Debo Band is not about Afro-funk revival, recreating some mythical gilded age of Ethiopian pop. Taking cues from vintage and contemporary artists unsung in the West, they unleash rolling grooves, serpentine melody lines, and urgently joyful vocals…. That’s from the PR pitch for the nine-city U.S. tour that Debo Band kicks off in their home [...]
Sahel Sounds — Music from Saharan Cellphones (@sahelsounds.com)
Gotta let everyone know about sahelsounds.com , a great source of info. and music from the Sahel region of West Africa. Lots of cool stuff and intelligent observations but the post on cellphone music was what caught my interest most of all: tracklist from music from saharan cellphones This little cassette of music collected from cellphones has [...]
Khaled and the myth of rai (Ted Swedenburg @ The Middle East Channel)
Excellent article by Ted Swedenburg on Khaled and rai — debunks prevalent misconceptions about both. Brilliant! Check out Ted’s HawgBlawg — well worth the time. Khaled and the myth of rai | The Middle East Channel. An excerpt: Cheb Khaled, the Algerian rai singer who is probably the best-known Arabic singer on the planet, was [...]
Taking the ngoni into new musical territory
Working on a couple of posts but still too busy to put much time into it. In the meantime, here’s a repost of a Jon Pareles piece (N.Y. Times) on how Bassekou Kouyati has revolutionized the use of the ngnoi but first here’s a YouTube video of Kouyati with another “revolutionary” who has taken the [...]
Somali Rap and Radio (@ History is made at night)
Reposted from History is made at night From Waayaha Cusub (from Reuters Nairobi, 9 April 2010): For centuries, Somalis used poetry and songs to pass protest messages to powerful rulers they were too afraid to confront directly. Now, some young Somalis are using rap to speak out against Islamists who they say are using religion [...]
Youssou N’Dour : From Dakar To Kingston – United Reggae
Reposted from UNITED REGGAE Senegalese artist releases a new album celebrating the relationship between Reggae and the Motherland. Youssou N’Dour is one of the most famous and great African musicians. He’s a renowned singer, songwriter, and composer who began his career at only 12 ! The king of M’balax is now coming with a new [...]
Tinariwen in San Francisco (@Afropop.org)
Desert rockers Tinariwen of Mali have been on tour in the US this winter. Jeffrey Callen caught the show—on an off night, it seems—in San Francisco, February 22, 2010. Here’s his review. The photos by Banning Eyre are from Tinariwen’s performance at New York’s Highline Ballroom about a week earlier. It’s easy to review a [...]
"Desert Rock"
Desert Rock Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara. By Jeffrey Callen A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely [...]
Review of King Sunny Ade at the Independent in San Francisco (Afropop.org)
King Sunny Ade in San Francisco – review of King Sunny Ade in San Francisco in June 2009 and the re-release of Seven Degrees North.
"The Blues Metaphor" (Moroccan Roll column from The Beat, Vol. 27 #4)
_The Blues Metaphor_ (Moroccan Roll column from Vol. 27 #4) — discusses the often-tenuous use of the blues as a metaphor to describe and pigeonhole genres of popular and traditional music, particularly music from Africa or the African diaspora).
