This hustling world

WRIR's Spring 2025 Fund Drive is now underway -- right now we're deep in this hustling world, hard at work toward raising $45,000 by Friday May 2nd to power Richmond Community Radio for another six months.  Supporters like you have made WRIR possible for the last 20 years, and now is the time when we ask you to donate what you can afford, and what this marvelous, successful experiment in community-built media is worth to you.

 

You can become a monthly supporter at this link: https://bit.ly/3QnrP5H.  Or make a one-time contribution here: https://bit.ly/3FnagN1.  Or simply go to wrir.org to donate and to find out more about the Spring 2025 Fund Drive, including the premiums available to donors and the many events that are happening during the fund drive.

 

It's been three weeks since I've played much new music on the show, owing to vacation and hosting two awesome on-air guests, so this week (Sunday April 20, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site) I'll play nothing but excellent new releases and reissues I've heard lately.

 

The first $500 donated during Global A Go-Go will be doubled because I will personally match your gift -- together, let's raise $1,000 and more for Richmond Community Radio on this edition of Global A Go-Go!  Thank you for your support, and long live Richmond Independent Radio!

Are you the crocodiles, gentlemen?

It's another special program this week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday April 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), with the Richmond supergroup Amminal playing live in WRIR's Studio C.

 

Amminal is one of the most exciting new bands I've heard in quite some time.  They're organized around the songwriting of Phil Murphy, whose songs and tunes are strongly influenced by British folk and early music.  The way the ensemble fleshes them out reminds me of how groups like Pentangle, Gentle Giant and even the early Jethro Tull developed a specifically British brand of progressive, improvisational folk-rock.  But it's the 21st century, so they're more post-rock than prog-rock.

 

You can also hear Phil's background in the music of the Middle East, Egypt and Turkey in the band's sound as well.  And the players are some of Richmond's finest from across the rock, folk, jazz and improvised music spectrum: Phil is on guitar, Adam Hopkins plays acoustic bass, Pippin Barnett is at the drums, Bryan Hoffa adds guitar, banjo and keyboards and Stephen Williams is on guitar as well.

 

They've only played a handful of public gigs so far, and their sound is developing rapidly.  So catch them on Global A Go-Go this week, and you'll have a chance to see them in person at Révéler Experiences on Friday April 25 with Laura Ann Singh joining them for part of their set.

 

Bookending Amminal's appearance, I'll be spinning some of the copious excellent new music I've been hearing this spring.  I'll have more of it to offer on next week's show as WRIR moves into our Spring 2025 Fund Drive.

An ordinary exercise in unity

Right now, a Philophon record sounds only like a Philophon record, and like nothing else in the world.  German producer and musician Max Weissenfeldt has been based full-time at Joy Sound Studio in Kumasi since 2019, where he's working with Ghanaian musicians to forge a sound based on highlife and local traditions while also incorporating Max's background in funk, soul, jazz and electronica.

 

The albums Max produced for Guy One (#1 in 2018) and Alogte Oho (O Yinne! in 2023) are superb examples of the unique Philophon sound.  On February 28 Max and singer Florence Adooni and her band added another brilliant title to that catalogue: it's called A.O.E.I.U. (An Ordinary Exercise In Unity) and it's certain to be one of my top albums of 2025.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear three tracks from this outstanding new African album.

 

Also this week (Sunday March 23, 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): Sufi devotional music from Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali; a tribute to Garifuna superstar Aurelio Martínez, who died in a plane crash in Honduras on Monday; South African soul and boogie by The Anchors and others; the music of Cheikh Ibra Fam, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba who perform at Révéler on March 29; and Congolese soukous meets electronica in Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta.

History of Ukraine in 5 minutes

I'm joined in Studio A this week (Sunday March 16, 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) by my old friend Vlad Cuiujuclu, who's been contributing to Global A Go-Go since 2012.  Vlad and I did a show of Ukrainian music back in August of 2014, the month when Russia first sent troops, tanks and artillery into Ukraine's Donbas region.

 

Needless to say, a few things have changed since then, so we thought now would be a good time to update that 2014 show with new songs, new artists (and a few of the same ones we played in 2014) and new thoughts.  Here's what Vlad has to say about this week's program:

 

"After more than 3 years of full-scale invasion by Russia, Ukraine continues to stand strong.  The world has come to recognize the Ukrainian people for their resilience and bravery.   But with the war dominating headlines, Ukrainian culture hasn't had a chance to truly shine in the spotlight.

 

"In today's show we will dive into Ukrainian music, spanning from the 1960s to today and covering a variety of genres, from folk to rap and everything in between.  We will highlight well-known Ukrainian artists, as well as underground musicians from a vibrant array of genres and influences."

Human nature

Nusantara Beat is one of my favorite pre-debut-album bands of the moment.  They're from Amsterdam and all six members are Dutch Indonesian, either first, second or third generation.

 

Their music most definitely sounds Indonesian, with roots in both folk traditions and in Indonesia's pop music of the last 50 years.  At the same time, there's no doubt that it's made by young, hip Europeans who love global grooves, psych-rock and surf rock.  Nusantara Beat has four singles out now, and you'll hear the most recent one this week on Global A Go-Go.

 

Also this week (Sunday March 9, 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): Top shelf música popular brasileira from Uli Costa e Sandália de Prata, a tribute to Ángel Pedraza of Grupo Kual? who passed away two weeks ago, new technocumbia from Corpus Christi's El Dusty, the forthcoming single by Rolando Bruno y el Grupo Arévalo from Buenos Aires, Anatolian rock hot off the presses by Şatellites and Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, and Red Baraat mash up qawwali with Hava Nagila.

Cornershop across the border

This week (Sunday March 2, 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), it's a special edition of Global A Go-Go: two hours of sounds recorded, selected and mixed by Serge Bulat.

 

Serge is a multimedia artist who was born and grew up in Moldova, right near that country’s border with Ukraine.  He immigrated to the USA in 2009, and he’s frequently here in the Central Virginia area.

 

However, “frequently” is a relative term with Serge.  He’s truly peripatetic, and his wanderings have taken him recently to Malta and Greece, to the French Pyrenees to make field recordings, and to Meredith Monk’s Garrison Institute for Voice As Practice.  And Serge’s work has traveled recently to Oxford University in England and to Burning Man.

 

I aired two hours of Serge’s Cornershop Mixes on Global A Go-Go last fall, not long after his latest album Omorphita Cornershop was released, an album that was inspired by the time Serge spent in the divided capital city of Nicosia, Cyprus.  The Cornershop Mixes were built around some of the global music that he’s been listening to in his travels.

 

Serge has now made a second set of mixes for Global A Go-Go listeners.  These focus on the music of Moldova, Ukraine, Romania and on Roma or gypsy music in general, and they also have a healthy selection of his own field recordings.  Serge calls these the Cornershop Across The Border mixes, and that’s what we’ll be listening to this week.

The band that speaks all African languages

They called Benin's Gnonnas Pedro Et Ses Dadjes "the band of Africa" and "the band that speaks all African languages" because of their ability to sing in dozens of tongues and perform styles of music from all over the continent, not to mention Europe and the Americas.

 

Analog Africa Records' long-planned Gnonnas Pedro compilation, Roi De L'Agbadja Moderne 1974-1983 has finally been released, and it's the retrospective this unique artist has long deserved.  You'll hear three tracks from it this week on Global A Go-Go, all sung in different languages of course.

 

Also this week (Sunday February 23, 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): Music by Senegal's Cheikh Ibra Fam and Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, who will performing together at Révéler Experiences on March 29, new cumbia from El León Pardo and Pambelé, Alsarah & The Nubatones play the deep sounds of Sudan, lovely new lusophone songs by Mandinga Beat and Lucibela, and the scorching desert blues of Mali's DJAM!

A conjure man with seven hands swirling

Tony Allen was "perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived" (Brian Eno), and "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat" (Fela Kuti).  Allen, who passed away five years ago this April, is the subject of two recorded tributes this month, one a posthumous collaboration with La BOA, the Bogotá Afrobeat Orchestra, and the other a poem by Anthony Joseph set to the music of Dave Okumu.  You'll hear both of them this week on Global A Go-Go.

 

Also this week (Sunday February 16, 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 Brazilian sounds from Roberta Campos and Rogê, Jordan Wax's New Mexico indie-klezmer in Yiddish, two new albums from Mali's Kouyaté family tree, Santrofi celebrates their roots and leaps into the future of Ghanaian highlife, and a stellar jazz-meets-bump-jive reissue from South Africa's Dennis Mpale.

Plus de café

It's a fully caffeinated, new music focused edition of Global A Go-Go this time, headlined by funk from around the world including new tracks from Vaudou Game and Cheo, and a new reissue of Brazil's Gerson King Combo.

 

Also this week (Sunday February 9, 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): Estrellas De Buena Vista bring back that old Cuban son; The Bongo Hop and Rancho Aparte represent Colombia's Pacific coast; rock from three continents by Tek Roc, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata and Leenalchi; new roots reggae by Italian-English singer DubMarta; and the East African sounds of Dexter Story and Alsarah & The Nubatones.

Certeza y incertidumbre

"Incertidumbre" (uncertainty or doubt) is the first track on the exquisite new album by Miramar, Entre Tus Flores.  There are a few certezas (certainties) that come along with the album:

• You haven't heard anything quite like it before
• Fans of bolero, Latin America's long-lived, popular style of romantic song, will be thrilled
  
• It's going to give this Richmond band a new level of prominence here at home, across the USA, and in Europe and Latin America

Another certainty: Miramar will be joining me and live sound engineer Richard Schellenberg in WRIR's Studio C for a live performance and an interview this week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday February 2, 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).

 

It's only been eleven years since their last appearance on Global A Go-Go!  So you're overdue for an update on their story and sound, and what better time to get one than a couple of weeks before their hometown record release gig on Valentine's Day at Révéler Experiences.

What's uncertain is what I'll be playing on the program.  I'm going to start with some fabulous new music from Mali by Samba Touré, Trio Da Kali and Songhoy Blues.  I'll give Miramar as much time as they want in Studio C, and everything after that is a big TBD.  Tune in for this celebration of some of the best Richmond has to offer to the world.

Look to the sea

Richmond's own Miramar are building a worldwide audience for their highly personal, very groovy approach to bolero, the quintessential Latin American romantic song of the 20th century.

 

They've played at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, globalFEST and the Secret Planet Showcase, they've collaborated with the Richmond Symphony, and their brand new album Entre Tus Flores on the taste-making Los Angeles label Ansonia is going to introduce them to listeners in the USA, Europe and Latin America.  I'll start the show this week with two tracks from Entre Tus Flores.

Also this week (Sunday January 26, 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): Long tracks I didn't have time for on my best-reissues-of-2024 show by South Africa's Tete Mbambisa and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan of Pakistan; new global rock from Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, Al-Qasar, Şatellites and Jupiter & Okwess; Santrofi leaps into the future of highlife; and some Nigerian Afro-disco.

El heredero de la cumbia

Yeison Landero, from San Jacinto in Colombia’s Montes de María province near Cartagena, is called el heredero de la cumbia – the heir to cumbia, the inheritor of cumbia.  He’s from the birthplace of that style of music, a style that’s now enormously popular all across Latin America and increasingly in the USA as well.

 

Yeison, the grandson of Andrés Landero, el rey de la cumbia (the king of cumbia), brings his band to Richmond for the first time ever on Friday January 17 at Révéler Experiences for two shows, at 7:30 and 9:30 PM presented by Secret Planet Richmond.  Yeison and his band will also be playing live at WRIR on Head Empty Radio, on the afternoon of January 17 between 1 and 3 PM.  This week on Global A Go-Go, I'll introduce you to the festive and deeply culturally significant music of Yeison Landero.

 

Also this week (Sunday January 5, 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 set of reggae for the upcoming Marijuana Justice Lobby Day at the General Assembly; new music from Brazil via Los Angeles by Rogê; new Afropop from Bakk Lamp Fall, Vaudou Game and Fely Tchaco; four very different takes on the cumbia tradition; and the sound of West Africa's ancient culture of hunters and spiritual guardians played on the donso ngoni.

Top 10 compilations, reissues & historic recordings of 2024

This week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday December 29, 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), I'm wrapping up a 3-week-long look at the top releases of 2024 by playing tracks from my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of the year.

 

I admit to spending a lot of time keeping up with what's new in the world of world music.  At the same time, there's so much older music that I'm still unaware of and that I'd like to know more about.  How to work on both simultaneously?  That's precisely where compilations, reissues and historic recordings come in.  I make sure to pay special attention to this category every year -- it's one of the primary ways I backfill my own musical knowledge.

 

Without further ado, here are my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of 2024:

Top 10 new singles & EPs of 2024

I've been recapping my favorite singles and EPs of the year for each of the last six years.  In the current era of home studios, direct-to-consumer distribution, mobile listening and streaming, the music industry has become more singles-focused than it's been since before 1967.  Singles aren't just for Top 40 any more -- whatever styles of music you like, if you're ignoring singles you're missing some of the best music being released today.

 

This year's edition (Sunday December 22, 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) once again has killer material, every bit as good as what you heard on my best albums of 2024 episode last week.

 

Without further ado, here are my favorite singles and EPs of 2024:

Top 10 new albums of 2024

It's the most wonderful time of the year, the time to find out who's been naughty and who's been nice.  No, I'm not talking about the holiday season; I'm talking about when everyone's Best Of The Year lists come out.

 

I'll be rolling out my own lists over the next three Sundays on Global A Go-Go.  On this week's program (Sunday December 15, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen and any old time at my podcast site) I'll present my top ten new albums of 2024 plus ten honorable mentions.

 

Next week on December 22 I'll play my favorite singles and EPs of the departing year.  And in two weeks' time on December 29 you'll hear selections from my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of 2024.

 

Without further ado, here are my favorite new albums of 2024:

Mahmoud Ahmed, the Johnny Carson of Ethiopia and George Lowe

 

For 30 years, George Lowe has been a fan of (some might say "obsessed with") Ethiopia's Golden Age of Music: the 1960s and 70s, the last years of the Haile Selassie monarchy and the time when "Ethio-jazz" was invented.  George's band, the Afro-Zen Allstars, feature a large number of his arrangements of Ethio-jazz classics, and the band has been recognized as among the foremost interpreters of this style of music in the USA.

 

The audience for Ethio-jazz in America is admittedly a niche market, but in Ethiopia it's a little different story.  And all of a sudden last week, George and Afro-Zen became household names in Ethiopia.  The photo above is a screenshot from the Zoom interview George did with Seifu Fantahun, who hosts the most popular show on Ethiopian broadcast TV.  That episode has been viewed over 350,000 time on YouTube, which is certainly not the main way the show is watched.

How did this happen?  When George explained it all to me, my comment was "This whole story reads like the plot summary of a particularly implausible movie."  I'm not going to give you any spoilers here -- I've invited George to join me this week on Global A Go-Go so you can hear the whole story direct from the horse's mouth.  And we'll play some of the music in question, by Afro-Zen and by the original artists, as well.

 

Also this week (Sunday December 1, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site): Songhoy Blues and the music of Mali's Songhai people, The Bongo Hop's Afro-Latin groove and new samba-funk from João Selva.

The sound that crushes

The teeming metropolis of Kinshasa is home to the music some folks call Congotronics, although that name is a bit too reductive to describe what's going on.  The artists in question may or may not be using electronics, but they are tapping into traditional rhythms from all across their vast nation, as did the founders of Congolese rumba more than a half century ago.

But it's a new era for better or worse (for many in Kinshasa, a lot worse) and bands like Kin'Gongolo Kiniata ("the sound that crushes" in Lingala) with their MacGyvered homemade instruments fabricated from trash and their thoroughly punk-rock attitude are what Kinshasa sounds like in 2024.  You'll hear Kin'Gongolo Kiniata's new single this week on Global A Go-Go, along with a couple of their predecessors.

Also this week (Sunday November 24, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site): An all-African first hour featuring new music from Aboubakar Traoré & Balima and Dogo Du Togo & The Alagaa Beat Band, plus a new compilation of the best of Benin's Albarika Store record label; Leenalchi's post-modern take on Korean pansori; more Anatolian rock with Aylin's Soulgarden's debut album and a vintage reissue of Cem Karaca; and some Macedonian brass madness including a band from Indiana from the 1940s.

It's really not as bad as it sounds

Lance Koehler arrived in Richmond's Oregon Hill neighborhood in 2001 from New Orleans; soon thereafter he opened a studio, Minimum Wage Recording.  For more than 20 years, Minimum Wage has been a fulcrum of Richmond's DIY music scene -- an affordable, congenial place where musicians of all genres could make a quality recording.

 

Now Lance is moving out to Staunton where he plans to rebuild a Shenandoah Valley version of Minimum Wage.  Lance's clients and friends (and when you do good work at a fair price, lots of your clients become your friends) are sending him off with a celebration at the Broadberry on Sunday night, where a few of them will perform: Bio Ritmo, Justin Golden and Lance's own band No BS! Brass are on the bill, and special guests are expected.

 

Many of my favorite Richmond recordings of the last 20 years were made by Lance at Minimum Wage, and a few of them will make up the whole first hour of this week's program.  You'll hear Afro-Zen Allstars, Bio Ritmo, Hotel X, Miramar, No BS! Brass, Oregon Hill Funk All-Stars, Rattlemouth, Yeni Nostalji -- basically a who's who of Richmond's global-facing music scene, all from Minimum Wage sessions.

Also this week (Sunday November 17, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site): Nobody expects unexpected reggae versions, including Max Romeo vs. The Partridge Family and Paketo Wilson vs. Marty Robbins; new funk from Fat Freddy's Drop and Cheo; and the late 60s/early 70s Nigerian sounds of Afrobeat being born.

These strings / This drum / From another world they come

British guitarist Justin Adams and Italian drummer-violinist Mauro Durante might seem to inhabit entirely separate musical universes.  Adams is Robert Plant's right-hand man, produced Tinariwen and Rachid Taha, and has worked with Brian Eno, Sinéad O'Connor and Jah Wobble.

 

Durante leads Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (who have now played twice at the Richmond Folk Festival), who have reinvigorated the Southern Italian music and dance tradition of pizzica or tarantella, and is a virtuoso of the tamburello frame drum.

 

When they met, they quickly figured out what they had in common -- trance music and the blues.  That became the framework for their duo, which has toured the world and has now released one of the most fully realized albums of 2024, Sweet Release.  You'll hear two songs from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday November 10, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site): Back to Colombia for bullerengue, cumbia (including Yeison Landero, who will be playing Richmond in January) and Bogotá tropical prog; new jazzy gnawa from Waaju featuring Majid Bekkas; the killer Afro-Manding groove of The Gambia's Bai Janha; and the latest in Buda Musique's Zanzibara series of the historic sounds of Tanzania.

I need some money

WRIR's Fall 2024 Fund Drive is now underway -- we're hard at work toward raising $45,000 by Saturday November 2nd to power Richmond Community Radio for another six months.  It's supporters like you who have made WRIR possible for the last 20 years, and now is the time that we ask you to donate what you can afford, and what this marvelous, successful experiment in community-built media is worth to you.

 

You can become a monthly supporter at this link: https://bit.ly/3QnrP5H.  Or make a one-time contribution here: https://bit.ly/3FnagN1.  Or simply go to wrir.org to donate and to find out more about the Fall 2024 Fund Drive, including the premiums available to donors and the events happening during the fund drive.

Global A Go-Go is here this week (Sunday October 27, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, and any old time at my podcast site) giving you some extra incentive to make that contribution.  The first $500 donated during Global A Go-Go will be doubled because I will personally match your gift.  Let's raise $1,000 and more for Richmond Community Radio on this edition of Global A Go-Go!

The background music for your generosity will be a South African dance party: two hours of bubblegum, kwaito, Shangaan electro and gqom from the 1980s through today for your listening, and especially your dancing, pleasure.  As it is every week, it's all free to anyone who tunes in via radio or internet.  But this week is special: it's one of just two weeks out of the year where we ask you to donate what you can to keep WRIR powered up.  Thank you for making Richmond Independent Radio's first 20 years possible, and we're counting on you once again in Fall 2024!