Charts August 14-27, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 EPARAPO | Take To The Streets | Wah Wah 45s

2 NANA BENZ DU TOGO | Ago | Komos

3 FRUKO Y SUS TESOS | Fruko Power Vol. 1: Rarities & Deep Album Cuts 1970-1974 | Vampisoul

4 ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ | Swing Y Son | PT Jegeg

5 WEGDAYIT | Asalafi | Meedo

6 ASTER AWEKE | Soba | Sewasew

7 GIBRALTAR DRAKUS | Hommage A Zanzibar | Awesome Tapes From Africa

8 GUTS | Straight From The Decks Vol. 3 | Heavenly Sweetness

9 ROGER BEKONO | Roger Bekono | Awesome Tapes From Africa

10 PEPE SOLO SITA | Mbongo | Thoam

100% recycled electro-voodoo-soul

They sing feminist songs accompanied by microKorg synthesizer, their vodoun funk rhythms are played on recycled percussion including a bass instrument made out of PVC pipes whacked with a sandal, and they're named after the Togolese women who dominated West Africa's textile trade.  They are NBT: Nana Benz du Togo and they must be heard and seen to be believed.  We'll take care of the latter this week on Global A Go-Go.

 

Also this week (Sunday August 27, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): Amazigh banjo music from Morocco, Prince Fatty covers Richmond's own Lonnie Liston Smith, happy 32nd birthday to the Republic of Moldova, new Afrobeat by Eparapo, and more bikutsi guitars from Cameroon.

Charts August 7-13, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 IMMY OWUSU | Lo-Life! | Hopestreet

2 AHEMAA NWOMKRO | "Yebre Ma Owuo" [Single] | Philophon

3 EPARAPO | Take To The Streets | Wah Wah 45s

4 HOLLIE COOK | Happy Hour in Dub | Merge

5 GRUPO CELESTE | ... El Fabuloso! | Discos Fantastico

6 GIBRALTAR DRAKUS | Hommage A Zanzibar | Awesome Tapes From Africa

7 ISAAC BIRITURO AND THE RAIL ABANDON FEAT. WIYAALA | Kontonbili [EP] | Wah Wah 45s

8 LEON KEITA | Dance Edition No. 16 | Analog Africa

9 MO' HORIZONS AND GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY | "Mango Woman" [Single] | Agogo

10 AFROSOUND | "Cumbia De E.T. El Extraterrestre" [Single] | Vampisoul

Soy provinciano

Fronting his chicha band La Nueva Crema, singer Lorenzo Palacios Quispe, better known as "Chacalón" (The Big Jackal), became much more than a rock star -- he was the voice of Perú's voiceless peasants, more a saint than a celebrity.  (The photo above is of a votive offering to Chacalón at the Cholo Bar in Lima's Barranco neighborhood; the photographer is Ximena Ellito Mori.)

 

But before he was canonized, and before he started La Nueva Crema in 1977, Chacalón was hired as the lead singer of Grupo Celeste in 1974.  That band's debut album has just been reissued for the first time; it's a lost classic of chicha history.  You'll hear Chacalón with both bands on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go, plus La Nueva Crema's guitarist José Luis Carballo playing in three different bands.

Also this week (Sunday August 13, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): A new Balkan ballad from Ladaniva, some trippy cumbia, four new releases from Ghana via the world, Léon Keïta's psychedelic Mandingue groove, and music from the Central African Republic on that country's 63rd Independence Day.

Charts Jul 31 - Aug 6, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 LEON KEITA | Dance Edition No. 16 | Analog Africa

2 MOKOOMBA | Tusona: Tracings In The Sand | Out Here

3 RICHIE SPICE | "Rasta Man" [Single] | Tad's

4 CUMBIA CUMBIA CUMBIA!!! VOL. 1 | various artists | Vampisoul

5 LOS BITCHOS | Pah! [EP] | City Slang

6 SON ROMPE PERA | Chimborazo | AYA

7 JACOBO VELEZ Y LA MAMBANEGRA | Radio Mambo Internacionale AM [EP] | Tambora

8 NAMIAN SIDIBE | Namian Sidibe | Sahel Sounds

9 FRUKO Y SUS TESOS | Fruko Power Vol. 1: Rarities & Deep Album Cuts 1970-1974 | Vampisoul

10 PLU CON PLA | Pura Actitud | self-released

Jamaica 61

Sunday August 6 is the 61st anniversary of Jamaica's independence from its British colonial rulers.  (Relations with the United Kingdom remain close: Jamaica is officially a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as head of state, and it is one of 56 members of the Commonwealth.)

 

Jamaica is the size of Connecticut with the population of Chicago.  Despite its small size, Jamaica's culture punches way above its weight, especially through the music it has been exporting since independence.  The list of Jamaican musical genres that have been popular worldwide is extensive: Mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall, ragga and the list goes on.  You might say that Jamaica is the world's smallest cultural superpower.

This week (Sunday August 6, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) Global A Go-Go pays tribute to "the Rock" (as Jamaicans call their home island) with a very personal look at some of my favorite Jamaican musical exports: All Jamaican artists, all recorded in Jamaica over the last 61 years.

Charts July 24-30, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top 10

1 ALOGTE OHO AND HIS SOUNDS OF JOY | O Yinne! | Philophon

2 MOKOOMBA | Tusona: Tracings In The Sand | Out Here

3 CRIES FROM THE YOUTH | various artists | Greensleeves

4 CHARIF MEGARBANE | Marzipan | Habibi Funk

5 YORUBA SINGERS | Ojinga's Own | Soundway

6 SHEIKHS SHIKHATS AND B'NET CHAABI | Sheikhs Shikhats & B'net Chaabi | Zephyrus

7 SARAMACCAN SOUND | "One Mother, Two Hearts" [Single] | Glitterbeat

8 KAVITA SHAH | "Angola" [Single] | Folkalist

9 LUAMBO MAKIADI FRANCO | OK Jazz 66 Ans | Air Monde Culture

10 IDRISSA SOUMAORO | "N'den Tedi" [Single] | Mieruba