June 30, 2014

Charts June 29, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
2 CUMBIA ALL STARS | Tigres En Fuga | World Village
3 RICARDO LEMVO AND MAKINA LOCA | La Rumba SoYo | Cumbancha
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Salsa De Hoy: An Independent Salsa Caliente Compilation | Discos De Hoy
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Sound Of Siam, Volume 2: Molam And Luk Thung From North-East Thailand 1970-1982 | Soundway
6 BOBBY VALENTIN | El Mensajero | Andale
7 SONIDO GALLO NEGRO | Sendero Mistico | Glitterbeat
8 LOS HACHEROS | Pilon | Chulo / Daptone
9 QUANTIC | Magnetica | Tru Thoughts
10 DEXTER JOHNSON AND LE SUPER STAR DE DAKAR | Live A L'Etoile | Teranga Beat

June 26, 2014

Cumbia All Stars | Tigres En Fuga

ARTIST: Cumbia All Stars
TITLE: Tigres En Fuga
LABEL: World Village
In the last seven or so years, there’s been a worldwide groundswell of interest in chicha, Peru’s psychedelic cumbia music of the 60s, 70s and 80s, with a wide assortment of reissues and new bands grabbing attention.

Program June 27, 2014

Here at WRIR, the flavor of summer 2014 is most definitely "Latin."  We've received more good-to-excellent new Latin music releases in the last couple of months than at any other time in the first ten years we've been on the air.

We have so much good new Latin music that I'm going to feature an hour of it on this week's program.  You'll hear WRIR premieres of new discs by Angolan-Congolese-American salsero Ricardo Lemvo (pictured above) and by Peuvian chicha supergroup the Cumbia All Stars, a track by Bio Ritmo (celebrating with a record release show at the Broadberry on Sunday night), and much more.

Also this week: one from Debo Band (also in town this weekend, Saturday night at the Broadberry), and a set of songs by "the James Brown of [your country's name here]."

June 22, 2014

Charts June 22, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BOBBY VALENTIN | El Mensajero | Andale
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Salsa De Hoy: An Independent Salsa Caliente Compilation | Discos De Hoy
3 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
4 TOUMANI DIABATE AND SIDIKI DIABATE | Toumani And Sidiki | World Circuit
5 SONIDO GALLO NEGRO | Sendero Mistico | Glitterbeat
6 OUMAR KONATE | Addoh | Clermont Music
7 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle
8 BLACK MASALA | Black Masala | self-released
9 ALSARAH AND THE NUBATONES | Silt | Wonderwheel
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Pulse Of Brazil | ARC

June 21, 2014

Salsa De Hoy: An Independent Salsa Caliente Compilation

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Salsa De Hoy: An Independent Salsa Caliente Compilation
LABEL: Discos De Hoy
Richmonders know all about Bio Ritmo (track 4), the hometown salsa band whose appeal goes well beyond the hard-core Latin music audience and who market themselves the way an indie rock band would do. Well, there’s an international cohort of similar nueva generacion salsa groups, and this compilation is a fine introduction to ten of them.

June 19, 2014

Program June 20, 2014

This week, Global A Go-Go goes live -- Black Masala (pictured above), DC's gypsy-inspired brass band, plays live this Friday on Global A Go-Go before taking the stage at Balliceaux later that night.

If you haven't heard Black Masala yet ... well, you probably haven't been listening to my radio show lately.  They're Washington Area Music Association's 2013 "Best New Artist," they include members of DC-area stalwarts Thievery Corporation, See-I and Yellow Dubmarine, and they sound like a more Balkanized version of No BS! Brass.  It's gonna be hot in the Live Room tonight!

Also this week: Mande virtuosos, twangy guitars of Latin America, and salsa's trombanga sound.

June 16, 2014

Charts June 15, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
2 GAROTAS SUECAS | Feras Miticas | Vampisoul
3 QUANTIC | Magnetica | Tru Thoughts
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Sound Of Siam, Volume 2: Molam & Luk Thung From North-East Thailand 1970-1982 | Soundway
5 TOUMANI DIABATE AND SIDIKI DIABATE | Toumani And Sidiki | World Circuit
6 DEXTER JOHNSON AND LE SUPER STAR DE DAKAR | Live A L'Etoile | Teranga Beat
7 NOURA MINT SEYMALI | Tzenni | Glitterbeat
8 SON PALENQUE | Afrocolombian Sound Modernizers | Vampisoul
9 BOULPIK | Kompa Lakay | Lusafrica
10 HASSAN HAKMOUN | Unity | Healing

June 12, 2014

Program June 13, 2014

This week on Global A Go-Go, Elin (pictured above with Brazilian legend Jorge Ben) and Ben Takis of the band Alma Tropicalia drop by the studio for a chat.  DC-based Alma Tropicalia, who specialize in psychedelic samba and Brazilian funk, will play later on Friday night at Balliceaux; we'll talk about the gig, the joys of tropicalia, DC's Brazilian community, and much more some time after 6 PM.

Also on this week's program: great female voices of the Sahara; brass bands from around the world; and of course some Brazilian psychedelia.

June 8, 2014

Charts June 8, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
2 QUANTIC | Magnetica | Tru Thoughts
3 BOULPIK | Kompa Lakay | Lusafrica
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Sound Of Siam Volume 2: Molam & Luk Thung From North-East Thailand 1970-1982 | Soundway
5 SIA TOLNO | African Woman | Lusafrica
6 NOURA MINT SEYMALI | Tzenni | Glitterbeat
7 HASSAN HAKMOUN | Unity | Healing
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cambodia | World Music Network
9 SIERRA LEONE'S REFUGEE ALL STARS | Libation | Cumbancha
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Let's Boogaloo, Vol. 6: Explosive Deep Funk, Northern Soul And Dancefloor Jazz En El Barrio | Record Kicks

June 5, 2014

Quantic | Magnetica

ARTIST: Quantic
TITLE: Magnetica
LABEL: Tru Thoughts
This is Will (Quantic) Holland’s fifteenth studio album, and he’s still just 34 years old. Holland came out of England’s northern soul, funk and broken beats scene, and he’s immersed himself in Latin music while living in Colombia for the last six years (he recently moved to Brooklyn).

The Sound Of Siam, Volume 2: Molam & Luk Thung From North-East Thailand 1970-1982

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: The Sound Of Siam, Volume 2: Molam & Luk Thung From North-East Thailand 1970-1982
LABEL: Soundway
Volume 2 of this series from Soundway Records and compilers Chris Menist and Maft Sai is just as much of a delight as was 2010’s first volume.

Program June 6, 2014

Will (Quantic) Holland, the British DJ-producer-record collector-bandleader-composer-musician, has just finished up a six-year residency in Colombia (he recently moved to Brooklyn).

His superb new album Magnetica puts a capstone on this phase of his career -- it links the dance music he cut his teeth on (Northern soul, funk, breakbeats) with the Colombian music that has recently inspired him.  You'll hear two tracks from it on this week's program.

Also this week: the acoustic African disapora; three popular music styles from Thailand; and heavy rock from North Africa.

June 1, 2014

Charts June 1, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BOBBY VALENTIN | El Mensajero | Andale
2 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
3 SEUN KUTI AND EGYPT 80 | A Long Way To The Beginning | Knitting Factory
4 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Ibibio Sound Machine | Soundway
5 SIA TOLNO | African Woman | Lusafrica
6 DEXTER JOHNSON AND LE SUPER STAR DE DAKAR | Live A L'Etoile | Teranga Beat
7 SON PALENQUE | Afrocolombian Sound Modernizers | Vampisoul
8 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle
9 BOULPIK | Kompa Lakay | Lusafrica
10 ECCODEK | Singing In Tongues | Black Swan Sounds