Charts October 28, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA | Solidarity | Strut
2 ROBERTO LOPEZ AFRO-COLOMBIAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA | Azul | Curura Musique
3 ROBERT SOKO | BalkanBeats Soundlab | Piranha
4 SOOTHSAYERS | Human Nature | Red Earth
5 TIM MAIA | World Psychedelic Classics 4: Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul Of Tim Maia | Luaka Bop
6 DIABEL CISSOKHO | Kanabory Siyama | World Village
7 ONDATROPICA | Ondatropica | Soundway
8 STAFF BENDA BILILI | Bouger Le Monde! | Crammed
9 ANTIBALAS | Antibalas | Daptone
10 ZANI DIABATE AND LES HERITIERS | Tientalaw | Sterns

Roberto Lopez Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra | Azul

ARTIST:  Roberto Lopez Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra
TITLE:  Azul
LABEL:  Curura Musique
Crate-diggers like Will (Quantic) Holland (The Original Sound Of Cumbia) have introduced today’s listeners to porro, the glorious Colombian big-band cumbia sound of the 1940s and beyond. Here’s a band that’s both inspired by that era and yet utterly contemporary.

Robert Soko | BalkanBeats Soundlab

ARTIST:  Robert Soko
TITLE:  BalkanBeats Soundlab
LABEL:  Piranha
Bosnian-born, Berlin-based Robert Soko is one of the lynchpins of the Balkan-beats movement, using gypsy and brass band music as the raw material for dance floor-oriented remixes.

Program October 26, 2012

Halloween is next week (don't forget WRIR's 5th annual Monster Mashquerade party at The Camel tonight) and Election Day is right behind that.  How perfectly appropriate, therefore, that we Virginians are asked to vote once again either for or against a man who, like the proverbial zombie, has crawled out of the grave he dug for himself.

I'm talking of course about George "Macaca" Allen -- as long as he keeps running for the same Senate seat, I'll keep remixing his unforgettable words into the song "Macaco Mata El Toro" ("Monkey Kills The Bull").  It sounded great in '06 and I'll do it again this week on Global A Go-Go.  Will it be back in 2018?  That's for George to decide.

Charts October 21, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Cumbia Beat Vol. 2: Tropical Sounds Of Peru 1966-83 | Vampisoul
2 CHICHA LIBRE | Canibalismo | Barbes
3 SOOTHSAYERS | Human Nature | Red Earth
4 TIM MAIA | World Psychedelic Classics 4: Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul Of Tim Maia | Luaka Bop
5 MARTIN LOPEZ Y SUS ESTRELLAS | Cocinando | Masstropicas
6 ROYAL BAND DE THIES | Kadior Demb | Teranga Beat
7 SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA | Solidarity | Strut
8 SOFRITO | International Soundclash | Strut
9 ANTIBALAS | Antibalas | Daptone
10 ZANI DIABATE AND LES HERITIERS | Tientalaw | Sterns

Program October 19, 2012

I'm a big fan of Chicha Libre, the Brooklyn-based band that's turning folks all over the world on to the glories of Peruvian psychedelic cumbia.  (Apparently The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is also a big fan -- see above.)  Their album Canibalismo is one of my favorites releases of 2012.

Chicha Libre is playing on Friday night at Balliceaux and, schedule permitting, they'll stop by Global A Go-Go for some conversation and to spin a few discs for listeners.  Both the on-air appearance and the gig should be a lot of fun -- I highly recommend both to you.

Cumbia Beat, Volume 2

ARTIST:  various artists 
TITLE:  Cumbia Beat, Volume 2 
LABEL:  Vampisoul
Spain’s Vampisoul Records is back with a second edition (of two discs, to boot) of Peruvian cumbia-psych chicha music from the 1970’s (with a handful of tracks from the late 60’s and two from the 80’s).

Martin Lopez Y Sus Estrellas | Cocinando

ARTIST:  Martin Lopez Y Sus Estrellas 
TITLE:  Cocinando 
LABEL:  Masstropicas
Mighty-mite indie vinyl label Masstropicas has until now specialized in chicha, Peru’s unique brew of cumbia and psychedelia.  With this release they’re expanding out into a wider variety of the superb tropical music produced in that country in the 1960’s and 70’s.

Soothsayers | Human Nature

ARTIST:  Soothsayers 
TITLE:  Human Nature 
LABEL:  Red Earth 
Here’s the full-length follow-up to Soothsayers’ We’re Not Leaving EP, which got my strong recommendation back in May 2012: http://www.globalagogo.com/2012/05/soothsayers-were-not-leaving.html.

Program October 12, 2012

It's Richmond Folk Festival time once again (that's me and DJ Graybeard above, at the Festival a few years ago).  And that means it's time for another edition of Global A Go-Go's guide to the folk festival.

This year, I'm focusing in on four artists: Moroccan gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun and his band; Forro Pe De Ferra All Stars, playing accordion-driven forro music from northeast Brazil; Septeto Nacional De Ignacio Pineiro, who pioneered the Cuban son habanero style 80 years ago; and Fred Wesley & The New JB's, led by a man who can say he was literally present at the birth of funk.

Charts October 7, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 TIM MAIA | World Psychedelic Classics 4: Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul Of Tim Maia | Luaka Bop
2 FIREWATER | International Orange! | Bloodshot
3 ROYAL BAND DE THIES | Kadior Demb | Teranga Beat
4 SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA | Solidarity | Strut
5 ONDATROPICA | Ondatropica | Soundway
6 SOFRITO | International Soundclash | Strut
7 ANTIBALAS | Antibalas | Daptone
8 BIO RITMO | Introducing Bio Ritmo | Introducing
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To The Music Of Ethiopia | World Music Network
10 TERAKAFT | Kel Tamasheq | World Village

Program October 5, 2012

Tim Maia, Brazil's Cosmic Soul Brother #1, led a life that sounds like fiction.  Among his most outrageous exploits: turning the executives at his record label on to LSD, and joining a cult that believed humans came to Earth on flying saucers.

Tim's fabulously soulful, psychedelic, oh-so-70s music is the subject of a new retrospective by Luaka Bop Records; you'll hear two tracks from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Tim Maia | World Psychedelic Classics 4

ARTIST:  Tim Maia 
TITLE:  World Psychedelic Classics 4 – Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul Of Tim Maia 
LABEL:  Luaka Bop 
Here is Luaka Bop’s long-awaited compilation of the music of one of Brazil’s most remarkable stars.