Mama Kudi

I spend a lot of my free time watching African pop music videos on the Africa Channel and Youtube, and unfortunately this means a lot of Kuduro videos with amputees from the aftermath of the Angolan Civil War. This video in particular results in mixed emotions, but I find it pretty amazing how brazen these guys are, dancing on top of cars and breakdancing with crutches (and sometimes absent of them). Once again DJ Nays shows up, who's pretty much my favorite producer of late. I know I've made a few wise cracks about lovey dovey genres like Zouk Love and Kizomba, but there is absolutely nothing wussy about this song, which is best in it's class. It serenades without actually saying anything. I've amassed a rather large collection of stuff like this that I've slowly been going through, and I'll touch more on that later.

Halleluyah Niaroka

DOWNLOAD (password afroslabs.blogspot.com)

An awesome gospel tape from Africa via Ylowek Scavel-Cronek. Kenyan singer Gladwell Kinuthia sings twee Swahili Jesus songs, sometimes with some serious Reggae vibes (see Halleluyah Niaroka, which for some reason appears twice on side a?). A Duppy conqueror attempt in the form of magnetic tape; a mistake as that's where they are most prone to find shelter.

Experimental Music from the Ivory Coast

DJ Caloudji - Sentiment Moko (from All Star Coupe Decale Mania 2009)

My favorite Coupe Decale track for sure. Who used this in a mix? Radioclit? Almost comes off as a sound collage. Both the guitars and vocals alternate between scratchy vinyl samples and original sounding. A really big step away from Kuduro, which always sounds so grim. Nothing wrong with that but I got to admit that stuff scares me sometimes.

The video for this track is great too.

On an unrelated note, why do all Zouk-Love songs have rain sounds in them?

Sugarhill Gang for Head of State

Nigerian Rap: The First Decade 1981-1991 Mix

Absolutely do not sleep on this amazing mix. I'm kind of amazed how fast Hip-Hop traveled (back?) across the Black Atlantic, 1980 is usually the earliest I've seen it show up outside of NYC in places like Washington D.C., Baltimore, ect. It didn't even get going on the West Coast until 1982 with Too Short! I have to warn you all, there is some funky-ass shit within this hour and a half. What the source has to say:

The first hip-hop record to achieve widespread popularity in Nigeria was “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang, in 1979. Thirty years later, hip-hop is the premier pop music of Nigeria, dominating radio play as well as the sales charts, feted in megabudget videos, glossy magazines and glitzy award shows. When the average Nigerian kid decides to get into the music biz, the first impulse is not to grab a guitar or a talking drum, but to pick up a microphone.

It was a long way from there to here, though. For years, the earliest attempts at homegrown rap were ridiculed, resisted or downright reviled by the mainstream. And in some cases, perhaps, rightfully so: they were often awkward, overly imitative, fatuous. But they also laid the foundation for the 2Faces, the 9ices, the D’Banjes, Ruggedmans, Modenines and the rest of today’s Naija hip-hop superstars. So here’s our salute to some of the groundbreakers in the first decade of Nigerian hip-hop.

I'm about to get buckwild on their other radio shows.

I Admit It

So I decided to get Twitter like two weeks ago and what I once thought was about the most ridiculous thing ever turned out to be great. Here is why:

PrinceZimboo Hippo is good till you get bite

diplo @mileycyrus do u like dubstep?

MistahFab LETS SAY IM N A ROOM WITH A BITCH AN THE HOE DONT WANA FUCK LIKE A MAN IMA BEAT MY MEAT AN GET MY FUCKIN NUT FASHO. POP IN A PORN GAME BABY

Nomad Rock

Groupe Oyiwane - Tagot (from VA - Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara 2005)

I dig the new Group Doueh record, and it reminded me of my favorite (by far) of the Rough Guide series, the Sahara edition. It contains a handful of other southern Moroccan guitar groups like the Sublime Frequency superstars, as well as some great stuff from neighboring Mauritania and the rest of the Sahrawi territory region. These compilations are certainly very rough places to start, but that's all you can really ask for when they are titled as such.

I just realized that my copy of Fata Morgana is missing, which makes me sad.

Titi

Titi - Music (from Facon 2008)

Matt over at Benn Loxo du Taccu started blogging again, which means good things will come to us all. The first good thing is the chunk of amazing Senegalese music he threw up, including Dakaroise superstar Titi. What a strange, disorienting rhythm going on here. Why do I think of Juke and its wiggiling pitch when I listen to this? Hard for me to talk about this one, so better to read the source than what I have to say about it.

Living the Life that We Sing in Our Song

Unesco Baka Pygmies Recordings 1990

The music of the Baka Pygmies is almost exclusively footed in vocal polyphonics with a technique called Jodel, strangely enough quite similar to European yodeling. The sounds themselves don't come out like Germans at all, but the overall method is very parrallel. The sounds are rapidly shot from the chest to the head based on sylables and sounds without meaning. Much of the use of instruments is due to influence and exchanges the Baka people had with the Bantu, a neighboring tribe in Cameroon. These recordings are from the French label Unesco, which I'm having trouble finding much information on. The music is absolutely gorgeous, Hut Song being one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Lots of children on here, which is a plus (no chimo). This is some powerful shit.

Pygmies really isn't so PC anymore so blame the French for my use of the word.

More info on the Bakas here.

Chicago Hip Life Spot #1

Candy Man - Bowotiri Nko (from Yate Akye unknown year)

Made a trip to Uptown yesterday to check out Afrikiko Hair & Fashion Boutique, a Ghanaian barber shop which got attention in the Chicago Reader music section a few weeks ago due to it's wall of Hip Life CDs and African film DVDs. I showed up and was immediately greeted by the employees, interrupting a few of them in the middle of their hair cuts. I brought up the article, which hilariously they had not seen themselves. "Some guy came in here...did you write that article?" A bit lame of the Reader on their part, but the computer/internet stalls adjacent to the barber chairs worked everything out. I was recommended some great CDs from the wall and even got a price break. Real nice people that run the place who even let me preview before I purchased, and left me on my way with a warm goodbye. I will be returning soon, and I recommend any fans of Ghanian Hip Hop to make the trip. Their stock of CDs is about to grow, and more customers will certainly help. So go get a haircut and grab a Hip Life CD on your way out.

Afrikiko Hair and Fashion Boutique
4635 N Broadway (red line Montrose EL stop)

PS, didn't have a camera so I had to steal the Readers picture of the shop after hours (?).

All This House Music Fuss

Magebz - What Do You Say (from The Passion 2008)

Interesting contrast to the Kwaito going on right now, here's some South African Rap. Magebz was birthed with a Doggystyle tape in his hands, and has been performing since he was in primary school. Interesting life story, he was displaced as a child to Pretoria after his mother was hijacked from their home in Soweto. He's got an NWA point of view with somewhat of a Hypnotized Minds kind of grit to his voice. More free Kwaito and South African rap over at this place.

They Juke out in Africa too!

Check out the footwork from these Angolan fellas in Os BF's new Sony video. Notice how much more cautiousness they are out there with their knee pads. They get all Ruff Ryders with their motorcycles too but with more dust flying everywhere and less dog fighting than Earl.

Thanks to the great Kuduro Files for putting me up on this one.

The Music-Hating Archipelagos

Ras Natty Baby - Let it Be Love (from Seggae Time 1999)

My Madagascar music obsession wandered east once and I ended up on the islands home to both the Dodo bird and the strange French-speaking rastafarian sound of Seggae. One of the originators of the sound, Mauritian musician Ras Natty Baby was accused of trafficking Heroin into the islands in 2003, most likely a setup for the singer who always spoke his mind about the local government. He spent 42 months behind bars, only to be released free of all charges in 2006 due to a main witness claiming his deposition was signed under threat. The officials of the islands over there really don't like Seggae music, as coiner of said genre Kaya was found dead in prison back in 1999, starting riots by the local music fans that resulted in more deaths. Ras Natty Baby took a vacation to his home island of Rodrigues for a minute after he was released from prison in 2006, and still lives in Mauritius with his 8 children. This track is from the album prior to his imprisonment, Seggae Time. Odd twittery synths that warn off duppies and the music hating government. For more info check out these articles over at Freemuse here and here.

Strange happenings in a place with one of the highest GDPs per capita in Africa.

Also, I have just added a Sound Cloud box on the right hand side of the site, so send me more music! Been loving the stuff I have received so far, much appreciated.

Malagasy Madness

Tso Drano - Samonina (from Tsapika Crazy unknown year)

Crazy little track from the coast of Madagascar. Totally has that Soca/Kuduro shuffle beat going on. Everything I hear from this island is the strangest.

Bellowed Creole

Unknown Artist - Minina Si Bu Dan n'ta Coré Mo (from Cap-Vert Un Archipel de Musique)

Real strange accordion driven track from the Cape Verde islands (or island really, people only live on one of them) that's kind of permanently stuck in my head tonight. At one point it just stops for some reason and I thought the 2nd accordion was a synth at first. Morna is the offical sound of Cape Verde like Tango is Argentina, a Creole spoken music with similar traits to those living in areas affected by the French such as Louisiana and Madagascar. These tales of ship crashes with accordions on board (Colombia ect) effecting the music and culture of an area are pretty nuts. A real shame these Ocora releases have been out of print since CDs were invented, the recording quality is always swell especially for the times (I believe this was recorded in the early 80s). While read as english the title suggests Cap-Vert the Peninsula of Senegal, the music is definitely from the islands.


Enjoy your MLK Jr days!

That Dude With The Big Smile

Little video of Esau back home in Malawi for the first time in almost 10 years

"I Lick My Fingers Like a Lollipop"

Forget candy and codeine, bring on the fufu and fried plantains

African Pearl Necklace

Ensemble Instrumental de Mopti - Ambodejo (from African Pearls Vol. 3 One Day on Radio Mali 2006)

I have fallen off with the African joints, so here is a real monster from Mali. The word radio in the title of this release kind of lowered my expectations as it made me think about the Sublime Frequencies radio discs, which generally are the weaker ones. Luckily Syllart founder Ibrahima Sylla wasn't just turning a dial on this one, which is two cds full of great selections of 50s, 60s, and 70s Malian music. Sylla was born in Mali and is obviously no stranger to the music. Some of the selections are a bit more rock or pop sounding, this track has really strange flutes that give the rest of the instruments air to breathe. There is a vocal ranting similar to the Yaala Yaala Pekos and Yoro Diallos disc and not unlike a more holy version of toasting, The highlight of the collection but such a wide variety is covered here its definitely worth tracking down.


(Oh yeah, I am not positive this is actually a picture of the same group, but there is a good chance it is)

Africa Emerge

Been loving the recent Kuduro fused Hollertronix output. Highlights Portugal's Baraka Som Sistema with their reworkings of Skream's "Blipstream" and breathing new life into "A Milli" with Diplo on board. Angola's DJ Zinobia drops a hammer and Radioclit do a really weird version of a Fischerspooner song I can't believe I actually knew. Some seriously wacked out remixes that remind me that I need to throw some Kuduro up on this here page. Grab this shit from Turntable Lab.

Taraabian Nights

VA - Songs The Swahili Sing (Original Music)

I said I would do an African post once a week and sorta fell off with that.  Heres my attempt to get back on it.  This is a comp of Taraab group recordings from I believe the early 80s on John Storm Robert's Original Music Label.  Taraab music is found in east Africa, mainly in Tanzania and Kenya.  The music has a hint of Cairo and Indian music in it.  A pretty odd combination of styles.  Very heavy on vocals.  Drums and Ouds (fretless flutes) and a Tashikoto (a Japanese instrument with a typewriter keyboard like thing to pluck the strings).  No idea how this all happened.  It has gone back to India and influenced their music as well according to this nice article on National Geographic's website.  This was my intro to Original Music and I've been seeking more stuff out because of it.  Thanks to Bill for ripping this from LP!  There is a CD version of this but its way out of print.  I found a discography of the label somewhere but I cannot find it on google again.  Grab the whole album in the link.

Mbube

hey