January 30, 2014

Program January 31, 2014

Just fifteen tracks this week on Global A Go-Go -- I have some long songs lined up for you this time.  But in those fifteen we'll touch down in thirteen different countries, so things will be as global as always.

Mamani Keita (pictured above) counts for two of those countries -- she's a native of Mali, but she's lived in France for the last 27 years.  Mamani has a superb new album (release date is February 11), and we'll hear a number from it on today's show.

Feedel Band | Ethiopian Ocean

ARTIST: Feedel Band
TITLE: Ethiopian Ocean
LABEL: self-released
Here’s some world-class Ethio-jazz from right up the road in Washington, DC (which is actually the second-largest Ethiopian city in the world, behind only Addis Ababa). Feedel Band is a septet fronted by veteran saxophonist Moges Habte, who played with one of his home country’s most famous bands, Walias Band, back in the 70s.

Mamani Keita | Kanou

ARTIST: Mamani Keita
TITLE: Kanou
LABEL: World Village
Mamani Keita is a Malian singer who’s lived in France for the last 27 years. She started by backing up Salif Keita (no relation), then carved out a career as a lead singer, collaborating first with producer Mark Minelli then with Nicolas Repac.

January 26, 2014

Charts January 26, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Clash Goes Jamaican: Reggae, Ska, Dub & Rocksteady | Golden Singles
2 BIO RITMO | "Se Les Olvido" [Single] | Locutor
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
5 LIBERATORS | Power Struggle | Record Kicks
6 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
7 SYSTEMA SOLAR | La Revancha Del Burro | Sambumbia
8 ABELARDO CARBONO | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono | Vampisoul
9 AFRICA EXPRESS | Maison Des Jeunes | Trangressive
10 DOM LA NENA | Golondrina [EP] | Six Degrees

January 19, 2014

Charts January 19, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | "Se Les Olvido" [Single] | Locutor
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 | Strut
3 SYSTEMA SOLAR | La Revancha Del Burro | Sambumbia
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Los Nuggetz: '60s Garage & Psych From Latin America | RockBeat
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
6 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
7 ALPAY | Yekte | Pharaway Sounds
8 BLACK BAZAR | Round 2 | Lusafrica
9 ABELARDO CARBONO | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono | Vampisoul
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical, And Cumbia | Tiger's Milk

January 16, 2014

Bio Ritmo | Se Les Olvido

ARTIST: Bio Ritmo
TITLE: Se Les Olvido
LABEL: Locutor
The second single from Bio Ritmo’s forthcoming (spring 2014) full-length album shows off many of the band’s considerable strengths all in one song.

Program January 17, 2014

Are you ready for "Mondo Mundo Garage A Go-Go"?  This week, Global A Go-Go spins a set of the deepest garage-rock from all corners of the map -- from Cambodia to Spain and from Uruguay to Turkey.  I'm inspired in part by a recent acquisition (pictured above): the Latin American answer to Nuggets.

Also this week: the best new reggae I've heard lately; soukous, cadence and compas; and the brand-new single by Richmond's own Bio Ritmo.

January 12, 2014

Charts January 12, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 | Strut
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
3 WILLIAM ONYEABOR | World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? | Luaka Bop
4 ADRIAN RASO AND FANFARE CIOCARLIA | Devil's Tale | Asphalt Tango
5 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
6 JOSEPH KABASELE | Le Grand Kalle: His Life, His Music | Sterns
7 KAL | Romology | ARC
8 BLACK BAZAR | Round 2 | Lusafrica
9 ABELARDO CARBONO | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono | Vampisoul
10 FODE BARO | La Verite | Lusafrica

January 9, 2014

Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978
LABEL: Strut
Too small, too close to the USA, overshadowed by its neighbors – for whatever reason, Haiti is unjustly neglected in discussion of the world’s great music scenes. Hugo Mendez (of the DJing collective Sofrito) and Strut Records have the antidote in this marvelous two-disc compilation.

Program January 10, 2014

We'll pay homage to Ibrahim Sylla this week on Global A Go-Go.  Sylla, who passed away on December 30 at age 57, was by far the most important African record producer of his generation.

I could fill months of this program with Sylla's recordings -- in fact, my colleagues DJs Graybeard and Daudi devoted two hours to his music last Sunday on The Motherland Influence:

http://wrir.org/index.php?/blog/entry/12256
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/73666

I'll pick just four of my favorites from Sylla's oeuvre, each one a high point in his illustrious career.  Also this week: new music by Fanfare Ciocarlia (who are performing in Washington DC next Friday), a boss new reissue of Haitian music of the 60's and 70's, and of course much more.

January 5, 2014

Charts January 5, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
2 PENNY PENNY | Shaka Bundu | Awesome Tapes From Africa
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
4 JOSEPH KABASELE | Le Grand Kalle: His Life, His Music | Sterns
5 ABELARDO CARBONO | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono | Vampisoul
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight To Ghana | Analog Africa
7 FREEDOM FAMILY | Ayentsoo | Academy
8 MANU CHAO | Siberie M'Etait Conteee | Because
9 ALPAY | Yekte | Pharaway Sounds
10 BLACK BAZAR | Round 2 | Lusafrica

January 2, 2014

Program January 3, 2014

Bonne annee!  Global A Go-Go kicks off 2014 with a big cache of new releases:
  • The latest from Analog Africa Records: their second trip to Angola
  • The least-known item from Manu Chao's solo career, formerly hard to find but now reissued for all to enjoy
  • Damon Albarn's latest Africa project, Maison Des Jeunes
  • The first international release in nine years by Serbia's Boris Kovac, famous for The Last Balkan Tango
  • A new collaboration between Balkan brass supergroup Fanfare Ciocarlia and Canadian guitar slinger Adrian Raso
  • And a fabulous reissue of a 1994 South African megahit by Penny Penny (pictured above -- some kind of hairdo!)
And plenty of great older music as well -- see you on the radio!

January 1, 2014

January 2014 Concert Calendar

January's Global A Go-Go picks:
  1. A marvelous African double bill at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on Thursday January 16: Zimbabwe's Oliver Mtukudzi (pictured above) & The Black Spirits supported by Krar Collective from Ethiopia via London
  2. Richmond-based, nationally touring Corey Harris & The Rasta Blues Experience stay busy locally, with a gig at the Capital Ale House on Friday January 10 and a three-day residency at DC's Blues Alley January 30-February 1
  3. A double bill of two excellent and infrequently-heard local bands: Richmanian Ramblers and Miramar at the Camel on Monday January 20
  4. Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia, possibly the best Balkan brass band in the world, visit DC's Atlas Performing Arts Center on Friday January 17
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 January calendar.

Manu Chao | Siberie M'etait Conteee

ARTIST: Manu Chao
TITLE: Siberie M’etait Conteee
LABEL: Because Music
Not a new album from Manu Chao (maybe later this year?), but a reissue of the least-known item in his solo catalog. This recording was originally issued in 2004, accompanied by a 133-page book marvelously illustrated by Polish cartoonist Jacek Wozniak; it sold out in no time and costs a pretty penny today if you can track it down.

Boris Kovac & La Campanella | Eastern Moon Rising

ARTIST: Boris Kovac & La Campanella
TITLE: Eastern Moon Rising
LABEL: Riverboat
Here’s the first international release in nine years from Serbian composer-bandleader-saxophonist Boris Kovac. Kovac’s music, whether written for his small combos, for chamber orchestra, or to accompany theater or film, is tuneful, melancholy, and rich with the many cultural influences of Central Europe’s Pannonian Plain (everything from waltzes to Hungarian folk songs, plus a bit of Argentine tango for good measure).

Penny Penny | Shaka Bundu

ARTIST: Penny Penny
TITLE: Shaka Bundu
LABEL: Awesome Tapes From Africa
The latest release from Awesome Tapes From Africa, the label that does exactly what it says on the tin, is my favorite of theirs thus far. This album dates back to 1994, the year of South Africa’s first free elections.

Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocarlia | Devil's Tale

ARTIST: Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocarlia
TITLE: Devil’s Tale
LABEL: Asphalt Tango
Romania’s Fanfare Ciocarlia, perhaps the greatest Balkan brass band in the world, takes a break from its near-continuous world tour to collaborate with Canadian guitarist Adrian Raso, whose playing touches on everything from Django Reinhardt and flamenco to Duane Eddy and rockabilly.