GLOBAL A GO-GO

October 2, 2014

The Budos Band | Burnt Offering

ARTIST: The Budos Band
TITLE: Burnt Offering
LABEL: Daptone
When they released their debut album in 2005, the Budos Band’s sound was unique: Afrobeat rhythms in short-song format, a soul band’s punchy horn section playing Ethiopian pentatonic harmonies, a flair for catchy hooks.

ARTIST: Dona Onete
TITLE: Feitico Cabloco
LABEL: Mais Um Discos
In a word…WOW! Dona Onete is an Amazonian singer from Brazil. The songs cover the gamut of Brazilian music genres from samba to Caribbean salsa and cadence to rap and all are driven by the amazing voice and energy of a woman who has spent her life singing and studying the musical styles of the Amazon.

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984
LABEL: Strut
Malombo music is “spirit music,” so the CD has an apt title. It’s a musical innovation distinct to South Africa which incorporates folklore with just about everything else … yet there’s almost nothing like it.

At WRIR, our cup (pictured above -- no, not really) currently runneth over with great new Afrobeat and Afro-funk records. You'll hear nine of them this week on Global A Go-Go, including a track from the forthcoming new album by The Budos Band (actually pictured above).

Also this week: Sunda music from Bandung in West Java, and remembering your grandmother's stories during the Days of Awe.

Charts September 28, 2014

Kiran Ahluwalia | Sanata : Stillness

ARTIST: Kiran Ahluwalia
TITLE: Sanata : Stillness
LABEL: Magenta
Indian-born, Canadian-raised, American-based singer Kiran Ahluwalia first came to the world’s attention as a premier singer of ghazals, Indian lyric poetry set to music.

ARTIST: Khun Narin
TITLE: Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band
LABEL: Innovative Leisure
A few years ago, YouTube videos of a wild, psychedelic Thai marching band went viral among connoisseurs of outrageous global sounds.

ARTIST: Arun Ramamurthy Trio
TITLE: Jazz Carnatica
LABEL: self-released
Arun Ramamurthy is an American violinist of Indian descent whose playing straddles the worlds of Carnatic (South Indian classical) music and jazz. His first album as a bandleader, with drummer-tabla player Sameer Gupta and bassist Perry Wortman, is an absolute gem.

Program September 26, 2014

Like thousands of people, I was captivated a couple of years ago by YouTube videos of a Thai marching band that features an incredible electric phin (3-stringed lute) player. Their music is throbbing, visceral, hallucinogenic -- it really has to be heard to be believed.

Josh Marcy saw the same videos, went to Thailand, recorded the band, and now we have the first Western (or perhaps anywhere) release from Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band (pictured above). You'll hear a nice, long selection from them this week on Global A Go-Go. And check below the fold for of one those videos.

Also this week: new Indian-inspired music by Arun Ramamurthy and Kiran Ahluwalia, chicha and salsa, and more Balkan brass and beats in preparation for Boban & Marko Markovic's appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival.

Charts September 21, 2014

Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics | Jaiyede Afro

ARTIST: Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics
TITLE: Jaiyede Afro
LABEL: Strut
Orlando Julius Ekemode of Nigeria is one of the unsung heroes of Afrobeat. O.J.’s 1960s bands the Modern Aces and the Afro Sounders were among the first to add American soul and funk to highlife.

ARTIST: Tinariwen
TITLE: Amassakoul
LABEL: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic
If Tinariwen’s first international album The Radio Tisdas Sessions established the Malian Tamasheq band as the spiritual heir of the great American bluesman, their second (originally released in 2004 and now reissued and pressed to vinyl for the first time) showed they can rock with the best of the west.

ARTIST: Tinariwen
TITLE: The Radio Tisdas Sessions
LABEL: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic
Tinariwen was already 20 years old when Justin Adams and the French band Lo’Jo recorded them in a radio studio in Kidal, Mali in 2000. They had already invented a new style of music, called simply la guitare by their fellow Tamasheq, and their many popular (but illegal) cassettes served as the bush telegraph of the Tuareg rebellion.

Orlando Julius Ekemode (pictured above), O.J. to his friends, is one of the overlooked pioneers of Afrobeat; his 1960s Nigerian bands the Modern Aces and the Afro Sounders paved the way for Fela Kuti's sound. Now O.J. is back, collaborating with the thoroughly uncategorizable London collective The Heliocentrics on a new recording -- you'll hear a track from it on this week's program.

Also this week: of Scotland and pirates, acid trip from Banjul to Dakar, and Light In The Attic releases Tinariwen's first two Western albums for the first time on vinyl.

Charts September 14, 2014

GLOBAL A GO-GO

October 2, 2014

The Budos Band | Burnt Offering

Dona Onete | Feitico Cabloco

Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984

Program October 3, 2014

September 28, 2014

Charts September 28, 2014

September 26, 2014

Kiran Ahluwalia | Sanata : Stillness

Khun Narin | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band

Arun Ramamurthy Trio | Jazz Carnatica

September 25, 2014

Program September 26, 2014

September 21, 2014

Charts September 21, 2014

September 18, 2014

Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics | Jaiyede Afro

Tinariwen | Amassakoul

Tinariwen | The Radio Tisdas Sessions

Program September 19, 2014

September 15, 2014

Charts September 14, 2014

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