Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2020 Thread (Often African bands)

Wow

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/08/12/admass-sons-of-ethiopia-how-a-great-lost-album-is-finding-new-fans/

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/admas-sons-of-ethiopia-interview

In 1984 some Ethiopians living in the DC area borrowed some $ and recorded an album as Admas and pressed a 1000 copies. Decades later they were selling for a lot on Ebay. A Danish collector living in NYC tracked them down after he bought a copy on Ebay, and he reissued the album. 3 of the band members are back in Ethiopia. 1 tours as Teddy Afro's keyboardist, one is a producer, the other is a music educator.

The album is mostly instrumental and starts with a loungey golden era Ethiopia type track, and has one track with a reggae feel, another with a Brazilian jazz samba portion, and funkier one and one has vocals.

As described, Admas are influenced by golden era Ethiopiques, but incorporated 80s influences as well, that they heard both in DC & back home in Ethiopia

nice find

Acclaimed Malian artist Afel Bocoum's new record Lindé is out today on World Circuit Records. The album is executive produced by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and Nick Gold (Buena Vista Social Club), and features appearances by Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, Joan as Police Woman, Vin Gordon (The Skatalites) and many more.

Press release info for a new Afel Bocoum album I want to hear . Although worried Blur guy and other producer have tried to smother him with guests

that Fundo de Quintal stuff is brilliant

So, this probably has a lot of places it could fit, but I think because of its unclassifiable nature, it belongs here.

Duma- Lionsblood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd35MhHqjhc

They're from Nairobi, it's on Nyege Nyege, and is a bit metal, a bit gabber, a bit of Kenyan "slum drumming."

maximalist

I still have to get to Sharhabil Ahmed: the King of Sudanese Jazz ( Habibi Funk) and the 2 new Brazilian funky efforts from Carlinhos Brown (candyall)

X-post - that Duma video is wild.

Right? I think my main complaint about the video is that the album track is about four minutes longer, though I guess maintaining that level of simultaneously carefree and menacing atmosphere for a long period of time is a hard ask.

The online Sufi music fest at the Dc Smithsonian museum of Asian Art started nicely today with Sufi songs from Manganiyar and Langa Communities, Marwar, Rajasthan, India w/ Anwar Khan Manganiyar, vocals ; Barkat Khan Manganiyar, vocals; & percussion & string instrumentalists was great. The melancholy vocals reminded me a bit of some Jewish cantors I have heard ( or vice versa)

https://asia.si.edu/events-overview/performances/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D147377662

https://petronio.cali.gov.co/

Afro-Colombian online concerts this week

X-post - Sufi poetry online Wednesday from Freer Sackler National Museum of Asian Art

n Wed., Sept. 23, 12 pm EDT, singer Walid Ben Selim & harpist Marie Marguerite Cano join us for "Spiritual Poems from the East," for Transcendence: A [Virtual] #Sufi #MusicFestival. s.si.edu/2FyICBu Ben Selim will speak about his music and answer audience questions. 🎶

X-post - Sufi poetry online Wednesday from Freer Sackler National Museum of Asian Art

n Wed., Sept. 23, 12 pm EDT, singer Walid Ben Selim & harpist Marie Marguerite Cano join us for "Spiritual Poems from the East," for Transcendence: A [Virtual] #Sufi #MusicFestival. s.si.edu/2FyICBu Ben Selim will speak about his music and answer audience questions. 🎶

Sufi thing should be good ( and different from great first one in that series that was from India)

At the Kol Nidre service I watched via zoom earlier tonight, the cantor played oud on one song while another musician played a Qanun (like a hammered dulcimer sort of) and a percussionist held and hit a sorta Persian/Iranian daf frame drum

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

Nice new single with great vocals from The Good Ones (from Rwanda )

https://asia.si.edu/events-overview/performances/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D147377725

Wednesday, October 7, 2020, 12 – 1pm
Description
Transcendence: A Sufi Music Festival
Zainab Afailal, Morocco

Listen to Sufi-inspired Andalusian songs from southern Spain and Morocco at our concluding festival performance. Zainab Afailal will perform in the refined styles of Sufi devotional music that are based on two forms of Arabic poetry—the muwashah and the Zajal—which developed in eleventh- and twelfth-century Spain. Born and raised in Tetouan, Afaillal is one of the most celebrated female singers to perform in this mode, which for generations was believed to be an exclusively male domain. Her performance will be followed by a talk with Dr. Scott Kugle, professor of South Asian and Islamic Studies at Emory University.

DC Ethiopian band Kino Musica has a new ep out on bandcamp plus a new video for one of the songs. I like the video but haven’t heard the ep yet. Looking forward to it

X-post - the Sufi events I have mentioned are gonna be made available post-zoom on the National Museum of Asian Art ( formerly Freer/ Sackler) YouTube page

relief fund for African musicians

https://www.soulidarity.org/index.html

Mdou Moctar and band sign to Matador and release new video. Album coming soon

https://pitchfork.com/news/mdou-moctar-signs-to-matador-shares-video-for-new-song-chismiten-watch/

New Ustad Saami is sounding incredible, even better than the first one

https://ustadsaami.bandcamp.com/album/pakistan-is-for-the-peaceful

Will check it out

Pitchfork story on Discotan- performance space, site, label for music from South Asia and North Africa

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/welcome-to-discostan/

X-post - Pakistani Ustad Saami does have quite a vocal range

There’s a new Songhoy Blues album out. It’s called Optimisme

It's pretty great.

I still haven't heard more than 1 song from it. I need to dig in.

I am listening to Kino Musica, a DC based group led by 2 Ethiopian immigrants who have their new Ifaan ep out on multiple formats plus a video for their take on the song "Arke Yehuma"

Can attest to the Ustad Saami, it's incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn8e60wXbNw

Here's DC band Kino Musica melding Ethiopian and a tinge of North African desert guitar grooves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjsWgw68F2s

The Music Time in Africa radio show on the VOA that airs in parts of Africa is pushing Kenyan band Sautisol song “Brighter Days” as the “ feel good song of the year” on their Facebook page.

Sauti Sol, 2 words and ILXors have mentioned them in the past, sometimes here and sometimes on Afrobeats thread. The song mentioned above has Sauti Sol backed by the Soweto Gospel choir. I like the choir’s backing vocals more than Sauti Sol.

https://youtu.be/OQEByF4dtY0

I am not liking new Songhoy Blues , well some of it. First song is kinda Malian metal/hard rock and that’s not my thing. “Bob Bon “ has some prog aspects I don’t like either . Still listening

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/501345/city-lights-jam-to-kino-musicas-ep-ifaan/

But I like Kino Musica’s Ethiopian with a tinge of North African sound. Their guitarist is Ethiopian but grew up in Texas where he also listened to blues and rap, and played blues. Although you don’t hear too much of that on the ep. They also do a Black Sabbath cover live ( the guitarist told me likes the anti war lyrics) but make it sound less rock

I still haven’t listened to recent Mdou Moctar mixtapes, or those Sahel Whats App ones that come out monthly.

The guitarist of Kino Musica also emailed me a bunch of 80s to the present Ethiopian musicians he likes ( that I have never heard).

Would be interested in seeing that list - def know kino's name - feel like i maybe have the music but not listened but the texas background sounds interesting - shld check if i know who that is - but would be interested in seeing the list he he suggested

Kumera Zekarias of Kino Musica faves:

Artists Mentioned
Ali Birra-- Oromo singer, oud and guitar player. He's my biggest influence on current song writing
Tilahun Gessesse--the most famous Ethiopian singer among Ethiopians. He was my father's favorite singer
Yared Negu-my favorite contemporary Ethiopop artist
Galaanaa Gaaromsaa-my favorite contemporary Oromo artist
Abinet Agonafir-my favorite contemporary/2000's Ethoipian artist

I've got to listen to the above plus been reading about some new Awesome tapes from Africa releases and Sahel Sounds ones too

Saw someone mention Ustad Saami in albums of the year thread, but I think it was because he got a good Quietus review during the year but didn’t make their list.

The Hailu Mergia ep is a top 10 for me. Still thinking about and listening to others when I can.

That was me. The new one from Ustad Saami is breathtakingly good.

i'll agree on that mergia, would like to see it in more places

Siti Muharam
Siti of Unguja (Romance Revolution on Zanzibar

This taraab music album made the NPR album top 50 list . I forget whether someone had mentioned it earlier this year

Is it good? There was a taraab album on another list I saw (iirc either Gioa's or Songlines)

Must admit I haven’t heard it yet

Heh no problem, I kept the Songlines list tab open for a day until I gave up on the hope of listening to it all. This year is beyond overstuffed.

I'm listening to Afel Bocoum's Lindé album right now, which is quite nice. I've been getting into Malian music in general this year, so the horn parts are a genuinely surprising flourish

oh cool I didn't realize that it's Vin Gordon playing the trombone on this

Didn't realize he's still alive!

same! I guess he was only about 14 or 15 when he joined the Skatalites

I am liking the Bocoum album too and the collaborators despite my concern that producers Nick Gold & Famon Albarn are trying to impose their hipster world music visions