Turntable Report's global grooves

This week on Global A Go-Go (Monday August 16, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) I'm joined by Tracy Wilson, who will be spinning the best international recordings she's heard so far in 2021.

 

Tracy is my former colleague here at WRIR, where she founded our still-running program Cause And Effect.  You might be familiar with her own music from the bands Dahlia Seed, Positive No and Ringfinger.  Tracy has spent much of her career working in the music business at big-time distributors like Caroline and Fontana.  She's moved on to a different occupation, but she still has the same music avocation, or should I say obsession?

 

Tracy's free newsletter Turntable Report (tinyletter.com/turntablereport) is an invaluable summary of new releases you probably haven't heard yet.  And her micro-store Courtesy Desk (courtesydesk.bigcartel.com) makes it easy for you to buy the hard-to-find items she's uncovered for Turntable Report.

 

Most importantly, Tracy has the biggest ears in the business, so it's my pleasure to hear two hours of new music she's selected specifically with a Global A Go-Go vibe in mind.  I think it will be your pleasure as well.

Charts August 3-9, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

2 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

3 MARCUS GAD MEETS TAMAL | "Tempo" [Single] | Easy Star

4 LE FERRAND, JOHAN | "Yerna Fasse (feat Khaira Arby)" [Single] | self-released

5 HAMDI BENANI, MEDHI HADDAB AND SPEED CARAVAN | Nuba Nova | Buda Musique

6 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS BAND | Tezeta | Awesome Tapes From Africa

7 DERYA YILDIRIM AND GRUP SIMSEK | Dost 1 | Bongo Joe/Catapulte

8 NIL'S JAZZ ENSEMBLE | Nil's Jazz Ensemble | Vampisoul

9 COCHEMEA | Vol. II: Baca Sewa | Daptone

10 BALIMAYA PROJECT | Wolo So | Jazz Re:Freshed

Balimaya

Balimaya means kinship, fellowship or brotherhood in Bamana and the other Manding languages of West Africa.  It's also an organizing principle for a 16-piece band from London called Balimaya Project, led by percussionist Yahael Camara Onono, featuring musicians from Kokoroko and the SEED Ensemble, and including kora, balafon and a six-piece African drum section.

 

Balimaya Project's debut album Wolo So was released on July 30, and it's a must-hear for fans of  progressive African music and jazz.  I'll play you a track this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Monday August 9, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): dreamy Turkish psych-pop; the deep grooves of Cuban rumba and timba; new African music from Yeko & Khaira Arby, Guy One and Vaudou Game; and some North African music for the dance floor.

Charts Jul 20 - Aug 2, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

2 MERIDIAN BROTHERS AND CONJUNTO MEDIA LUNA | Paz En La Tierra | Bongo Joe

3 JAHRUKUS | "Ashes To Ashes" [Single] | Soul Messin'

4 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | At Pioneer Works | Sahel Sounds

5 QUANTIC AND NIDIA GONGORA | "Balada Borracha" [Single] | Tru Thoughts

6 DERYA YILDIRIM AND GRUP SIMSEK | Dost 1 | Bongo Joe/Catapulte

7 NATIK AWAYEZ | Manbarani | Sublime Frequencies

8 COCHEMEA | Vol. II: Baca Sewa | Daptone

9 RECORD KICKS AFRO SIDES, VOL. 2 | various artists | Record Kicks

10 LOS SUPERSONICOS | "Introduccion" [Single] | El Palmas

Down by the river

If you're a frequent Global A Go-Go listener, you're probably aware of my ongoing obsession with reggae versions: songs originally from other genres repurposed inna Jamaican stylee.  And the more unlikely the cover, the better.

 

This week I'm fully engaging my obsession by devoting the first hour of the program entirely to reggae versions of songs you'll hear on classic rock radio: you know, Classic Rock 96.5 in Richmond, Channel 26 Classic Vinyl on SiriusXM, that kind of thing.  There's a lot of this type of material out there!  Some of it is actually good!  Those are the ones I've selected (or at least tried to select) for you.

Also this week (Monday August 2, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): an all-Latin second hour with new music by Quantic & Nidia Gongora, a set of left-of-the-dial cumbia and a set of Peruvian chicha.

Charts July 13-19, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 

1 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

2 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | At Pioneer Works | Sahel Sounds

3 DAG TENERE | Iswat [EP] | Nomada

4 MINYO CRUSADERS | Live At Le Guess Who? | Mais Um

5 URUTAU | "Oracao (feat Iuri Resende)" [Single] | Cena Cerrado

6 LOGA | "C'est La Vie (feat Valeria Sattamini)" [Single] | self-released

7 GANKINO CIRCUS | "Schock" [Single] | Beste! Unterhaltung

8 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS BAND | Tezeta | Awesome Tapes From Africa

9 META AND THE CORNERSTONES | "Breeze" [Single] | self-released

10 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

Sayonara tomodachi

I don't play a lot of music from Japan on this program.  Fortunately for WRIR listeners, you have Banji Kaicho to more than cover for me: two hours of Japanese music of any genre, hosted by Freddie J, right before Global A Go-Go every week, Mondays at 1 PM.

 

But somehow this week I went down a Japanese cumbia rabbit hole.  I was chasing Minyo Crusaders, whose album Live At Le Guess Who? was released earlier this month, and I was wondering about other Japanese bands playing cumbia.  Turns out there's a lot of them!  I've chosen a few of my favorites to share with you on this episode.

Also this week (Monday July 19, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): new Brazilian rock, the return of Balkan brass bangers, and an all-African second hour featuring desert blues, juju, highlife and Afro-funk.

Charts Jun 29 - Jul 12, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

2 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

3 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

4 LAS CAFETERAS | "La Sirena" [Single] | ONErpm

5 DERYA YILDIRIM AND GRUP SIMSEK | Dost 1 | Light In The Attic

6 CONKARAH | "Papaya (Sick Wit It Crew mix)" [Single] | BMG

7 SOFI TUKKER X AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Mon Cheri" [Single] | Red Hot

8 MOH ALILECHE | Humanity Is Falling Apart | Flag Of Freedom Productions

9 PHIRPO Y SUS CARIBES | "Comencemos (Let's Start)/Mi Moooto" | Matasuna

10 COLOR DE TROPICO, VOL. 2 | various artists | El Palmas

Happy 40th, Plan 9!

(photo by Tom Campagnoli)

On July 11, 1981, Plan 9 Records opened for business at 2901 W. Cary Street in Richmond's Carytown neighborhood, backed by $1,200 in tax refund money and stocked with the consigned records of the owners and their friends.

It's rare for an independent record store to stay in business for 40 years.  And a few things have changed in their industry since then: the death and rebirth of the LP; the birth and death of the CD; the birth, death and rebirth of the cassette; competition from national and international mega-retailers; the rise and fall of Napster and file-sharing; the digital music revolution and the rise of streaming services.

Somehow Plan 9 has survived it all, not to mention a few recessions including a doozy in 2008, more store moves than you can count, expansion and contraction, even a bankruptcy filing.  40 years later, Plan 9 is still Richmond's premier indie record store and in many ways it's just like the store it was when it first opened.

I speak from experience on this last point, since I was one of Plan 9's early customers.  I stumbled across the store in about September of 1981, and if I hadn't found it I probably would have moved out of Richmond and never returned.  Plan 9 introduced me to Richmond's independent music community, which back then was pretty far underground but nowadays has moved from the basement to the penthouse of Richmond's cultural scene, thanks in no small part to the persistence of Plan 9.

This week on Global A Go-Go (Monday July 12, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site), I'm going to play some of the international recordings I bought at Plan 9 in their first three years of business.  These were the albums that set me on the path I'm on today; these are the records that invented the idea of Global A Go-Go.

And I'll be joined in Studio A by Plan 9's co-founder and owner Jim Bland (on the left in the photo above; on the right is co-founder Pedie Kurzman).  In between musical selections, Jim and I will talk about Plan 9 and the Richmond music community then and now, why Plan 9 was selling African, Caribbean and Latin records way back then, and why the directive "Bathe" used to be posted over the front door, among other things.  We're going to have a great time and I think you will too if you tune in.

 

For more about Plan 9's 40th anniversary, here's a Facebook group for the milestone filled with photos, video and stories from staffers and customers: facebook.com/groups/1402410666792334.  Harry Kollatz Jr. has a terrific feature in this month's Richmond Magazine: richmondmagazine.com/news/features/a-matter-of-records.  And Brent Baldwin put Plan 9's 40th on the cover of Style Weekly's annual Music Issue back in April: styleweekly.com/richmond/look-whos-40/Content?oid=17316524.

Everybody on the floor

This time on Global A Go-Go it's nuthin' but a global dance party: two continuous hours of music, spanning 30 countries and six decades, that will put your hands up in the air.  To paraphrase my WRIR colleague Mr. Jazz, it's all platter and less chatter.  And as my WRIR colleague DJ Graybeard always says: Crank it up and share with your neighbors.  Are you with me?

This week's program (Monday July 5, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) was inspired by my sister-in-law, who recently became the first woman to serve as president of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration.

 

To kick off her term as president, and to introduce herself to the arbitrators, attorneys and staffers from over 100 countries that make up the Court, she asked me to create a two-hour mixtape that would get a wide variety of people up and dancing.  Everybody on the floor!

Charts June 22-28, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 

1 HAMDI BENANI, MEDHI HADDAB AND SPEED CARAVAN | Nuba Nova | Buda Musique

2 LAS CAFETERAS | "La Sirena" [Single] | ONErpm

3 ZANZIBARA VOLUME 10 | various artists | Buda Musique

4 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

5 MOH ALILECHE | Humanity Is Falling Apart | Flag Of Freedom Productions

6 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

7 COLOR DE TROPICO, VOL. 2 | various artists | El Palmas

8 NATIK AWAYEZ | Manbarani | Sublime Frequencies

9 INNOV GNAWA | Lila | Daptone

10 JUPITER AND OKWESS | Na Kozonga | Everloving

L'ange blanc du malouf

Hamdi Benani was dubbed "l'ange blanc du malouf" (the white angel of malouf) for his white violin and matching suit, and for bringing Arab-Andalusian malouf music around the world.  Supposedly he was given the nickname in 1972 by Kim Il Sung; we all know how North Korean maximal leaders feel about nicknames (see "Dotard").

 

Benani died from COVID in September.  One of his last sessions was a decidedly untraditional approach to the malouf tradition alongside electric oud player Mehdi Haddab and his band Speed Caravan.  That session, under the title Nuba Nova, will be released on July 2 and it is just fabulous: soulful, radical, stirring, just the kind of album Rachid Taha would be making if he were still with us.

 

This week on Global A Go-Go (Monday June 28, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) you'll hear two tracks from Nuba Nova and a whole lot more from North Africa: Moroccan gnawa, Egyptian and Sudanese thinking (and dancing) person's pop, music of North Africa's indigenous Amazigh people (you might know them as Berbers), even Swahili taarab bearing unmistakable North African influence.  And we'll finish with some Chicano rock and soul from 1949 to today, just because.

Charts June 15-21, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 JOAO SELVA | Navegar | Underdog

2 NGOMA ZETHU | 7 Chapters Of Mystery | Bantu Entertainment Network

3 ANTHONY JOSEPH | The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives | Heavenly Sweetness

4 KHALAB AND M’BERRA ENSEMBLE | M'berra | Real World

5 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS BAND | Tezeta | Awesome Tapes From Africa

6 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

7 MITCHUM YACOUB | "Cumbia Divina" [Single] | All-Town Sound

8 DERYA YILDIRIM AND GRUP SIMSEK | Dost 1 | Bongo Joe/Catapulte

9 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

10 SOFI TUKKER + AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Mon Cheri" [Single] | Red Hot

Hailu & Moges

The Walias Band was one of Ethiopian music's pioneers: they were the first independent band not financially tied to a hotel, club or theater; they released the country's first fully instrumental albums on their own label; they owned their own equipment, recording studio and record store.  And Walias music was so ubiquitous on Ethiopian media in the late 1970s that some people just knew them as "that music from TV."

 

The band broke up after they toured the USA in 1981, as four of their members including leader Hailu Mergia and saxophonist Moges Habte went into exile in the large Washington DC Ethiopian diaspora community.  Hailu and Moges both still live in suburban Maryland, and they remain active in music.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear the Walias Band from back in the day, including a new reissue of one of those early instrumental albums, and you'll also hear what Hailu and Moges are up to these days.

 

Also this week (Monday June 21, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): new Anatolian rock from Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek, new cumbia from Frente Cumbiero and Mitchum Yacoub, new rumba from Okute and not-at-all new South African township soul and bump jive circa 1975.

Charts June 1-14, 2021

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten

1 MDOU MOCTAR | Afrique Victime | Matador

2 VAUDOU GAME | Noussin | Hot Casa

3 OKUTE | Okuté | Chulo

4 EDO FUNK EXPLOSION VOL 1 | various artists | Analog Africa

5 CONKARAH | "Papaya (Sick Wit It Crew mix)" [Single] | BMG

6 META AND THE CORNERSTONES | "Breeze" [Single] | self-released

7 DOBET GNAHORE | Couleur | Cumbancha

8 KASAI ALLSTARS | Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound | Crammed

9 AYUNNE SULE | Putoo Katare Yire | Rebel Up/Makkum/Red Wig

10 STAR LOVERS | Boafo Ne Nyame | Hot Casa