I thought they had broken up. Wiki notes:

In February 2013 The Guardian reported that singer and songwriter Coco Ngambali had quit, along with fellow vocalist Théo Nzonza, and a tour of top European venues scheduled for March and April had been cancelled amid accusations of mismanagement.[15] The band played some dates in Europe in the autumn of 2013 and summer of 2014. Ngambali and Nzonza now play in Mbongwana Star.[16]

Just saw Afropop Worldwide and VOA host Georges Collinet talk about his career dj’ing music. He also showed video clips from various African countries. Then Congolese singer Samba Mapangala sang with the DC based Highlife Allstars

i love georges collinet so much he has one of the alltime great radio voices

He does. I introduced myself and talked to him and he was very friendly. The live music was good old-school congolese rumba. An enjoyable night

Sometimes I think old school Congolese rumba is my favorite kind of music

That high-pitched Congolese guitar rhythm is magical

Was hoping to see Mdou Moctar, Burna Boy, Lady Donli & or a few other Afropop/ African acts on year-end lists, but I guess expecting that from American and Brit posted lists is naive.

i think mdou moctar will show up on lists

potential albums i'll put for on my year end list (that seem possibly of interest to this thread):

KOKOKO! - Liboso
Nicola Cruz - Siku
Ustad Saami - God is Not a Terrorist
Kel Assouf - Black Tenere
Saba Alizadeh - Scattered Memories
Tanya Tagaq - Toothsayer
Altin Gün - Gece
A-WA - Bayti Fi Rasi
Ikebe Shakedown - Kings Left Behind
Blick Bassy - 1958
75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real
Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile

KOKOKO! was one of the funnest shows I saw this year. Really memorable.

Amanda Petrusich has Mdou Moctar & Burna Boy on her New Yorker list. But not seeing them on others

Just discovered North African vocalist Aziza Brahim, who now lives in Spain. Her latest album is getting some attention in Europe

Still not seeing many musicians mentioned on this thread in best-of's.

https://afropop.org/articles/afropop-runs-down-2019

Stocking Stuffer list in alphabetical order

Just listened to a bit of Bantou Mentale, a Congo alternative afro-rocking band . Energetic and wild

Bantou Mentale is on the Afropop list. There are more new releases and reissues on that list I need to listen to

yeah that's one i've been meaning to check out

https://www.artistsfromabroad.org/site/news/dhs-proposes-steep-artist-visa-fee-increases-and-policy-changes/?fbclid=IwAR3hHwOjgWmJdjcgHnuRaKuXzuTu7F7Bt2hYHXXeXfDwZcs_7bS_jxUFHk8

the bantou mentale album is dope - really innovative sounds

I linked to afropop.org alphabetical list earlier, but writing it out here with brief descriptions of some :

Angelique Kidjo- Celia (Benin singer's take on Celia Cruz)
Babani Kone- Djeliya (female Malian singer re-release)
Bantou Mentale- Bantou Mentale (Congo rockin)
Bassekou Kouyate - Miri (Mali legend & band)
Blick Bassy-1958 (melancholy Cameroon pop w/ historical rooted lyrics)
Burna Boy- African Giant
Davido- A Good Time
Dexter Story- Bahir (Los Angeles led Ethiopian/East African horns & percussion )
Dona Onete - Rebujo (Brazil)
El Wali - Tiris ( Sahrawi female desert vocals)
Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach - Naath (Sudan rapper goes pop)
Garifuna Collective- Aban (sweet afro-roots pop)
The Good Ones, Rwanda, You Should Be Loved (afro-folk harmonies)
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley- 11 Street Sekondi (Ghana afro-funk)
Habib Koite - Kharifa (Mali singer/songwriter guitarist w/ grooves)
Hama - Houmeissa (Saharan techno)
Hope Masike - The Exorcism of A Spinster (Zimbabwe singer)
Houssa Gania - Mosawi Swiri (Gnawa fusion from Morocco)
Ile - Almadura (Puerto Rican singer/songwriter from Calle 13 w/ guests)
Juan Wauters - La Onda de Juan Pablo (NYC Latin folk)
Kongo Dia Ntotila - 360 Degrees (UK Congo pop & more)
La Yegros- Suelta (Argentina electro-cumbia)
Lakou Mizik- HaitiaNola (Haiti to New Orleans)
Lazarus- Stomp the Devil (Malawi singer)
Lee “Scratch” Perry, Rainford (reggae)
Les Filles de Illighadad - Eghass Malan (female led guitar & percussion band from Niger)
Los Wembler's de Iquitos- Vision Del Ayahuasca (veteran Peru chicha, cumbia, surf)
Luka Productions - Falaw (Mali electro-folk)
Maître Gims - Ceinture Noire (Transcendance) (France-Congo rap)
Mdou Moctar- Ilana, The Creator (afro-rockin from Niger)
Oumar Konate, I Love You Inna (Mali guitar)
Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band - Obiaa! (Ghanaian highlife)
Projecto Arcomusical- Spinning in the Wheel (minimalist compositions for the berimbau)
Rachid Taha - Je Suis Africain ( late bad boy of Algerian pop)
Rocky Dawuni - Beats of Zion (Ghanaian reggae star)
Salif Keita - Un Autre Blanc (Mali’s golden voice)
Santana w/ Buika - Africa Speaks (Afro-Spanish vocals over guitar solos)
Sessa - Grandeza (Brazil)
Sinkane - Dépaysé (Sudanese-American singer/songwriter)
Steel Pulse - Mass Manipulation (UK reggae band's 1st album in 15 years)
Wuta Mayi - La Face Cachée (Congolese singer who used to be w/ Franco)
Y La Bamba, Mujeres and Entre Los Dos (Latinx-American )
Youssou N'Dour- History (Senegalese singing great)

https://afropop.org/articles/afropop-runs-down-2019

i rate from that list:
Bassekou Kouyate
Blick Bassy (top 10 aoyt for me)
Dexter Story
Hama
Les Filles de Illighadad
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
Youssou N'Dour
Mdou Moctar
Bantou Mentale

was hopeful for the Hope Masike but didn't love it :(

Once upon a time (in 2007-8) I'd have heard every one of those. This year, I've heard three: Mdou Moctar, Rachid Taha, and Santana. I would have checked out the Kidjo, but I didn't like her version of the Talking Heads album that much and honestly, doing a whole album of tunes associated with Celia Cruz is just setting yourself up for unfair comparisons that you're guaranteed to come out on the wrong side of. I'll listen to Les Filles de Illighadad sometime before the end of the year.

Kinda liked Kidjo’s Talking Heads covers but was less wowed on my one listen to her Celia Cruz ones.

Liked the Blick Bassy and Dexter Story ones

El Wali is ok Saharan desert music on my first listen

Tanya Tagaq’s screeching out there Throat singer vocals are too avante for me

lol i love them

I wish she was weirder. I only like the chanting/grunting/screeching. Anytime there's actual words, I lose interest.

It's decidedly not my thing either, but I'm glad it exists

Kongo dia Ntotila are more my thing. Not great, but enjoyable enough Congo rumba made funkier by folks now living in the UK

Listening to the new El Wali album now and not really liking it. Too much chintzy keyboard, and the vocals are too shrill and...quiet storm-ish? It sounds like a watered-down, Putumayo version of Saharan desert blues to me.

You should gives Les Filles a listen. Mordy & I both like them.

The Pat Thomas Ghanaian highlife album is a tad repetitive, but it’s still pretty good old-school dance music. I think he and his band came through DC some years back and I can imagine him packing a dancefloor

I tried Les Filles. They're pretty good, but I think I like Tartit (who also put out an album this year) better. And as female singers in this style go, Mariem Hassan remains the queen for all time, even in death.

Salif Keita’s voice sounds exquisitely powerful on his latest album Un Autre Blanc . He has supposedly said this will be has last album ever.

Not all of Keita’s songs and backing instrumentation work, but his voice is potent throughout

The Wuta Mayi album is classic Congolese rumba with a touch of 20th & 21st centuries romantica aspects. I approve.

Bassekou Kouyate and his current band are more mellow than he & his earlier band were in the past, but they have enough rhythm and groove to make it still work

There’s a Les Filles interview in the new Maggot Brain magazine ( got it for Chanukah last night)

https://www.jonathanbogart.net/blog/100-songs-2019

Bogart likes afropop, Latinx reggaeton, Brazilian pop, Asian pop, and some US & UK r'n'b/rap/pop. He's got Youtube and Spotify list links. Here are his top 10 of his 100 selections

1. Seyi Shay ft. Runtown, “Gimme Love”

2. Bad Bunny ft. Tainy, “Callaíta”

3. Titica ft. Laton Cordeiro, “Giro Na Bicicleta”

4. Lady Zamar, “This Is Love”

5. Tomasa del Real, “Contigo”

Started a new 2020 thread:

Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2020 Thread (Often African bands)

Started listening to 2019 Omar Souleyman-Shlon album yesterday and like it— Syrian wedding music goes electro, as you may recall from his earliest releases