Program June 20, 2018

Desert blues superstar Oumara "Bombino" Moctar (pictured above), the "Sultan of Shred" from Agadez in Niger, has just released his sixth album.  It's the first in ten years that he's recorded in Africa -- there's no celebrity stars or crossover narrative here, just the best in Sahara Desert guitar.  You'll hear a track from it this week on Global A Go-Go, along with other artists from inside and north of the desert.

Also this week: vintage recordings from Central and East Africa, the Ethiopian tinge in jazz, and some hot dancehall and soca for this hot weather.

Charts June 17, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 DIALI CISSOKHO AND KAIRA BA | Routes | Twelve | Eight
2 ANGELIQUE KIDJO | Remain In Light | Kravenworks
3 YENI NOSTALJI | Yeni Nostalji | Ropeadope
4 LOS TEXMANIACS | Cruzando Borders | Smithsonian Folkways
5 ALI FARKA TOURE | The Source (Remastered) | World Circuit
6 CAMARAO | The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie (1964-1974) | Analog Africa
7 BROWNOUT | Fear Of A Brown Planet | Fat Beats
8 LA DAME BLANCHE | Bajo El Mismo Cielo | Nacional
9 LUCIBELA | Laco Umbilical | Lusafrica
10 SEUN KUTI AND EGYPT 80 | Black Times | Strut

Program June 13, 2018

North Carolina has become an exporter of top-shelf West African music in recent years.  The trend started with Asheville's Toubab Krewe, followed shortly by Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba (pictured above) from Carrboro.  The latter's third album will be released on June 29, the former issued their latest in March, and you'll hear a track from both on this week's program.

Also this week: yet another cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" -- but this time in Yiddish, a trip to the Mexico-USA border for Norteno and rock 'n' roll, and Afrobeat and Afro-funk at drum & bass tempos.

Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba | Routes

ARTIST: Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba
TITLE: Routes
LABEL: Twelve | Eight
North Carolina has become an exporter of top-shelf West African music in recent years. The trend started with Asheville’s Toubab Krewe, followed shortly by Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba from Carrboro.

El Dusty | Cumbia City

ARTIST: El Dusty
TITLE: Cumbia City
LABEL: Aftercluv
Dusty Oliveira is a young DJ-producer from Corpus Christi, Texas with a fresh take on electro-cumbia.

Angelique Kidjo | Remain In Light

ARTIST: Angelique Kidjo
TITLE: Remain In Light
LABEL: Kravenworks
Remain In Light by Talking Heads is one of the last albums I thought needed to be remade. This 1980 classic is the high point of that band’s career and a master class in employing an African sensibility without resorting to mere imitation.

Mystic Bowie | Mystic Bowie's Talking Dreads

ARTIST: Mystic Bowie
TITLE: Mystic Bowie’s Talking Dreads
LABEL: MTMB Entertainment
I didn’t expect to be reviewing two albums of Talking Heads covers this week.

Charts June 10, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 ANGELIQUE KIDJO | Remain In Light | Kravenworks
2 YENI NOSTALJI | Yeni Nostalji | Ropeadope
3 MYSTIC BOWIE | Mystic Bowie's Talking Dreads | MTMB Entertainment
4 EL DUSTY |  Cumbia City | Aftercluv
5 NICOLA CONTE AND SPIRITUAL GALAXY | Let Your Light Shine On | MPS
6 BOMBINO | Deran | Partisan
7 ALI FARKA TOURE | The Source (Remastered) | World Circuit
8 EL HIJO DE LA CUMBIA | Genero Genero | Nacional
9 AFRICAN SCREAM CONTEST 2 | various artists | Analog Africa
10 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone

Program June 6, 2018

Two legendary African singers passed away in recent days.  Kasse Mady Diabate (pictured above), the man Salif Keita called "the greatest singer in Mali," was a direct descendant of the jelis (professional musicians and historians) who served Sundiata Keita when he founded the Malian Empire in 1235.  He died on June 1 at age 69.

Singer and soldier Tsehaytu Beraki died at age 79 on May 24, Eritrean Independence Day, in the Netherlands where she was granted political asylum in 1988.  Tsehaytu, "The Sunshine Of Eritrea," helped popularize the traditional Tigrigna music of Asmara, a sound that has greatly influenced both Eritrean and Ethiopian music.

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a whole set of Kasse Mady's work, from his days with L'Orchestre National Badema in the 1970s to his remarkable 2015 final solo album.  And from Tsehaytu I'll play a pair of songs, one from the 70s and the other from her Dutch comeback album of 2004; you'll also hear younger musicians working in the azmari tradition.

Also this week: Angelique Kidjo and Mystic Bowie both remake Talking Heads songs, and a set of electro-cumbia to get you dancing.

Charts June 3, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 AFRICAN SCREAM CONTEST 2 | various artists | Analog Africa
2 BOMBINO | Deran | Partisan
3 LES POULES A COLIN | Morose | self-released
4 NICOLA CONTE AND SPIRITUAL GALAXY | Let Your Light Shine On | MPS
5 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone
6 SIDI TOURE | Toubalbero | Thrill Jockey
7 IMARHAN | Temet | City Slang
8 SONIDO GALLO NEGRO | Mambo Cosmico | Glitterbeat
9 AFRO B | Afrowave 2 | Marathon Artists
10 MYSTERY OF THE BULGARIAN VOICES, THE | BooCheeMish | Prophecy

Nicola Conte & Spiritual Galaxy | Let Your Light Shine On

ARTIST: Nicola Conte & Spiritual Galaxy
TITLE: Let Your Light Shine On
LABEL: MPS
Nicola Conte is an Italian guitarist, producer and DJ best known for his work in acid jazz, bringing improvised music and the dance floor together.

Program May 30, 2018

The godfather of champeta is back!  Abelardo Carbono (pictured above) made a series of brilliant recordings in Barranquilla in the 1980s that fused Afro-Colombian rhythms with sounds from the crates of records that entered Colombia's largest Caribbean port and became hits with the country's picos (mobile sound systems): Nigerian Afrobeat, Congolese soukous, Cuban mambo, Haitian compas, American funk and psych-rock.

It's been decades since Carbono released a new recording.  But here he is, working with a younger generation of crate-digging musicians who've all been inspired by him: Will (Quantic) Holland, Mario (Frente Cumbiero) Galeano, Lucas (Palenque Records) Silva and Felipe (Polen Records) Alvarez.  You'll hear their new single this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: spiritual jazz from Italy and the USA; new desert blues by Sidi Toure, Bombino and Imarhan; and more classics from West Africa's golden age.

Charts May 27, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 BOMBINO | Deran | Partisan
2 YENI NOSTALJI | Yeni Nostalji | Ropeadope
3 LOS TEXMANIACS | Cruzando Borders | Smithsonian Folkways
4 NICKODEMUS | A Long Engagement | Wonderwheel
5 AFRICAN SCREAM CONTEST 2 | various artists | Analog Africa
6 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone
7 CAMARAO | The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie (1964-1974) | Analog Africa
8 LEVANTA POEIRA | various artists | Jazz & Milk
9 DOMENICO LACELLOTTI | The Good Is a Big God | Luaka Bop
10 PIERRE SANDWINI | Le Troubadour De La Savane - 1978/1982 | Born Bad

Charts May 20, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 YENI NOSTALJI | Yeni Nostalji | Ropeadope
2 LOS TEXMANIACS | Cruzando Borders | Smithsonian Folkways
3 NICKODEMUS | A Long Engagement | Wonderwheel
4 AFRICAN SCREAM CONTEST 2 | various artists | Analog Africa
5 LISTEN ALL AROUND: THE GOLDEN AGE OF CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICAN MUSIC | various artists | Dust-To-Digital
6 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone
7 THORNATO | Back It Up [EP] | Wonderwheel
8 SONIDO GALLO NEGRO | Mambo Cosmico | Glitterbeat
9 CAMARAO | The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie (1964-1974) | Analog Africa
10 EMPRESARIOS | Cambumbeo [EP] | Empresarios Musica

Bombino | Deran

ARTIST: Bombino
TITLE: Deran
LABEL: Partisan
Oumara “Bombino” Moctar is a Tamasheq guitarist and singer from Agadez, Niger. Of all the second generation of tichumaren (sometimes called “desert blues”) players he’s the one with the highest international profile, aided in part by his last two albums which were produced by Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) and David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), respectively.