The Lijadu Sisters | Mother Africa

ARTIST:  The Lijadu Sisters 

TITLE:  Mother Africa 

LABEL:  Knitting Factory

Here’s the second of four promised reissues by Knitting Factory of the Lijadu Sisters, twins who were among the few women fronting bands in Nigeria in the 1970s.

Charts March 11, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Original Sound Of Cumbia | Soundway
2 FUNK ARK | High Noon | ESL Music
3 LIJADU SISTERS | Danger | Knitting Factory
4 FRENTE CUMBIERO | Meets Mad Professor | Vampisoul
5 EL REGO | El Rego | Daptone
6 MONOMONO | Give The Beggar A Chance | Tummy Touch / Soundway
7 GALACTIC | Carnivale Electricos | Anti-
8 BACHATA LEGENDS | The Bachata Legends | iASO
9 NOVALIMA | Karimba | ESL Music
10 MATI ZUNDEL | Amazonico Gravitante | ZZK / Waxploitation

Program March 9, 2012

We're coming down the home stretch of WRIR's Spring '12 Fund Drive, which is scheduled to wrap up on Sunday March 11 after we've raised $35,000.  If you've already donated in Spring '12, thank you -- you're keeping Richmond Independent Radio on the air for another six months and helping us improve everything that we do.

The Funk Ark | High Noon

ARTIST:  The Funk Ark

TITLE:  High Noon

LABEL:  ESL Music

Here’s a regional band that’s more than worthy of national and international attention.  The Funk Ark is a Washington DC-based 10-piece (on this recording) orchestra led by keyboard player Will Rast.  They describe their music as “world funk”

Charts March 4, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 GALACTIC | Carnivale Electricos | Anti-
2 NOVALIMA | Karimba | ESL Music
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Original Sound Of Cumbia | Soundway
4 LIJADU SISTERS | Danger | Knitting Factory
5 FRENTE CUMBIERO | Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor | Vampisoul
6 MONOMONO | The Dawn Of Awareness | Tummy Touch / Soundway
7 BALOJI | Kinshasa Succursale | Crammed
8 HUGH MASEKELA | Jabulani | Listen2 / Razor & Tie
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa | World Music Network
10 BLACK TRUTH RHYTHM BAND | Ifetayo | Soundway

Program March 2, 2012

Pay no attention to your calendar nor to Punxsutawney Phil -- spring most definitely has sprung here in central Virginia.  At least that's what the frogs and ducks in the swamp out behind my house are saying.  And with spring comes WRIR's semi-annual fund drive, a little earlier this year but otherwise more or less unchanged:

Mati Zundel | Amazonico Gravitante

ARTIST:  Mati Zundel 

TITLE:  Amazonico Gravitante 

LABEL:  Waxploitation / ZZK

This is the debut album from Buenos Aires-based Mati Zundel, who grew up in rural Argentina.  Much of Zundel’s music is influenced by traditional styles of Argentina, Ecudaor and Bolivia.

Baloji | Kinshasa Succursale

ARTIST:  Baloji

TITLE:  Kinshasa Succursale

LABEL:  Crammed Discs 

Baloji is a Congolese-born, Belgian-raised songwriter, rapper and producer who came to fame as a member of the top-selling Belgian group Starflam.  For his second solo album, Baloji returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Charts February 26, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Opika Pende: Africa At 78 RPM | Dust-to-Digital
2 LENI STERN | Sabani | self-released
3 HUGH MASEKELA | Jabulani | Listen2 / Razor & Tie
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Istanbul 70: Psych, Disco, Folk Classics | Nublu
5 NOVALIMA | Karimba | ESL Music
6 LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO AND FRIENDS | Collaborations With Some Of The Worlds Finest Artists | Listen2 / Razor & Tie
7 LULU GAINSBOURG | "Bonnie And Clyde" [Single] | Mercury
8 LOS DESTELLOS | Constelacion | Secret Stash
9 GALACTIC | Carnivale Electricos | Anti-
10 BONGA | Hora Kota | Lusafrica

Charts February 19, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Electric Cowbell Fall 2011 45 RPM Releases | Electric Cowbell
2 BALOJI | Kinshasa Succursale | Crammed
3 GALACTIC | Carnivale Electricos | Anti-
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa | World Music Network
5 LENI STERN | Sabani | self-released
6 HUGH MASEKELA | Jabulani | Listen2 / Razor & Tie
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Istanbul 70: Psych, Disco, Folk Classics | Nublu
8 MAMADOU AND VANESSA | Faso Mali | self-released
9 PINKER TONES | Special 10th Anniversary Edition | Nacional
10 DAWDA JOBARTEH | Northern Light Gambian Night | Sterns

Galactic | Carnivale Electricos

ARTIST:  Galactic 

TITLE:  Carnivale Electricos 

LABEL:  Anti- 

REVIEW:  Galactic is a popular, difficult-to-categorize New Orleans-based instrumental band.  You could call them jazz, or jam-band, or funk – whatever you call them, they incorporate a wide variety of influences from hip-hop and electronica to world music to, especially, the indigenous sounds of their home city.

Hugh Masekela | Jabulani

ARTIST:  Hugh Masekela 

TITLE:  Jabulani 

LABEL:  Listen2 / Razor & Tie 

REVIEW:  Hugh Masekela is one of the legends of South African music.  He helped pioneer the township jazz sound along with Dollar Brand and Kippie Moeketsi in the Jazz Epistles; he’s the first African artist to make it to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 (“Grazing In The Grass,” 1968); his trumpet playing has backed up everyone from Miriam Makeba (his ex-wife) to the Byrds to Paul Simon to Herb Alpert.  Now in his seventh decade as a professional musician, Hugh has made one of his finest records ever with Jabulani.

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa

ARTIST:  various artists 

TITLE:  The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa 

LABEL:  World Music Network 

REVIEW:  The Rough Guide series wades into the burgeoning African-psych-reissue category for the first time, and their angle is a little bit different.

Leni Stern | Sabani

ARTIST:  Leni Stern

TITLE:  Sabani

LABEL:  self-released 

REVIEW:  Leni Stern is a German-born musician who started as a film composer, switched to jazz, moved in a more singer-songwriter direction, and in the last eight or so years has immersed herself in African music, especially that of Mali.  All of her influences and experience are brought to bear on this intimate, unique album.

Program February 17, 2012

Mas, Mardi Gras or Carnaval -- whatever you call it, it's carnival time.  This week Global A Go-Go takes you to Port Of Spain, New Orleans and Rio De Janeiro for a timely set of carnival tunes, including the batucada of Brazil's Monobloco (pictured above at Rio Carnaval 2011).