“This compilation highlights recordings of local guitar bands in three areas of modern day Senegal and Mali. These bands are almost unknown outside of their homes but have a devoted local following. They play all events, celebratory or political. Their songs are folk anthems, hummed under the breath and chanted by children, traded by cassette and transferred by cellphone. The guitar bands are the pride of their towns.”
-sahelsounds.com
Lo-fi recordings consisting of sparse guitar rhythms, entrancing vocals and the occasional beat tapped on a guitar. in the background there's cars starting, kids playing and people chatting. the whole record just brings you right there. 'Zinezju Meghdem' delivers a drony introduction, but the album really kicks off at 'Hommage a Ali Farka Toure'. highly recommended.
-p
"I fully support free music and the realism of digital availability. If you wish to download this album for free, please download it, as it shouldn't be difficult to find. But it's also available for those who wish to support the musicians and their work: 15% to Bandcamp, 50% to the artists....so buy it for $2 or $20!
Because of an incredibly shitty internet connection and general busyness it's been forever since I posted. Luke's totally been carrying the team with some epic posts. props.
Aight so here's Moondog.
Wikipedia: Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he lived in the city. Most days he could be found in his chosen part of town wearing clothes he had created based on his own interpretation of the Norse god Thor. Thanks to his unconventional outfits and lifestyle, he was known for much of his life as "The Viking of 6th Avenue".
I can't believe I haven't got round to posting about Fool's Gold on here before as I've basically been living their debut album for months and banging it out at any opportunity. I most recently dropped the track Surprise Hotel in The Windmill in Brixton when they were looking for some tunes between bands; awesome to play it over a big soundsystem! I also rocked Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou which was ace!
Difficult to describe but I'd probably say something along the lines of addictive up-tempo afro-licked world-pop. The tunes have such a great flow, with beautiful african-infused guitar work, complimented by the soft toned harmonies of Luke Top (bassist/vocalist) and Lewis Pesacov (lead guitar). Pesacov also throws in some gorgeous and sometimes hectic sax which really blends the vibe into something quite unique.
Enough of this; listen to the first track on their self-titled album - Surprise Hotel - and then do so OBSESSIVELY. (video is ridiculous though)
I can't condone stealing this album, but some people like that kind of thing.
What can I say? These guys are big in the game. Lilting high-tempo new wave african dance that you can't help moving to: the sweet vocal melodies carry it through for an awesome party vibe. Loving this.
Just over a year ago I had the pleasure of catching some of the wild flailing delights of Omar Souleyman's frantic Syrian folk-ravepop in the dingey pit of London's Scala. Last week I had the opportunity to meet him at Glastonbury. After Omar being something of a legendary figure amongst my friends for some time before the Scala show, it was seriously a night to remember and I can't recall seeing a crowd going quite so mental for ages, never mind that it was to such a bizarre blend of Syrian folk melodies and heavy budget-synth beats, lorded over by an emotionless, sunglassed MC in the traditional Arabic keffiyeh and thawb. Omar cut a jarring figure in King's Cross I can tell you, and I still don't know if his popularity is just some strange sneering embrace of Orientalist irony in the indie-electronic music community that's adopted him (for the moment?), or if there is a genuine overlap of aesthetic ideals between his music and some current trends in Western music scenes. I suppose time will tell. Either way: it's fucking brilliant.
And if you want to see me and some friends raving out throughout this video (from Glastonbury last week) then check it out (first glimpse is at 0:12, yellow t-shirt and panama hat - big look):
Also - just to keep you updated - work is already underway on Omar Souleyman's first collaboration with a Western artist: a co-written album with fucking BJÖRK! AMAZEBALLS.
The song Carry Me Ohio from Sun Kil Moon's debut album Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003) just came into my head and I remembered what a wonderful and addictive tune it is. Quality nostalgia track for me: it sends me back to a roadtrip to Cornwall with friends some years ago - great music to watch scenery pass by to, even better to remember it to.
check this out. interesting read and great music. -p
"the album itself [...] was recorded live over four days in Madrid without any prior rehearsals. A joyfully ebullient meeting point between traditional Malian music and the kind of Cuban rhythms the Buena Vista Social Club brought to the wider world, AfroCubism continues a cultural exchange that has been going for over half a century. In 1960, following independence from France, Mali's president Modibo Keïta introduced one-party socialism, resulting in Fidel Castro becoming a close ally and Cuban music being actively promoted throughout Mali. A member of the entourage old enough to remember this period is Djelimady Tounkara.
One of Africa's foremost guitarists, Tounkara moved from the countryside to the Malian capital of Bamako in the early 60s to become a tailor, but ended up joining a state-sponsored orchestra instead. "We were encouraged to play Cuban music," says Tounkara, a gentle bear of a man whom the other musicians hold in a great deal of affection. "And it wasn't hard to combine Malian and Cuban music, because people from Africa went to Cuba and took the rhythms with them."
This musical cross-pollination came to an abrupt end in 1968, when a military coup overthrew Keïta. The new regime encouraged the development of authenticité – traditional African music, devoid of outside influences. "After the coup d'etat, the military destroyed the ballet, the opera, everything," says Tounkara. "I dealt with this by escaping to Senegal, but the military made me come back, and I had to find a new way of making a living as a musician."
So began one of the strangest and most celebrated episodes in the history of Malian music. In 1972, Tounkara joined the Rail Band, a group initially hired by railway authorities to play in a hotel lounge near the main station in Bamako to help pass the time for people waiting to catch a train. The Rail Band became a phenomenon, with African music legends Salif Keita and Mory Kanté passing through its ranks; it became the first band to combine traditional instruments with an Afro-Cuban sound. Tounkara managed to sneak in a Cuban influence while remaining close enough to authenticité to keep the authorities off his back. "I don't want to boast," Tounkara says with a little wiggle of the head, "but I played an important part in the development of Malian music with the Rail Band. We created something new."
Among the younger musicians who had to discover Cuban music is Bassekou Kouyate, a ngoni (traditional string instrument) player with more than a passing resemblance to Otis Redding; and Lassana Diabaté, a member of Toumani Diabaté's band (though no relation) and a player of the xylophone-like balafon. They seem to come as a pair, and wish to be interviewed together. "When we grew up, the only Cuban song we knew was Guantanamera," Kouyate says. "We didn't have the opportunities to get influences from the rest of the world. With AfroCubism, there was no time to do a rehearsal, so we had to learn about Cuban music on the spot. But we did it." - The Guardian (read)
