August 31, 2016

The Frightnrs | Nothing More To Say

ARTIST: The Frightnrs
TITLE: Nothing More To Say
LABEL: Daptone
This is the debut long-player by the Frightnrs, a young band from Queens, New York that specializes in original music based on rocksteady, the mid-60s Jamaican genre that preceded reggae.

August 30, 2016

Program August 31, 2016

Juan Gabriel, Mexico's most revered pop music icon, died on Sunday at age 66.  It's impossible for non-Mexicans to fully understand his cultural role: imagine Elvis, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, James Brown and Liberace rolled up into one pansexual persona, and you'll start to get an idea.

Nothing was less hip than digging JuanGa, yet no one was more hip than he himself.  Here's a thoughtful tribute to the man: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-arellano-juan-gabriel-20160829-snap-story.html.

I'm not going to offer a full musical tribute to JuanGa (that's a statue of him above in Mexico City's Plaza Garibaldi, decorated with death offerings from his fans, in an AP photo by Eduardo Verdugo) -- I'll leave that to someone with more expertise.  But I will play you his last hit, a cover of a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival (no joke), and some more selections to get you thinking about the enormous influence of Mexico on American culture.

Also this week: descarga and salsa dura; Jamaican lovers rock; and Dzambo Agusev, the next Balkan trumpet star.

August 29, 2016

Charts August 28, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 YENI NOSTALJI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
2 MAMADOU BARRY AND AFRO GROOVE GANG | Tankadi | Label Bleu
3 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Heavenly Sweetness/Strut
4 VIEUX KANTE | The Young Man's Harp | Sterns Africa
5 KRISTI STASSINOPOULOU AND STATHIS KALYVIOTIS | NYN | Riverboat
6 QUANTIC PRESENTA FLOWERING INFERNO | 1000 Watts | Tru Thoughts
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa
8 JOSEPH ISRAEL | Paradise | Lions Of Israel
9 LENI STERN | Dakar Suite | self-released
10 DJELIMADY TOUNKARA | Djely Blues | Label Bleu

August 23, 2016

Dzambo Agusevi Orchestra | Brass Like It Hot

ARTIST: Dzambo Agusevi Orchestra
TITLE: Brass Like It Hot
LABEL: ARC
Macedonia is a hotbed of Balkan gypsy brass music; 29-year-old trumpeter Dzambo Agusev looks like he’s going to become the genre’s next international star.

Quiero Creedence

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Quiero Creedence
LABEL: Concord Picante
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) isn’t just a mainstay of American “classic rock” – they’ve long been huge south of the border as well. Here’s a clever project that brings top Latin rock and pop acts together with the CCR material they grew up listening to.

This Is Kologo Power!

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: This Is Kologo Power!
LABEL: Sahelsounds / Makkum / Red Wig
The kologo is a two-stringed lute made of calabash, wood and animal hide. It’s native to the Upper East region of Ghana, although similar instruments appear across West Africa (variously called molo, xalam, hoddu, tidinit and ngoni).

Program August 24, 2016

Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis (pictured above) have been collaborating for more than 25 years, incorporating Greek traditional music, rembetika, psychedelic rock and electronica into their unique sound.

Kristi and Stathis' sixth album, NYN, is one of their finest efforts to date.  It will be released in the USA on September 30; you'll hear a track from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: musical poets Anthony Joseph and Ishmael Reed; new music from Francophone West Africa; and the music of two artists who'll be performing in Saturday's Richmond Roots Festival at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.

August 22, 2016

Charts August 21, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | This Is Kologo Power! | Sahelsounds/Makkum/Red Wig
2 YENI NOSTALGI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Quiero Creedence | Concord Picante
4 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
5 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | 20 | Asphalt Tango
6 MONEY CHICHA | Echo En Mexico | Vampisoul
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
8 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Heavenly Sweetness/Strut
9 IMARHAN | Imarhan | City Slang
10 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) | Knitting Factory

August 16, 2016

Program August 17, 2016

More new music from the Sahara Desert this week on Global A Go-Go -- I'll play a great acoustic track from the recent debut album by Algeria's Imarhan, and the first official release by Afous D'Afous (pictured above) also of Algeria.

Also this week: the brassy sounds of Macedonia, Creedence en Espanol, and kologo power straight outta Ghana's Northeast.

August 8, 2016

Charts August 7, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VIEUX KANTE | The Young Man's Harp | Sterns Africa
2 MAMADOU BARRY AND AFRO GROOVE GANG | Tankadi | Label Bleu
3 SAN LAZARO | La Despedida | HopeStreet
4 QUANTIC PRESENTA FLOWERING INFERNO | 1000 Watts | Tru Thoughts
5 LICKSHOTS | The Lickshots | Rockers International
6 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
7 AUGUSTUS PABLO | Original Rockers | Greensleeves
8 KONONO NO. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida | Crammed
9 OMAR | I Want It To Be | Freestyle
10 STICKY JOE | Good Day | Kingston Express

August 2, 2016

Vieux Kante | The Young Man's Harp

ARTIST: Vieux Kante
TITLE: The Young Man’s Harp
LABEL: Sterns Africa
The kamale ngoni, or young man’s harp, is a young instrument: a smaller, secular version of the donso ngoni (hunter’s harp), it wasn’t invented until the 1960s and it quickly became a staple in the Wassoulou music of southwestern Mali.

Program August 3, 2016

When you're a fan of African music like I am, one of the things you learn is that for every world-famous artist like Salif Keita or Youssou N'Dour, there are a hundred obscurities who are just as worthy of international attention.

Maitre Mamadou Barry (far right in picture above) is this week's case in point.  His band Kaloum Star (pictured above) was one of Guinee Conakry's national orchestras (Bembeya Jazz National is the most famous of their peers) yet they released only eight songs in that time.  He's gone on to be chef d'orchestre for Les Amazones De Guinee and worked with Sekouba Bambino, the aforementioned Bembeya Jazz and just about everybody who's anybody in Francophone West African music of the last 50 years.

Barry released his second solo album in June, so now's a great time to give the man his due.  On this week's program you'll hear a track from his new album, one by Les Amazones and an unreleased live recording of the amazing Kaloum Star, courtesy of the music blog Worldservice: http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com/2009/03/kaloum-star-live.html.

Also this week: Mali's hunter's harp and youth harp; mo' Latin soul; and what's new in reggae, summer 2016 edition.

August 1, 2016

Charts July 31, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 YENI NOSTALJI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
2 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
4 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
5 ELIAS ALEXANDER AND BYWATER BAND | Bywater | Fresh Haggis
6 BACAO RHYTHM AND STEEL BAND | 55 | Big Crown
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
9 ELZA SOARES | The Woman At The End Of The World | Mais Um Discos
10 KRISTI STASSINOPOULOU AND STATHIS KALYVIOTIS | NYN | Riverboat