Return of the World Music Thread: 2012

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.

The Pomp & Clout Mix Series is premiering a new mixtape by The Very Best, Anzanga: http://bit.ly/TgITpn. Volume 22 of the ongoing series (which also features mixes by Diplo, Nadastrom and others),

Busy guys

i was not so into their last mixtape but i'll still def check this one out. new album just gets better every day. perfect summer album.

Sorry to live up to my name, but I find the new album less interesting with every listen. I understand not wanting to duplicate Warm Heart, but the new one only utilizes what I like best in their sound, Esau's vocals on several cuts. The song using Amadou & Mariam and Baaba Maal just kinda meanders, and I don't find the autotuned vocals or distorted synth sounds and club beats that memorable.

that's fair. it's not as consistent as warm heart and probably not as good - but the songs i like i really like ("kondaine" is great for instance) and i'm sure this will be a contentious comparison but it sounds to me like a cross between MGMT's Oracular Spectacular + Warm Heart - esp when the distorted sounds have that bubbly swimming pool tone. nb i might only feel this way bc the album title MTMTMK kinda phonetically reminds me of MGMT.

i liked the first 3 minutes of the new mixtape, btw, but it quickly made my head start to hurt about 4 minutes in. i gave it a chance, but why listen to a mixtape when i haven't fully exhausted listening to the album yet

I listened to a bunch of it. Not bad. Gonna see the Very Best tonight.

Maybe I should put this on ILE but since I post about Malian music here and things keep getting worse in North Mali:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/africa/islamists-in-northern-mali-amputate-mans-hand.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120810

Just 11 days ago, in the desert town of Aguelhok, Islamist allies of Mujao publicly stoned to death a young couple accused of having children outside wedlock. The stoning and now the amputation appear to signal an acceleration of the Islamists’ determination to apply Shariah law to the territory they conquered from the Malian government in March and April. Already, the Islamists have driven nearly 400,000 people to flee northern Mali and have spurred calls for a regional intervention force.

“The extremists who are occupying northern Mali have cut off the hand of an inhabitant of Ansongo, adding a new ignoble act to the long list of atrocities they have inflicted on the people,” the Malian government said in a statement from Bamako. “The actions of the terrorists and drug traffickers, cloaked in a false veil of religion, reinforce the inevitability of military action.”

In recent days, young people in Gao have resisted the harsh punishments, blocking Mujao’s plan to amputate a robbery suspect publicly in the town by descending into the streets to protest.

Saw a W. Post editorial calling for that group of African nations to go into north Mali.

http://sahelsounds.com/

Looks like some good stuff I need to catch up on at this blog

So at my local Vietnamese shopping center I noticed a huge poster for a Vietnamese show at the Harrah's in Philadelphia. I didn't write down the names. Sorry

Mmmm. Banh mi. I actually have a great selection of Vietnamese restaurants in my neighborhood (because I live in the so-called "War Zone," officially known as the International District).

Does anyone who regularly posts on this thread currently live in Philly?

yay, my club just booked Omar Souleyman with DJ Hutz and Janka Nabay and The Bubu Gang. $15 on September 7 in Brooklyn if anyone's around. Curious to see Nabay after the buzz now.

So at my local Vietnamese shopping center I noticed a huge poster for a Vietnamese show at the Harrah's in Philadelphia. I didn't write down the names. Sorry
I see these all the time! I work like 1 block from Vietnamese food/store central.

Anyway if someone desperately needs me to mail them kafir lime leaves, just tell me. I don't think they would go bad if I send them 1st class (overseas prob not, though, sorry)

omg sorry
i thought this was the cooking thread!
such an idiot

I live in Philly!

The Vietnamese show posters at Eden Center in suburban Virginia (near W. DC) always look like they are for schmaltzy middle of the road pop/cabaret/disco singers, with Vietnamese and English phrasing on them. I have no idea what these performers actually sound like.

There's a big Vietnamese population in the DC area so I was surprised that folks would have to go up to Philly for a show. Maybe because it's at a casino

Curious to see Nabay after the buzz now

I need to check out the Luaka Bop label album and watch the archived gig with the band on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage site

X-post -- I guess Souleyman is back in the US. With the situation in Syria he may as well tour. Speaking of touring because of life during wartime, I see that Tinariwen are coming back for more North American shows.

Mordy, I did not know you were in Philadelphia. Hey you should go look at my Company of Thieves thread. You could sort of consider Genevieve Schatz (lead vocalist) a singer-songwriter, though it's not clear how much of the music she really composes. Lyrics are mostly or all hers. I think she has some musical input without necessarily having the music theory skills.

La Lechera, don't worry it totally fits.

I'm kind of scared to sample Vietnamese pop music, honestly. I've never heard any I've liked.

i'll go check it out. i'm always looking for good local music to check out.

Oh it's not local. Just something I think you might like. Might hate as well, I'm not really sure of your taste but you seem interested in female vocalists.

I'm ex-Philadelphian.

(First video happens to be from the TLA though.)

i'm listening to an album on spotify right now - it sounds like my kind of thing. are you a fan of alice bag btw? had that kind of "spazz" thing i think you see in her. i heard a great presentation about her at IASPM that discussed her as mediating performing bodies w/ audience/receptive bodies and then went into crazy lacan territory. def more poppy than a lot of more out-there vocalists (like that tzadik + post-meredith monk style stuff that i really love)

The albums are good. The second one I think is better realized than the first. The vocals on the first are more subdued, the second are a lot tougher and rockier. But the live recordings are where it's at for the most part. I think her vocals live show a lot more range (not octave range but range in feeling and style).

I don't know Alice Bag. (At work now so I can't check anything out.)

(Also the spazz thing is more about her performance. It's changing somewhat anyway. She's taking dance lessons.)

Also, the first album is 2007, and they've toured a ton since then so their sound has changed a lot.

Let's see. Justification for posting this on this thread. . . I saw an interview in which the keyboardist mentioned being influenced by klezmer music (not particularly evident!).

I'm still liking the first Staff Benda Bilili album (Congolese band led by 4 street musicians who had polio as kids) and need to hear the latest. They're coming to my hood soon.

http://www.afropop.org/wp/4562/spirit-of-angola-granular/

1st of some upcoming Ned Sublette posts from his recent trip to Angola

nice

he mentions Mona Star, Angolan kuduro artist

I also want to check this out:

Alma is the new recording collaboration between six-time GRAMMY-nominated Cuban composer and pianist, Omar Sosa, and celebrated Italian trumpet and flugelhorn player, Paolo Fresu. The CD features guest cello contributions on four tracks by the masterful Brazilian conductor, arranger, producer, and cellist, Jaques Morelenbaum.

Ned did not mention that one. No Angolan aspects to it that I know if