Konono No1 - "Tradi-Modern" - This shit is unreal

(I imagine a scenario in which these guys become overnight commercial successes, invest in proper equipment, and immediately lose their appeal.)

isn't crammed the label that originally reissued "ere mela mela" by mahmoud ahmed sometime in the 80s? good on them.

http://uk.onino.com/music/zaire_music_of_kinshasa_city.html

it definitely sounds like them to me.

Here's the word from Crammed Discs on the forthcoming Konono CD:
--
Hi Chris,

We heard from Louisa @ Six Degrees that you liked the Konono excerpt that's on our site, and that you were wondering about our release plans. We also noticed an enthusiastic comment about Konono on http://www.christopherporter.com/

Konono No. 1 is actually only one of many "electro-traditional" bands which Vincent Kenis recorded during several stays in Kinshasa. As explained in the presentation text on the site, Konono No. 1 are part of a whole movement of bands who moved from the bush to the suburbs of Kinshasa, and went on to amplify their instruments.

We're doing extensive work with several of these bands, and have already gathered many hours of recordings.

We will be releasing a Konono No. 1 album around November, and are also finalizing a "various artists" album, to be entitled "CONGO ELECTRICO (Buzz & Rumble from the Urban Jungle)", which will feature tracks by several bands. This should come out in early 2005, and will include tracks by Kasai Allstars, Kisansi Congo, Sobanza Mimanisa, Konono No. 1 and several others.

Meanwhile we are also releasing a 12" with two Konono No. 1 tracks, through a small UK label called Fat Cat, which generally deals with experimental & electronic music. It's interesting that many people in those areas seem to be very excited by these recordings, and we're working on getting remixes done by interesting European & US producers.

Please get back in touch if you want additional info.

All the best,
Marc
Crammed Discs and associated labels
43 rue General Patton, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
phone (32 2) 640 79 14 - fax (32 2) 648 83 69
http://www.crammed.be

Crammed Discs' website discusses it, but this is the release date I've found through google. Part of a new "Congotronics" series from Crammed. I can wait two weeks.

Hi Jason,
thanks for the tip -- actually we're pretty keen on them already. in
fact we're getting a live album in next week, and then the one you're
talking about, the studio album, we'll have when it comes out in
January. There's also a second studio album that's supposed to come
out later in 2005.
cheers,
Allan/aQ

Konono No. 1
"Ditshe Tshiekutala"
Lubuaku (Terp, 2004)

Thanks to Mark from Subterranean Distribution in Amsterdam for giving me the heads up that Konono No. 1 finally has a CD out. It's not the one I wrote about on Sept. 2, but rather a live soundboard recording put out on Terp Records, which is run by Terrie from the Ex. I once wondered aloud if Konono was the Fennesz of the Congo? Now I just call them The Very Reverend Konono No. 1 because they deserve that honorific---there's nobody like them.

Mark also writes, "You might dig on a little video footage shot during Konono's tour with the Ex here in Holland. The clips are pretty short and arbitrary, but they capture a tiny bit of the Konono ass-shaking machine live."
Clip one
Clip two
Clip three

The MP3 and videos are hosted on Subterranean's Web site, which is where you can buy Lubuaku.

Also, Crammed Discs is listing that Konono's studio-recorded Congotronics 1 is for sale now, but I'm not sure where to buy it in the U.S. because according to this list there seems to be no distro over here. But I'll put on my parachute pants and Sherlock Holmeslice hat and find out for y'all. Man, I'm just earnest like that, what can I say?

Meanwhile, Konono's home country continues to eff itself up with war.

can't wait!

I have only heard the mp3 samples and seen the video, and I think they're good, but the online excitement seems out of proportion (ugh, how common is that sentiment). I'd be particulary interested to hear someone talk them up who can compare them to other Congolese/West African recordings.

Ahh, I don't really believe that, given that you are posting and reading here. It would be boring if we all just agreed with each other all the time, right? Wondering why people get excited about things in onde direction or another is interesting, I think. Anyway, no problems, I hope.

personally i like distorted things, this includes things not usually heard with fuzz/distortion

That's what I was wondering about. I'm not criticizing that sentiment, just wondering if there's something else unique here that I was missing...

but in re: "online buzz" surrounding things in general, it seems hard to qualify/quantify this sort of thing.

i think that part of the attraction to konono no 1 comes from the honesty of their sound, and a kind of return to pre-synth african music where rawness and rhythm take precedence over superclean production values and digestability...this may be their primary distinguishing feature when compared against the last 30 years or so of musc from Congo/Zaire (rumba, soukous, etc).

The other critical thing about konono is seeing them live...it's that crusty old adage about "not being able to capture their live show" on CD...for one thing, it's 3 hours long. and for another, you're dancing the entire time, even if you "don't normally dance." indie-kid armfolders, 60-year old Ex fans, and everyone else in the place was sweating and booty-waggling until late. i'm sure it helped immeasurably that it was a rock club, certainly nothing like the museums that most "world music" gets performed in. and lastly, the sound. there's not a single thing about it that distances you from them...it's more like the magnets in their homemade pickups are so strong that you're drawn toward the stage. you can't imagine being in the room with them and not coming closer.

anyway...just wanted to give you a first-hand testimonial, and assure you that what buzz there is (if any) developed out of the best intentions: to expose more people to unique, passionate music.

many of you probably already saw this, but christopher porter's blog reprinted a very lengthy letter from Vincent Kenis (one half of the wonderful band Aqsak Maboul) talking about how he came across the band, the logistics of producing the record, recording techniques etc.), I was almost expecting to see these as the liner notes but for now they're only here: http://www.christopherporter.com/2005/01/konono-no.html

I was surrounded by just dancing ex-dirthippies-now-cum-antique-store-and-candle-wax-store-owners (including myself, sorta, as far as the dirthippie part goes.)

(ok, maybe i'm generalizing a bit too much there.)

I know that the pile of money had at least $200

Konono's DC show is gonna be at the Kennedy Center. I doubt they printed up any postcards or flyers and left them at African music stores or restaurants in DC, so the crowd here may be mostly like the NY ones described above. But as I mentioned upthread I think, when I saw Congolese rumba star Koffi Olimide at the U of Maryland, just outside DC several years ago, the crowd was largely African. Whether that audience would be interested in Konono I do not know.

I have seen Africans pasting dollars on the sweaty foreheads of Nigerians and Malians and Senegalese and others at DC shows for years. But not too many white folks doing it.

But I am still wondering about this:

"Konono gussied up their show for America. No homemade amps. No homemade mics. The menacing air-siren-styled speakers on stage were not hooked up to anything—-they didn’t even have wires! They using an octave pedal ferchrissakes! ...all transfixed by band who didn’t bring their ingeniously re-gutted amps, the same amps that glitch out their sound into fuzzy bursts..." -Whiney G. Weingarten

I meant they were more in tune with our idea of a "professional" sound system. Using real amplifers and stuff like any professional touring band.

i'll have beers with you anytime! we live in the same borough ffs.

What, there's no car parts in America?

COME TO DADDY'S TONIGHT. NOISE DUDES BE DRINKING.

I admit the show I saw didn't sound as "gritty" as the releases, but that's not the main reason I enjoy their music.. (different strokes, different folks, etc.)

maybe. i'll see how i'm feeling in a little while (fuck a sinus infucktion). you should come out for my birthday drinks though, in TWO WEEKS.

It sounded good, even though the acoustics of the space render almost anything sterile. It's an aural autoclave!

Jess Harvell said upthread that he's coming from Baltimore for the show, and I bet Konono fan Christopher Porter, from the Suburbs Are Killing Us blog and Jazztimes mag, will be there. Plus as I mentioned earlier, the usual assortment of tourists and senior citizens visiting the Kennedy Center to get some 'culture.'

Was anybody else at the Pub show?

I am pretty sure that the Kennedy Center will be showing the Konono No. 1 Tuesday November 22 6 p.m. Eastern time free Milennium Stage show live on their website, and then archiving it for later viewing.

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/

soooooooooooo me.

The band was great and v. charismatic. The NASCAR hats confused me.

http://forum.resonancefm.com/viewtopic.php?t=1202

I have black hair, a beard and black glasses and will be looking lonesome as I'll be on my own so any ILXors say hi. (Or email me beforehand.)