africa

image by the talented Spanish illustrator Alex Noriega.

Still not on form to post daily, so here are some of the links that I’ve been stacking up for the last 15 days or so. Check them out.

* Dwayne Sodahberk, Dub Tractor and more on Motel de Moka.

* 2 great mp3blogs covering the world cup and posting songs from attending countries. First one is You can call me Betty, second is Benn Loxo du Taccu which seem to post the loveliest African music you have never heard.

* Metro Distortion reviewing a Boris show and here’s another post that has two tracks from Boris, We are Scientists, Wolfmother and more.

more to follow once I skim through the remaining 40+ links..

Ok, I’m still going through the ethnic folk stuff, I’ve got some more incredible stuff from around the world here.

Let’s begin with an absolutely epic song by Karim Baggili. He’s of Jordanian and Yugoslavian origin and he’s born in Belgium. His Jordanian identity shines through his music as his music is greatly influenced by Middle Eastern sounds. His quartet plays a fusion of Arabic, South American and Flamenco music, a strange hybrid. The song I featured “Zayak” is probably a lamentation song, in the end there’s a short vocal part, that adds tremendiously to this song. Must get!

Sir Richard Bishop is 1/3 of the Sun City Girls, which is a close relative of Porest, which was featured a few posts down. Bishop has only a steel-guitar at his disposal, but he really rocks like a quartet. EDIT : Here’s a better review that I found after posting with one more track.

Ballake Sissoko is a Jali who plays an African instrument called Kora. The Jali’s are known to be upholders of tradition who are the wisemen of their tribes. I’m sure their music will captivate you because it’s truly a different experience than the western music, which really displays the infinite diversity of human music & culture.

Karim Baggili Quartet - Zayak
Sir Richard Bishop - Abydos
Ballake Sissoko - Kanou
Ballake Sissoko - Handarezo

Legendary Ethiopian composer and musician Mulatu Astatke has been one of the most influential musicians from Africa apart from the obvious Fela Kuti. His music is a lo-fi and more cinematique version of the Western African music, combining Caribbean funk with the African tradition.

“My whole idea, was sort of fusion with Ethiopian and jazz and modern music. I started at Berklee this idea of the ‘Ethiojazz’ business. From there I came to New York and I had this group, and what I wanted to do, I did it there.” While returning to Ethiopia from NYC he brought the Hammond Organ and the Vibraphone to his country, and later on changed the whole Ethiopian music scene, by a combination of Ethiopian five scale music with jazz and fusion.

This was the first release from Brighton’s Soundway Recordings and they have made a great debut with this 4 track EP, all 4 songs are notable here, but `Ebo Lala` is the standout track, with the help of the African chant lead by Seifu Yohannes. Rest of the catalogue is interesting as well, particularly but not limited to the Orlando Julius and the Panama compilation from 1965-75 releases..

He has recently done the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers movie, which has got good reviews on IMDB and elsewhere. Get these tracks and spread Mulatu’s music like the Ebola.

Mulatu Astatke - Ebo lala
Mulatu Astatke - Yekitir Tezata
The Code International - Yekermo Sew (Mulatu cover)

Continuing the jazz vibe on undomondo, I’ve decided to choose this French trio’s last album for a quick review. Aldo Romano, Louis Sclavis and Henri Texier are 3 major French contemporary jazz figures, and this album is the final chapter of the African journey that started 10 years ago.

And today’s last post is once again influenced by African music. Channel U is Yusuke Yamamoto. You’re surely right to expect eclectic music from a man of Japanese origin, making his own mixture of dub, electronica and jazz, and it is so!.

This track is a remix on the album done by labelmates Dub Nomads. They’re a 5 piece live dub band from Brooklyn, and this is a great dubby headbopper, with hypnotic Asian bells, and a moody guitar.

Download Channel U - Kembang Turi (Dub Nomads Remix)
Listen to more samples from Channel U’s Ape-Man Talking
Buy Channel U and Dub Nomads stuff direct from Concent NY

time for some recent netsurf finds, i wonder how our lives would have been without the www..