Staff Benda Bilili | Bouger Le Monde!

ARTIST:  Staff Benda Bilili

TITLE:  Bouger Le Monde!

LABEL:  Crammed 

Staff Benda Bilili is one of those bands whose back-story threatens to overshadow its music.

Charts August 12, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 ANTIBALAS | Antibalas | Daptone
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Sensacional Soul, Vol. 3 | Vampisoul
3 BIO RITMO | Introducing Bio Ritmo | Introducing
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To The Music Of Ethiopia | World Music Network
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | L'Afrique Enchantee: C'est Moi Le Chef! | Sony France
6 JANKA NABAY AND THE BUBU GANG | En Yay Sah | Luaka Bop
7 DEBO BAND | Debo Band | Sub Pop / Next Ambiance
8 BALKANIZE! | ... For You Are Made Of Stars | self-released
9 TUNE-YARDS, ANGELIQUE KIDJO, AHMIR ?UESTLOVE THOMPSON, AKUA NARU | "Lady" [Single] | Knitting Factory
10 BA CISSOKO | Nimissa | Cristal

Antibalas | Antibalas

ARTIST:  Antibalas 

TITLE:  Antibalas 

LABEL:  Daptone

Antibalas has been the tip of the American Afrobeat spear since its founding in 1998.  Back then, an American band playing music inspired by Fela Kuti was a novelty; today most medium-sized cities in the USA have an Afrobeat ensemble.

Program August 10, 2012

Art by Matt Brotka, who inks at Salvation Tattoo Gallery here in Richmond

http://mattbrotka.com  http://salvationgallery.com

It's Joe Strummer's 60th birthday this month, and it's 10 years this year since he died (the dates are August 21 and December 22, respectively).  Joe's music, words and deeds are some of the main inspirations for this radio program.  You probably know that the name of this show comes from one of his songs -- it's the show's theme song as well, you hear it at the start of every episode of "Global A Go-Go."

This week, we celebrate Joe Strummer's life with a few additional songs from the pen, voice and guitar of John Graham "Woody" Mellor, better known as Joe Strummer.  Also this week -- what's new in the world of world music is Afrobeat; the old and new waves of Ethiopian music; Italy to New Zealand via Brazil.

Charts August 5, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | Introducing Bio Ritmo | Introducing
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To The Music Of Ethiopia | World Music Network
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | L'Afrique Enchantee: C'est Moi Le Chef | Sony France
4 DEBO BAND | Debo Band | Sub Pop / Next Ambianc
5 HAPPY LUCKY COMBO | Lucky Buddha | self-released
6 TERAKAFT | Kel Tamasheq | World Village
7 BALKANIZE! | ...For You Are Made Of Stars | self-released
8 BA CISSOKO | Nimissa | Cristal
9 KOO NIMO | Highlife Roots Revival | Riverboat
10 KOTTARASHKY AND THE RAIN DOGS | Demoni | Asphalt Tango

Program August 3, 2012

It's a holiday weekend in Burkina Faso -- its citizens commemorate independence from the French 52 years ago on August 5, and Revolution Day and the country's name change from Haute-Volta to Burkina Faso ("the land of the people of integrity") is celebrated on August 4.

Global A Go-Go marks the holidays with a set of music old and new from Burkina Faso, including a classic from that country's number one musical export, singer Amadou Balake.  By the way, that's yours truly pictured above at the Burkina-Mali border in 2005.

Bio Ritmo | Introducing Bio Ritmo

ARTIST:  Bio Ritmo 

TITLE:  Introducing Bio Ritmo 

LABEL:  Introducing

Bio Ritmo needs no introduction in their hometown of Richmond, Virginia, where they’ve been wowing listeners and dancers since 1991 with their unique take on salsa.

Charts July 29, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 JANKA NABAY AND THE BUBU GANG | En Yay Sah | Luaka Bop
2 BALKANIZE! | For You Are Made Of Stars | self-released
3 TEX SOUL AND THE BAYONETS | "Uto Nwa" B/w "Osi Na Ngada" | Academy
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | L'Afrique Enchantee: C'est Moi Le Chef! | Sony France
5 KONKOMA | KonKoma | Soundway
6 TERAKAFT | Kel Tamasheq | World Village
7 ALHOUSSEINI ANIVOLLA | Anewal/The Walking Man | Riverboat
8 DEBO BAND | Debo Band | Sub Pop/Next Ambiance
9 KRAR COLLECTIVE | Ethiopia Super Krar | World Music Network
10 BA CISSOKO | Nimissa | Cristal

The Rough Guide To The Music Of Ethiopia

ARTIST:  various artists

TITLE:  The Rough Guide To The Music Of Ethiopia

LABEL:  World Music Network 

Buda Musique’s Ethiopiques series (27 volumes and counting) is without a doubt the gold standard of Ethiopian music reissues.  What can the Rough Guide folks add to justify a release like this one?  Plenty, as it turns out.

L'Afrique Enchantee: C'est Moi Le Chef!

ARTIST:  various artists

TITLE:  L’Afrique Enchantee: C’est Moi Le Chef!

LABEL:  Sony France 

“L’Afrique Enchantee” is a weekly African music radio program on France Inter (French public radio).  Hosts Soro Solo and Vladimir Cagnolari have curated this superb compilation with the theme “African musical meditations on the exercise of power.”

Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang | En Yay Sah

ARTIST:  Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang

TITLE:  En Yay Sah

LABEL:  Luaka Bop 

Ahmed Janka Nabay released a series of popular cassettes of what he calls bubu music in his native Sierra Leone in the 1990’s.  Civil war drove Nabay into exile in the USA, where he formed a full band in 2010; this is their first full-length album.

Program July 27, 2012

For some time now, I've been arguing that the best rock music in the world today is being made in the Sahara Desert -- for energy, intensity, directness of communication and sheer bad-assery (all dearly-held values across rock's history), you just can't top it.  On this week's program, I'll illustrate with new releases by Mali's Terakaft (pictured above) and Niger's Alhousseini Anivolla, and more.

Charts July 22, 2012

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 LACK OF AFRO | One Way: Remixes And Rarities | Freestyle
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Sensacional Soul, Vol. 3 | Vampisoul
3 ELIKEH | Between 2 Worlds | Azalea City
4 TERAKAFT | Kel Tamasheq | World Village
5 DEBO BAND | Debo Band | Sub Pop / Next Ambiance
6 KRAR COLLECTIVE | Ethiopia Super Krar | Riverboat
7 BALKANIZE! | ... For You Are Made Of Stars | self-released
8 KONKOMA | KonKoma | Soundway
9 KOO NIMO | Highlife Roots Revival | Riverboat
10 BOBAN I MARKO MARKOVIC ORKESTAR | Golden Horns | Piranha

Terakaft | Kel Tamasheq

ARTIST:  Terakaft

TITLE:  Kel Tamasheq

LABEL:  World Village 

Terakaft (“Caravan” in the Tamasheq language) is a four-piece desert rock band from northern Mali; this is their fourth studio album.

Program July 20, 2012

No prizes this week on Global A Go-Go -- just the great variety of international music that you can always expect on Fridays at 5 PM.

On this week's program: a Soul Spot (an occasional feature of this show) featuring R&B from Panama to Togo to Japan; a set of East Asian rock music with a couple of local ringers throw in; a half-hour of female reggae vocalists, including Marcia Griffith's new single; and some Balkan bangers to send you off dancing into Friday evening.