Program October 18, 2013

WRIR's Fall '13 Fund Drive kicks off today at 5 PM with a performance by the Richmanian Ramblers on Global A Go-Go.  You can hear the kickoff event by tuning in to 97.3 FM at 5:00, or by listening to our internet live-stream at these web addresses (top for computers, bottom for smartphones):

http://wrir.serverroom.us:7722/wrir.m3u
http://wrir.org/tunein

I'm writing to encourage you to support Richmond Independent Radio during this drive, so let me start by thanking each of you who has donated in any of our previous fund drives.  And thanks as well for your interest in WRIR and in my program -- it's truly appreciated.

You can donate by calling 804-622-9747, by visiting us in person at 1621-B West Broad Street in Richmond, or via our secure online donation site at:

https://wrir.wufoo.com/forms/fund-drive-donation-wrirlp-973-fm

Abelardo Carbono | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono

ARTIST: Aberlardo Carbono
TITLE: El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono: Psychedelia, Afroroots & Champeta In 1980s Barranquilla
LABEL: Vampisoul
There’s a massive re-examination of Colombian music now underway, spurred by the work of crate-diggers who are unearthing a trove of fabulous recordings to which the rest of the world had, until recently, paid scant attention. Add Abelardo Carbono to that list.

Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical And Cumbia

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical And Cumbia
LABEL: Tiger’s Milk
There’s more to Peruvian music than chicha – that’s one of the messages of this fine debut compilation from Tiger’s Milk Records, an outgrowth of London Peruvian restaurant Ceviche. This is a well-researched look at the Latin and tropical sounds of 60s and 70s Peru, with none of the tracks re-released since their original local pressings.

Charts October 6, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 AFRICANDO | Viva Africando | Sterns
2 CHRISTINE SALEM | Salem Tradition | Label Cobalt
3 BOBAN & MARKO MARKOVIC ORCHESTRA | Gipsy Manifesto | Piranha
4 ROKIA TRAORE | Beautiful Africa | Nonesuch
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight To Ghana 1974-1983 | Analog Africa
6 FREEDOM FAMILY | Ayentsoo | Academy LPs
7 THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS | Pass The Knowledge | 17 North Parade
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Red Hot + Fela | Knitting Factory
9 BOOGARINS | As Plantas Que Curam | Other Music
10 SIDI TOURE | Alafia | Thrill Jockey

Program October 4, 2013

The Richmond Folk Festival is an amazing event, but it can be kind of daunting -- 200,000 or so attendees, 34 performers, seven stages with acres of fried food on a stick between them.  How's a person to decide which artists to see and where to catch them, while avoiding walking 100 miles, getting stuck in pedestrian traffic, or ending up several football fields from the stage?

Well, I'm here to offer a few tips -- on this week's program I'll play the seven artists (world music division, naturally) that I'm personally most eager to see at this year's festival, which takes place next weekend, October 11-13.

I'm hoping you'll hear something you absolutely, positively want to check out in person as well.  Put that act at the center of your schedule, then work around them.  Think of it as Global A Go-Go's very particular guide to the Richmond Folk Festival.  You're welcome.

Boogarins | As Plantas Que Curam

ARTIST: Boogarins
TITLE: As Plantas Que Curam (Plants That Heal)
LABEL: Other Music
There’s a major psychedelic rock revival going on right now (check out WRIR’s “Sunrise Ocean Bender” program for all the details), and here’s a DIY recording from central Brazil that’s a prime example.

October 2013 Concert Calendar

October's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Like many Richmonders, I block out the entire weekend of the Richmond Folk Festival each October (this year, it's the 11th through the 13th) knowing there will be many, many artists I want to see at this fabulous free festival.  This fall's lineup is one of the best ever, featuring Honduran Garifuna superstar (and congressman!) Aurelio Martinez, extraordinary Malian singer Abdoulaye "Djoss" Diabate, Christine Salem from tiny La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and salsa giants the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (pictured above).
2. Antibalas, America's finest Afrobeat orchestra, make a stop in DC at the Black Cat on Thursday October 3
3. Yeni Turku, the popular and successful Turkish folk-rock band, come to Tropicalia in Washington on Thursday October 10
4. Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure (son of Ali), who wowed Richmond audiences at the Folk Festival a few years ago, plays at DC's Atlas Performing Arts Center on Friday October 11

 Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar?  Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire October calendar.

Charts September 29, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Red Hot + Fela | Knitting Factory
2 ROKIA TRAORE | Beautiful Africa | Nonesuch
3 AFRICANDO | Viva Africando | Sterns
4 BOBAN AND MARKO MARKOVIC ORCHESTRA | Gipsy Manifesto | Piranha
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight To Ghana | Analog Africa
6 ANDREA ECHEVERRI | Ruisenora | Nacional
7 TAMIKREST | Chatma | Glitterbeat
8 GOGOL BORDELLO | Pura Vida Conspiracy | ATO
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967 | Vampisoul
10 BOOGARINS | As Plantas Que Curam | Other Music

Africando | Viva Africando

ARTIST: Africando
TITLE: Viva Africando
LABEL: Sterns
If you’re an African of a certain age (about my age, in fact) and you’re a music fan, then you’re probably a salsa fan. Africando has been making best-of-breed salsa Africana for 20 years now; this is their eighth album and it’s more of the same, which is to say a great source of pleasure.

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra | Gipsy Manifesto

ARTIST: Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra
TITLE: Gipsy Manifesto
LABEL: Piranha
The orchestra of Serbia’s Boban Markovic is one of the bands that put the exhilarating, improvisational, funky sound of Balkan brass on the world’s musical map. And much of the popularity of Balkan brass comes from the DJs and remixers who add four-on-the-floor dance beats and mash it up with every sound under the sun – especially in Europe, nothing gets the dance floor percolating better than “Balkan beats.”

Red Hot + Fela

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Red Hot + Fela
LABEL: Knitting Factory
This is the Red Hot Organization’s second Fela-themed AIDS benefit album – Red Hot + Riot came out in 2002, and as Fela’s notoriety has grown exponentially since then, it’s only natural that all kinds of musicians are clamoring to take on his songs. Like all tribute albums, the results are hit-and-miss: the news item here is that the hits are truly remarkable re-imaginings.

Rokia Traore | Beautiful Africa

ARTIST: Rokia Traore
TITLE: Beautiful Africa
LABEL: Nonesuch
This is the fifth album by Rokia Traore, the restlessly experimental, shape-shifting Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. This time out it’s Rokia the rocker – the project was recorded in Bristol, England, produced by John Parish (P.J. Harvey), and it positively throbs with electric energy.

Program September 27, 2013

Balkan brass band music continues to evolve -- the latest step along the long road comes from the orchestra led by the father-son team of Boban & Marko Markovic (pictured above).  Boban brings deep gypsy soul and jazz improvisation; Marko adds a young virtuoso's chops and a slew of 21st century influences, from New Orleans to electronica to (Tito forbid) turbo-folk.

The new Markovic Orchestra album Gipsy Manifesto will be in stores on October 29 -- you'll hear a track from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: Fela with strings; new global rock by Andrea Echeverri (Colombia), Boogarins (Brazil) and Rokia Traore (Mali); and salsa is the universal language of groove.

Charts September 22, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s From Yemen | Dust-To-Digital
2 FREEDOM FAMILY | Ayentsoo | Academy LPs
3 MIGHTY DIAMONDS | Pass The Knowledge | 17 North Parade
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight To Ghana | Analog Africa
5 SIDI TOURE | Alafia | Thrill Jockey
6 AZIZ SAHMAOUI | University Of Gnawa | General Pattern SARL
7 TAMIKREST | Chatma | Glitterbeat
8 ALPHA BLONDY | Mystic Power | VP
9 GOGOL BORDELLO | Pura Vida Conspiracy | ATO
10 THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE | Ayo | Cumbancha

Sidi Toure | Alafia

ARTIST: Sidi Toure
TITLE: Alafia
LABEL: Thrill Jockey
Sidi Toure is a Songhai singer-songwriter-guitarist from Gao in northern Mali. That one-sentence biography should put Ali Farka Toure (no relation) in mind, and indeed there are striking similarities. But Sidi’s his own man with his own sound, even more so on this third international release for Thrill Jockey than previously.