Just saw Afropop Worldwide and VOA host Georges Collinet talk about his career dj’ing music. He also showed video clips from various African countries. Then Congolese singer Samba Mapangala sang with the DC based Highlife Allstars
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 November 2019 04:04 (four years ago) link
i love georges collinet so much he has one of the alltime great radio voices
― Mordy, Saturday, 23 November 2019 04:29 (four years ago) link
He does. I introduced myself and talked to him and he was very friendly. The live music was good old-school congolese rumba. An enjoyable night
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 November 2019 22:12 (four years ago) link
Sometimes I think old school Congolese rumba is my favorite kind of music
― Mordy, Saturday, 23 November 2019 23:08 (four years ago) link
That high-pitched Congolese guitar rhythm is magical
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 November 2019 04:21 (four years ago) link
Was hoping to see Mdou Moctar, Burna Boy, Lady Donli & or a few other Afropop/ African acts on year-end lists, but I guess expecting that from American and Brit posted lists is naive.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 20:50 (four years ago) link
i think mdou moctar will show up on lists
potential albums i'll put for on my year end list (that seem possibly of interest to this thread):
KOKOKO! - LibosoNicola Cruz - SikuUstad Saami - God is Not a TerroristKel Assouf - Black TenereSaba Alizadeh - Scattered MemoriesTanya Tagaq - ToothsayerAltin Gün - GeceA-WA - Bayti Fi RasiIkebe Shakedown - Kings Left BehindBlick Bassy - 195875 Dollar Bill - I Was RealHelado Negro - This Is How You Smile
― Mordy, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 21:02 (four years ago) link
KOKOKO! was one of the funnest shows I saw this year. Really memorable.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 21:04 (four years ago) link
Amanda Petrusich has Mdou Moctar & Burna Boy on her New Yorker list. But not seeing them on others
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 December 2019 16:21 (four years ago) link
Just discovered North African vocalist Aziza Brahim, who now lives in Spain. Her latest album is getting some attention in Europe
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 December 2019 16:26 (four years ago) link
Still not seeing many musicians mentioned on this thread in best-of's.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 December 2019 13:07 (four years ago) link
https://afropop.org/articles/afropop-runs-down-2019
Stocking Stuffer list in alphabetical order
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 14:49 (four years ago) link
Just listened to a bit of Bantou Mentale, a Congo alternative afro-rocking band . Energetic and wild
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 December 2019 13:26 (four years ago) link
Bantou Mentale is on the Afropop list. There are more new releases and reissues on that list I need to listen to
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 December 2019 17:10 (four years ago) link
yeah that's one i've been meaning to check out
― Mordy, Thursday, 12 December 2019 17:38 (four years ago) link
https://www.artistsfromabroad.org/site/news/dhs-proposes-steep-artist-visa-fee-increases-and-policy-changes/?fbclid=IwAR3hHwOjgWmJdjcgHnuRaKuXzuTu7F7Bt2hYHXXeXfDwZcs_7bS_jxUFHk8
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 December 2019 06:09 (four years ago) link
the bantou mentale album is dope - really innovative sounds
― Mordy, Friday, 13 December 2019 18:15 (four years ago) link
I linked to afropop.org alphabetical list earlier, but writing it out here with brief descriptions of some :
Angelique Kidjo- Celia (Benin singer's take on Celia Cruz)Babani Kone- Djeliya (female Malian singer re-release)Bantou Mentale- Bantou Mentale (Congo rockin)Bassekou Kouyate - Miri (Mali legend & band)Blick Bassy-1958 (melancholy Cameroon pop w/ historical rooted lyrics)Burna Boy- African GiantDavido- A Good TimeDexter Story- Bahir (Los Angeles led Ethiopian/East African horns & percussion )Dona Onete - Rebujo (Brazil)El Wali - Tiris ( Sahrawi female desert vocals)Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach - Naath (Sudan rapper goes pop)Garifuna Collective- Aban (sweet afro-roots pop)The Good Ones, Rwanda, You Should Be Loved (afro-folk harmonies)Gyedu-Blay Ambolley- 11 Street Sekondi (Ghana afro-funk)Habib Koite - Kharifa (Mali singer/songwriter guitarist w/ grooves)Hama - Houmeissa (Saharan techno)Hope Masike - The Exorcism of A Spinster (Zimbabwe singer)Houssa Gania - Mosawi Swiri (Gnawa fusion from Morocco)Ile - Almadura (Puerto Rican singer/songwriter from Calle 13 w/ guests)Juan Wauters - La Onda de Juan Pablo (NYC Latin folk)Kongo Dia Ntotila - 360 Degrees (UK Congo pop & more)La Yegros- Suelta (Argentina electro-cumbia)Lakou Mizik- HaitiaNola (Haiti to New Orleans)Lazarus- Stomp the Devil (Malawi singer)Lee “Scratch” Perry, Rainford (reggae)Les Filles de Illighadad - Eghass Malan (female led guitar & percussion band from Niger)Los Wembler's de Iquitos- Vision Del Ayahuasca (veteran Peru chicha, cumbia, surf)Luka Productions - Falaw (Mali electro-folk)Maître Gims - Ceinture Noire (Transcendance) (France-Congo rap)Mdou Moctar- Ilana, The Creator (afro-rockin from Niger)Oumar Konate, I Love You Inna (Mali guitar)Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band - Obiaa! (Ghanaian highlife)Projecto Arcomusical- Spinning in the Wheel (minimalist compositions for the berimbau)Rachid Taha - Je Suis Africain ( late bad boy of Algerian pop)Rocky Dawuni - Beats of Zion (Ghanaian reggae star)Salif Keita - Un Autre Blanc (Mali’s golden voice)Santana w/ Buika - Africa Speaks (Afro-Spanish vocals over guitar solos)Sessa - Grandeza (Brazil)Sinkane - Dépaysé (Sudanese-American singer/songwriter)Steel Pulse - Mass Manipulation (UK reggae band's 1st album in 15 years)Wuta Mayi - La Face Cachée (Congolese singer who used to be w/ Franco)Y La Bamba, Mujeres and Entre Los Dos (Latinx-American )Youssou N'Dour- History (Senegalese singing great)
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 15 December 2019 18:00 (four years ago) link
i rate from that list:Bassekou KouyateBlick Bassy (top 10 aoyt for me)Dexter StoryHamaLes Filles de IllighadadGyedu-Blay AmbolleyYoussou N'DourMdou MoctarBantou Mentale
― Mordy, Sunday, 15 December 2019 20:46 (four years ago) link
was hopeful for the Hope Masike but didn't love it :(
― Mordy, Sunday, 15 December 2019 20:47 (four years ago) link
Once upon a time (in 2007-8) I'd have heard every one of those. This year, I've heard three: Mdou Moctar, Rachid Taha, and Santana. I would have checked out the Kidjo, but I didn't like her version of the Talking Heads album that much and honestly, doing a whole album of tunes associated with Celia Cruz is just setting yourself up for unfair comparisons that you're guaranteed to come out on the wrong side of. I'll listen to Les Filles de Illighadad sometime before the end of the year.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Sunday, 15 December 2019 22:14 (four years ago) link
Kinda liked Kidjo’s Talking Heads covers but was less wowed on my one listen to her Celia Cruz ones.
Liked the Blick Bassy and Dexter Story ones
― curmudgeon, Monday, 16 December 2019 06:25 (four years ago) link
El Wali is ok Saharan desert music on my first listen
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 19 December 2019 15:18 (four years ago) link
Tanya Tagaq’s screeching out there Throat singer vocals are too avante for me
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 19 December 2019 15:42 (four years ago) link
lol i love them
― Mordy, Thursday, 19 December 2019 16:10 (four years ago) link
I wish she was weirder. I only like the chanting/grunting/screeching. Anytime there's actual words, I lose interest.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Thursday, 19 December 2019 16:13 (four years ago) link
It's decidedly not my thing either, but I'm glad it exists
― rob, Thursday, 19 December 2019 17:12 (four years ago) link
Kongo dia Ntotila are more my thing. Not great, but enjoyable enough Congo rumba made funkier by folks now living in the UK
― curmudgeon, Friday, 20 December 2019 01:12 (four years ago) link
Listening to the new El Wali album now and not really liking it. Too much chintzy keyboard, and the vocals are too shrill and...quiet storm-ish? It sounds like a watered-down, Putumayo version of Saharan desert blues to me.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Friday, 20 December 2019 01:42 (four years ago) link
You should gives Les Filles a listen. Mordy & I both like them.
The Pat Thomas Ghanaian highlife album is a tad repetitive, but it’s still pretty good old-school dance music. I think he and his band came through DC some years back and I can imagine him packing a dancefloor
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 December 2019 20:48 (four years ago) link
I tried Les Filles. They're pretty good, but I think I like Tartit (who also put out an album this year) better. And as female singers in this style go, Mariem Hassan remains the queen for all time, even in death.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Sunday, 22 December 2019 20:55 (four years ago) link
Salif Keita’s voice sounds exquisitely powerful on his latest album Un Autre Blanc . He has supposedly said this will be has last album ever.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 December 2019 22:56 (four years ago) link
Not all of Keita’s songs and backing instrumentation work, but his voice is potent throughout
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 December 2019 23:50 (four years ago) link
The Wuta Mayi album is classic Congolese rumba with a touch of 20th & 21st centuries romantica aspects. I approve.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 December 2019 21:13 (four years ago) link
Bassekou Kouyate and his current band are more mellow than he & his earlier band were in the past, but they have enough rhythm and groove to make it still work
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 26 December 2019 19:07 (four years ago) link
There’s a Les Filles interview in the new Maggot Brain magazine ( got it for Chanukah last night)
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 December 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link
https://www.jonathanbogart.net/blog/100-songs-2019
Bogart likes afropop, Latinx reggaeton, Brazilian pop, Asian pop, and some US & UK r'n'b/rap/pop. He's got Youtube and Spotify list links. Here are his top 10 of his 100 selections
1. Seyi Shay ft. Runtown, “Gimme Love”
2. Bad Bunny ft. Tainy, “Callaíta”
3. Titica ft. Laton Cordeiro, “Giro Na Bicicleta”
4. Lady Zamar, “This Is Love”
5. Tomasa del Real, “Contigo”
― curmudgeon, Monday, 30 December 2019 16:12 (four years ago) link
Started a new 2020 thread:
Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2020 Thread (Often African bands)
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 2 January 2020 15:16 (four years ago) link
Started listening to 2019 Omar Souleyman-Shlon album yesterday and like it— Syrian wedding music goes electro, as you may recall from his earliest releases
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 4 January 2020 20:59 (four years ago) link