Return of the World Music Thread: 2012

That's scary.

In other news: Angelique Kidjo is touring the US and I had gotten bored with her a bit since she began trying to make her albums more r'n'b. I have not heard her most recent one however. Saturday she was in DC and while I was not able to make it, I read a rave review of the gig in the W. Post with a couple enthusiastic comments. The reviewer can often be tough, so it was interesting how much he enjoyed the show. I recall liking her when I saw her years ago so maybe I should not be surprised.

http://www.negrophonic.com/2012/emp-2012-music-and-the-urban-jungle/

Sufi plugins project????

http://www.thefader.com/2012/03/26/dj-rupture-creates-sufi-plug-ins/

x-post---I have reading lots of negative stuff online about Tuaregs in Mali, Niger and elsewhere. It's hard to know what is true--there were Tuaregs in DC at the Smithsonian Folklife fest years back as part of the Malian portion and I learned some stuff about them then. Plus the various bands that are touring and their stories. This does not match up with the blog stuff I have been reading about slaveholding Tuaregs, Quadaffi-supported militant Tuaregs, etc. It's so complicated. The refugees from the area do not seem like militants! And that's just Northern Mali. Farther south, there's the military coup, a month before the scheduled election. Poor Mali. And none of this gets much attention here on ilx or in the mainstream media. Just another screwed-up part of the world I guess.

I pay attention to stuff like that! Can't say I talk about it much on ILX, but I read and talk about it with my coworkers, who are from all over the world. I would actually like to read more about other parts of the world -- I can keep up with Latin America and that's about it.

I should probably just create a West African thread or something on ILE, but since I must admit that interest in Mali was originally based upon hearing its music, I might post here for a bit (or maybe not).

BAMAKO, Mali — The heads of state of the countries neighboring Mali said Tuesday they want to send a “strong signal” to the mutinous soldiers who seized power last week, overturning over 20 years of democracy in this African nation.

Already, the United States, the European Union and France have cut off aid. Additional sanctions from the region would be a further blow to the junta. The regional Economic Community for West African states controls the common currency shared by nations in the region, and could cut off the supply of cash. Also if nearby Ivory Coast shut its border, Mali would quickly run out of gasoline.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/west-african-leaders-say-they-will-send-strong-signal-to-mali-coup-group/2012/03/27/gIQAaN1EeS_story.html

my interest

i feel like an asshole talking about world music now that this has kinda become mali civil unrest watch but --

i haven't heard it yet but this looks cool:
http://smyjewishlearning.atypica.com/elcms/jewniverse/hear-raichel.shtml#

It's Idan Raichel and Vieux Farka Toure - both artists I dig. Album is also available on Spotify.

Given the unrest in their homeland, Malian musicians may do more collaborations like this and more international touring

From a Pitchfork thread:

is it just me or is it a a bit weird that pfork runs a long review of the new amadou & mariam album (one that longs for more sounds of their homeland) without the slightest mention of the military coup currently taking place in mali?

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16435-folila/

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Tuesday, March 27, 2012 4:55 PM (2 hours ago

The Touré-Raichel Collective – The Tel Aviv Session – US/Canada Tour Dates:
Thu/Apr-12 - Washington, DC - Hamilton
Fri/Apr-13 – New York, NY – City Winery
Sat/Apr-14 – New York, NY – City Winery
Sun/Apr-15 – Somerville (Boston), MA – Somerville Theatre
Mon/Apr-16 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota Jazz Club
Tue/Apr-17 – Platteville, WI – Platteville Center for the Arts
Thu/Apr-19 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
Sat/Apr-21 – Atlanta, GA – Rialto Center For The Arts
Sun/Apr-22 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
Mon/Apr-23 – Santa Cruz, CA – Kuumbwa Jazz Center
Thu/Apr-26 – San Francisco, CA – Herbst Theatre
Sat/Apr-28 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door
Sun/Apr-29 – Vancouver, BC – Norman Rothstein Theatre

no philly stop :(

bummer. (tho raichel played here for purim.)

a&m will be playing NYC this summer

I wish Pitchfork would give Joe Tangari, who wrote that A & M review, a column of his own since he is the only guy writing about African music there

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-malibre82r0go-20120328,0,662166.story

Malian junta says they will allow elections

http://audioboo.fm/boos/726175-singer-rokia-traore-in-bamako

Evan Hill, an Al Jazeera English online producer, offered some direction for balanced coverage. "For news from #Mali follow @presidencemali and @martinvogl," he tweeted. Martin Vogl, a Bamako-based freelance journalist, was reporting for the BBC and other news outlets and became an authoritative source for international media.

http://cpj.org/blog/2012/03/with-mali-coup-quiet-corner-of-africa-generates-no.php

(Reuters) - Jets carrying West African presidents for a meeting with Mali's new military leaders were forced to turn back mid-flight on Thursday after hundreds of supporters of last week's coup invaded Bamako's main runway.

An official from regional bloc ECOWAS said the meeting, aimed at pressuring coup leaders to swiftly restore constitutional rule after they ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure, could be rescheduled for Friday if security allowed.

"It was called off after the junta allowed demonstrators onto the tarmac," the official said, asking not to be named. "Understandably this created a security scare forcing the heads of state to suspend their arrival."

Upcoming Washington DC gigs I can see (and some day I will finally check out various locally based African djs and locally based Nigerian guitarist Jacob Nguni and his band):

Tues. 4-10-Bombino at DC 9- Tuareg guitarist and band return to DC

Wed. 4-11-Cheikh Lo- sometimes subdued but always interesting Senegalese guitarist at Lisner

Thurs. 4-12- Idan Raichel with Vieux Farka Toure at the Hamilton

african music has become my favorite kind lately, though i'm not sure exactly how this happened

― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:

I've been meaning to post in this thread for a while cuz I'm looking for expert advice and pointers. Help me out, y'all! I love a lot of African music, but am terribly ignorant about it, by and large. I think some of the first contemporary African music I heard and loved (after comps like Indestructible Beat of Soweto in the 80s) were the Ali Farka Toure albums Rhe River and The Source, back in the early 90s. I didn't, however, like the Ry Cooder-produced follow, up, Talking Timbuktu, so I kind of lost the thread at that point.

In 2001 I was blown away by Konono No. 1's Congotronics LP. Loved the thick, raw, distorted sound of it, both propulsive and hypnotic. That got me looking for similar stuff, and though I haven't found a ton of it, I have in recent years liked Moa Anbessa, Getachew Mekuria's collaborative album with Dutch postpunk group The Ex (honestly one of my favorite albums of the last decade), albums by Group Doueh and others on Sublime Frequencies, and some of the contemporary African music that labels like Sahel and Mississippi Records have been releasing recently: for instance Music from Saharan Cell Phones and Agali Ag Amoumime's Takamba. Ideally stuff that's a bit rough around the edges, not too heavily gentrified. In defense of that cell phone comp:

http://soundcloud.com/sofa-records-shop/kaba-blon-moriba-yassa

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/01/us-mali-statement-idUSBRE83006P20120401

Contenderizer -

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

wow, thanks 誤訳侮辱, that sounds amazing. <3 pharoah sanders, so...

I wish Sublime Frequencies acts would come to the Washington DC area. This, I think they are Turkish band is not:

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/tour/HavAle.html

Hayvanlar Alemi
European tour

Another Sublime Frequencies act on Saturday April 7:

Aquarius Records & Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present legendary Turkish musician
ERKIN KORAY in person at AQ records, SF.

In his first and only promotional event within America to date, Mr Koray will be visiting Aquarius HQ to meet fans, and sign copies of his recent Sublime Frequencies release Meçhul – Singles & Rarities.

contenderizer, you might like this record that a friend of mine put together with a variety of musicians in Ghana: http://bawkuwestcollective.bandcamp.com/

Contenderizer -

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, April 1, 2012 12:52 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

agreeee this album is SO GOOD
also, OOH, erkin koray irl!! wow.

I once emailed Sublime frequencies folks about getting their acts to come through my neck of the woods, and they emailed back that they were trying, or something like that--but none of 'em ever do. Wah wah wah. :(

This is as good a thread as any to rep for the new release by my favorite "psychedelic Macedonian" band, The Reptile Palace Orchestra. (They're from Madison, Wisconsin, hence the pun in the title Songs and Dances of Madisonia. Fans of, say, Natacha Atlas, may enjoy this.

http://soundcloud.com/beeftone/reptile-palace-orchestra/

Mali remains a mess:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/west-african-generals-meet-to-hash-out-military-plan-for-intervening-after-mali-coup/2012/04/05/gIQATE6BxS_story_1.html

The imposition of Sharia has worried analysts and country watchers. Besides Timbuktu, the Ansar Dine faction is accused of destroying bars in Gao and Kidal, and of forcing shopkeepers there to take down pictures of unveiled women.

Malian Khaira Arby is scheduled to be touring North America in May

Plus she just released a new song:

By chance, Khaira Arby was at work in a Bamako recording studio when the news broke that a coup was in progress, in the streets right outside the door. No stranger to socio-political issues, Khaira Arby was eager to work on a new song to talk about what was going on. Together with two other internationally recognized Malian music stars, Vieux Farka Toure and Bassekou Kouyate ( as well as the studio team, the Mali Allstars, put together by producer Joe Conte), this new plea for peace was born.

that's from rock, paper, scissors publicists

Actually her tour starts in April

So I went to an event last night at the Bati Restaurant & Lounge honoring Ethiopian singer Bezawork Asfaw. Had never heard of her before, but am now eager to learn more. Plus I discovered that Ethiopian great Mahmoud Ahmed lives near me, and that Bati apparently has a great band on Friday and Saturday nights, often with a woman singer.

fuck, Mali is a bit of a mess now, huh?

It's so sad. I have never been there, but I met some Malians when the country was showcased at the Smithsonian Folklife festival in Washington some years back, and I have seen and heard so much great music from there. Between the militant Tuaregs back from Libya in the North to the military coup in the South, it just seems like well-armed troublemakers are brutally running the place now.

god, those are the worst
brutal regimes can all go eat a huge cannonball.

Contenderizer -

If you liked Konono No. 1, dig up a copy of the Maleem Mahmoud Ghania album Trance of Seven Colors, with Pharoah Sanders, from 1994. Out of print, but totally worth a download. Buzzing, bass-heavy roars and clatter from the Gnawa musicians, with Sanders absolutely ripping his horn apart over the top of it all.

― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, April 1, 2012 10:52 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

contenderizer, you might like this record that a friend of mine put together with a variety of musicians in Ghana: http://bawkuwestcollective.bandcamp.com/

― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, April 3, 2012 9:30 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thanks so much, folks! LOVE trance of seven colors and am just now checking out bawku west collective - nice!

anybody heard this Janka Nabay album? http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16472-an-letah/.
about to check out his previous EP on spotify

No but his Sierra Leone music looks worth checking out.

http://blog.afropop.org/2012/04/tinariwen-mali-and-failure-of-western.html

Not crazy about this piece. The writers don't offer enough specifics. But some of it is true

not sure I really understood the point of that piece? tonally, they sound really pissed, but the point seems to be "music journalists should talk about Tinariwen's political context better." that's fine, but i agree that they should call out examples if they want to make their point clear.

the Nabay EP on spotify is pretty good. sort of a melange of a super laid back Fela vocals (political talk with trademark female singer backing chorus), slower Shangaan music, and then the last track is like an updated Juju-style King Sunny Ade.

bc when the entire western media + world is ignoring your humanitarian crisis, def take shots at the one tiny niche group of westerners paying attention

Awwww, I was gonna go to this:
Unfortunately, due to unavoidable challenges, we have had to cancel the Wednesday, April 11 Cheikh Lo concert. We remain hopeful that we will be able to bring Mr. Lo and his band back to the area in the near future.

the rest of the tour is still on I think. He was just booked into too big a hall in DC I think

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mali-tuaregs-20120404,0,5399355.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

Mali update

this Bola album that Awesome Tapes from Africa put out is really great: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/bola-volume-7. It's on spotify.

Need to check that out. I see Spin and others like it

CBS tv 60 Minutes story on Kinshasa orchestra

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57410244-10391709/producer-finds-musical-sweet-spot-in-the-congo/

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/04/10/bombino-and-vieux-farka-toure-on-the-upheaval-in-mali/

A feature on Sahrawi music.