Better Than the Rest?
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I stumbled upon this group on accident and proceeded with caution. I love Afro-beat, Afro-rock, etc but I’ve mentioned before my feelings towards the minimal range and uniformity of sound in some of the compilations and newer albums I’ve heard. However, these three men have combined modern electronic sounds and some thumping beats to create a fresh world music interpretation that even the most narrow listener can give a chance.
Julia – The Very Best
The Very Best is Malawi-born vocalist Esau Mwamwaya paired with the French and Swedish duo Radioclit. This is my favorite track from their album, The Warm Heart of Africa. Fairly minimal but still awesome, it opens with a sick synth loop that snakes it ways throughout the chorus, adds in a compressed snare and then layers in the vocals. It’s a great song to start with to ease yourself into the rest of the album.
Also, check out the Javelin Re-Do of “Julia” on the Etta Strange Imeem playlist.
Swahili Disco Funk Freakout.
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There’s nothing worse than stopping by your favorite blog and seeing that it’s been snatched up off of the net. No goodbye, no nothing - perhaps one lonely post made months ago [maybe even last year! the agony!]. I won’t do that to you anymore. Yes, great music still exists. Great, undiscovered, rare, forgotten-about, barely-listened-to, played-too-often music is still around – I just haven’t had the time to share the treasure chest until now. Better late than never, yes?
Today I went over to look at one my favorite places to get enlightened, only to discover that Captain’s Crate is no more! This is more disappointing that the complete disappearance of Post-Punk Junk [which actually got turned into a cable access-style show which you can WATCH instead of read]! Not to be totally discouraged, I scrolled down to revel in the last remnants of jam and found some gems.
Manzara – Makonde
Soseme Makonde – Makonde
The Makonde people are a Bantu-speaking culture of master carvers and sculptors throughout East Africa usually from Tanzania and Mozambique. and I’d recommend looking for some images of their art [like this one or this one], but today I am talking about the band Makonde.
I have to begin by admitting how jealous I am of Captain Planet over at C.C. for being able to handle the BLUE vinyl in his own bare hands. Sure, I’m months and months late with my envy but so are you, probably, so we’re even.
These two tracks were surprisingly refreshing for me. I love afro-funk/afro-soul/afro-rock/afro-beat, etc. as much as the next guy. Finding cool albums at the record store is always exciting no matter how many times I see phrases like “15 previously unreleased tracks” or the most pretentious [and best, mind you] one I’ve heard yet “quarried from across the continent.” But, admittedly, most of the time on those albums there are only two or three standout tracks. The rest are muddled imitations of shuffled around reruns. In short: boring.
The first song starts with a warbling bass and few quick taps on the drum before revealing its brassy, untampered-with horns. A fuzzier taming-the-viper horn snakes in and then the loose vocals come floating in over the crisp music. The contrast in layering the different tracks creates such an open space around their voices that reminds of some post-punk vocal choices/trends. If the difference is too subtle to place concentrated emphasis on, then the next track displays the deliberate choice more clearly.
It sounds like Soseme Makonde begins with crusty-eyed, doughy-mouthed trolls grumbling after being woken up before moseying into a mid-paced groove. The vocals on this track are especially distinct with paper-thin echoes that don’t make it to the edge of the sound, but still register in the brain like a frame slipped into a film for subliminal effect.
On this track only, my mind goes to Joy Division – almost like this is the other-worldly intepretation of that haunting voice enchanting you from some unknown distance.
Enjoy.
Close Calls.
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Walking up to the cash register to leave the record store is usually a painful process where I have to try to forget all the great music I had to put back. I haven’t been able to get three albums off of my mind since yesterday.
I got to hear a track from this by Akira S & As Garotas Que Erraram [which my friend told me translates to Akira S and The GIrls Who Made Mistakes -- awesome] and I was really intrigued. It sounded like a Brazillian Joy Division. Kind of a dark wave band with cold-as-steel synths and droning vocals. Of course, I only heard one song but I was definitely impressed and want to hear more.
I had the hardest time putting this album back. The smaller print beneath the big title reads: “A Celebration of rare and unreleased Afro-Beat quarried from across the continent.” I got the chance to listen to the song on there called “Yuda” and it stopped me in my tracks. I’m sure to most it sounds like your average polyrhythmic occasion but my brain catches on cymbal-centric percussion. Definitely a gem/jam.
It’s A Vanity – Gabo Brown & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo [SAMPLE]
First stumbled upon this gem/jam on Analog Africa and my mouth started watering. After some asking around, some rotten liar told me alllllll about this album and then told me I wouldn’t be able to find it very easily. Why the lies?! I had resigned to this false truth and then while flipping through the Africa section this album appeared. I bet most of my fellow shoppers must have thought I was schizophrenic because I started cursing the liar under my breath; I had hung my heart on this album as a lost cause and then it showed up waaaay out of my budget. Expensive find but it’s the jam. So, I urge you: find it, buy it and be redeemed.
Orlando Julius – SUPER AFRO SOUL.
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I dropped some bucks on this album quite some time ago and went into the whole listening experience with some extremely narrow expectations based solely on the album’s title, the cover and a picture of Orlando Julius sitting with James Brown on the inside. Upon first listen, I found myself disappointed due to my perceived the lack of “soul” in the music. The James Brown threw me off.
Jagua Nana – Orlando Julius & His Modern Aces
Ise Owo – Orlando Julius and His Modern Aces
This album immediately registers more as Afrobeat than any form of soul on my radar. I have to confess that my World Music cache is quite unimpressive. To be perfect honest, besides the random gems/jams in my catalogue, the only African musician that I am really familiar with is Fela Kuti. With that in mind I thought it might be helpful for me to use Kuti as a comparison specimen until I began to deconstruct what I was actually listening to and realized that I was being too literal for my own enjoyment.
My ear looks to recognize genre from an American perspective and I think I sometimes miss the nuances and just focus on the traditional, polyrhythmic percussion whose roots are traced back to West Africa. This album was released in 1966 in Lagos, Nigeria five years after both Nigeria and Ghana were granted their independence from Britain. Literally, what you’re hearing is liberation music but technically what you are hearing is the lovechild of two different influences.
The first is a branch of Nigerian music called Highlife, supposedly West Africa’s first popular music genre. This genre is most identifiable by it’s guitar-based sound that Africanizes the European-influenced society bands and military marching bands. The next influence comes from the traditional worship music which incorporated ‘kokoma’ beats. An anecdote about Orlando Julius paints him following priests and worshippers around to their performances to observe and later mimic their music.
In 1964, Julius formed the Modern Aces and released their first single “Jagua Nana” the following year. When the soul from the States began invading the airwaves acts like Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding and the rosters of influential labels like Motown, Atlantic and Stax began being incorporated into Julius’ sound.
Overall, it’s an interesting listen with mild echoes of recognizable elements of American soul music but is obviously more closely linked with more traditional West African sounds. Definitely worth a listen.
Nigerian Music Via L.A.?
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A day later and that Love Unlimited is still on repeat. I sat with someone and listened to it with them. I was pleased to see their look of complete satisfaction at the end of all six tracks. Like a meal with desert.
Anyway, I’ve been trying to expand my catalogue recently and thought it might be interesting to leave the continent for some new sounds. I came across an album by a band called Afrobeat Down called Lamp of the Body and figured I would give it a try. A little bit of research revealed that the 10-15 piece instrumental band is actually still in my state. So much for expansion, yeah? That’s what I thought.
Lamp of the Body – Afrobeat Down
Gentlemen – Afrobeat Down
The Los Angeles based band is actually trying to make music from another era as well as another continent. They say they are striving to keep the tradition and legacy of the late, great Fela Kuti alive through their music. What that translates into is an ensemble making music with polyrhythmic percussion and thick layered melodies. To catagorize this music as funk is probably accurate but it’s international funk, African music from Nigeria circa 1970.
There’s not too much I can say: if you like Fela, you’ll like this. Listen to “Gentlemen.”
Speaking In Tongues: A Listening Exercise.
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One of the most fascinating things about listening to music is that intent and tone truly do translate into discernable emotions. It’s why metal heads are thought to be angry and aggresive, punk kids are believed to be rebellious and goth kids are tagged as depressed. It’s why mainstream media can make claims that lyrical content is the culprit for a percentage of modern crime including murder.
Music is a cross-cultural affair. There isn’t one nation on Earth that doesn’t make music and although it may be in languages that we cannot immediately qualify or classify, there are still layers of to interpret. Therein lies the beauty and significance of art.
One of the most fascinating and satisfying things about building up an international catalogue of music is being able to hear the differences in influences. New instruments, new constructions of percussion and altogether different intepretations of how to arrange songs. I’d argue that most popular music in most industrialized nations still tries to incorporate the verse/chorus/verse/bridge/verse/chorus structure and relies heavily on its own ability to be catchy and likeable. Once you start sneaking into other genres, the rigidity almost melts away. The songs become longer, seem a little more fluid.
Sometimes I mind that I can’t understand the lyrics. Other times the music is enough.
Emeraude – West African Cosmos
I found this over at Captain’s Crate awhile ago. This is a funky, swanky song. Electric piano, light percussion, electric guitar. It’s a seven-minute long groove with vocals interspersed. Download this, if nothing else.
Jaan Pehechaan Ho – Mohammed Rafi
This is an Indian pop song from the fifties. This guy was a big deal in India. He was one of three leading male singers in his country for almost 20 years. I heard this song from the movie “Ghost World” (based on the comic) when I was in high school and immediately liked it. It’s lively and animated.
Topknot - Bubbley Kaur
This is an indie pop song from a United Kingdom-Indian band. It was their first recording on their 12″ inch single. I never heard the song on the B-side, “Natch,”but someone said it reminded them of a disco track. That could be interesting. This time it’s a female vocalist with a pretty controlled delivery. There some’s interesting production going on that contrasts with the vocals in a good way.
Aguarela Do Brasil – Gal Costa
One of my multilingual, brainiac friends travels a lot and, as any good traveler should, immerses himself in the culture. Especially it’s music. He loves this woman and recommended her to me awhile ago. Apparently, she is loved, respected and highly revered in Brazil. She’s in her sixties and has released over twenty album. I guess no one could ever say she wasn’t productive. This song is very upbeat and likeable. Another good one is “Chega De Saudade.”
*BONUS TRACK*
I don’t know who the kid is singing this, but he sounds as close to Michael Jackson as I think you can. Well, besides the lead singer from that British all-girl group Cleopatra that Madonna discovered. They were pretty bad, but they had a cover of “I Want You Back” and it was kind of startling how similar she sounded to him. Anyway, this track cuts off in two minutes. I apologize but otherwise, it’s magic.
