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