Program May 4, 2012

Michael Pigott (left, with Carlos Ramirez Centeno, "el Patron de la Cumbia") is the inspiration and perspiration behind Masstropicas Records, an independent label that releases Peruvian chicha music on limited-edition vinyl.  This week on Global A Go-Go, we'll highlight Mike P's unique project by playing a set of tracks from his label, including a couple from his latest opus.

Happy Lucky Combo | Lucky Buddha

ARTIST:  Happy Lucky Combo 

TITLE:  Lucky Buddha 

LABEL:  self-released

Richmond’s Happy Lucky Combo is a think-globally, act-locally trio that started as a street band.  Nowadays drummer Pippin Barnett usually sits behind a full kit rather than marching with a snare, and bassist Dave Yohe plays an instrument that’s uniquely ill-equipped to be portable; accordionist Barry Bless continues to be fully mobile.

Ebo Taylor | Appia Kwa Bridge

ARTIST:  Ebo Taylor

TITLE:  Appia Kwa Bridge

LABEL:  Strut

If there was an African Music Hall of Fame, Ghana’s Ebo Taylor would get in on the first ballot.  As a singer, guitarist, composer, arranger, sideman, bandleader, producer, A&R man and educator, his work is a bridge between the colonial and independence eras, from highlife to Afrobeat and beyond.

Charts April 29, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 LE SUPER BORGOU DE PARAKOU | The Bariba Sound | Analog Africa
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | For Whom The Cowbell Tolls | Electric Cowbell
3 BLACK BAZAR | Black Bazar | Lusafrica
4 JOAN SORIANO | La Familia Soriano | iASO
5 BOLA | Volume 7 | Awesome Tapes From Africa
6 QUANTIC AND ALICE RUSSELL WITH THE COMBO BARBARO | Look Around The Corner | Tru Thoughts
7 CHICHA LIBRE | Canibalismo | Barbes
8 ELJURI | Fuerte | self-released
9 BLACK SEEDS | Dust And Dirt | Easy Star
10 MARIEM HASSAN | El Aaiun Egdat (El Aaiun On Fire) | Nubenegra

Program April 27, 2012

"Everybody get ready / It's time to rocksteady / It's ba ba boom time, yes it is"
This week on Global A Go-Go, seven tracks (count 'em) from Jamaica circa 1966-1968, the glory years of the rocksteady style and the heyday of some of Jamaica's greatest singers: Alton Ellis, Desmond Dekker and John Holt.

Charts April 22, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | For Whom The Cowbell Tolls | Electric Cowbell
2 BLACK BAZAR | Black Bazar | Lusafrica
3 JOAN SORIANO | La Familia Soriano | iASO
4 QUANTIC AND ALICE RUSSELL WITH THE COMBO BARBARO | Look Around The Corner | Tru Thoughts
5 FUNKEES | Dancing Time: The Best Of Eastern Nigeria's Afro Rock Exponents 1973-77 | Soundway
6 MARIEM HASSAN | El Aaiun Egdat (El Aaiun On Fire) | Nubenegra
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa | World Music Network
8 AMADOU AND MARIAM | Folila | Nonesuch
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Original Sound Of Cumbia | Soundway
10 MOUSSU T E LEI JOVENTS | Empeche-Nous! | Le Chant Du Monde

Program April 20, 2012

Moussu T E Lei Jovents, from Marseille France (pictured above) is, to my ear, one of the world's best rock bands.  Their new live album, Empeche-Nous!, has just been released.  It's another opportunity for the rest of the world to discover the pleasures of this multicultural, political, rootsy, studiously casual, swinging group.

For Whom The Cowbell Tolls

ARTIST:  various artists

TITLE:  For Whom The Cowbell Tolls

LABEL:  Electric Cowbell 

Here’s the second commercially released compilation of 45s issued by Brooklyn-based, vinyl-only (except for these compilations, that is) Electric Cowbell Records, run by ex-Richmonder Jim Thomson.

Moussu T E Lei Jovents | Empeche-Nous!

ARTIST:  Moussu T E Lei Jovents

TITLE:  Empeche-Nous!

LABEL:  Le Chant Du Monde

After four top-shelf studio albums, French roots-rock band Moussu T E Lei Jovents recaps its first seven years on this superb live recording.

Joan Soriano | La Familia Soriano

ARTIST:  Joan Soriano 

TITLE:  La Familia Soriano 

LABEL:  iASO

39 year old Joan (pronounced YO-ahn) Soriano is rapidly becoming the face and voice of the new generation of traditional bachata.

Charts April 15, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 FUNKEES | Dancing Time: The Best Of Eastern Nigeria's Afro Rock Exponents 1973-77 | Soundway
2 FUNK ARK | High Noon | ESL
3 GALACTIC | Carnivale Electricos | Anti-
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Istanbul 70: Psych, Disco, Folk Classics | Nublu
5 JIM MORAY | Skulk | NIAG
6 BLACK BAZAR | Black Bazar | Lusafrica
7 DERDIYOKLAR IKILISI | Disco Folk | Guerssen
8 LE SUPER BORGOU DE PARAKOU | The Bariba Sound | Analog Africa
9 LOS JHARIS DE NANA | Los Creadores Del Sonido De La Carretera Central | Masstropicas
10 QUANTIC AND ALICE RUSSELL WITH THE COMBO BARBARO | Look Around The Corner | Tru Thoughts

Program April 13, 2012

The latest and greatest in Congolese music is an album inspired by a novel.  Black Bazar, a story by Alain Mabanckou (center) about Africans in France, has been turned into a fabulous recording by singers Modogo Abarambwa (left) and Sam Tshintu (right) with an all-star cast of musicians.  You'll hear a track this week on Global A Go-Go, along with more contemporary Congolese sounds.

Black Bazar

ARTIST:  Black Bazar

TITLE:  Black Bazar

LABEL:  Lusafrica 

Alain Mabanckou is a French-Congolese writer (currently a professor at UCLA) whose novel Black Bazar deals with the African immigrant experience in France.  The book is the base of a trilogy that includes both a planned film adaptation and this album, whose goal is “to revive a genre (rumba Congolaise) that was originally intended as dance music, but is also a delight to listen to.”

Derdiyoklar Ikilisi | Disko Folk

ARTIST:  Derdiyoklar Ikilisi 

TITLE:  Disko Folk 

LABEL:  Guerssen

The wave of 1970’s Anatolian rock reissues continues with this little gem from Catalan psych reissue specialist Guerssen Records.    Don’t be misled by “Disko” in the title -- there’s no Saturday Night Fever influence here at all.  Rather, Derdiyoklar was a German-based Turkish duo who played updated folk-rooted material -- in other words, folk-rock.

Los Jharis Del Nana & Sensacion Shipibo

ARTIST / TITLE:  Los Jharis De Nana / Los Creadores Del Sonido De La Carretera 

ARTIST / TITLE:  Sensacion Shipibo / single 

LABEL:  Masstropicas

The ultra-indie, vinyl-only Masstropicas label is back from Peru with another find.