Return of the World Music Thread: 2012

Another Saturday July 21 option

The Wake Up Madagascar tour featuring Jaojoby, Razia Said, Saramba and Charles Kely hits the Big Apple. And we are proud to annouce that we will be LIVE STREAMING the show via Afropop.org. Show starts at 6:30pm on this Saturday.

I am not completely wowed by Batida, the Angolan/Portuguese outfit that mixes old-school Angolan sounds with current programmed beats. This has made several top 10 lists here on ilx, but I find the programmed beats less than impressive

i am also not a huge fan of that either really, but i have been enjoying Ondatrópica and feel like it's going to take someone telling me to shut up to get me to shut up about it

I am trying to catch up this week on stuff I have missed. I need to listen to Ondatropica still.

Cool, its on Spotify.

I'm liking this year's Amadou & Mariam. Not sure I will be able to see them again next week in W. DC. They were good live the last time they were in my hood.

ondatropica sounds real fun! i should go friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbGBBAiW8M

you seriously really totally should!

Is that right that their US tour is just Friday in NYC at Lincoln Center and Sunday in Los Angeles?

Okay I know I need to listen to some of this Ondatropica, but here's another song from the Sa Dingding album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3vuHE9NmU

Could it be because I have been seeing rainbows in front of the Sandias on a regular basis this monsoon season?

I think there is or will be a film about her travel experiences which inspired this album. So some of these videos might serve as advertisement for that, I'm not entirely sure since I only have fragments of information.

I hate to say it, but some of that Ondatropica sounds too novelty/ gimmicky-- Latin version of Black Sabbath; 2-tone ska, etc.

Some of it, but not enough to ruin the album for me. I dunno, I guess the cheese is there if you want to hear it.

Not really feeling what I've heard of Ondatropica so far. I don't think I like the comparison which I think is going too much for a "real" natural hard wood floor just the musicians in the studio sound (kind of like an Latin alternative cumbia version of Spanish Harlem Orchestra?). I don't know, you (La Lechera) tend to have more of a real feel for real roots cumbia. Like, I prefer 70s Colombian cumbia to most of the stuff on that historic cumbia compilation that came out on Soundways (I think that was Soundways too?).

Reminds me a bit of Grupo Fantasma who I was talking up a few years back, but who haven't worn well for me.

Okay, now I'm finding the album is on Spotify. I like "Punkero Sonidero" a bit more than "I Ron Man" or "Tiene Sabor, Tiene Sazon." I don't think I'm in the mood for this tonight but I'll try to give it some kind of chance at a later point.

Back to the sometimes saccharine, sometimes bombastic in an 80s synth way, new age world Chinese pop that I can't get enough of at the moment.

=Sa Dingding

I'm going to have to start trying to post what I like about her album, rather than these preemptive descriptions of what there is to not like about it.

Things to like: those vocal slides she does from time to time, for one.

Some helpful background here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3556865/Why-Sa-Dingding-has-China-in-her-hand.html

More curmudgeonly comments from me:

Listened to that raved about 2012 Congos collaboration with Sun Araw and M.
Geddes Gengras, and I really don't like the Gengras noise input(I love the Congos). This is popping up on various best of 2012 so far lists, but not on mine.

Planning on seeing Amadou & Mariam tonight. They were enjoyable live the last time I saw 'em a few years back.

seeing them saturday. i like them better in a place with a roof but what can you do

The W. DC Amadou & Mariam gig at the 930 Club was a lot of fun.

YAM Magazine, worth a look: http://www.yam-mag.com/

forks did you see ondatropica?

unfortunately no. I got hit with a bad migraine and spent the night in my house holding my head.

:( i saw pics but i bet it was a great show, even if you find their recording borderline cheesy.
off topic, i used to get really bad migraines and then they slowly disappeared. it's one of the several wonders of my world.

mine are totally stress related; i've had a host of similar issues. I'm doing like six jobs right now and it's messing with me head. Getting the work done at least.

take care of yourself!

gracias
should be okay by september, just one more month of this to go

Am curious about the new Very Best(UK beat-making duo with Malawi singer) but haven't heard it yet. Has anyone here heard it?

yes! i love it. very catchy.

Listened to some of the new The Very Best album on Spotify last night. I liked some of it (typical for me, I like the Malawian singer's vocals the most. As opposed to the Euro beatmaker).

Amadou and Mariam try to put the hardship of being sampled by Maroon 5 behind them at the 9:30 Club in Washington.

Did not know they were sampled. That Some Dude has all the info.

Has anybody heard Nigerian Wizkid? He's gonna be in W. DC soon.

Wizkid is great. I can't remember if anything by him has been posted in the "Oliver Twist"/azonto thread but he's on a few of the mixes mentioned in there. No idea what he'd be like live, but he's one of my favorite of the little bit of Naija stuff I've checked out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPtzXHh1Tz0&feature=related

thanks

this was amazing and everyone should go see it:
http://www.lcoutofdoors.org/shows/view/205475?show_date=2012-08-03%2020:30:00

Reviving the dormant Finnish tradition of accordion-accompanied wrestling matches

Eh, I kinda like old-school Finnish accordion-accompanied wrestling better. Actually I have never heard of this. Lots of interesting stuff in that summertime Lincoln Center Out of Doors program.

I thought someone would add some funny accordion jokes. Oh well.

Janka Nabay has a new Olympics song/video out---honoring one of his country's 2 participants.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2012/08/06/janka-nabays-olympic-anthem/

Janka's at Kennedy Center for free for an hour at 6 tonight and later is this:

United Sounds of Africa with Tuface, M.I, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz, J Martins, Timi Dakolo, Iyanya, and Brymo at the Howard (r'n'b from Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa) at Howard Theatre

I think it is r'n'b but have not yet really investigated. It's not free

very best album sounds amazing on high volume while driving around

I need to research how the group has changed since the earlier releases. One of the beatmakers left. I wonder how that has affected their sound? Also, I see it got a mixed review in the NY Times. I like most of it.

i think it's more poppy this time around

It has that song with Bruno Mars on it, and another one with mainstream club beats-- a bit less afropop, a bit more club-pop

But there are still some nice afropop ones

x-post re United Sounds of Africa (I do not recall if folks are discussing these African r'n'b & hiphop artists on other threads). This tour was in W. DC last night(started in Houston and Atlanta) and is at Irving Plaza in NYC tonight Tuesday

http://unitedsoundsofafrica.com/news.html

Featuring the top names in the contemporary African urban and hip-hop scene, the United Sounds of Africa (USA) will kick off their first ever North American tour in August, 2012 with shows in select markets. The tour, orchestrated by Interglobe Entertainment Group (IEG) and Live Nation, will introduce music fans on this side of the Atlantic to current African artists including headliner 2face Idibia, recently profiled on CNN as one of "Africa's 10 Biggest Stars" and winner of the BET Network's 2011 "Best African Artist" award.
...

the tour will also feature Nigerian artists M.I. and Brymo, all signed to Nigerian record label Chocolate City. Other artists include Timi Dakolo, first-ever winner of Africa's version of American Idol, J Martins, who's popular in Africa's francophone countries, and Iyanya, the first winner of MTN's West African "Project Fame" reality TV show.

Headliner 2face Idibia, the new heir to Nigerian's legendary music scene, combines reggae and hip-hop

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/review-united-sounds-of-africa-concert-at-howard-theatre-had-a-distinct-la-sound/2012/08/07/6cc504fc-e059-11e1-8d48-2b1243f34c85_story.html

Washington Post review of the United Sounds show. So Brymo, Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince are rap, J Martins is highlife, and 2face Idibia is neo-soul, and they're all from Nigeria.