In this thread you post names of good african bands, names of good BOGS so we can download those gems or just some random comments =)

I won't begin because I don't have any(this is the reason I created the thread).

I'm no great expert on anything African, but I have been listening to this today :



...and mighty good it is too!

Cheers to Kapitan for the heads-up on this one. :applaud:

ok, i love -

tinariwen (tuareg)
fela kuti (nigeria)
waaberi ensemble (ethiopia i think)
musicians of the nile
master musicians of joujouka


and don't miss this truly awesome compilation dedicated to nigerian psych & funk:
http://www.soundsoftheuniverse.com/releases/?id=11954


i have a thing for arab music, and even in high school i used to go to the library, pick up arab folk music and transfer them to cassettes. i now have tons of compilations on my harddrive.


you might also want to check out the secret museum of mankind series, with vintage ethnic recordings from all over the globe (including africa)

i also believe mr snowey has several african tracks on his latest mix it up.

you beat me to it :)

it is fantastic no doubt about it. acid rock by the funkees is my favourite track.


oh yeah, there is also a series called ethiopiques, which is dedicated to ethiopian jazz and blues, which is also excellent and extremely atmospheric.

Thomas Mapfumo (2 songs featured in MIU12)
The Four Brothers
The Bhundu Boys
Franco & OK Jazz (later Grand Kalle Et l'African Jazz)
Tabu Ley Rochereau
Sawt El Atlas
Azzddine
Rachid Taha

You would do well to get a few compilation CDs to test the waters.

As Mopi says I put 4 african tracks on my MIU12

It's downloadable in the MIU12 Uploads thread, tracks 2,3,12 & 13 are the ones.

This is a good compilation.

(DDC) Mlimami Park Orchestra from Kariakoo, Dar Es Salaam, Tz

Mbaraka Mwinshehe and Morogoro Jazz; later with his Super Volcanos, from Morogoro, Tz.

Dr. Remmy Ongala and Super Matimila (not the Womad stuff...)

Tabora Jazz

Mchiriku... two keyboards, one drum machine plus vocals :wub:


Much of Benga Beat, from Nairobi


Papa Wemba (et Nouvelle Écriture)

Zaiko Langa Langa (the early stuff)

Kester Emeneya and Victoria Eleison

The BBC ought to give Andy Kershaw his job back.

Excellent series, but the first is still my fave, especially Muluquen Mellasse. During the freedom period (about '69-'75) Addis Abeba was swarming with underground clubs where they'd be dancing and sweating to bands who'd imported the instrumentation and energy of (mainly) American soul & r'n'b and married it to African rhythms and melodies. It's exhilarating to say the least.

On the subject of Nigerian 70's music, these two compilations from Strut records are also great:

"Nigeria 70 vol. 1"


"Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump"


Both on eMusic and Spotify :)

Best. Thread. Ever!!! :thumbsup:

It should be in general chat, rather than down here in the murky depths of the forum. :cry:

I agree. Stephen will probably move it if asked :)

I really like North African - Morrocco (try the Master Musicians Of Joujoka for size) and Ethiopia - that Ethiopiques compilation seems like a great introduction.

I never thought I liked "African" music because I always associated it with the Nigerian/Southern African stuff Peel used to play, which I don't like. But then I realised how bloody big the place is...

I borrowed this from my local library and was bitterly disapointed by it's dreariness. :(

Rokia Traore, first album especially.
Lovely.

I have a great Fela Kuti dbl CD comp; Black President, all the afro beat I need.
Bhundu Boys Shabini; great fun

Track one CD 1 of this is my favourite song at the moment.

You might notice, matheusvdd, that we do not always agree on absolutely everything.

Describe it. Pls

I find Fela Kuti really OTT. The songs go on forever, and don't seem to have the melody variety of other African artists.

I am fairly sure that most people will disagree with my conclusion, but it's what I have surmised to date.

Well, funnily enough it is Fela Kuti's first band..... But it does sound different to his later stuff.

It isn't on youtube, but it sounds a bit like this, which is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRaZ_at-l_I&feature=related

Well that is very different to say, Lady. which is 14 minutes long.

I've discovered Franco

:wub:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgFL4HzYft4

Not the best recording, but gives an indication of style

I'm in love with the last track on the "Lagos Jump" disc

Eddie Okwedy - Happy Survival

I've read a few reviews going apeshit over him. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with music at the moment. There is too much to know, too much to listen to!

for Europe it is Bach
for America it is the Duke

for Africa it is Le Grand-Maître Franco

ever tried Tarab?
It is the sound of Zanzibar, a melange between Black African, Arabian, Egyptian and Indian, well dosed with a portion of movie music.
Sometimes with huge orchetras like Culture Musical Club.

Very relaxed, not so nervous like Joujouka.

The bogs at 93 Feet East are ok apart from the flooding - proper warm-air dryers and you can even make out the distressed state of yer hair between the grafitti on the mirrors.

Sorry, cheap joke, couldn't resist it.

Was never much into W Africa apart from Senegal's delicious Orchestra Baobab. Congo's the place for me - Congo (Brazzaville)'s Bantous de la Capitale are a delight (for 50 years!), as are the huger DRC's Orchestre Veve and Orchestre Stukas, along with Wemba's Zaiko & Viva la Musica and Franco's OK Jazz, already mentioned.

Check out Resonance FM's Nostalgie ya Mboka (Sat 1:30pm UK time, http://www.resonancefm.com - can't be arsed to work work out this http insert bollocks which doesn't seem to work anyway) and WRIR's Ambiance Congo (http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Ambiance+Congo) - the former covers more of the early stuff, the latter forays occasionally into the era of the accursed synth.

http://likembe.blogspot.com's a great blog for sample gems - the appalingly-named http://ethnomusic.podomatic.com has some great podcasts too, covering a range of tastes (don't miss the afro-salsa!)

Virgin's shockingly authentic early 80s releases of Kenya's Orchestra Makassy and Orchestra Super Mazembe are still faves, reflecting the East African fallout from Congo's pop scene. I miss Zimbabwe's Real Sounds too - awesome Peel session as I recall.

You're the famous "otherdave" aren't you?

I've just discovered Congo music. Franco and OK Jazz in particular.

Thank you for your recommendations.

and

Bembeya Jazz National

from Guinea

(with Sekou “Diamond Fingers” Diabate on guitar)


or

Super Rail (or Rail Band)

from Bamako, Mali

Oops, I missed Ambiance Congo's weekly station-mate Motherland Influence - 4-year(!) archive at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/...rland+Influence - it covers "African, Latin and Caribbean", but in practice mostly the first, with a good geographical spread especially across West Africa.

Is he famous? I've never heard of him. :confused:

Drag City released some extraordinary CDs for the Yaala Yaala label.

I have two, Yoro Sidibe and Daouda Dembele.

Here's the blurb from the Drag City site.

http://www.dragcity.com/catalog.html

I agree with some of the above but do like:

Oumou Sangara
Ali Farka Toure
Orchestra Baobab

Fela of course

The other day in Oxfam I bought a CD by a band called Staff Benda Bilili. They are all paraplegic or former street children from Congo. I am aware that this is parodically worthy sounding, and to be honest I wasn't expecting much, but it is on at the moment and on a first listen sounds ok.

http://think-africa.blogspot.com/search?up...009-01-01T00%3A

Kongotronics!!

Needed for next Fall album.

Just a large thank you for the recommendations.
It seems liking the Fall leads to impressive taste in music.
The Nigeria 70 compilations are worth it just for the truly exotic cover art.
No sign of any "daft African pop" here!
Cheers

Read this when browsing at work and forgot to post...

Anyway, quite keen on West African music - Ali & Vieux Farka Toure and Tinariwen especially - seen the latter several times now.

Super Rail Band now have a three double-CD compilations out, although the liner notes are the same for all three.

saw vieux farke toure the other week and he was great. would love to see tinariwen...

My favorite too. Thanks for the recommendation.

I also like Tinariwen, but, and I feel bad for saying this, I've seen them a play with Tuung a couple of times and preferred it to seeing them on their own.

Due to work related things, I missed all these, but found one on Dime. It seemed an interesting idea and I'm glad someone got more out of it than some of the reviewers did.

Yes, it got very mixed reviews. A good review in (I think) the Guardian was one of the deciding factors which made me go to one of the gigs but it got an unbelievable slanging in the local paper.