At long last! Just A Band come to perform in Europe, more specifically Berlin, as part of the NRBLN – BLNRB cultural exchange program initiated by the Goethe Institute. At the infamously awesome Haus der Kulturen der Welt on December 1, do not miss it!!
BLNRB | Berlin Show | HKW | 01 •12• 2010 from NRBLN_BLNRB on Vimeo.
A documentary about Ghana’s popular music scene and the struggle between indigenous identity and mainstream music culture. The documentary is framed by a search for “the spiderweb”– or the thin, vibrating fibers that African musicians once attached to their mbiras and xylophones to, allegedly, create a buzzing sound that would invoke their ancestors. Via the Eavesdrop.earth blog.
For almost 2 years now, we’ve been building a diverse roster of contemporary artists from all over Africa. From Malian traditional music to kuduro, highlife to salsa, Akwaaba has been covering much ground, yet one important piece has been missing: Congolese soukous. Perhaps the most significant genre across the entire continent during the 1970s and 1980s, and a style particularly dear to our ears. We’re in the process of fixing this, with an imminent release from Zaiko Langa Langa, soukous pioneers still touring to this day. But before that, bbrave serves us this here pungent mix of Congolese classics.
The story goes like this: our friends over at Dublab asked bbrave to do a mix for them. Rather than stick to club territory, why not use Dublab’s incredibly diverse platform to indulge into something more personal? And less obvious? So we bring to you this mix. Not afrofunk, this is pure soukous: raunchy snares, melodic guitars, and frenzy tempos. The whole of Africa has danced to this, are you ready for it?
Sam Mangwana – Georgette Eckins
Prince Luciano Kimpouni et les Kamba Kamba – Mbuale
Zaïko Langa Langa – Ngeli Ngeli
Nyboma – Doublé Doublé
Quatre Etoiles – Amerika
Mbilia Bel – La Beauté d’une Femme
Etoile de Namaco – Ma Chère Maman
Shaba Kahamba – Pambindoni / Ndele Okozongela / Youyou
Pépé Kallé – Vengi
Michel Moutouari – Les Vacances au Pays
In no particular order, and to help you enjoy your week end, current favorites from the land of Mwangolé:
On October 7 2010, Arte‘s flagship music program Tracks did a piece about Sound Hunters. This is the first half of the piece, focused on Akwaaba Music and label boss Benjamin Lebrave. Thanks to Arte for letting us post!
Whooooaaaaaa! Yet another 70s afrofunk compilation… this one caught our attention though. Maybe because it has Pierre Antoine’s BANGING track Kalabuley Women. Clocking in at 11:40, it should get you going for a while. Grab this comp in iTunes, follow Julien Lebrun, bossman behind the Hot Casa Records imprint. And if you still want more, check out this super deep set by Frank of Voodoofunk, which also incorporates Kalabuley Women… make sure to read about it and grab the playlist on his blog.
