https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/obituaries/jh-kwabena-nketia-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR2Yd1IT6I-WFidBpyxJAvNqkAlQPnw9E1seAj0YXnUT41g4fMm1VzZtMYg
RIP 97-years old Ghanaian scholar and author re African music J.H. Kwabenia Nketia
His 1974 book, “The Music of Africa,” is widely considered a definitive historical study, and “Ethnomusicology and African Music,” a collection of his writings published in 2005, is used in classrooms throughout Africa and across the world
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 March 2019 15:25 (five years ago) link
Mdou Moctar’s new album with his band is an NPR First Listen. Sounds good
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 13:37 (five years ago) link
i'll check it out but he never sounds as like idk experimental or futuristic or whatever as sahel sounds suggests
― Mordy, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 13:49 (five years ago) link
True, but I think he's one of the best rockin traditionalists. I've seen him and his band a number of times and enjoyed them as much as Tinariwen. There's a hyperbolic Bob Boilen quote on the npr link-- "Mdou Moctar has made the most insane psychedelic guitar album of the 21st century."
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/21/704818917/first-listen-mdou-moctar-ilana-the-creator
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 14:40 (five years ago) link
ha yeah that's what i'm talking about. "insane psychedelic guitar album" is what i want and then "rockin traditionalist" is what i get it's fine there's room for both but when there's some great stuff happening that is the former it's weird when it gets applied to the latter
― Mordy, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 14:44 (five years ago) link
He is a left-handed guitarist and listens to American music as well, and there was that Prince inspired movie he was in, but yeah he's not quite as out there as the hype. But he's far from staid and retro and folky-traditionalist.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 14:49 (five years ago) link
Meanwhile over in Mali, sad news--
The slaughter on Saturday of more than 130 Fulani herdsmen in central Mali, allegedly by members of the Dogon ethnic group, is the latest and most deadly incident in an increasingly violent conflict.
In 2018, 202 civilians were killed in communal violence in 42 incidents in Mali's Mopti region, according to New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
While there have been conflicts between the more settled Dogon people and the Fulani herders in central Mali for a long time, they have become increasingly violent since a militant Islamist uprising in the north of the country in 2012.
The government appeared to blame the Dogon self-defence group, Dan Na Ambassagou, for Saturday's attack and has outlawed it, even though the group has denied any involvement.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47694445
CNN-
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that groups affiliated with al Qaeda and ISIS have moved deeper into central Mali, exploiting existing ethnic divisions and sowing chaos....Corinne Dufka, HRW's West Africa Associate Director, told CNN that the violence in Mali was underscored by "ongoing tension over land and water between herders and cultivators but also by the growing presence of armed Islamist groups who ... have committed very serious atrocities and targeted members of the Dogon group."Dufka said that Dan Na Ambassagou "has been attacked by armed Islamists and then they engage in lethal reprisals, including the one that occurred yesterday."Saturday's attack is the latest escalation of a cycle of violence that has spiraled out of control.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/africa/mali-attack-analysis-intl/index.html
terrible. i don't know when the last time they held the festival in the desert. for years i dreamt of going and now it looks like i'll never get the chance :/
― Mordy, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 14:54 (five years ago) link
that Boilen quote re: Moctar caught my eye, too. i mean, the album is one of my favorites of the new year so far, but maybe pump the brakes just a tad, Bob.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 26 March 2019 15:25 (five years ago) link
Not sure where to post this-- liking new Helado Negro album This Is How You Smile. He's a Brooklyn based, Spanish & English singing electro-folkie w/ a touch of bossa . He grew up in South Florida and his parents are from Ecuador. Been seeing his name since 2014 but never really investigated
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/18/helado-negros-new-songs-bask-in-a-sense-of-discovery
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 31 March 2019 18:27 (four years ago) link
i'm really into the helado album i was just telling someone yesterday that the more i hear it the more i like it. here's a list of first quarter stuff i like that is relevant to this thread:
Helado Negro - This Is How You SmileSaba Alizadeh - Scattered MemoriesThe Comet is Coming - Truth in the Lifeforce of the Deep MysteryKOKOKO! - LibosoBassekou Kouyate - MiriNicola Cruz - SikuUstad Saami - God is Not a TerroristKel Assouf - Black TenereCochemea - All My RelationsKings Aigbologa Bucknor & His Afrodisk Beat Organization - Katakata (reissue)John Blek - Thistle & ThornTheon Cross -FyahTanya Tagaq - Toothsayer
and then here are some more that i like but need to spend more time with:
Houssam Gania - Mosawi SwiriNeshama Carlebach - Believe (Shlomo's daughter)Ahmed Mukhtar - Visions of IraqNigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987Mdou Moctar - IlanaAfrica Express - MoloDexter Story - BahirAnoushka Shankar - ReflectionsAhmed Ag Kaedy - Akaline KidalVA - This is Frafra PowerConstantinople, Ablyae Cissoko - TraverseesNubiyan Twist - Jungle RunKhidja, Balabas - Khidja Si BalabasFranklin Kiermyer - Solomon's Daughter
― Mordy, Sunday, 31 March 2019 19:25 (four years ago) link
Nice list. Dexter Story combines Ethiopian and other Horn of Africa sounds on his album. It was ok on first listen
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 13:47 (four years ago) link
I guess Japanese band Perfume probably fit better on a J-pop thread, but i was just checking them out. Saw a bunch of mentions online of their NYC appearance. I sensed that was a first time US gig. Some folks traveled from all over to attend.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 20:01 (four years ago) link
Not their first US gig; I saw them at the same venue in 2014 and wrote about it for Stereogum. (I met them!)
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 20:19 (four years ago) link
Oh. Nice.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 23:16 (four years ago) link
Just watched Gato Preto live via the video stream from the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage In DC. African club dance music with programmed beats plus a djembe percussionist. They combined Mozambique, Ghana, and Senagalese elements. The vocalist was pretty energetic. The Kennedy Center archives the videos for viewing later as well on the Millennium Stage website
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 23:22 (four years ago) link
Listened to Haitian band Vayb. They have those syrupy feeling keyboards of current Haitian acts, plus some bachata like romantic melodrama as well as some current r’n’b and Latin pop elements. Old guy me prefers the old school more polyrhythmic funky sound of Tabou Combo.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 5 April 2019 13:10 (four years ago) link
The Vayb song “kite’m Vayb” is funkier than most of their catalogue.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 5 April 2019 13:40 (four years ago) link
I need to listen to the Bassekou Kouyate new one
― curmudgeon, Monday, 8 April 2019 03:27 (four years ago) link
Listened to Bassekou Kouyate once while busy in the kitchen...Some good tracks, others just ok, but he's quite an ngoni player
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 April 2019 03:57 (four years ago) link
I'm thoroughly enjoying that Mdou Moctar album today.
― calzino, Sunday, 14 April 2019 15:41 (four years ago) link
Sounds good. In a different vein, I just saw Zimbabwe ‘s Mokoomba again live. A free lunchtime gig at the Library of Congress. They have great group choreography and mix it up musically— some songs with rocking afropop guitar and bass, a capella Southern Africa style on another. Plus great calabash and congas percussion.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 April 2019 17:17 (four years ago) link
that sounds great! i'd love to catch a lunchtime afropop show :D
― Mordy, Monday, 15 April 2019 17:19 (four years ago) link
Saw Mdou Moctar last night and he was fantastic, just a totally joyous show.
― JoeStork, Monday, 15 April 2019 17:53 (four years ago) link
X-post- Mokoomba at lunchtime for free, and then wife and I splurged at night for Caetano Veloso with his 3 sons doing lilting, pretty Brazilian melodies
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 16 April 2019 16:10 (four years ago) link
Really enjoying the comeback album by África Negra, a band that revolutionized S.Tomé music by integrating electric guitars into their sound. Take a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhNcYUHem-0
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 17 April 2019 12:21 (four years ago) link
Love the song on that Africa Negra video—Afro-Portuguese soukous from an island off the Central African Coast.
I am guessing there are a fair amount of African musicians who were in their prime in 1970s through 90s who are probably working dayjobs and not reunited, so good for these folks being able to do so
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 17 April 2019 17:33 (four years ago) link
Yeah, the label they're recording for - Mar & Sol - has a fair bit of hipster cachet in Portugal, very happy to see digger culture get behind something like this - alleviates the culture vulture guilt a bit.
My mum was friends with a guy from Angola, played a lot in our area doing mostly covers of current hits and showbiz tunes. He moved back a while ago and last we heard he was complaining that all people listened to there now was Kizomba.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 18 April 2019 09:53 (four years ago) link
On their website, Ifriqiyya Electrique introduce their new album with an Adorno quote, in German. I'm pumped.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 18 April 2019 10:35 (four years ago) link
First impression: it's on par with their debut but the closer, 'Mabbrooka', sounds like they relistened to 'Inertia Creeps' and found it… wanting. Incredible.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 18 April 2019 12:44 (four years ago) link
I like their semi-traditional chanting more than their industrial electro rhythms, but that’s just me.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 20 April 2019 04:43 (four years ago) link
Saw 88-year old Omara Portuando from Cuba last night. She sounded strong on some ballads, but wasn't onstage for very long. Her band led by pianist Roberto Fonseco played Latin jazz fusiony tracks while she was resting. It's billed as her farewell tour.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 April 2019 13:05 (four years ago) link
Had read hype for Ethiopian singer Chelina, but her reggae didn't wow me on first listen. Still artists on Mordy's March 31 post I need to listen to (or listen to again)
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 April 2019 13:06 (four years ago) link
Pakistani singer Ustaad Sami , on Mordy’s list, is impressive. I need to listen more. His record company bio says he’s the last practitioner of his very old school rooted sound
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 April 2019 13:41 (four years ago) link
yeah I really liked that one back when tangenttangent posted it
― rob, Thursday, 25 April 2019 14:47 (four years ago) link
Yes, back in February! You are right.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 April 2019 20:51 (four years ago) link
Ustaad Sami album is so good!
― calzino, Friday, 26 April 2019 20:55 (four years ago) link
Sourakata Koite is a skilled, Paris living Senegalese kora player who recorded an album back in 1984, & thanks to awesome tapes from Africa you can hear him in multiple formats
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 23:44 (four years ago) link
Youssou Ndour’s voice sounds great on new album History, but I am not crazy about the loungey jazz fusiony backing on some cuts
― curmudgeon, Friday, 3 May 2019 03:17 (four years ago) link
haven't given a listening update lately but i wanted to share about this Altin Gün - Gece album which is turkish psych w/ female vox that i'm digging (Apr 26 release)
― Mordy, Sunday, 5 May 2019 15:24 (four years ago) link
I am listening to Ethiopian singer Jacky Gosee now. Album is called Balambaras. Listening now to a ballad called “Hiyaw” with bluesy soul guitar licks and Gosee’s vocals here which are auto tuned on this cut but remind me slightly of Van Morrison if he was younger and lived in Addis. The other cuts I have heard so far are more standard 2019 Ethiopia-pop but slightly less syrupy than some. Less schmaltz is good in my book. A DC Ethiopian Promoter was asserting on FB that Gosee is the man these days for Ethiopians.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 5 May 2019 20:47 (four years ago) link
don't know where to put this, since i can't find a Middle Eastern electronic thread....feel free to point me to a more appropriate thread
but this is a really lovely track from one of my favorite records of 2019 thus far:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ajEvZdUWM
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Monday, 6 May 2019 01:14 (four years ago) link
I wonder if Saudi act Msylma who did the above song live in Saudi Arabia or abroad?
― curmudgeon, Friday, 10 May 2019 13:46 (four years ago) link
Intriguing; brings to mind Björk/Arca – I'll have to check out the rest.
― pomenitul, Friday, 10 May 2019 13:52 (four years ago) link
That Nigeria 70: No Wahala comp mentioned above awhile back is wonderful classic afropop
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 16 May 2019 03:30 (four years ago) link
xpost to Curmudgeon, apparently Msylma is based in Mecca. ZULI, his producer (who also has a record out, from last year), is from Cairo.
The remainder of the record is just as interesting as that track, i think.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Thursday, 16 May 2019 20:59 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxdf8TBSkdU
I like this video for Iranian fiddler and electro musician Saba Alizadeh
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 May 2019 04:14 (four years ago) link
love that, thanks curmudgeon!
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 24 May 2019 22:07 (four years ago) link
Hadn't considered the possibility of melding ambient with traditional Persian music before hearing Saba Alizadeh's album. As a side note, his father is the incredible shurangiz player Hossein Alizadeh.
The Msylma LP is sounding incredible so far. I mentioned Björk and Arca upthread but this holds my attention with more flair than anything the former two have released in years.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 19:51 (four years ago) link
Saw Youssou NDour again . Great live. For one of the encores he said the song had a current Senegalese rhythm that he noted is being heard everywhere there. Alas, I didn’t catch the name. Doh.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 1 June 2019 23:37 (four years ago) link