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

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.

His newest is one of my fave albums of the year - so chill

Chill but more than that I say defensively ( or at least more than my interpretation of “chill” in 2019). Live the saxes brought a jazzy feel at times ( not a smooth jazz one), the violin was kinda avante-chamber music, and his vocal melodies were tuneful and more than background soothing.

I wrote about Ifriqiyya Electrique back in May; I like them a lot. Maleem Mahmoud Ghania meets Treponem Pal. I bet they're a blast live.

His reminiscing about his 2014 DC gig that was promoted by a female alt-Latino collective also was friendly and down to earth.

Yes, I like the new album too. My ILM search alas does not turn up too much for him. Oh well.

Oops. I am referring to Helado.

Unperson , yeah I can see you liking Ifriqiyya Electrique more than me. More your style

you're right that it's not just chill moods but those are the ones that open up all the other stuff (about longing + belonging + wistfulness) it's just an extremely pleasant listening experience that reveals itself upon repeated listens but without being too demanding is all i really mean by chill. my fave track is "pais nublado" which is bilingual.

RIP Folk Roots magazine/website aka fRoots that covered international music

The great Fally Ipupa and band from the Congo will be in DC @ the Howard Theatre Friday the 12th (alas I will be at the beach)

Saw some video clips on Instagram of Ipupa and band and dancers at their Friday gig @ the Howard, and Saturday at the Apollo in NYC. Looked and sounded great. Congolese afropop

They're gonna be in Raleigh next

I used to go on an Afropop music forum chatboard dominated by Congolese ex-pats. I wonder what they’re saying now that Nigerian afrobeats ( & similar sounds from other locales) controls the interests of most; and their poor country still struggles with post-genocide issues, Ebola and more. It’s all very sad. Fally Ipupa is trying to bridge the old Congolese era with the newer sounds.

No other Fally Ipupa fans on this thread I guess. Maybe I should try the afropop/afrobeats one.

Listened to Youssou Ndour’s latest again. Uneven but his voice is still gorgeous

BKO Quintet from Mali are gonna be back in North America. In DC August 1 at Millennium Stage. Their electrified-ngoni player makes them rock and groove in a more than traditional way

Great old-school meets new school Congo band Jupiter & Okwess are @ Newport Folk Fest today Saturday, and in Brooklyn early next week then head out west. Not seeeing any DC gigs on this tour, but if there's one near you, see them. They were just in Europe & UK I think and will be returning there also

ooh i saw them last year (i think?) and they were great
almost world music fest time in chicago!!

Speaking of J&O, next weekend's Pickathon fest near Portland includes these in its lineup:

Khruangbin
Mdou Moctar
Ibibio Sound Machine
Lido Pimienta
Altin Gün
Jupiter & Okwess

I know they livestream some sets ... I will try to remember to post a link here.

Not clear what J & Okwess are doing this Sunday through Tuesday, but they’re in Brooklyn Wednesday then fly west, and then fly back for a Chicago Millennium Park gig, and a Massachusetts gig. Weird scheduling but I guess that was only way it could work

this track showed up in my new releases playlist this week: Tinariwen - Zawal ft Warren ellis, Noura Mint Seymali + Jeiche Ould Chighaly

Ooh that looks good

https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/index/M70251

Mali's BKO Quintet hour long gig at Kennedy Center started traditional but halfway through the set their electrified small stringed ngoni player offers sounds that should please fans of punk and Hendrix, while the kora/ngoni , the djembe & the drumset add funky polyrhythms

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/01/fatou-seidi-ghali-the-worlds-first-female-tuareg-guitarist

Les Filles de Illighadad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqrHX3_J6vY

Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga will be at the Folklife Fest in Salisbury, Md Sept 7 & 8th.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/opinion/mahrou-leilal-concert-canceled-lebanon-blasphemy-wars.html

Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou Leila barred from doing a concert in Lebanon. Had previously played there, but are banned in Egypt and Jordan ( singer is gay)

A posthumous Rachid Taha album due out shortly

Posted on Modern Brazil thread that I kinda like Labaq, Sao Paulo Brazil indie electro pop singer/guitarist. She’s penned and sings some nice melodies