Charts June 22-28, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 

1 HAMDI BENANI, MEDHI HADDAB AND SPEED CARAVAN | Nuba Nova | Buda Musique

2 LAS CAFETERAS | "La Sirena" [Single] | ONErpm

3 ZANZIBARA VOLUME 10 | various artists | Buda Musique

4 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

5 MOH ALILECHE | Humanity Is Falling Apart | Flag Of Freedom Productions

6 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

7 COLOR DE TROPICO, VOL. 2 | various artists | El Palmas

8 NATIK AWAYEZ | Manbarani | Sublime Frequencies

9 INNOV GNAWA | Lila | Daptone

10 JUPITER AND OKWESS | Na Kozonga | Everloving

L'ange blanc du malouf

Hamdi Benani was dubbed "l'ange blanc du malouf" (the white angel of malouf) for his white violin and matching suit, and for bringing Arab-Andalusian malouf music around the world.  Supposedly he was given the nickname in 1972 by Kim Il Sung; we all know how North Korean maximal leaders feel about nicknames (see "Dotard").

 

Benani died from COVID in September.  One of his last sessions was a decidedly untraditional approach to the malouf tradition alongside electric oud player Mehdi Haddab and his band Speed Caravan.  That session, under the title Nuba Nova, will be released on July 2 and it is just fabulous: soulful, radical, stirring, just the kind of album Rachid Taha would be making if he were still with us.

 

This week on Global A Go-Go (Monday June 28, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) you'll hear two tracks from Nuba Nova and a whole lot more from North Africa: Moroccan gnawa, Egyptian and Sudanese thinking (and dancing) person's pop, music of North Africa's indigenous Amazigh people (you might know them as Berbers), even Swahili taarab bearing unmistakable North African influence.  And we'll finish with some Chicano rock and soul from 1949 to today, just because.

Charts June 15-21, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 JOAO SELVA | Navegar | Underdog

2 NGOMA ZETHU | 7 Chapters Of Mystery | Bantu Entertainment Network

3 ANTHONY JOSEPH | The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives | Heavenly Sweetness

4 KHALAB AND M’BERRA ENSEMBLE | M'berra | Real World

5 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS BAND | Tezeta | Awesome Tapes From Africa

6 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

7 MITCHUM YACOUB | "Cumbia Divina" [Single] | All-Town Sound

8 DERYA YILDIRIM AND GRUP SIMSEK | Dost 1 | Bongo Joe/Catapulte

9 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

10 SOFI TUKKER + AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Mon Cheri" [Single] | Red Hot

Hailu & Moges

The Walias Band was one of Ethiopian music's pioneers: they were the first independent band not financially tied to a hotel, club or theater; they released the country's first fully instrumental albums on their own label; they owned their own equipment, recording studio and record store.  And Walias music was so ubiquitous on Ethiopian media in the late 1970s that some people just knew them as "that music from TV."

 

The band broke up after they toured the USA in 1981, as four of their members including leader Hailu Mergia and saxophonist Moges Habte went into exile in the large Washington DC Ethiopian diaspora community.  Hailu and Moges both still live in suburban Maryland, and they remain active in music.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear the Walias Band from back in the day, including a new reissue of one of those early instrumental albums, and you'll also hear what Hailu and Moges are up to these days.

 

Also this week (Monday June 21, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): new Anatolian rock from Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek, new cumbia from Frente Cumbiero and Mitchum Yacoub, new rumba from Okute and not-at-all new South African township soul and bump jive circa 1975.

Charts June 1-14, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

2 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

3 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

4 EDO FUNK EXPLOSION VOL 1 | various artists | Analog Africa

5 CONKARAH | "Papaya (Sick Wit It Crew mix)" [Single] | BMG

6 META AND THE CORNERSTONES | "Breeze" [Single] | self-released

7 DOBET GNAHORE | Couleur | Cumbancha

8 KASAI ALLSTARS | Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound | Crammed

9 AYUNNE SULE | Putoo Katare Yire | Rebel Up/Makkum/Red Wig

10 STAR LOVERS | Boafo Ne Nyame | Hot Casa

The minister of creaminess

Astronomical summer doesn't start for another week, but it's definitely meteorological summer here in the RVA, and that's got me thinking about summer jams -- you know, those catchy, danceable songs that sound so much better when temperatures are rising.

 

This week on Global A Go-Go you'll hear a whole hour of them.  Your favorite 2021 summer jam might be a new one from Vaudou Game (updated disco from Togo via France) or Conkarah (Jamaican island pop) or Sofi Tukker x Amadou & Mariam (uh, Amadou & Mariam with cheesy EDM sauce on top, actually sounds better than the description).  Or maybe it will be one of the oldies I spin from South Africa, Ecuador, Spain or parts in between.

Also this week (Monday June 14, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): a preview of the first post-COVID live music event I'll be attending, some sly electro-cumbia, and zouk filtered through Colombia.

Charts May 25-31, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

2 MOH ALILECHE | Humanity Is Falling Apart | Flag Of Freedom Productions

3 DOBET GNAHORE | Couleur | Cumbancha

4 MACKA B | "My Father's People" [Single] | Before Zero

5 PHIRPO Y SUS CARIBES | "Comencemos (Let's Start)/Mi Moooto" [Single] | Matasuna

6 COLOR DE TROPICO, VOL. 2 | various artists | El Palmas

7 FLOR DE TOLOACHE | "Florecita Rockera" [Single] | ADA Music

8 NATIK AWAYEZ | Manbarani | Sublime Frequencies

9 INNOV GNAWA | Lila | Daptone

10 KHALAB AND M’BERRA ENSEMBLE | M'berra | Real World