Charts May 22, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Dubble Attack: The Original Pantomine Dee-Jay Collection 1970-74 | Greensleeves
2 AUGUSTUS PABLO | Original Rockers | Greensleeves
3 KONONO NO. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida | Crammed
4 ALPHA BLONDY AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM | Positive Energy | VP
5 ISMAEL EAST CARLO | Provocateur | Cafe Con Bagels
6 CAROL SABOYA | Carolina | AAM
7 IMARHAN | Imarhan | City Slang
8 KARIKATURA | Speak Now | Ropeadope
9 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
10 BOMBINO | Azel | Partisan

The Lickshots | The Lickshots

ARTIST: The Lickshots
TITLE: The Lickshots
LABEL: Rockers International
Coming out of deep left field, here’s one of the most interesting new reggae recordings I’ve heard in some time.

Miramar | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach

ARTIST: Miramar
TITLE: Dedication To Sylvia Rexach
LABEL: Barbes
Singer Rei Alvarez and pianist Marlysse Simmons Argandona are two of the key members of Bio Ritmo, a remarkable modern salsa band that’s dynamic, multi-cultural and progressive.

Charts May 15, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 AUGUSTUS PABLO | Original Rockers | Greensleeves
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Dubble Attack: The Original Pantomine Dee-Jay Collection 1970-74 | Greensleeves
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
4 GABRIELLA GHERMANDI | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II | ARC
5 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) | Knitting Factory
6 DEBO BAND | Ere Gobez | FPE
7 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | It's Time | Slow Walk Music
8 BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE | Farima | Label Bleu
9 ADNAN OTHMAN | Bershukor: A Retrospective Of Hits By A Malaysian Pop Yeh Yeh Legend | Sublime Frequencies
10 DJ KATAPILA | Trotro | Awesome Tapes From Africa

Program May 18, 2016

Cuba Music Week (http://cubamusicweek.org) is a project highlighting the importance and beauty of Cuban music.  It's an effort of the ARChive of Contemporary Music (http://arcmusic.org), a not-for-profit music library that collects, preserves and provides information about popular music from around the world.

This week's program is Global A Go-Go's little contribution to Cuba Music Week.  It's a great opportunity for me to sift through my and WRIR's collections of Cuban music, pulling out two hours of chestnuts that represent Cuba at its finest, and will keep you dancing as well.  Ahi nama!

Augustus Pablo | Original Rockers

ARTIST: Augustus Pablo
TITLE: Original Rockers
LABEL: Greensleeves
If you’re making a short list of the best dub albums of all time, Original Rockers has to be near the top.

Dubble Attack: The Original Pantomine Dee-Jay Collection

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Dubble Attack: The Original Pantomine Dee-Jay Collection 1972-74
LABEL: Greensleeves
Glen Brown is one of the unsung heroes who made reggae great. A singer who doubled on guitar and melodica, Brown made his mark as a producer of a series of small-pressing singles featuring some of the best musicians in 1970s Jamaica.

Program May 11, 2016

In Jamaican lingo, the "deejay" is the person who talks over records; the "selector" is the person who spins the records.  This week on Global A Go-Go, we'll feature 1970s deejays like Prince Jazzbo (produced by Glen Brown, whose best material has just been reissued by Greensleeves, and who is pictured brilliantly above), King Stitt (aka The Ugly One) and Sister Nancy (not all deejays were male).

Also this week: languid Latin American rhythms, another installment in our continuing series on Afro-tronica, and 50 years of Afrobeat.

Charts May 8, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
2 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) |  Knitting Factory
3 DAYME AROCENA | One Takes | Brownswood
4 KONONO NO. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida | Crammed
5 IMARHAN | Imarhan | City Slang
6 DEBO BAND | Ere Gobez | FPE
7 BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE | Farima | Label Bleu
8 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
9 BOMBINO | Azel | Partisan
10 ROKIA TRAORE | Ne So | Nonesuch

Imarhan | Imarhan

ARTIST: Imarhan
TITLE: Imarhan
LABEL: City Slang
Imarhan (“The Ones I Care About” in Tamasheq) is part of the second generation of desert blues artists. Based in Tamanrasset, Algeria, this six-piece band is led by Sadam, the cousin of Tinariwen’s Eyadou Ag Leche.

Konono No. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida

ARTIST: Konono No. 1
TITLE: Konono No. 1 Meets Batida
LABEL: Crammed Discs
Konono No. 1, founded in Kinshasa by the late Mingiedi Mawangu in 1966, is the most famous practitioner of the Congotronics sound. The band features two electric likembes (thumb pianos or mbiras) and percussion instruments made from junkyard salvage, played through a homemade PA system.

Program May 4, 2016

First of all, a big Global A Go-Go thank you to the more than 360 people who donated over $33,000 during WRIR's Spring 2016 fund drive -- you're the folks who make possible this remarkable experiment in community media access.  And an extra thank you to the 25 donors who named Global A Go-Go as one of their favorite programs -- I'm honored and flattered.

I've got a great new record here from Konono No. 1, the kings and queens of Congotronics, collaborating with Angolan-Portuguese producer Batida (pictured above).  You'll hear a track from it on this week's program, along with some of the other Congotronics stars.

Also this week: singer-songwriters from France, Mali and Brazil; the real mofos of Afro-Colombian champeta criolla; and what's new this spring in Saharan desert blues.

Charts May 1, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
2 GABRIELLA GHERMANDI | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II | ARC
3 DEBO BAND | Ere Gobez | FPE
4 LAKOU MIZIK | Wa Di Yo | Cumbancha Discovery
5 CALYPSO ROSE | "Abatina" [Single] | Because
6 KONONO NO. 1 | Meets Batida | Crammed
7 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | It's Time | Slow Walk Music
8 BOMBINO | Azel | Partisan
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To South African Jazz (Second Edition) | World Music Network
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Czech Up! Vol. 1: Chain Of Fools | Vampisoul

Gabriella Ghermandi | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II

ARTIST: Gabriella Ghermandi
TITLE: Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II
LABEL: ARC
Gabriella Ghermandi is an Italian-Ethiopian singer who’s probably better known as a fiction writer and a performer of oral narratives which frequently incorporate music. This is her first album, and it’s just stunning.

Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981
LABEL: Ostinato
There’s an upswing of interest in vintage Haitian music these days, with crate-diggers unearthing material that rivals West Africa’s best, and old and new bands like RAM and Lakou Mizik introducing themselves to a world music audience.