February 24, 2013

Charts February 24, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY | Simigwa | Academy LPs
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock From Singapore And Malaysia - 1964-1970 | Sublime Frequencies
3 MALOKO | Soul On Fire | Introducing
4 BARRINGTON LEVY | Sweet Reggae Music 1979-84 | VP
5 GYPSYPHONIC DISKO | Mardi Gras Mixtape | self-released
6 QUATRO NA BOSSA | Bossa Nossa | self-released
7 RED BARAAT | Shruggy Ji | Sinj
8 ROGE | Brenguele | Coqueiro Verde
9 MOH ALILECHE | When The Dust Settles | Flag Of Freedom Productions
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Santiago De Cuba: La Reina Del "Son" | Fremeaux & Associes

February 21, 2013

Program February 22, 2013

Ready to do the kwassa kwassa?  This week on Global A Go-Go, a vintage Congolese recording from the 1980s: a soukous-style medley of American soul hits.  Need some pointers?  Click the video above and learn the steps from the inventors of kwassa kwassa, Pepe Kalle's Empire Bakuba dancers featuring Emoro the dancing dwarf.  You're welcome.

Also this week: Algeria via Brazil starting right here in Richmond; brass bands of all colors, shapes and sizes; and for Black History Month, the birth of conscious hip hop.

February 19, 2013

Maloko | Soul On Fire

ARTIST: Maloko
TITLE: Soul On Fire
LABEL: Introducing
Here’s a totally unlikely and very welcome reissue of a unique African recording. Soul On Fire is an example of a brief trend in 1980’s African music called the “non-stop” LP -- continuous side-long medleys of an assortment of songs.

February 17, 2013

Charts February 17, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 GYPSYPHONIC DISKO | Mardi Gras Mixtape | self-released
2 SEKOUBA BAMBINO | The Griot's Craft | Sterns
3 BOMBA ESTEREO | Elegancia Tropical | Soundway
4 BARRINGTON LEVY | Sweet Reggae Music 1979-84 | VP
5 BABA SALAH | Dangay (The North) | Studio Mali
6 GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY | Simigwa | Academy LPs
7 FELA KUTI | The Best Of The Black President 2 | Knitting Factory
8 NURU KANE | Exile | Riverboat
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To The Music Of Senegal | World Music Network
10 JUNIOR KELLY | "Piece Of The Pie" [Single] | VPAL

February 14, 2013

Program February 15, 2013

I've been listening to a lot of new reggae and dancehall releases lately (some original, some reissued); this week you'll hear a set of the best of them.  I'll also spin four recent West African recordings that have impressed me.

The folks at Knitting Factory Records are continuing their Fela Kuti reissue project with an outstanding two-CD "best-of" compilation; that's all the excuse I need to play a Fela track.  BTW, that's Fela (above) taking on WRIR's DJ Graybeard (out of the frame) in a highly competitive table tennis match.

Bomba Estereo | Elegancia Tropical

ARTIST: Bomba Estereo
TITLE: Elegancia Tropical
LABEL: Soundway
No sophomore slump for this Bogota-based quartet – their 2009 full-length debut introduced many USA listeners to electro-cumbia (especially via the hit single “Fuego”), and this one goes well beyond its predecessor.

Barrington Levy | Sweet Reggae Music 1979-84

ARTIST: Barrington Levy
TITLE: Sweet Reggae Music 1979-84
LABEL: VP
Barrington Levy is one of the seminal artists in the development of Jamaican popular music’s dancehall genre, in which vocalists extemporize in song, rap (“toast” or “deejay” in the local parlance) or both over backing tracks in the studio or in live performance.

February 13, 2013

February 2013 Concert Calendar

 February's Global A Go-Go Picks:
  1. At the Camel on Friday February 8 (pictured above), an album release party for Richmond Brazilian aces Quatro Na Bossa plus Bio Ritmo and Rattan DJ
  2. Corey Harris at the Byrd Theatre on Monday February 11, a benefit for Historic Fulton Memorial Park
  3. On Saturday February 23, West African stalwarts Papa Susso (kora) and Balla Kouyate (balafon) with Hotel X at the Neighborhood Resource Center in Fulton Hill
  4. The Skatalites at the Howard Theatre in DC on Wednesday February 27 
Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar?  Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire February calendar.

February 10, 2013

Charts February 10, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY | Simigwa | Academy LPs
2 DUR-DUR BAND | Volume 5 | Awesome Tapes From Africa
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock From Singapore And Malaysia - 1964-1970 | Sublime Frequencies
4 GYPSYPHONIC DISKO | Mardi Gras Mixtape | self-released
5 BABA SALAH | Dangay (The North) | Studio Mali
6 QUATRO NA BOSSA | Bossa Nossa | self-released
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Cumbia (2nd edition) | World Music Network
8 NURU KANE | Exile | Riverboat
9 SEKOUBA BAMBINO | The Griot's Craft | Sterns
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Santiago De Cuba: La Reina Del "Son" | Fremeaux & Associes

February 7, 2013

Program February 8, 2013

With Mardi Gras right around the corner, it's time for one of Global A Go-Go's periodic visits to New Orleans.  This time you'll hear a stoned soul classic by Dr. John and something from the new Mardi Gras mixtape by Gypsyphonic Disko (pictured above).

Also this week: urban beats and vintage funk from all over the world, and a visit from Laura Ann Singh and Marlysse Simmons, whose bands (Quatro Na Bossa and Bio Ritmo, respectively) are playing at the Camel tonight.

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley | Simigwa

ARTIST: Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
TITLE: Simigwa
LABEL: Academy LPs
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is one of the key artists in the development of West African popular music. His 1985 album Cut Your Coat is widely regarded as the first example of Ghanaian rap and marks the birth of the now-dominant hiplife style. Before that, he was a central figure in the Afro-funk revolution of the 1970’s that brought the influence of James Brown and other American R&B artists into African music.

Gypsyphonic Disko | Mardi Gras Mixtape

ARTIST: Gypsyphonic Disko
TITLE: Mardi Gras Mixtape
LABEL: self-released
Just in time for Mardi Gras 2013 comes the third mixtape from the team of DJ Quickie Mart and Galactic’s Ben Ellman, aka Gypsyphonic Disko. Their signature sound is mashing up the local New Orleans hip hop style called bounce with beat-enhanced world music like Balkan brass and cumbia.

Fela Kuti | The Best Of The Black President 2

ARTIST: Fela Kuti
TITLE: The Best Of The Black President 2
LABEL: Knitting Factory
This is the second two-disc “best of” release in Knitting Factory’s Fela reissue series – they’ve also made available just about everything in Universal’s Fela catalog while co-producing the FELA! musical and serving as the American home for Femi and Seun Kuti’s releases as well.

Baba Salah | Dangay

ARTIST: Baba Salah
TITLE: Dangay (The North)
LABEL: Studio Mali
Baba Salah is a guitarist from Gao in northern Mali who’s now based in Bamako. He’s best known outside his country as the guitarist for Oumou Sangare, one of Mali’s biggest international stars.

February 4, 2013

Charts February 3, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock From Singapore And Malaysia - 1964-1970 | Sublime Frequencies
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Diablos Del Ritmo: The Colombian Melting Pot 1960-1985 | Analog Africa
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Jukebox Mambo: Rumba And Afro Latin Accented Rhythm And Blues 1949-1960 | Jazzman
4 DUR-DUR BAND | Volume 5 | Awesome Tapes From Africa
5 MARTIN LOPEZ Y SUS ESTRELLAS | Cocinando | Masstropicas
6 QUATRO NA BOSSA | Bossa Nossa | self-released
7 RED BARAAT | Shruggy Ji | Sinj
8 ROGE | Brenguele | Coqueiro Verde
9 MOH ALILECHE | When The Dust Settles (Tamdit B'Wass) | Flag Of Freedom Productions
10 SEKOUBA BAMBINO | The Griot's Craft | Sterns