Charts May 23-29, 2022

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 IDRISSA SOUMAORO ET L'ECLIPSE DE L'IJA | Le Tioko-Tioko | Mr Bongo

2 ALHAJI K. FRIMPONG | Abrabo | Hot Casa

3 ALPACAS COLLECTIVE | Seven Wisdoms Of Plutonia | Catalpas

4 MOKTAR GANIA AND GNAWA SOUL | Masterisé | Musjomusic/Nuits d'Afrique

5 NOORI AND HIS DORPA BAND | "Al Amal" [Single] | Ostinato

6 SOMI | Zenzile: The Reimagination Of Miriam Makeba | Salon Africana

7 CALEXICO | El Mirador | Anti-

8 KANDY GUIRA | Nagtaba | Vlad Production

9 FATOUMATA DIAWARA | Maliba | 3eme Bureau/Wagram

10 BONGO HOP, THE | La Napa [EP] | Underdog

Le couple aveugle du Mali

Early in their career as a duo, Amadou & Mariam were billed as le couple aveugle du Mali, the blind couple from Mali.  But they were in a band together before that: L'Eclipse, the student ensemble of Le Institut Des Jeunes Aveugles, the school for blind youth in Bamako.

 

L'Eclipse, under the direction of Idrissa Soumaoro, keyboard player for Salif Keita's Les Ambassadeurs (who would later recruit Amadou into that combo), made a terrific recording in 1978 that foreshadowed the now recognizable Amadou & Mariam sound.  The album has just been reissued, and you'll hear a track from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

It's an all-African program this week (Sunday May 29, 1:00-3:00 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), featuring new music from eastern Sudan by Noori & His Dorpa Band, Ethio jazz via Belgium by Alpacas Collective, Moktar Gania's Moroccan gnawa soul, West African divas Fatoumata Diawara and Kandy Guira, plus much more music.

Charts May 16-22, 2022

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 OUMOU SANGARE | Timbuktu | World Circuit

2 LEYLA MCCALLA | Breaking The Thermometer | Anti-

3 EL COMBO BATANGA | "Aji Gua Guo" b/w "El Barrio En La Mirada" [Single] | Lovemonk

4 CALEXICO | El Mirador | Anti-

5 CALYPSO ROSE | "Watina" feat. Carlos Santana & The Garifuna Collective [Single] | Because

6 ALPACAS COLLECTIVE | Seven Wisdoms Of Plutonia | Catalpas

7 BORGA REVOLUTION!: GHANAIAN DANCE MUSIC IN THE DIGITAL AGE, 1983-1992 (VOLUME 1) | various artists | Kalita

8 PAPE NZIENGUI | Kadi Yombo | Awesome Tapes From Africa

9 LISA LEBLANC | Chiac Disco | Bonsound

10 LOS BITCHOS | Let The Festivities Begin! | City Slang

Charts May 9-15, 2022

 

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 MADALISTO BAND | Musakayike | Bongo Joe

2 CONGOTRONICS INTERNATIONAL | Where's The One? | Crammed

3 SELDA BAGCAN | Nem Kaldi | Turkofon

4 LOS CALVOS | Y Que Calvos! | El Palmas

5 MINI TRIO | "Hare Krishna" b/w "E O Que Ela Quer" [Single] | Munster

6 EL COMBO BATANGA | "Aji Gua Guo" b/w "El Barrio En La Mirada" [Single] | Lovemonk

7 LEYLA MCCALLA | Breaking The Thermometer | Anti-

8 PAPE NZIENGUI | Kadi Yombo | Awesome Tapes From Africa

9 LA PAMBELE | La Pambele | Names You Can Trust

10 SATELLITES | Satellites | Batov

What have I done wrongly?

Malawi's Madalitso Band built their own instruments (a 4-stringed guitar and the giant 1-stringed slide bass called the Babatone) and busked on the streets of Lilongwe for about 15 years before they got their first opportunity to play outside their home country in 2017.  Since then, they've been on the road as much as possible, with their fifth European tour now in process and their first trip to the USA coming up this fall.

 

Madalitso's second international album will be released in June, and it's a beauty.  This week, you'll hear a couple of tracks from it and a couple from previous releases as Global A Go-Go brings your attention to a band that most certainly deserves wider recognition.

 

Also this week (Sunday May 15, 1:00-3:00 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): some swinging samba-soul from Brazil, Turkish psych-folk, Afrobeat with a Jewish accent, Cuban funk and salsa dura from around the world.

Charts May 2-8, 2022

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 OUMOU SANGARE | Timbuktu | World Circuit

2 CHINONSO EGWUATU AND DIVINE VICTORY BAND OF AFRICA | Njo Ka Akanu | Upright/Palenque

3 BATIDA | "Bom Bom" [Single] | Crammed

4 LE SUPER DJATA BAND DU MALI | En Super Forme, Vol. 1 | Numero Group

5 JEMBAA GROOVE | Susuma | Agogo

6 ABDULLAH IBRAHIM | Water From An Ancient Well | Yellowbird

7 STEVE MONITE | Only You | Soundway

8 CONGOTRONICS INTERNATIONAL | Where's The One? | Crammed

9 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Electricity | Merge

10 RICHIE SPICE | "Shootie Shootie" [Single] | Riddim Force

Say it with a lemon

Happy birthday to Mahmoud Ahmed, who turns 81 years young on May 8!  In Ethiopia, they call him Frash Addash, the Mattress Renovator, the man who make old songs sound new again.

 

He's one of the last great singers remaining from Ethiopia's musical Golden Age of the 1960s and 70s, and no one can make Ethiopian music fans shake from their shoulders down to their feet in eskista (ecstacy) quite like Ahmed.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear four songs from Mahmoud's brilliant catalogue, including two of those shoulder-shaking eskistas.

 

Also this week (Sunday May 8, 1:00-3:00 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 jazzy first hour with South African marabi, Ghanaian and Nigerian highlife and spiritual jazz from all parts; Mali's Wassoulou sound; and urban dance music based on French Caribbean zouk.

Charts Apr 25 - May 1, 2022

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 CALEXICO | El Mirador | Anti-

2 ORCHESTRE MASSAKO | Orchestre Massako [EP] | Analog Africa

3 SATURNO 2000: LA REBAJADA DE LOS SONIDEROS 1962-1983 | various artists | Analog Africa

4 BOMBA ESTEREO | Live In Dublin | Nacional

5 JASON TAMBA | Don't Give Up | Playing For Change

6 KABAKA INTERNATIONAL GUITAR BAND | Led By G. Kabaka Opara | Palenque

7 GOOD ONES, THE | Rwanda… You See Ghosts, I See Sky | Six Degrees

8 ORCHESTRE LES VOLCANS DU BENIN | Vol. 1 | Albarika Store

9 AFRICA NEGRA | Antologia Vol. 1 | Bongo Joe

10 LOS CALVOS | ... Y Que Calvos! | El Palmas