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.

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.

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.

Rio Mira | Marimba Del Pacifico

ARTIST: Rio Mira
TITLE: Marimba Del Pacifico
LABEL: AYA
Colombia’s Afro-Caribbean musical genres like cumbia, champeta and vallenato are now well known around the globe.

Charts August 20, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 CULTURE | Two Sevens Clash (40th Anniversary Edition) | VP
2 LOBO MARINO | The Mulberry House | self-released
3 MDOU MOCTAR | Sousoume Tamachek | Sahelsounds
4 OFFA REX | The Queen of Hearts | Nonesuch
5 RIO MIRA | Marimba Del Pacifico | AYA
6 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA |  various artists | Ostinato
7 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet
8 OUMAR KONATE | Oumar Live In America | Clermont
9 RAMON GOOSE | Long Road To Tiznit | Riverboat
10 PROFESSOR WOUASSA | Grow Yes Yes | Matasuma

Program August 16, 2017

1977, the year when "two sevens clash," is when reggae went mainstream in the USA and Bob Marley became an international superstar.  This week on Global A Go-Go I'll play you five indelible, unbeatable reggae tracks from 1977, including two from albums that are receiving 40th anniversary reissues this year.

Also this week: music for Sahara Desert picnics; from Peru to Bollywood; and new Afrobeat by Antibalas and Professor Wouassa.

Charts August 13, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MEKLIT | When the People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
2 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
3 UMOJA | 707 [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
4 PROFESSOR WOUASSA | Grow Yes Yes | Matasuma
5 AFOUS D'AFOUS | Tenere | Sahelsounds
6 MDOU MOCTAR | Sousoume Tamachek | Sahelsounds
7 RIO MIRA | Marimba Del Pacifico | AYA
8 ALBOROSIE | "Living Dread" [Single] | Baco
9 RUBEN BLADES | Salsa Big Band | self-released
10 RODRIGO GALLARDO AND NICOLA CRUZ | El Origen | Wonderwheel

Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes From The Horn Of Africa

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes From The Horn Of Africa
LABEL: Ostinato
Like most African nations, Somalia had a cultural golden age after it gained independence, which was in 1960.

Program August 9, 2017

Kwaito is South Africa's answer to house music from Chicago, Detroit and New York City: disco's four-on-the-floor rhythm, deep bass, percussive samples, infectious melodies.  It's also a direct relative of mbaqanga and bubblegum, two popular South African styles that preceded it.  You'll hear the relationship this week on Global A Go-Go.

(As an aside, pantsula is the dance style most closely associated with kwaito -- you've seen it if you've seen Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)" video.  Check out the amazing pantsula photo-animation above by Chris Saunders for the New York Times, and his photo gallery as well: https://nyti.ms/1OTaDxP)

Also this week: some artists who are performing in Richmond this week, crate-digging (with a shovel) in Somalia, and the sound of the gaita colombiana.

Charts August 6, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 THE BOMBAY ROYALE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet
2 RODRIGO GALLARDO & NICOLA CRUZ | El Origen | Wonderwheel
3 RUBEN GONZALEZ | Introducing | World Circuit
4 "OM" ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me | Awesome Tapes From Africa
5 MEKLIT | When The People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
6 RAFIKI JAZZ | Har Dam Sahara | Riverboat
7 OMAR SOULEYMAN | To Syria, With Love | Mad Decent
8 FRUKO Y SUS TESOS | Tesura | Vampisoul
9 ONDATROPICA | Baile Bucanero | Soundway
10 CHICAGO AFROBEAT PROJECT FEAT TONY ALLEN | What Goes Up | self-released