Rolling Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2016 Thread Once Known as World Music

playing in chicago and i can't go bc of work :(

How was the NY show Ulysses? I was away and missed the DC area one

Doctor L sometimes plays bass and not guitar; and sometimes does not appear with them live

Batida was spectacular and Mbongwana did a full on punk set; really really fun time in the midst of some of the worst weather i can remember

that sounds like an amazing show weather notwithstanding

it was; quick squall in the middle of batida's set scared off a few but mostly led to ecstatic rain dancing

yeeeeah that's how it's done!
i'm so excited for the world music fest here but it's so confusing and disorganized
mulatu is playing!

Mulatu Astatke's last scheduled appearance near me sadly got cancelled. Still have never seen him. Ghanaian Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band at that Chicago fest looks good too.

feel like i mentioned this upthread but
http://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/mulatu-astatke-fy17
which i kinda feel like i need to do but $130 for a pair?

come to chicago, see it for free!

lol, it would probably cost me $130 to come to chicago by greyhound solo but then i have to like sleep somewhere and eat...

it would be an investment/adventure for sure

i'm just excited about it because my hometown friends are coming and my local friends are sure to be there too, it's going to be so fun
unfortunately i can't figure out anything about how to secure/RSVP tickets. that's what i mean about it being disorganized.

i dig.

I am finding things to say about it in dribs and drabs over on the Afro-Latin thread, but I want to at least draw attention to it here. This album is very good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyrCD4Nd2K0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPZ9ibcuCIM

iLe is the artist formerly known as PG-13 when she performed with her brothers in Calle 13.

The album is bolero/ballad oriented, with songs by iLe and some of her extended family. More late 50s/early-to-mid 60s Latin pop than Fania era (although Cheo Feliciano does appear on one of the boleros). Definitely no reggaeton.

Just listened to Konono Noº1 Meets Batida for the first time: seems like some of it will have to grow on me, to an unexpected degree---prob. something to do with all those medium tempos, often *relatively* smoothed out on this occasion, while chugging right along, but almost laidback in cumulative effect, and most are at least 6 minutes long.
However, I did immediately get into "Yambadi Mama"--one for the Can fans---also the more overtly "electronic" than usual "Kinsumba", and the faster than usual "Kuna America", that one (my fave) with vocal interjections from all over the frame, as found on some others---especially the opener, "Niele Kalusimbiko", another obvious keeper. Will listen more for sure.

batida on tape isn't doing much for me. live, it all falls into place.

too straight-forward clubby on some recorded tracks

I've been listening to various old Manu Dibango efforts. "Soul Makossa" of course but other tunes that range from afro-psych-funk to schmaltzy jazz. He's gonna be touring North America shortly

playlist is updated.

new hailu mergia reissue out today! and it's v good. v pretty.

maybe came out earlier actually? but i'm first hearing it this weekend.

its recent--June I think.

I've been studying up on Ethiopian pianist Girma Beyene who was on Ethiopiques vol. 8 Swinging Addis and penned funky jazz standard “Muziqawi Silt. “ His arrangements were used by lots of Ethiopian musicians. Around 1984 when he was living in DC he gave up on music after his wife died, but after eventually moving back to Ethiopia he started playing again around 2008. He has DC and NY gigs set for October (maybe other places too)

new noura mint seymali!!!! (her last album was in my 2014 top 10) (incidentally right after angel olsen who also has a new album coming out v soon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4euzr4UaQI

I love the guitar sounds played by her husband, Jeiche Ould Chighaly

otm that stood out to me too

Wed. Sept. 28th --Jagwa Music ( Dar es Salaam, Tanzania street band uses interlocking drums, hacked mini casio keyboards, and hotwired megaphones) for free from 6 to 7 pm at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (and to be video-streamed and archived)

I don't recall(!) whether I have listened to this band, that I think has something out Crammed Discs, but I want to check them out based on that description. Music is on Spotify and Youtube

Seeing Fendika tonight, they're always a treat.
http://www.melakubelay.com/

Is there a POX thread for comps of this (very broad) category of music? I could really use a guide to the absolute best-of-the-best as there's a bazillion of them.

you'd be best to try by country/genre imo but the playlist for this and last year should offer some guidance?
2016 - https://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/1nZtZEqVftetRt7w307hh5
2015 - https://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/301ODR3qGB9NiVeQrnewAR

here are 10 comps i've liked (don't think a thread on them is a terrible idea) (i'm assuming you want multiple artist comps and not single artist comps?):

Space Echo - The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed!

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0834826493_16.jpg

Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll

http://www.dust-digital.com/icn/DTD-42_600.jpg

Balani Show Super Hits: Electronic Street Parties from Mali

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4120423326_16.jpg

Haiti Direct - Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978

http://factmag-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/haitidirect-8.26.2013.jpeg

Kenya Special (Selected East African Recordings from the 1970 & 80s)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/13039/kenya_1375972949.jpg

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wkddrw6ictQ/hqdefault.jpg

Marvellous Boy: Calypso from West Africa

https://www.melomane.fr/9551-thickbox_default/marvellous-boy-calypso-from-west-africa-2lp.jpg

Ghana Special: Modern Highlife Afro-Sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-81

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/203/MI0001203175.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978

http://staalplaat.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_slideshow/product/23195_0.jpg

Vintage Palmwine: Highlife Recorded in Ghana in the Bokoor Studios

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/351/MI0002351162.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

marvellous boy probably my favorite thing in that list

thanking you for Balani Show Super Hits, this is great. I don't know why I always ignore Sahel Sounds releases when I like basically everything I've ever heard from them. this new Kologo Power! compilation is already off to an amazing start: https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-kologo-power

If the Kenya and Ghana Specials aren't already too much to absorb, I'd also strongly recommend Nigeria Special

Our first radio show after summer break last Friday was especially outernational: 'Richa' by Noura Mint Seymali (such a great album), Li Daiguo (on Pipa), Hailu Mergia, Equiknoxx from Kingston, Dj Marfox from Lisbon. If you're into that kind of thing... https://www.mixcloud.com/Sterrenplaten/sterrenplaten-09-september-2016

--Jagwa Music ( Dar es Salaam, Tanzania street band

Listened to some of this on Spotify. Promising but a tad uneven. Its all about the rhythmic grooves

Saw Mali's Vieux Farka Toure and a small band (bass and Drummer) Saturday for free at a Festival in 95 degrees F heat. Probably the 4th or 5th time I have seen him. I like his upbeat, more danceable songs better than the more leisurely ones he started with. Although one quiet-tempoed song was more ballad than slow groover, and his vocals and playing took on a more mournful and dramatic feel.

That Kenya Special comp is one of my all time favourites, which is by the by... but there's a new edition in the series coming out soon on Soundway. This month I think.

The Dhol Foundation are embarking on their first North American tour. Kinda hit or miss with their blend of bhangra and other genres though

searched for an antibalas thread but didn't find one so i will post this here
saw them last night, they totally slayed and it was so fun
crowd was somewhat thin but the venue was sort of medium-large

they're pretty much undeniable live. just a super solid party band imo.

yeah it was a top notch good time, and for a chicago crowd it felt very alive. and it was free! people were more friendly than usual by a wide margin.

arbina = a+++

unrelatedly seeing A-WA this wednesday!

Looks like I missed A-Wa in DC awhile back opening for Balkan Beat Box, I'm just seeing NY & Philly and West coast dates now for current tour.

I should listen to Noura Mint Seymali new album -Arbina, as have liked her sound in the past.

Been listening to Kenya Special comp a bunch.

yeah a-wa is at the Knit tomorrow night. $20!

A-Wa played in Chicago last week same night as Antibalas but I missed it -- my friend went and said the show was top notch

also meaning to ask does Antibalas always cover that Rockwell song? They said it was for all the old sexy people, lol ;)

youtube suggests yes, as of last year
anyway, it was good even if i felt a hint of unwanted pandering

Saw a free gig from Tanzania's Jagwa Music last night at the Kennedy Center (video of the show should be up on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage website in a day or so, or maybe today). Pretty good but not great. They have one guy who uses a mini Casio keyboard, 2 percussionists, a woman tambourine player/dancer and a singer. Plus they have a megaphone on a pole, and some of their sounds get filtered through that. The rhythms are often speedy, and the dancer is adept, I just wasn't completely wowed by the singer's mix of singing and chanting.

Currently touring North America, but not together: Ifrikya Spirit from Algeria; and the late great Congolese singer Tabu Ley Rochereau's band L'Orchestre Afrisa International.Looking forward to the latter. They always impressively backed Tabu Ley when I saw him perform over the years.

Glad to see old-school Congolese musicians touring (at I assume that is who is in L'Orchestre Afrisa International)....

at least I assume...