December 26, 2017

Program December 27, 2017: The Best Of The Rest, 2017 Edition

For the last six years, I've ended the calendar year with a program I call "The Best Of The Rest": my favorite new songs that didn't get played in my two-week review of that year's best albums.  I always find it to be one of the year's most compelling shows, and this week's edition is no exception.

The plain truth is that I hear too many good tracks each year to limit myself to a Top 10 or 20 -- this year, my best albums short list was forty titles long.  Then there are the long-players with just one or two killer songs, plus all the EPs and singles that cross my desk.

Add it all up, and the music on The Best Of The Rest might be even more stellar than what you heard over the last two weeks.  I'll let you be the judge.  And this year's The Best Of The Rest is particularly deep: I started with about 60 ideas and managed to winnow it down to 20 or so.

Bonne annee, bonne sante!

December 19, 2017

Program December 20, 2017: Top Ten Compilations Of 2017

It's time for program #2 in Global A Go-Go's three-week recap of 2017.  This week: my ten favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of the year, plus five honorable mentions.

Since I started hosting Global A Go-Go in 2004, there's been a massive wave of rediscovery of great international music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.  It's brought to the fore artists from around the world that first-world listeners like me never heard about when they were in their heyday.

That wave may be cresting as we enter 2018 -- I received and heard fewer top-tier compilations, reissues and historic recordings this year than in any year since I started doing my radio show.  Have all the African, Caribbean, Latin and Balkan crates now been dug?  I doubt it -- hopefully 2017 was a lull rather than an ending.

On the other hand, the best releases in this category were every bit as good as in previous years; it was just the volume of them that disappointed.  Tune in and hear how good they are for yourself.

Click "Read more" to see Global A Go-Go's Top Ten compilations, reissues and historic recordings for 2017 (with links to my reviews):

December 12, 2017

Program December 13, 2017: Top Ten New Releases Of 2017

It's the most wonderful time of the year ....  That's right, it's the time of the year when Global A Go-Go unwraps its favorite albums of the last 12 months.

This week, it's my Top Ten new releases of 2017, plus ten honorable mentions.  Next week, you'll hear my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of the year.  And on December 27, it's the best of the rest: all the great songs that didn't fit onto the previous two programs.

And without further ado, click "Read more" to see Global A Go-Go's Top Ten new releases of 2017 (with links to my reviews):

December 11, 2017

Charts December 10, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 USHER'S ISLAND | Usher's Island | Compass
2 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
3 HAMAD KALKABA AND THE GOLDEN SOUNDS | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
4 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
5 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve
6 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
7 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
8 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
9 GUY ONE | "Everything You Do, You Do For Yourself" [Single] | Philophon
10 ALBOROSIE | Soul Pirate Acoustic | Baco

December 5, 2017

Program December 6, 2017

Global A Go-Go has been Christmas-song-free for 14 years -- we'll leave that thread to other shows at WRIR, and indeed other entire radio stations.  But Hanukkah?  Now that's a different story.

Especially when you can play Geoff Berner on how he's ambivalent about the holiday, or Gypsyphonic Disko and Katey Red giving the dreidel song a New Orleans bounce, complete with dancers twerking behind a menorah (that's an actual screenshot of their video above).  That's the kind of holiday music I can get behind.

Also this week (aside from holiday music in questionable taste): desert blues channeling Piedmont blues; Afropop meets the second line (a second Crescent City sighting in this week's show); and new and old Brazilian psychedelia.

December 3, 2017

Charts December 3, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 HAMAD KALKABA AND THE GOLDEN SOUNDS | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
2 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
3 MAKING MOVIES | You Are Another Me | 3/2 Recordings
4 SPY FROM CAIRO, THE | Nothing New Under the Sun | Wonderwheel
5 EL BUHO | Balance | Wonderwheel
6 SERTANILIA | Gratia | self-released
7 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
8 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
9 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
10 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star

November 28, 2017

Program November 29, 2017

Classically-trained Western musicians like the Kronos Quartet (pictured above) are schooled in centuries-old tradition. Mande musicians like Trio Da Kali (also pictured above) are heirs to a practice that dates back to Europe’s medieval period.

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear another track from the new collaboration by those two bands, an album that will be on many critics' best-of-2017 lists.  You'll also hear three other examples of Kronos playing African music, in collaboration with Malian Rokia Traore, Kevin Volans of South Africa and Zimbabwe's Dumisane Maraire.

Also this week: Asian sounds from Indonesia, Mongolia and Tuva; a cumbia-salsa mashup; and the propulsive sounds of Colombian champeta.

November 26, 2017

Charts November 26, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 HAMAD KALKABA AND THE GOLDEN SOUNDS | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
2 STRICTLY THE BEST, VOL. 56 | various artists | VP
3 GILI YALO | Gili Yalo | Dead Sea
4 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
5 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
6 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
7 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
8 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve
9 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
10 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont

Les Filles De Illighadad | Eghass Malan

ARTIST: Les Filles De Illighadad
TITLE: Eghass Malan
LABEL: Sahel Sounds
The music we refer to as desert blues and Touregs call la guitare or assouf is a modern construct – it was invented by exiles in Algeria and Libya in the 1970s.

Hamad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds | 1974-1975

ARTIST: Hamad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds
TITLE: 1974-1975
LABEL: Analog Africa
This album contains the complete recorded output of Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who led Cameroon’s Republican Guard Orchestra as a young man and left music to focus on his military career and on athletics.

November 14, 2017

Program November 15, 2017

Desert blues from the Sahara is music that has been played almost exclusively by men -- until now.  Les Filles De Illighadad (pictured above) are an all-female band playing in the style Tuaregs call assouf or la guitare.  You'll hear a track from their new album this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: Hamad Kalkaba, a new addition to the West African authenticite pantheon; the sound of Colombia's Pacific coast; and remixers take on Latin dance classics.

November 12, 2017

Charts November 12, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 various artists | SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | Ostinato
2 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
3 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
4 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
5 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
6 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
7 PROFESSOR WOUASSA | Grow Yes Yes | Matasuma
8 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
9 MISTA SAVONA | Presents Havana Meets Kingston | 17 North Parade
10 M.D. AND THE HEALERS | Welcome To Babylon [EP] | Rebel Sound

November 7, 2017

Program November 8, 2017

Bouger bouger!  I'm getting warmed up for the Afropop Dance Thang, where WRIR's DJ Graybeard and I will be throwing down this Saturday at Studio Two Three.  To inspire you to come out for the event, I'll play a set of Afropop dancefloor fillers on this week's show.

Also this week: reggae from the former Soviet Union via Brooklyn, Afrobeat that's not from Nigeria, new music by the man who was the soundtrack of Malian independence in 1960, and the rediscovered sounds of Somalia.

Boubacar Traore | Dounia Tabolo

ARTIST: Boubacar Traore
TITLE: Dounia Tabolo
LABEL: Lusafrica
75 year old Boubacar Traore has been playing his blues-inflected music since Mali gained its independent in 1960.

November 6, 2017

WRIR's Afropop Dance Thang, Saturday November 11

Hey, if you're in Richmond this weekend here's an event you might want to check out: a rare public sighting of the Global A Go-Go Sound System.

DJ Graybeard of WRIR's The Other Black Music and The Motherland Influence and I will be spinning an evening's worth of our favorite African dance music. We're calling the event the Afropop Dance Thang -- it's happening Saturday November 11 at Studio Two Three, 3300 W. Clay Street in Scott's Addition. Here's our Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/178133479408937

November 5, 2017

Charts November 5, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
2 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
3 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
4 CANZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO | Canzoniere | Ponderosa
5 KRIES | Selo Na Okuke/Village Tracks | Riverboat
6 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
7 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve
8 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont
9 OFFA REX | The Queen Of Hearts | Nonesuch
10 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet

October 31, 2017

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino | Canzoniere

ARTIST: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
TITLE: Canzoniere
LABEL: Ponderosa
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS), from Lecce in the Salentine Peninsula, is Italy’s leading traditional music ensemble.

Da Cruz | Eco Do Futuro

ARTIST: Da Cruz
TITLE: Eco Do Futuro
LABEL: Boom Jah / Broken Silence
Brazilian Mariana Da Cruz was singing bossa nova in Lisbon when she met musician-producer Ane Hebeisen of the Swiss industrial band Swamp Terrorists.

Program November 1, 2017

First of all, I want to thank the over 500 listeners who donated more than $46,000 during WRIR's Fall 2017 Fund Drive, our most successful fund drive of all time.  You made it happen and in record time too: the drive was two days shorter than it's been in recent years!

You can still get in on the action: just visit wrir.org, fill out the online form, and get a boss Fall '17 T-shirt and hoodie.  If you donated and haven't picked up your swag yet, please email fundraising@wrir.org -- we'll set up a time for you to come by and get your premiums.

With things getting back to normal after two fund drive editions of Global A Go-Go, I have a bunch of new music for you to hear, starting with a fabulous album by the band that was for me the revelation of 2016's Richmond Folk Festival, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (pictured above).

Other recent releases you'll hear on this week's program include Brit-folk-rockers Offa Rex, Richmond's own Rumput, Kries from Croatia, the rockin' cumbia of La Misa Negra, Afro-sounds from Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet and Leila Gobi, Banda Magda's world chanson, and Australia's The Bombay Royale.

October 29, 2017

Charts October 29, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 CANZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO | Canzoniere | Ponderosa
2 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
3 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
4 MEKLIT | When the People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
5 ELIDA ALMEIDA | Kebrada | Lusafrica
6 JESSE ROYAL | Lily Of Da Valley | Easy Star
7 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone
8 RAYCE | African Juice | Shanachie
9 ESSO! AFROJAM FUNKBEAT | Juntos | Sonic Octopus
10 LADAMA | Ladama | Six Degrees

October 24, 2017

Program October 25, 2017

WRIR's Fall 2017 Fund Drive wraps up on Wednesday October 25 at 11 PM.  If you've been waiting until the end of the drive to contribute --- well, now is that time.

We're within shouting distance of our $40,000 goal, so your help right now can push us across the finish line and ensure that WRIR's next six months are filled with great locally produced and nationally sourced music and news programming that provides a true radio alternative, demonstrating that making the public airwaves available to the public results in the highest level of community service.

I'll be doing a special fund drive program this week, answering one of the questions I'm most often asked: "How do you find out about the music you play on Global A Go-Go?"

And I'll be back on the air Wednesday between 7 and 11 PM, encouraging listeners to contribute during the drive's last four hours.  I'd love to be able to announce your name on the air (with your permission, of course), thank you for your support, and say that it's folks like you who make community radio in Richmond an ongoing reality.

We have three easy ways for you to donate:
Thank you for considering it, and extra thanks if you've already contributed this fall.  Love live Richmond Independent Radio!

October 17, 2017

Program October 18, 2017

WRIR's Fall 2017 Fund Drive is now underway. Thank you if you've donated previously to Richmond Independent Radio; I'm writing to encourage you to make a donation this fall.

You can make it happen in two minutes by clicking this link: http://wrir.org/station/donate. Or you can call or visit us between 9 AM and 9 PM during the drive, now through October 25. Our phone number is 804-622-9747; our address is 1621 W. Broad Street, 2nd floor.

Richmond Independent Radio is a one-of-a-kind project: airing 115 different programs of news, public affairs and music; staffed by 150 volunteers contributing their own time, money and enthusiasm; providing a soapbox for all the people of our community to get their ideas, passions and knowledge out to the broader populace. I don't know of another radio station in the USA that combines professionalism, idealism and raw energy the way WRIR does.

I'm proud to produce "Global A Go-Go" on Richmond Independent Radio. I'm even prouder to be one of the people who helped this station get on the air in 2005. And I'm no ways tired -- I'm on the station's board of directors once again, helping guide it through this most interesting period for all media outlets.

As a board member I'm not only an active volunteer, I'm also a generous donor. How generous? Well, I will match every donation made this week during "Global A Go-Go," up to a total of $500. So if you donate during my show, your contribution will be doubled.

I have another incentive for you to tune in to "Global A Go-Go" this week. The band Hotel X (pictured above, a long time ago) will mark its 25th anniversary playing Afrodelic jazz with a live performance on my program this Wednesday. Join us as we celebrate both community radio in Richmond and the silver anniversary of Richmond's ambassadors of the avant-groove.

To donate either now or on Wednesday between 3 and 5 PM, just click this link: http://wrir.org/station/donate. Or you can call or visit us any time between 9 AM and 9 PM during the drive, now through October 25. Our phone number is 804-622-9747; our address is 1621 W. Broad Street, 2nd floor.

Thank you so much for your support in the past, and I hope WRIR can count on you once again in Fall 2017. Long live Richmond Independent Radio!

October 15, 2017

Charts October 15, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Music Top Ten
1 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
4 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
5 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
6 BETSAYDA MACHADO | Loé Loá - Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree | Odelia
7 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet
8 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
9 DA CRUZ|  Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah / Broken Silence
10 SAZ'ISO | At Least Wave Your Handerchief At Me: The Joys And Sorrows Of Southern Albanian Song | Glitterbeat

October 10, 2017

Program October 11, 2017

It's my favorite weekend of the year: the weekend of the annual Richmond Folk Festival, three days of great music in the great outdoors, right here in downtown Richmond.

On this week's program, you'll hear six artists who'll be playing the festival: the psychedelic cumbia of Peru's Los Wembler's (pictured above), on their first American tour since they were founded in 1968; the drums and voices of Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo from Venezuela; Iranian tar virtuoso Sahba Motallebi; Romanian gypsy cimbalom player Nicolae Feraru; accordionist Bitori, who made the very first album of traditional Cape Verdean funana; and the Moroccan Sufi music of Innov Gnawa.

This week's show is the perfect way to figure out which international artists you need to check out at the festival.  I'm thinking you're going to want to see all six of them.

October 8, 2017

Charts October 8, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MDOU MOCTAR | Sousoume Tamachek | Sahel Sounds
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 KRIES | Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks | Riverboat
4 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
5 BETSAYDA MACHADO AND LA PARRANDA EL CLAVO | Loe Loa: Rural Recordings Under The Mango Tree | Odelia
6 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers And Finders | Cooking Vinyl
7 RAMON GOOSE | Long Road To Tiznit | Riverboat
8 MYRKUR | Mareridt | Relapse
9 LADAMA | LADAMA | Six Degrees
10 THE EXPANDERS | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star

October 3, 2017

Los Camaroes | Resurrection Los

ARTIST: Los Camaroes
TITLE: Resurrection Los
LABEL: Analog Africa
With all the recent years’ crate-digging activity, one might think that he’d heard all the great African records of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The Expanders | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2

ARTIST: The Expanders
TITLE: Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2
LABEL: Easy Star
The Expanders are a Los Angeles-based reggae quintet that seems entirely uninterested in the reggae-rock hybrid that dominates the current West Coast sound.

Kries | Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks

ARTIST: Kries
TITLE: Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks
LABEL: Riverboat
Folk music played differently can be the most radical act there is. Kries (“Bonfire” in a Croatian dialect) plays traditional music from their country and region in a manner like no one else.

Program October 4, 2017

Gumboot (pictured above), a dance style originally developed by gold miners, is one of the true symbols of the black working class experience in South Africa.  Gumboot dancers stamp, slap, clap and kick their heels in perfect synchronization while wearing wellingtons.

Jazz musician Darius Brubeck described a gumboot dancer as "looking and sounding like Fred Astaire only with 10 pairs of shoes on!"  If you've seen African-American stepping, that's a dance derived from gumboot.

The Festival of South African Dance is bringing gumboot and pantsula (another South African vernacular dance style) to Richmond's Carpenter Theatre on Thursday.  On this week's program, you'll hear a gumboot performance recorded by Janet Topp Fargion, lead curator for world and traditional music at the British Library (my summary for this week's show is adapted from her liner notes).  You'll also hear maskanda, the music that usually accompanies gumboot.

Also this week: the music of Mdou Moctar, who's performing at the University of Richmond on Friday; Central African dance hits from the 70s and 80s; and Balkan folk-rock with the emphasis on "rock."

October 1, 2017

Charts October 1, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 BETSAYDA MACHADO & LA PARRANDA EL CLAVO | Loé Loá - Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree | Odelia
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
4 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
5 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
6 RIO MIRA | Marimba Del Pacifico | AYA
7 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
8 RUBEN GONZALEZ | Introducing... Rubén González | World Circuit
9 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
10 BUYEPONGO | Tumbalo | self-released

September 25, 2017

Program September 27, 2017

I'm digging deep into older Cuban music on this week's program -- we're talking charanga, cha-cha-cha, son montuno, tumbao; recordings from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.  Plus a track from the recently reissued debut as bandleader of Ruben Gonzalez (pictured above), whose career went all the way back to those days.

Also this week: percussion from South America's Pacific coast; now that Chad has been added to Trump's travel ban, let's hear some music from that threatening (?) country; and more dancefloor gems from South Africa.

September 24, 2017

Charts September 24, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MEKLIT | When the People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
2 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
3 JOEY LE SOLDAT | Barka | Tentacule
4 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
5 OUMOU SANGARE | Mogoya | No Format!
6 EMETERIANS | The Magic Touch | Stingray
7 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone
8 MACKA B | "Wha Me Eat" [Single] | Greensleeves
9 J-P PIIRAINEN | Twined | Bafe's Factory
10 PABLO MOSES | The Itinuation | HS Roots

September 20, 2017

La Misa Negra | La Misa Negra

ARTIST: La Misa Negra
TITLE: La Misa Negra
LABEL: NAM Entertainment
Cumbia is probably more popular today than it’s ever been, and that’s saying something since it’s been around for nearly 200 years.

Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet | Ladilikan

ARTIST: Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet
TITLE: Ladilikan
LABEL: World Circuit
Classically-trained Western musicians like the Kronos Quartet are schooled in centuries-old tradition. Mande musicians like Trio Da Kali are heirs to a practice that dates back to Europe’s medieval period; this album’s track 10, the story of the Malian empire’s founding, is about 800 years old.

September 19, 2017

Program September 20, 2017

Cumbia is probably more popular now than it's ever been.  And that's saying something when you're talking about a style of music almost 200 years old.

La Misa Negra (pictured above) from Oakland CA is part of the latest generation of musicians to embrace the idiom.  You'll hear a track from their brand-new album this week on Global A Go-Go, alongside sounds from the 1950s that inspire them.

Also this week: the best reggae songs I heard this summer; when Meklit says "I want to sing for them all," who's she talking about?; and a beautiful new recording from Mali's Trio Da Kali and the Kronos Quartet.

September 17, 2017

Charts September 17, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 GWYNETH GLYN | Tro | Bendigedig
2 ZAIRE '74: THE AFRICAN ARTISTS | various artists | Wrasse
3 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
4 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
5 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont
6 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
7 OFFA REX | The Queen of Hearts | Nonesuch
8 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone
9 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
10 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve

September 13, 2017

Banda Magda | Tigre

ARTIST: Banda Magda
TITLE: Tigre
LABEL: GroundUP / Verve
Magda Giannikou is a Greek-born composer who’s had a unique group of collaborators already in her young career: Snarky Puppy, Kronos Quartet and Louis CK.

Rumput | Rumput

ARTIST: Rumput
TITLE: Rumput
LABEL: self-released
Rumput is certainly one of Richmond’s most unique bands: they seem to be the only group in the USA (for now, at least) playing keroncong, the traditional string-band music of Indonesia.

Son Palenque | Kutu Prieta Pa Saraguia

ARTIST: Son Palenque
TITLE: Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia
LABEL: Palenque
Champeta resulted from the head-on collision of modern Congolese and Antillean pop music styles like soukous and zouk with the wellspring of Afro-Colombian music found along Colombia’s Caribbean coast and especially in the cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla.

September 12, 2017

Program September 13, 2017

Terapia (therapy): that's what Colombians call the urban dance music of Cartagena and Barranquilla which is based on African, Antillean, indigenous and Afro-Colombian styles.  It's good for what ails you -- find out why this week on Global A Go-Go, and hear a track from the brand-new album by terapia masters Son Palenque (pictured above).

Also this week: folk-rock with Indonesian and Greek seasoning; new Afrobeat from Professor Wouassa and Antibalas; and more of la guitare from the Sahara Desert.

September 10, 2017

Charts September 10, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
2 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
3 MDOU MOCTAR | Sousoume Tamachek | Sahelsounds
4 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet
5 CHICAGO AFROBEAT PROJECT FEAT TONY ALLEN | What Goes Up | self-released
6 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont Music
7 BETSAYDA MACHADO & LA PARRANDA EL CLAVO | Loé Loá - Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree | Odelia
8 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
9 AFOUS D'AFOUS | Tenere | Sahelsound
10 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone

September 7, 2017

Leila Gobi | 2017

ARTIST: Leila Gobi
TITLE: 2017
LABEL: Clermont Music
Leila Gobi is a singer from the town of Menaka in eastern Mali, nearly 1000 miles from Bamako and far closer to the capitals of Niger and Burkina Faso.

Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo | Loe Loa: Rural Recordings Under The Mango Tree

ARTIST: Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo
TITLE: Loe Loa: Rural Recordings Under The Mango Tree
LABEL: Odelia
Parranda is music of the Afro-Venezuelans of the Barlovento region on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, many of whom are descended from the escaped rebel slaves who founded cumbes (fortified towns) starting in the sixteenth century and remained at war with the Spanish colonialists until 1820.

September 5, 2017

Program September 6, 2017

The African influence on music from the Americas is vast.  On this week's program, you'll hear seven different styles of music from Latin America, each of which is just one degree removed from Africa.  Included will be a new release by Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo from Venezuela (pictured above), who'll be performing at this year's Richmond Folk Festival.

Also this week: female singers from the Red Sea region; low-tech electronica, made in Africa; and Afro-funk, DC style.

September 3, 2017

Charts September 3, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Music Top Ten
1 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
2 RIO MIRA | Marimba Del Pacifico | AYA
3 BOMBA ESTEREO | Ayo | Sony Latin
4 MURPHY'S KIDS | Time Dilation | self-released
5 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
6 OFFA REX | The Queen of Hearts | Nonesuch
7 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
8 RUBEN GONZALEZ | Introducing... Rubén González | World Circuit
9 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
10 MEKLIT | When the People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees

August 31, 2017

Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band | Bone Reader

ARTIST: Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band
TITLE: Bone Reader
LABEL: self-released
Chopteeth is a 12-piece Afro-funk band from Washington DC that won the Wammie (Washington Area Music Award) for best world music group nine years in a row.

Gogol Bordello | Seekers And Finders

ARTIST: Gogol Bordello
TITLE: Seekers And Finders
LABEL: Cooking Vinyl
Here’s the seventh studio album from Gogol Bordello, the New York based multinational band fronted by Eugene Hutz.

August 29, 2017

Program August 30, 2017

Gogol Bordello (pictured above), maybe the most exciting live band in the USA right now, with members hailing from Ukraine, Russia, China, Scotland, Ethiopia, Ecuador and Belarus, have been making America great since 1999.  They're just released their seventh studio album, Seekers And Finders -- you'll hear a track this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: new releases and reissues from across Latin America, a deep dive into South African bubblegum, and English folk-rock from the 60s to today.

August 20, 2017

Mdou Moctar | Sousoume Tamachek

ARTIST: Mdou Moctar
TITLE: Sousoume Tamachek
LABEL: Sahelsounds
Mdou Moctar from Niger is a central figure in the current Tuareg guitar music boom.

Offa Rex | The Queen Of Hearts

ARTIST: Offa Rex
TITLE: The Queen Of Hearts
LABEL: Nonesuch
In case you can’t tell from their recordings, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists is a huge fan of British folk music and the folk-rock of the 60s and 70s; he says he wishes he had been in the Albion Dance Band.