Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2019 Thread Once Known as World Music

Not their first US gig; I saw them at the same venue in 2014 and wrote about it for Stereogum. (I met them!)

Oh. Nice.

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

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.

The Vayb song “kite’m Vayb” is funkier than most of their catalogue.

I need to listen to the Bassekou Kouyate new one

Listened to Bassekou Kouyate once while busy in the kitchen...Some good tracks, others just ok, but he's quite an ngoni player

I'm thoroughly enjoying that Mdou Moctar album today.

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.

that sounds great! i'd love to catch a lunchtime afropop show :D

Saw Mdou Moctar last night and he was fantastic, just a totally joyous show.

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

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

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

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.

On their website, Ifriqiyya Electrique introduce their new album with an Adorno quote, in German. I'm pumped.

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.

I like their semi-traditional chanting more than their industrial electro rhythms, but that’s just me.

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.

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)

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

yeah I really liked that one back when tangenttangent posted it

Yes, back in February! You are right.

Ustaad Sami album is so good!

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

Youssou Ndour’s voice sounds great on new album History, but I am not crazy about the loungey jazz fusiony backing on some cuts

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)

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.

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

I wonder if Saudi act Msylma who did the above song live in Saudi Arabia or abroad?

Intriguing; brings to mind Björk/Arca – I'll have to check out the rest.

That Nigeria 70: No Wahala comp mentioned above awhile back is wonderful classic afropop

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxdf8TBSkdU

I like this video for Iranian fiddler and electro musician Saba Alizadeh

love that, thanks curmudgeon!

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.

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.

Liking some of Cochemea album Mordy listed back on March 31, but other times the sax player gets too fusion jazz/ Kenny G for me

Listening now to Houssam Gania folkloric Mid East Northern Africa instrumentation with Call & response chanted vocals. It’s good , doesn’t completely wow me but yeah still good

Kings Aibologa from Mordy’s list is classic old-School afrobeat

I keep coming back to Mdou Moctar's latest album

On the Ethiopiques thread I wrote about the very good Hailu Mergia gig I saw last night in DC

Yeah great show

I saw him earlier this year, thought it was a jam for sure.

I like Hailu better with his DC Ethiopian rhythm section from the Feedel Band, than with the jazz guys

Went to a local Afghan restaurant near me last night and I discovered the large main room was closed to the public for a graduation party. They sat in a side room where we could still hear the loud upbeat Afghan traditional with a modern twist music from. Good stuff. Occasionally we’d see little Afghan kids come out of the hall, and dance in the restaurant’s foyer, or play games on phones & tablets.

The restaurant sat us in a side room I mean

https://wmce.de/

World music chart of what’s being heard in Europe

Am revisiting latest Ifriqiyya Electrique album that is a bandcamp 2019 fave . This (mostly I think) Tunisian band is too industrial at times for me.

I find this oddly grating, but maybe it's because I've been in a cloud of ambient music due to the poll....

Saw Helado Negro the other night. Interesting alt Latin bolero meets alt Brazilian bossa meets wispy Pitchfork indie set ( new album plus older cuts). He’s backed by a woman who plays sax, violin, and keyboards plus a man who plays sax and keyboards while he plays electric guitar or doesn’t use an instrument. They also had pre-programmed sounds up there. He was friendly and talkative between songs. Some of crowd got too chatty at times. I read a Latinx grad student on twitter complaining that Anglos were talking loud during songs in Spanish.