This rips (Ugandan drum group on Nyege Nyege):https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/ejokawulida
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 18 January 2021 20:57 (three years ago) link
Still catching up on 2020-- the Al Bilali Soudan (not Ali as I mistakenly typed earlier) album has great North African desert guitar work. Maybe not anything new at this point, but done really well.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 17:03 (three years ago) link
Actually that's ngoni on that and maybe not guitar
https://www.clermontmusic.com/tombouctou
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 17:09 (three years ago) link
Malian singer Nahawa Doumbia also on above list has a powerful, passionate voice . She's from southern Mali. in the Wassoulou region. This area is well known for generating some of the best female singers in Mali, including Oumou Sangaré.
https://earthbeat.nl/artist/nahawa-doumbia/
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 17:25 (three years ago) link
Modeste Hugues & Kilema is pleasant afro-folk from Madagascar .
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 19:54 (three years ago) link
Still more there to go through.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 21 January 2021 17:34 (three years ago) link
The Oumou Sangare acoustic album from last year is nice. She's still got a great voice. One of those many fantastic southern Mali vocalists
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 January 2021 06:30 (three years ago) link
I don't think the kora album by Ballake Sissoko that afropop.org listed is available yet. He is a good player. Saw him duet with French musician Vincent Segal live, and they also were together on Tiny Desk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtiTfejYpgs
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 January 2021 00:20 (three years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/26/kyrgyzstan-ballads-okinawan-folk-ugandan-hymns-the-album-rewriting-global-music-history-excavated-shellac?fbclid=IwAR1bKpkJrd2_MAmkb85GeWq3eQ5fLEV1CZBb7i7JZhqtXf4PynrAsMuBhpY
New digital only collection with e-book of global 78s put together by Excavated Shellac and Dust to Digital
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 January 2021 16:33 (three years ago) link
thanks for posting that tiny desk concert! I watched it last night. I know their albums together already, but it was a real treat to be able to see them playing with each other. This is basically what I imagine heaven would sound like.
I skipped a kora concert summer '19. I don't even remember who was playing, but I've regretted it ever since, particularly in the past year.
That shellac collection sounds amazing, I kind of want to convene a group project to listen to the whole thing.
― rob, Tuesday, 26 January 2021 16:50 (three years ago) link
Good description.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 02:00 (three years ago) link
that excavated shellac thing looks amazing - used to follow the blog - but come on, 100+ tracks? no one has the time.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 11:30 (three years ago) link
ordered the shellac collection! downloading the large pdf is taken some time let alone the music :D
― nxd, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 11:51 (three years ago) link
oh wait that was the music
anyway listening now
― nxd, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 12:43 (three years ago) link
the detail in the document is amazing btw, full page of history for each track and lyrics and translations
― nxd, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 18:38 (three years ago) link
got it off bandcamp earlier and talked a friend into listening to a few songs each week and chatting about it, pretty excited!
― rob, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 18:39 (three years ago) link
Christgau just posted his fave albums for 2020 list and it includes this North African one below from 2017
3. Group Doueh & Cheveu: Dakhla Sahara Session (Born Bad ‘17)
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 19:18 (three years ago) link
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMh9h8twoGyInLFa-yMgFdSYNX642hhMb
Nahawa Doumbia , Mali singer with her band in Stockholm last year. She has a new album that was available in Mali in November 2020, & Awesome Tapes from Africa is releasing elsewhere now
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 28 January 2021 04:00 (three years ago) link
Nice I'll have to check that out. I got pretty into La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 3 last summer
― rob, Thursday, 28 January 2021 15:15 (three years ago) link
https://www.theafricareport.com/62955/sibongile-khumalo-voice-of-the-new-south-africa-dies-at-63/
RIP Sibongile Khumalo, South African Zulu jazz & choral singer
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 6 February 2021 05:43 (three years ago) link
I forget the name of the rap not in English thread, so Inwill post this here instead. I see in The NY Times actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas saying that she listens to Hindi rap like Raftaar and Divine when she works out.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 7 February 2021 19:53 (three years ago) link
that's this thread, curmudge: Rolling worldwide rap thread 2021
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Sunday, 7 February 2021 20:12 (three years ago) link
Reading in NY Times about Barbara Dane , 93 years old musician and Paredon label owner
Musician Barbara Dane’s Life of Defiance and Song - plus Her label released music produced by liberation movements in Vietnam, Palestine, Angola, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Greece, Uruguay, Mexico, the United States and beyond.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 February 2021 18:01 (three years ago) link
Folkways controls the label now
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 February 2021 18:02 (three years ago) link
nice to see that paddy bush's old documentary on the malagasy musician rakotozafy has made it back to youtube again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orE-9ZQVsio
― would a nit be nice? (NickB), Friday, 12 February 2021 22:48 (three years ago) link
Kôrôlén is a very special collaboration between two titans in music: Toumani Diabaté, the Grammy-winning Malian kora virtuoso, and the London Symphony Orchestra, renowned worldwide for their performances of orchestral music on record, film and stage. Diabaté, a griot whose musical lineage stretches back generations, is well known as one of the most creative musicians on the African continent, and is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the iconic sound of the kora to worldwide audiences. No stranger to a genre-defying collaboration, he has recorded two Grammy-winning albums alongside desert blues pioneer Ali Farka Touré, as well as projects with Taj Mahal, Björk, Béla Fleck, Damon Albarn and Afrocubism.Commissioned as a special project by the Barbican Centre in London and produced by World Circuit, these recordings feature Diabaté and his group of eminent Malian musicians (including Kasse Mady Diabaté and Lassana Diabaté), accompanied by the soaring presence of the LSO, in dedicated arrangements by Nico Muhly and Ian Gardiner and conducted by Clark Rundell. The title bestowed by Diabaté on this unique and groundbreaking release, 'Kôrôlén', translates from the Mandinka language as 'ancestral' - a fitting theme for an album that brings together ancient griot melodies and Western orchestral arrangements, resulting in an achingly beautiful and fresh neo-classical sound that will appeal to admirers of African, traditional and new classical, and ambient music.
Commissioned as a special project by the Barbican Centre in London and produced by World Circuit, these recordings feature Diabaté and his group of eminent Malian musicians (including Kasse Mady Diabaté and Lassana Diabaté), accompanied by the soaring presence of the LSO, in dedicated arrangements by Nico Muhly and Ian Gardiner and conducted by Clark Rundell. The title bestowed by Diabaté on this unique and groundbreaking release, 'Kôrôlén', translates from the Mandinka language as 'ancestral' - a fitting theme for an album that brings together ancient griot melodies and Western orchestral arrangements, resulting in an achingly beautiful and fresh neo-classical sound that will appeal to admirers of African, traditional and new classical, and ambient music.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 18 February 2021 16:27 (three years ago) link
arghhhh with someone like toumani would go LOWER-fi not higher fiorchestra collabs are such a snooze
― sean gramophone, Thursday, 18 February 2021 16:45 (three years ago) link
Yep
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 18 February 2021 16:46 (three years ago) link
yeah I'm listening to "Haïnamady Town" off this right now and Diabaté is excellent of course, but the LSO bits are pretty sacharine
― rob, Friday, 19 February 2021 13:57 (three years ago) link
Here's one that rightfully should go on yesterday's '70s boogie thread 'cept it's not from the '70s and isn't about boogying per se; is from the Songhoy Blues LP that Steve was disappointed by last year. Similar to fellow Malian Ali Farka Toure, Songhoy Blues are fans of John Lee Hooker; unlike Ali Farka Touré their Hooker-derived blues boogie sometimes sounds like Brownsville Station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-Zta6QLms
― Frank Kogan, Sunday, 21 February 2021 22:36 (three years ago) link
Sorry not much of Brownsville fan, although I am curious about how Songhoy Blues sound changed into this more boogie rock one
― curmudgeon, Monday, 22 February 2021 04:06 (three years ago) link
Paul Bowles, author & musician, went to Morocco in 1959 and recorded music there. It was released as a 1972 lp, and now his tapes are on YouTube
https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/02/paul-bowles-library-of-congress.html?fbclid=IwAR0Uz6KRvZrIwsF8CjEI7M6KpTgLKmb22ORzXsFFb3Ga7YYKZaAl_O_hnuE&m=1
― curmudgeon, Monday, 22 February 2021 04:08 (three years ago) link
https://brazilbeatblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/15/favorite-brazilian-albums-of-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2RgmndUV6_OrRNlJfpSIlVwB-fWSPS1PVYhLKodT0zx-1VhS-mBrTIolc
A Brazilian top 20 for 2020
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 01:53 (three years ago) link
Oduor Nyagweno, solo nyatiti & vocals, worth reading the backstory here:https://petelarson.bandcamp.com/album/where-i-go-i-am-there
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 24 February 2021 21:35 (three years ago) link
At 14 years of age he had a dream about the nyatiti and when he awoke the following day, he was magically able to play it, or so the legend goes. Nyagweno started entering nyatiti competitions and quickly moved up the ranks to become one of the best nyatiti players in the area
Here’s part of backstory but there’s more.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 22:02 (three years ago) link
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-02-23/guy-chookoorian-armenian-american-novelty-records-dies
Longtime Armenian singer/ instrumentalist and occasional Hollywood bit actor Guy Chookoorian has died. Lots of Armenians who fled their homes after Turkish genocide end up in Southern California
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:00 (three years ago) link
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/sardool-sikander-1961-2021-roadways-di-laari-comes-to-a-grinding-halt-101614194628380.html
Punjabi / India singer Sardool Sikander dead at 60 from Covid
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 February 2021 15:29 (three years ago) link
Not 100 percent sure this is the right thread for this, but Buscabulla was discussed on last year's thread. This is a lovely, languorous dream-pop cover. I wasn't familiar with the original, but I gather it's a Puerto Rican karaoke staple. I've gone back and listened to earlier recordings (Lissette Alvarez, Umberto Tozzi) and they're good but I like the chill vibe of this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3U_V46IonM
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 2 March 2021 18:17 (three years ago) link
With the recent Spotify launches in several more African countries, I've been generating playlists to show what the new listeners in each country were disproportionately playing in their first few days. If you're interested:
Nigeria: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4RVekSXvQYyHrF6XyxEdwH?si=bPCTg3hlR5iERR1Z-j5z3gGhana: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0i3gO0KVgrTahrMziABjzi?si=qo64HhfaRgCDQqQO7k2J-gKenya: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4qTwmED83dqkVGNY9W76Jx?si=wePsV8afS0-Mw_0rL_B7pwTanzania: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Z0dnLnskhYb1aCHmreyP7?si=azB7nRvISeKQ0NY6ElLgzwUganda: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JY0Esk4iU4vvCvxM6WOH9?si=H7hM1lCUR1O-awDgdO-_IABotswana: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1vAV9s9KXwLCD7knb4TrDX?si=SJKH7Xb6TqeUJBBumbTrCASenegal: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uV3spPPFM8rbTjQm5R0U8?si=ijx0CwytSEaKU51c8M3x3QZimbabwe: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jz4ew4EjyoQEc93QXItMa?si=_nbg2izzScGPqgF8pdpWgQRwanda: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6vqW1BNtJLAtrDNv5l0abc?si=oY1K1PFnRh2tTsziEpa2WQBurundi: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mRpE6qCP9aKMqrkzoUTto?si=YnoYpakIRVy6OJKNXYBj0wMalawi: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/44WtZOWm90wMMiaeFQauGw?si=VK8hLFhvQiKSXBAX12iyJA
― glenn mcdonald, Wednesday, 3 March 2021 17:01 (three years ago) link
I was happily skimming through those but got stuck on Eli Njuchi (Malawi) for a while!
https://open.spotify.com/album/0KCzZIFaZ7BHdTHcLSM14x?si=TuFxj7SmQES1J_5Or6vXpg
― glenn mcdonald, Wednesday, 3 March 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
without having checked those links yet: that’s very cool, thanx!
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 18:47 (three years ago) link
these playlists would actually be at least as appropriate for the Rolling Afropop. feel free to post them there as well! am I correct in assuming you rid these lists of “international” hits, like in one of your earlier projects?
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 18:57 (three years ago) link
can also report a sham upload in the Nigeria list: “High Way” is a big hit by DJ Kaywise featuring (famous rapper) Phyno, but some sneaky person re-uploaded it with the non-existing ‘Phynoo’ as the artist name.
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 19:03 (three years ago) link
More about Eli Njuchi: https://massplugmag.com/article/eli-has-taken-us-on-a-journey-people-from-all-walks-of-life-are-able-to-resonate-with-his-lyrics
have to say, that song "Phone" of his shares *a lot* of dna with a five-year-old Nigerian hit, Nonso Amadi's "Tonight" - up and including the actual "phone me, I am here for you" message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcfOIfa5kvE
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 19:35 (three years ago) link
Thanks Glenn for those posts. Lots to go through
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 4 March 2021 13:51 (three years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/11/the-grammys-have-a-major-problem-with-global-diversity-lip-service-isnt-going-to-solve-it?fbclid=IwAR1tmzxswloH5Szdz_W1ZV44Xuo8fnuoYqIeqMlLRQZMPmsJ8C8gG8pVXH0
Re the former Grammy world music category now called global music
“It seems the surest way to win in the category is to have won before. Some 23 of 37 winners have won a Grammy previously, including each winner of the past eight years during which time Angélique Kidjo won three times.”
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 March 2021 00:28 (three years ago) link
RIp Josky Kiambukuta of Tpok Jazz from the Congo. The 72-year-old singer, songwriter and performer had been ill for several years.
Josky was one of the last stars of Tout Puissant Ok Jazz (TPOK Jazz), founded by Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, better known as Franco
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 March 2021 05:50 (three years ago) link
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/tpok-jazz-josky-kiambukuta-dies-3315198
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 March 2021 05:53 (three years ago) link
TPOK were great. I need to dig into Josky cuts with them
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 March 2021 19:13 (three years ago) link
learned recently that demola adepoju also played pedal steel on paul simon's "graceland" (the song). his solo album is amazing. any/all other nigerian/african pedal steel tips always totally welcome! https://t.co/PUnQ9dyfvF— jesse jarnow (@bourgwick) November 20, 2021
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 November 2021 20:51 (two years ago) link
https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/arooj-aftab-grammy-nomination-best-new-artist-things-to-know-1235001996/
Pakistani music for the masses. I like her but it’s interesting how she has managed to reach ilx, indie hipsters, and the Grammys
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 November 2021 17:08 (two years ago) link
I think it's because it's very good
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 09:15 (two years ago) link
https://www.elderscornermovie.com/
This doc about Older Nigerian musicians looks promising
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 20:08 (two years ago) link
Jon Pareles listed some additional albums that didn’t make his NY Times top list and he has Omar Sosa and East African Journey on it. Cuban pianist Sosa went to a number of countries and recorded with local musicians there.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 2 December 2021 17:19 (two years ago) link
Pareles has Bomba Estereo, Mon Laferte, & Mdou Moctar in his top albums plus in his 15 more deserving albums -Arooj Aftab, “Vulture Prince”
Khaira Arby, “New York Live” and Omar Sosa
― curmudgeon, Friday, 3 December 2021 11:51 (two years ago) link
Kumera Zekarias, a DC based Ethiopian singer/ guitarist who grew up in Texas , released a great record in April called Biyya Chonta that he recorded in Colombia with musicians from that country.
He hasn’t gotten huge Bandcamp or Spotify attention and doesn’t have a pr team ( he’s now studying ethnomusicology in Boston) but he’s worth checking out . I highlighted him earlier this year and his effort is one of my fave 2021 releases https://medium.com/seventhirty-dc/on-biyya-chonta-kumera-zekarias-creates-a-heady-blend-of-ethiopian-and-colombian-grooves-353a460a9beb
― curmudgeon, Friday, 3 December 2021 13:18 (two years ago) link
Les Filles at Pioneer Works is showing up on a few lists too
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 December 2021 06:06 (two years ago) link
Afropop. Org list isn’t due out till later. Anyone aware of some good lists involving old school or new school sounds from the global south or elsewhere?
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 December 2021 19:12 (two years ago) link
Saw Elder's Corner movie doc last night . A love letter to Nigeria focused on highlife, but also juju and afrobeat. Haven't seen the new Velvets or Beatles docs yet, but I saw this 2020 effort. The artists are enthused that the Nigerian musician/ director (first time film-maker I think) is taking them into recording studios as so many have been ignored for years. Ebenezer Obey, Sir Victor Uwaifo, the Lijadu Sisters, Tony Allen and many more previously unknown to me like EC Arinze and the Empire Rhythm Band. Spoiler alert- suddenly in the closing credits you learn that since the filming began for this effort and was completed that nearly 15 of the artists shown and talked to have passed. When a young London-born Nigerian music fan makes the shocking discovery that many Nigerian musical icons don’t possess copies of their own recordings, he returns to Lagos to re-record them. This film chronicles the music—from juju to Afrobeat and everything in between—and its parallels to Nigeria’s socio-political evolution from the colonial 1950s through the nationalist movement and independence in the ’60s. Rare archival footage colors this performance-rich tour through the history of the nation’s music.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 December 2021 12:58 (two years ago) link
Filmmaker Siji Awoyinka and producer Ade Bantu for Elder's Corner.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 December 2021 13:00 (two years ago) link
That sounds really great! hopefully it will show up somewhere I can see it soon
― rob, Thursday, 9 December 2021 13:37 (two years ago) link
It has been at some fests but Siji A, a first time director has little budget for marketing. I enjoyed it but it helps to have some background on Nigerian music when seeing it. The film kinda jumps around a bit, he mentions King Sunny Ade's importance but doesn't have an interview with him. He covers Fela but the Tony Allen interview is sorta short. The host of the post showing panel last night was a Nigerian woman whose name I did not catch. She was glad the film not only included the Lijadu Sisters, but also other women involved in Nigerian music like Mary Afi Usua. Plus Lijadu sisters mentioned Batila Alatke. That aspect was a strong part of the film. The director would need more hours than the 1 1/2 he had to cover everything fully. Record geeks may be wowed by an early scene where the director is flipping through his friend's big collection of old-school African vinyl
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 December 2021 17:09 (two years ago) link
Pareles has a Teddy Afro Ethio- reggae song on his top list of 2021 tracks. It’s apparently a political one re the sad civil war like status of Ethiopia today
I saw Afro some years back. Pretty good
― curmudgeon, Monday, 13 December 2021 16:51 (two years ago) link
Ok I only found this because it had a track of mine on it, but I'm discovering lots of really incredible west and north African music on this mix (complete with Bandcamp links):
https://soundcloud.com/no-exotik-no-turistik/no-exotik-no-turistik-radioshow-5122021
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 22:32 (two years ago) link
from above soundcloud
1. Cheb - Sma' Balak -cheb.bandcamp.com/album/sma-balak2. Cheb - Sma' Balak -cheb.bandcamp.com/album/sma-balak3. Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura - ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com/album/djib…f-tadjoura4. Chants - Poly Pointillism - chants.bandcamp.com/album/poly-pointillism5. Senyawa - Alkisah - senyawaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/alkisah6. Meril Wubslin - Alors Quoi - merilwubslin.bandcamp.com/album/alors-quoi7. Lavender Hex - Bunch of Flowers - lavenderhex.bandcamp.com/album/bunch-of-flowers8. Witch Camp (Ghana) - I`ve forgotten now who i used to be - witchcampghana.bandcamp.com/9. De la Crau - Temperi10. Khlab & M`berra Ensemble - M`berra - djkhalab.bandcamp.com/album/mberra11. Futur Antérieur: Bongo Joe 5 Years - lesdisquesbongojoe.bandcamp.com/album/fut…e-5-years12. Comorian. We are an island, but we are not alone - comorian.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-a…e-re-not-alone13. Sufyvn - Pseudarhythm, Vol. 3 - sufyvn.bandcamp.com/album/pseudarhythm-vol-314. Maral - On your way - maral.bandcamp.com/track/on-your-way-ft-panda-bear15. Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp - We`re OK. But we are lost anyway - otpmd.bandcamp.com/album/were-ok-b…ere-lost-anyway16. Amami - Soleil - amami.bandcamp.com/album/soleil17. Kasai Allstars - Black Ants Remixes - kasaiallstars.bandcamp.com/album/black…nts-remixes18. ZEA - Witst noch dat d'r neat wie - zeamusic.bandcamp.com/album/witst-no…at-dr-neat-wie19. Tout Bleu - Otium - toutbleu.bandcamp.com/album/otium
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 December 2021 17:32 (two years ago) link
This is a really great record: https://hassanwargui.bandcamp.com/album/tiddukla
Hassan Wargui is a self taught musician, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and an expert in the songcraft and poetry of the Tachelhit speaking Amazigh tribes of the Anti-Atlas mountains in the south of Morocco.He was born in 1985 in the rural community of Issafen, which lies between Taroudant and Tafraoute in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Southern Morocco. His music draws from the deep well of Amazigh, or Berber, cultures that have long been suppressed across North Africa after the region underwent a process of Arabization following the Arab invasions of the 7th Century.Hassan grew up in an isolated mountain community in which art and music is embedded into daily life. This allowed him to develop an excellent musical sense, a deep understanding of the complex poly-rhythms that underpin Amazigh music, and time to become proficient on the banjo which, since the ascendency of the popular modern folk movement involving groups such as Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala in the late '60s and early '70s, has been the preferred instrument of the region. Like many musicians from the region, Hassan built his first instruments himself, and it wasn't until he moved to Casablanca in his teens to find work which was scarce in his local community, that he was able to save for his first real banjo.Since then Hassan has been active in the Amazigh musical community and has worked with a number of groups, notably Groupe Lbouchart, Imanaren and Etran Tiznit, as well as recording prolifically as a solo artist using Fruity Loops as a home studio. In 2009, Jace Clayton (DJ/Rupture) stumbled across a CD by Imanaren on a stall in Casablanca medina and this led to a fruitful series of collaborations in 2009 and 2011 (you can learn more about their work together here: www.dublab.com/archive/louder-than-the-noise-jace-clayton-hassan-wargui)Tiddukla (which translates to Friendship) is one of Hassan's numerous group projects and he recorded the album with friends in 2015 and self released it through YouTube due to the lack of music infrastructure in Morocco. The Tiddukla album is raw and hypnotic and sees Hassan and his group channeling the deep and contemplative sounds of classic Amazigh groups such as Izenzaren, Archach, Izmaz, all of whom risked their freedom by daring to sing in Tachelhit at a time when the language was still forbidden, and when Amazigh people were fighting for their rights to be recognised.
He was born in 1985 in the rural community of Issafen, which lies between Taroudant and Tafraoute in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Southern Morocco. His music draws from the deep well of Amazigh, or Berber, cultures that have long been suppressed across North Africa after the region underwent a process of Arabization following the Arab invasions of the 7th Century.
Hassan grew up in an isolated mountain community in which art and music is embedded into daily life. This allowed him to develop an excellent musical sense, a deep understanding of the complex poly-rhythms that underpin Amazigh music, and time to become proficient on the banjo which, since the ascendency of the popular modern folk movement involving groups such as Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala in the late '60s and early '70s, has been the preferred instrument of the region. Like many musicians from the region, Hassan built his first instruments himself, and it wasn't until he moved to Casablanca in his teens to find work which was scarce in his local community, that he was able to save for his first real banjo.
Since then Hassan has been active in the Amazigh musical community and has worked with a number of groups, notably Groupe Lbouchart, Imanaren and Etran Tiznit, as well as recording prolifically as a solo artist using Fruity Loops as a home studio. In 2009, Jace Clayton (DJ/Rupture) stumbled across a CD by Imanaren on a stall in Casablanca medina and this led to a fruitful series of collaborations in 2009 and 2011 (you can learn more about their work together here: www.dublab.com/archive/louder-than-the-noise-jace-clayton-hassan-wargui)
Tiddukla (which translates to Friendship) is one of Hassan's numerous group projects and he recorded the album with friends in 2015 and self released it through YouTube due to the lack of music infrastructure in Morocco. The Tiddukla album is raw and hypnotic and sees Hassan and his group channeling the deep and contemplative sounds of classic Amazigh groups such as Izenzaren, Archach, Izmaz, all of whom risked their freedom by daring to sing in Tachelhit at a time when the language was still forbidden, and when Amazigh people were fighting for their rights to be recognised.
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 20:16 (two years ago) link
Just had a really great phone call with South African jazz drummer Ayanda Sikade, who's on a ton of Nduduzo Makhathini's albums, has worked with trombonist Siya Makuzeni and bassist Herbie Tsoaeli, was in Zim Ngqawana's band (with Makhathini), and has two albums of his own, including one that came out just the other week. I'm working on a piece about him for Bandcamp.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 20:40 (two years ago) link
Cool.
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 20:46 (two years ago) link
Connecting with Makhathini in 2019-2020 has really opened a ton of other doors this past year. I've interviewed a ton of other South African artists, some of whom have reached out directly to me through him — I was even able to help get saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane signed to Ropeadope; his new album will be coming out next year. It's such an incredibly fertile scene, and/but I seem to be one of the few US journalists paying any real attention to it.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 20:55 (two years ago) link
Interesting. I wonder if there are aging mbaqanga musicians in South Africa still playing? Or maybe their children have picked it up?
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 December 2021 14:32 (two years ago) link
https://afropop.org/articles/2021-picks
Here’s the Afropop. Org list of African and diaspora albums
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 December 2021 14:34 (two years ago) link
cool to hear that news, unperson
I thought about starting a dedicated thread, but maybe I'll just mention it here. The new Fimber Bravo album Lunar Tredd is very good: https://fimberbravo.bandcamp.com/album/lunar-tredd
He's a Trinidadian steelpan player who was in the 20th Century Steel Band and Steel an' Skin. On this one he collaborates with a bunch of people (striking context collapse moment for me: hearing the singer for Vanishing Twin pop up in the middle of the album), particularly a group of Senegalese musicians.
― rob, Friday, 24 December 2021 15:03 (two years ago) link
xpafropop list looks especially rich this year
― rob, Friday, 24 December 2021 15:10 (two years ago) link
https://pan-african-music.com/les-50-meilleurs-albums-de-2021/
Just saw this on the thread for 2021 critics lists
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 December 2021 19:26 (two years ago) link
Came to post about Falle Nioke but I see he's already been mentioned a few months ago. If anyone one could recommend some simile stuff, I'd be much obliged.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 24 December 2021 21:39 (two years ago) link
― curmudgeon,
listening to this on bandcamp now. c'est incroyable.
― scampos sacra fames (outdoor_miner), Sunday, 26 December 2021 16:03 (two years ago) link
xp wow, the Falle Nioke EPs are fantastic!
Granny, maybe try the Wau Wau Collectif album? https://wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com/album/yaral-sa-doom. Not quite the same (it's less "electronic" for one), but the feeling is similar and it also manages to do fusion/intl collaboration right.
― rob, Sunday, 26 December 2021 19:05 (two years ago) link
Thanks rob, I'll check it out
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Sunday, 26 December 2021 23:14 (two years ago) link
Lol went to add it to my iTunes library and it already has been. Don't remember having done that!
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Sunday, 26 December 2021 23:17 (two years ago) link
Falle Nioke does sound great
― curmudgeon, Monday, 27 December 2021 04:41 (two years ago) link
A fantastic South African record — Philip Tabane's _The Indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds Of..._, from 1969 — is being reissued on LP only (boo, hiss) next month. Bandcamp link🕸It's a duo disc, just guitar and percussion for most of it, but Tabane occasionally plays flute and the percussionist, Gabriel "Sonnyboy" Thobejane, plays thumb piano. Tabane's guitar style is somewhere between Grant Green and John Lee Hooker, really raw-sounding but technically quite skilled. If you can find a digital version, or own a turntable, snap this one up.
― willem, Tuesday, 28 December 2021 07:22 (two years ago) link
yeah that is a gem
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 28 December 2021 09:12 (two years ago) link
Listening to Femi Kuti & his 25 year old son Made on their album Legacy + , that came out earlier this year. Good not great
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 29 December 2021 18:29 (two years ago) link
None of the Kuti kids has ever done anything that's impressed me. Most of it just slides in one ear and out the other.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 29 December 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link
Same
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 29 December 2021 19:23 (two years ago) link
Seun has made some great records imo, Many Things is my fave
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 29 December 2021 19:27 (two years ago) link
For me a lot of it is the production/engineering, and that holds true for nearly all modern afrobeat. It's too clean-sounding, the drums in particular.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 29 December 2021 20:07 (two years ago) link
I've had a blast seeing Femi live, as a substitute for Fela who I'll never get to see. But have never had much use for his albums
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Wednesday, 29 December 2021 20:25 (two years ago) link
New 2022 thread-
Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2022 Thread (Often African bands)
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 2 January 2022 19:33 (two years ago) link