Return of the World Music Thread: 2012

Bo. That Bixiga 70 Brazilian afrobeat is nice

Listening to Samuel Yirga now. He's an Ethiopian who plays jazz piano with an Ethiopian feel. Not that far out. Its pleasant.

The old stuff on this thread is good:

What African rock record should I listen to next?

Was trying via google quickly to find music year-end lists from African-based writers in English (or translatable). Sadly, I haven't been successful so far. Maybe I am just out of touch or not doing the right search; or folks are just indicating their favorites in a different manner tech-wise

http://africasacountry.com/2012/12/26/the-top-10-african-music-videos-of-2012/

New-school dance and rap stuff mostly. I haven't watched 'em all yet

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/critics-best-top-music-2012/Content?oid=8243121

Peter Margasak's top 5 international:

Fatoumata Diawara, Fatou (World Circuit/Nonesuch) Mali

Mairi Morrison & Alasdair Roberts, Urstan (Drag City) Gaelic folk

Antonio Zambujo, Quinto (World Village) Portuguese Fado singer

Sidi Touré, Koïma (Thrill Jockey) Mali

Huong Thanh, L'arbre aux Reves (Buda) Vietnamese

http://www.newworldbuzz.com/2012.html

1
Amadou & Mariam | Folila | Nonesuch
2
Rodrigo Y Gabriela & C.U.B.A. | Area 52 | ATO-Red
3
Novalima | Karimba | ELS Music
4
Tinariwen | Tassili | Anti-
5
Marisa Monte | O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade | Blue Note
6
Antibalas | Antibalas | Daptone
7
Jimmy Cliff | Rebirth | Trojan
8
Bonga | Hora Kota | Lusafrica
9
Afrolicious | A Dub For Mali | ESL
10
VA | Samaya: A Benefit Album For Cheb i Sabbah | Six Degrees
11
Te Vaka | Havili | Warm Earth
12
Staff Benda Bilili | Bouger Le Monde | Crammed Discs
13
Chicha Libre | Canibalismo | Barbes
14
Nation Beat | Growing Stone | Barbes
15
Midnite | Kings Bell | I Grade
16
Fatoumata Diawara | Fatou | Nonesuch
17
Lila Downs | Pecados Y Milagros | Sony
18
Bibi Tanga & The Selenites | 40º of Sunshine | Nat Geo
19
Céu | Caravana Sereia Bloom | Six Degrees
20
DRC Music | Kinshasa One Two | Warp
21
Sola Rosa | Get It Together | Melting Pot
22
10 Ft. Ganja Plant | Shake Up The Place | ROIR
23
Jose Conde | Jose Conde | Pipiki
24
Vlada Tomova | Balkan Tales | Kuker Music
25
Kiran Ahluwalia | Aam Zameen: Common Ground | Avokado Artists
26
Ana Tijoux | La Bala | Nacional
27
Debo Band | Debo Band | Sub Pop-Next Ambiance
28
Abdoulaye Traoré & Mohamed Diaby | Debademba | Chapa Blues
29
The Spy From Cairo | Arabadub | Wonderwheel
30
Delhi 2 Dublin | Delhi 2 Dubland EP | Self-Released

http://africasacountry.com/2012/12/24/kuduros-international-wave/

Interesting post:

Are the artists involved with the Os Kuduristas project the most relevant or representative in Angola? Probably not. What’s more, the campaign doesn’t reveal any of the intricacies of urban life in Angola, or really document any of the politics that are lurking just underneath the surface. It’s an advertisement for a country, promoted as a brand, with a campaign built by a significant budget, and run by a private U.S.-based company. But, perhaps that’s what it takes in this day and age to be seen as an equal contributor to our contemporary global cultural conversation. If Os Kuduristas is problematic, there’s no one to blame for its existence but perhaps us, the international community and the media.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2012/2012/12/22/167750238/top-10-world-music-albums-of-2012

Janka, Staff Benda Bilili, and more

The NPR list is done by Banning Eyre from afropop worldwide

i know for a fact boima is dead on with that point.

batida only mentioned parenthetically in that post but worth checking out -- soundways put out his latest album and it's great

lol i just noticed above curmudgeon that you listened to it earlier this year and weren't impressed

i wonder why was soundway so universally snubbed? they release a lot of interesting stuff imo.

The reissues are not snubbed, just not included in polls of new albums. They seem to receive a lot of praise. I have seen a few critics poll votes for Batida and Ondatropica. I find something too gimmicky about them, so I do not personally like them, but some clearly do. They are not marketed to a Latino radio audience (or at least a USA one I would guess) and I do not think the label can afford to push promo cds or downloads to lots of critics.

They are not marketed to a Latino radio audience (or at least a USA one I would guess)
true, and i think this is part of the problem

I was looking for some Indian and Asian music and the one thing I saw to check out is Kiran Ahluwalia - Common Ground from last year. Anything else? I like how Tinariwen and other Malian bands have been touching on some psychedelic rock, and I imagined that would be a cool fusion in the context for Indian artists, but have not heard of anything.

Have you listened to any of that Sa Dingding I've linked to (in this thread, and on her own thread, and on the ILM EOY campaigning thread, and probably a couple other places)? Asian-Canadian Yamantaka//Sonic Titan? Not very Asian here, but it seems up your alley if you haven't heard it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhxrH1pWRVw

(Better is their full ablum from last year.)

I find the Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen board Electric Mole a good lead for Asian music, but that may be because I already share an enthusiasm for SR/TJ. The lists here are a mix of the usual suspects plus for Asiancentric choices, plus more idiosyncratic ones: http://forums.electricmole.net/showthread.php?t=2019

(I remember that you liked Adult to some extent.)

Or are you mostly looking for Indian and Pakistani music (and the like)? I can't say I've heard anything much from this year.

This rolling listening thread has turned up some good things for me, too. Lots of Asian music posted to it (not what we'd normally think of as world music, and again not really Indian/Pakistani): http://forums.electricmole.net/showthread.php?t=8

There was also this which I think might have had more people posting to it, and more Asian material, unless I'm mis-remembering (also possible):

http://forums.electricmole.net/showthread.php?t=1966

Oh yeah, maybe you'd like Zazen Boys' albums, Stories. I knew I was forgetting something Asian from my own list.

I liked Mordy's whirled list

Curmudgeon, you might as well start 2013's thread. (I do think it makes sense to keep it even as we all moan about the "world music" label.)

Here it is:

Rolling World Music Thread 2013