I was stunned to hear that Chris (Mu) Faiumu, the founder and bandleader of Fat Freddy's Drop, passed away in his sleep on Wednesday at home in Wellington, New Zealand. Fat Freddy's is one of the most popular bands New Zealand has ever produced: their first four albums all went to #1 in their home country, and they did that as a fully independent act, managing themselves and running their own record label.
The albums and their amazing live shows have earned them a strong following in Europe, but they've never toured the USA so they remain relatively unknown here. If you can imagine a cross between the Wailers, Parliament, Phish and J Dilla, that's kind of what they sound like. If you want to know exactly what they sound like, tune in to the second hour of Global A Go-Go this week for my tribute to Mu: a full hour of Fat Freddy's music.
Also this week (Sunday July 20, 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): New singles from Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp and Oruã, the Malawian banjo music of Gasper Nali and Madalitso Band, and Afrobeat by Tidiani Kone and Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou.
A podcast of this week's program will be available soon at radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go.
No comments:
Post a Comment