The Skints | FM

ARTIST: The Skints
TITLE: FM
LABEL: Easy Star
Some of today’s best reggae music is coming out of London – here’s a good example. The Skints are a young band that started in a kind of ska-punk bag; now on their third album (in addition to three EPs) they’ve broadened their sound to include more elements of reggae, dub, dancehall, hip hop and grime, and crucially they write some hooky, catchy songs.

Program March 18, 2015

I'll be joined in the studio this week by Bernadette Stephens Cruse, lead singer of Fado Nosso, Richmond's leading fado band.  Fado is the Portuguese blues, a 200-year-old genre that combines folk melodies, influences from Lusophone colonies Brazil, Cape Verde and Angola, and the ineffable feeling Portuguese speakers refer to as saudade.

Fado Nosso will be a central part in a unique event that's happening this weekend: a music/dance performance called Amalia at Dogtown Dance Theatre.  Bernadette and I will talk about Fado Nosso, Amalia, fado and more starting at about 4:00.  She's also bringing a set of some of her favorite fado songs to introduce you to this unique genre of music.

Also on this week's program: Brazilian rock including a song by Marcelo Fruet & Os Cozinheiros, who will play live on next week's show; and the latest and greatest from West Africa.

Charts March 16, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985 | Strut
2 DENGUE FEVER | The Deepest Lake | Tuk Tuk
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2 | Vampisoul
4 DOM LA NENA | Soyo | Six Degrees
5 MELISANDE (ELECTROTRAD) | Les Metamorphoses | self-released
6 NILSON MATTA | East Side Rio Drive | World Blue
7 BKO QUINTET | Bamako Today | Buda Musique
8 ABELARDO BARROSO Y LA ORQUESTA SENSACION | Cha Cha Cha | World Circuit
9 KHUN NARIN'S ELECTRIC PHIN BAND | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band | Innovative Leisure
10 IBEYI | Ibeyi | XL

Program March 4, 2015

http://www.discogs.com/artist/210653-Harari

What were you listening to in 1978?  If you were around then, the answer is probably "disco" -- for a couple of years there, you pretty much couldn't avoid it.  And things were similar in Africa, where disco was widespread, popular and influential.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a few examples of late 70's Afro-disco like the South African group Harari (pictured above).

Also this week: it's cumbia time!, a set of music from Zimbabwe, and some mariachi and banda influenced songs.

Charts March 3, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 E.T. MENSAH AND THE TEMPOS | King Of Highlife Anthology | RetroAfric
2 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS | Tche Belew | Awesome Tapes From Africa
3 OS BRAZOES | Os Brazoes | Mr Bongo
4 DENGUE FEVER | The Deepest Lake | Tuk Tuk
5 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Mbalimaou | Lusafrica
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul, And Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
7 DOM LA NENA | Soyo | Six Degrees
8 MELISANDE (ELECTROTRAD) | Les Metamorphoses | self-released
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Cafe Del Mundo | Putumayo
10 AFROROCKERZ | The Afrorockerz | Buda Musique

Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985
LABEL: Strut
The fourth volume of Strut’s essential Next Stop Soweto series focuses on the decade before the world music boom (and especially Paul Simon’s Graceland) shone an international spotlight on South African music.

March 2015 Concert Calendar

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaoru-Watanabe/371557296258030

 March's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Kaoru Watanabe (pictured above), the former artistic director of Kodo, plays both Japanese drums and transverse flute; he performs his music, integrating Japanese folk traditions with contemporary improvisation, on Thursday March 5 at the University of Richmond's International Center Commons
2. Brooklyn-based dhol-and-brass band Red Baraat brings its Festival Of Colors to DC's Howard Theatre on Thursday March 5
3. Mighty Joshua and the Zion #5 bring roots and culture to Balliceaux on Friday March 20
4. Fado Nosso and Claves Unidos presents "Amalia: An Evening Of Fado And Dance" at the Dogtown Dance Theatre, Saturday March 21 and Sunday March 22
5. Two excellent local-band double bills at Balliceaux: Yeni Nostalji and the Afro Zen All Stars on Wednesday March 25, and Miramar and the Richmanian Ramblers on Tuesday March 31

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 March calendar.

E.T. Mensah & The Tempos | King Of Highlife Anthology

ARTIST: E.T. Mensah & The Tempos
TITLE: King Of Highlife Anthology
LABEL: RetroAfric
Highlife is a seminal style of West African popular music that got started way back in the late 19th century. The classic highlife combo is horn-driven, with guitar and drums in the rhythm section; American jazz, especially big band swing, became a major influence in the mid-20th century.

Live At Portrait House, Friday February 27 9:00-10:30 PM

I rarely DJ outside of WRIR's studio, but I will be doing so at a WRIR event this Friday, February 27, right after my last Friday edition of Global A Go-Go (more on that subject in the post below this one).

The event takes place at Portrait House, 2907 W. Cary Street in Richmond's Carytown.  They'll have the last kegs of Hardywood's WRIR X beer, brewed in commemoration of the station's first 10 years on the air.  A portion of every beer sold will be donated to WRIR, and our goal is to kick all the kegs that night.

I'll be there spinning music from 9:00 to 10:30 PM and celebrating 10 years of Global A Go-Go on Friday nights.  I'll be doing an all-Ethiopian set in honor of the The Nile restaurant, long Richmond's go-to spot for Ethiopian food and now under the same roof as Portrait House.

Following me will be DJ Graybeard ("The Other Black Music" and "The Motherland Influence") at 10:30 mixing Ethiopian and other Afro sounds, and DJ Carlito ("If Music Could Talk") at midnight with international dancefloor booty shakers.  Come down and celebrate with us!

More event info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/604152343049030

Global A Go-Go's New Time: Wednesdays 3-5 PM, Beginning March 4

You may already have heard that WRIR is implementing the biggest schedule change in our 10 years on the air.  Starting on March 2nd, our weeknight music programming will begin two hours earlier, at 3 PM.  For the first time ever, we'll have news and public affairs programming on weekends: one hour on Saturday at 5 PM, and three hours Sunday morning starting at 6 AM.  And we'll be carrying news programs overnight, from 3 to 6 AM on weekdays.

Global A Go-Go will be a part of these schedule changes.  Effective March 4th, my show will be heard on Wednesdays between 3 and 5 PM.

I'm very excited about the changes.  You may not know this, but the 3-5 PM time slot ("afternoon drive-time," in radio lingo) is the most-listened-to two hours in America radio.  We're aiming to make it equally popular at WRIR by moving some of our best music programs into that time slot, so I'm honored to have my show included in that group.

Program February 27, 2015

okayafrica.com

Global A Go-Go closes out its 10-year Friday night run with an all-African program.  You'll hear singer-songwriters from Senegal and Mali, the Walias Band (pictured above) as part of a set of Ethiopian music (kinda like what I'll be spinning later on Friday at Portrait House: https://www.facebook.com/events/604152343049030), classic highlife, and some Afro-funk to wrap things up.

Starting on Monday, WRIR is expanding its music programming to start at 3 PM on weekdays, and Global A Go-Go is part of that expansion.  Please join me every Wednesday from 3 to 5 PM starting on March 4th, either on the air or on the webstream.  And if that time isn't convenient for you, WRIR's listeing portal and my podcasts allow you to listen to me on Friday at 5, or any time you choose.

Charts February 22, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BKO QUINTET | Bamako Today | Buda Musique
2 BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND | Juguya | Sublime Frequencies
3 OS BRAZOES | Os Brazoes | Mr Bongo
4 DENGUE FEVER | The Deepest Lake | Tuk Tuk
5 AZIZ SAHMAOUI AND UNIVERSITY OF GNAWA | Mazal | World Village
6 SWAY MACHINERY | Purity And Danger | 3rd Generation
7 NILSON MATTA | East Side Rio Drive | World Blue
8 RED BARAAT | Gaadi Of Truth | Sinj
9 SAMBA TOURE | Gandadiko | Glitterbeat
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 | Network

BKO Quintet | Bamako Today

ARTIST: BKO Quintet
TITLE: Bamako Today
LABEL: Buda Musique
Another month, another outstanding release from Mali – we really are living in a new Malian golden age. BKO Quintet calls their style “Trad Actual Malian Sound” which is good shorthand but significantly undersells what they’re doing here.

Os Brazoes | Os Brazoes

ARTIST: Os Brazoes
TITLE: Os Brazoes
LABEL: Mr Bongo
Os Brazoes were a short-lived combo from Brazil’s tropicalia era best known for their temporary role as Gal Costa’s backing band. Their one and only album, released in 1969, was largely forgotten until cratediggers rediscovered it.

Program February 20, 2015

Photo by SWE Photography

Temperatures below zero Fahrenheit may be in the cards tonight, so we could really use a Carnaval Do Brasil, right?  Well, there's one going on at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery this evening -- it features Jailton "Dende" Macedo (pictured above) and his band, plus Bio Ritmo, Capoeira Resistencia and WRIR's own Mike Murphy spinning Brazilian vinyl.

I'll be spinning Brazilian sounds on the air as well: some tropicalia, a track from Dende and two from his former employer, Carlinhos Brown.  Also this week: new music by The Sway Machinery and Aziz Sahmaoui, bands that dig mariachi and banda, and the funky rhythms of Wassoulou.