December 2014 Concert Calendar

December's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Mexico's tribal sound (aka the music behind the pointy boots craze) comes to DC -- 3bal MTY visits the Fillmore in Silver Spring on Thursday December 11
2. Fulton's own Corey Harris has a rare hometown show at the Camel on Friday December 12 with his band the Rasta Blues Experience, Mighty Joshua and Lost Dreads
3. Gogol Bordello (Eugene Hutz's guitar pictured above) returns to DC to rock the 9:30 Club on Saturday December 27 and Sunday December 28

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 December calendar.

Charts November 30, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
2 PERUQUOIS | The Original Essence | self-released
3 HAILU MERGIA & THE WALIAS | Tche Belew | Awesome Tapes From Africa
4 VERCKYS & L'ORCHESTRE VEVE | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 | Network
6 DONA ONETE | Feitico Cabloco | Mais Um Discos
7 MESTRE CUPIJO E SEU RITMO | Siria | Analog Africa
8 MARIACHI EL BRONX | III | ATO
9 ANTIBALAS | "Tattletale" [Single] | Daptone
10 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul

The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2
LABEL: Vampisoul
DJ Bongohead, aka Pablo Yglesias, your go-to guy for all sounds Latin, has curated a gem in this collection of dusties from the archives of Discos Fuentes, Colombia’s largest record label.

Hailu Mergia & The Walias | Tche Belew

ARTIST: Hailu Mergia & The Walias
TITLE: Tche Belew
LABEL: Awesome Tapes From Africa
Here’s a classic recording from 1977, the very end of Ethiopia’s golden age. Hailu Mergia is a keyboard player, arranger and bandleader working in a similar Ethio-jazz mode as the better known Mulatu Astatke – the music is simultaneously thoroughly Ethiopian (those pentatonic modes) and also heavily influenced by the soul jazz and spiritual jazz of the 60’s and 70’s.

Verckys & L'Orchestre Veve | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978

ARTIST: Verckys & L’Orchestre Veve
TITLE: Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978
LABEL: Analog Africa
In the 1970s, Congolese music was in transition from one golden age to another, already gearing up for yet another and another.

Charts November 23, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Volume 1 | Network
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I | Glitterbeat
5 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music
6 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
8 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
9 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
10 LES AMBASSADEURS | Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako | Sterns

Feedback Madagascar

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Feedback Madagascar
LABEL: ARC
Madagascar was the subject of several excellent world music releases back in the 80s and 90s. More recently the outside world has heard little from the island nation, which has been wracked by political crises and economic stagnation, so this new compilation is a welcome addition to the all-too-small Malagasy catalog.

Golden Afrique, Vol. 1

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Golden Afrique, Vol. 1
LABEL: Network
What a pleasant surprise: the reissue of one of my favorite African music compilations of all time.

Program November 21, 2014

Global A Go-Go visits southern Africa this week with a set of music from South Africa (naturally), Zimbabwe, and Madagascar (that's Malagasy singer Jean Emilien pictured above).

Also this week: the Senegalese tinge, Afrobeat meets rap, and the glorious global sound of brass-rock circa 1972.

Charts November 16, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
2 SLAVIC SOUL PARTY | Five Albums | self-released
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
4 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
5 ANTONIO CASTRIGNANO | Fomenta: Ilenu De Taranta | Ponderosa Music & Art
6 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
7 ORLANDO JULIUS WITH THE HELIOCENTRICS | Jaiyede Afro | Strut
8 TINARIWEN | Amassakoul | Modern Classics
9 LES AMBASSADEURS | Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako | Sterns
10 JUNGLE FIRE | Tropicoso | Nacional

Program November 14, 2014

That arrow above is pointing to the frog's external hearing structure or tympanum.  My guest co-host this week is Jacobi (J.R.) Harris, who hosts one of WRIR's newest music programs, Tympanum Effect, every Thursday morning (or Wednesday night, if you prefer) at 3 AM.

If you haven't heard Tympanum Effect yet, I recommend that you check it out via broadcast or by using WRIR's new listening portal at wrir.org/tunein.  And if you'd like a taste of what J.R. brings to the airwaves, tune in this week to hear his take on "music from around the world in the universal language of groove."

I'll spin a few this week too: Ukrainian "ethno-chaos" by DakhaBrakha (who are performing in Richmond on Sunday), new Italian folk by Antonio Castrignano, golden age Malian Afropop by Les Ambassadeurs, and more.

Charts November 9, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
2 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music
3 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
4 KHUN NARIN | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band | Innovative Leisure
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Revue, Vol. 3 | Freestyle
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I | Glitterbeat
7 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
8 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
9 KIRAN AHLUWALIA | Sanata : Stillness | Magenta
10 ARUN RAMAMURTHY TRIO | Jazz Carnatica | self-released

25 Years Of Mr Bongo

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: 25 Years Of Mr Bongo
LABEL: Mr Bongo
Mr Bongo got started as a London record shop in 1989, focusing on indie hip hop, Brazilian and Latin music. They soon started their own record label so they could reissue deserving out-of-print material and release original material by related artists.

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble | Life No Get Dublicate

ARTIST: Alma Afrobeat Ensemble
TITLE: Life No Get Dublicate
LABEL: Slow Walk Music
This is the second studio album by this Barcelona-based, highly international (members hail from four different continents) combo that was originally founded by guitarist Aaron Feder in the USA, his home country.

Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I
LABEL: Glitterbeat
Glitterbeat Records, WOMEX’s 2014 Label Award winner, is primarily focused on North and West African music, especially contemporary music from Mali. For its first various-artists compilation, the label invited some of their favorite remixers to take swings at deep cuts from the catalog.