Modern African music

Do talk back
User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Modern African music

Postby Darkness_Fish » 07 Jul 2021, 17:02

Just chancing my arm with a bit of a modern music thread, but is anyone else getting increasingly excited by the music that's coming out of Africa recently, especially from the Nyege Nyege Tapes label? It just seems to me that for the first time in ages there's a real well-spring of new and diverse music that's really grabbed my attention, a cultural cross-pollination that's really bearing fruit at the moment.

Some examples:

The spiky mutant disco and upbeat fun of KOKOKO!


The strange electronic ambient grindcore of Duma:


The percussive electronics of Nihiloxica (some of the latest album is fairly kraut inspired, but not this one):


The abstracted electronics of Don Zilla:


C'mon, there's gotta be a buyer for some of this stuff here, right?
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Walk In My Shadow
Hello Laydeez
Posts: 38715
Joined: 23 Jul 2003, 20:02
Location: The Good, the Bad, both ugly
Contact:

Re: Modern African music

Postby Walk In My Shadow » 07 Jul 2021, 18:16

Not me, I'm afraid.

Quite some time ago there was a hype on here for that Nigeria 70 comp.

I didn't even participate in that.
Beneluxfunkmeisterlurvegod


Image

User avatar
pcqgod
Posts: 19948
Joined: 11 Apr 2010, 07:23
Location: Ohio

Re: Modern African music

Postby pcqgod » 07 Jul 2021, 19:31

African music with programmed beats is a hard sell for me, since African drumming is some of the most complex and therefore interesting to me. Nevertheless, the one with Black Metal vocals and the Don Zilla one appealed to me.
Where would rock 'n' roll be without feedback?

User avatar
jimboo
Posts: 7316
Joined: 29 Dec 2005, 17:43
Location: taking a foxy kind of stand

Re: Modern African music

Postby jimboo » 07 Jul 2021, 21:39

I will come back to this but fishy is right there is a real buzz coming out of africa. Yves doesn't like it. If that doesn't tell you it's good I don't know what does.
If I jerk- the handle jerk- the handle you'll thrill me and thrill me

User avatar
toomanyhatz
Power-mad king of the WCC
Posts: 29992
Joined: 07 Apr 2005, 00:01
Location: Just east of where Charlie Parker went to do some relaxin'

Re: Modern African music

Postby toomanyhatz » 07 Jul 2021, 22:15

I do agree that something is happening, and that it's interesting. I'm also with pcgod.

I'm more into the Taureg/Tinarawen side of things, personally, but I do bet there's a lot of that I don't know about and there's probably some crossover with the rather fishy stuff that D-fish is bringin'.
Footy wrote:
The Who / Jimi Hendrix Experience Saville Theatre, London Jan '67
. Got Jimi's autograph after the show and went on to see him several times that year


1959 1963 1965 1966 1974 1977 1978 1981 1988 2017* 2018 2020!! 2023?

User avatar
John_K
driven by lists
Posts: 13315
Joined: 02 Nov 2004, 14:01
Location: The Black Hole of BCB...

Re: Modern African music

Postby John_K » 07 Jul 2021, 22:59

I'll check those out, I enjoyed Congotronics from a few years back, be interesting to see what else left field is coming out of the continent...

User avatar
BARON CORNY DOG
Diamond Geezer
Posts: 45153
Joined: 18 Jul 2003, 05:38
Location: Impregnable Citadel of Technicality

Re: Modern African music

Postby BARON CORNY DOG » 07 Jul 2021, 23:00

Walk In My Shadow wrote:Quite some time ago there was a hype on here for that Nigeria 70 comp.

I didn't even participate in that.


You missed out!
take5_d_shorterer wrote:If John Bonham simply didn't listen to enough Tommy Johnson or Blind Willie Mctell, that's his doing.

User avatar
Six String
Posts: 23075
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 20:22

Re: Modern African music

Postby Six String » 08 Jul 2021, 00:38

pcqgod wrote:African music with programmed beats is a hard sell for me, since African drumming is some of the most complex and therefore interesting to me. Nevertheless, the one with Black Metal vocals and the Don Zilla one appealed to me.


This is my approach as well. Why use programmed beats for African music? I love a lot of music from Nigeria, Mali, Ethiopia and other countries but none of it is driven by electronic beats. My loss? Maybe so but I am content.
Everything is broken
B. Dylan

User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30320
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Re: Modern African music

Postby GoogaMooga » 08 Jul 2021, 04:47

Nothing later than Youssou N'Dour and Salif Keita.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: Modern African music

Postby Darkness_Fish » 08 Jul 2021, 09:14

For those who don't like programmed beats (although in answer to the question "why", "why not" is always good for me), there's Fulu Miziki:

Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Rorschach
Posts: 4118
Joined: 02 Jun 2008, 12:43
Location: The north side of my town faces east, and the east faces south

Re: Modern African music

Postby Rorschach » 08 Jul 2021, 09:51

Darkness_Fish wrote:Just chancing my arm with a bit of a modern music thread, but is anyone else getting increasingly excited by the music that's coming out of Africa recently, especially from the Nyege Nyege Tapes label?


I strongly suspect that you and I have rather different musical tastes.
I am intrigued by some African music I've heard recently but I wonder if it'll be same stuff you're listening to.

I mentioned this on the new music thread and I love it (although the album's half Swedish)



Does this appeal or is this the MacCartney of African music for you?
Bugger off.

User avatar
never/ever
Posts: 26478
Joined: 27 Jun 2008, 14:21
Location: Journeying through a burning brain

Re: Modern African music

Postby never/ever » 08 Jul 2021, 10:27

These have been on my regular playlist for a while now. I like the crossover-styles...if it's good enough for Albarn, why not.






kath wrote:i do not wanna buy the world a fucquin gotdamn coke.

User avatar
jimboo
Posts: 7316
Joined: 29 Dec 2005, 17:43
Location: taking a foxy kind of stand

Re: Modern African music

Postby jimboo » 08 Jul 2021, 10:34

Things are looking interesting in the um, African scene. It is more interesting than that awful drivel that Andy Kershaw used to champion with that reedy fender guitar sound
If I jerk- the handle jerk- the handle you'll thrill me and thrill me

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: Modern African music

Postby Darkness_Fish » 08 Jul 2021, 13:17

Rorschach wrote:I strongly suspect that you and I have rather different musical tastes.
I am intrigued by some African music I've heard recently but I wonder if it'll be same stuff you're listening to.

I mentioned this on the new music thread and I love it (although the album's half Swedish)



Does this appeal or is this the MacCartney of African music for you?

Half Swedish? Does he not suspect that some of his children aren't his, particularly the 6ft tall blonde ones?
I'm afraid I didn't like that much at all, the vocals seem a bit kind of condescending, like it could be a languid African cover of Bobby Goldsboro's Honey with a bit of Boards of Canada floating in the background.
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: Modern African music

Postby Darkness_Fish » 08 Jul 2021, 13:29

never/ever wrote:These have been on my regular playlist for a while now. I like the crossover-styles...if it's good enough for Albarn, why not.




Hmm, trying to stop me listening by invoking the name of Albarn, huh? Well, it didn't work, and I really liked those first two clips especially. One of the things I've been using a lot recently is Radio Garden (the phone app is brilliant, the website not so much), and that first track reminded me of the kind of thing that this station (Ruimbo FM, from Thika in Kenya) plays: http://radio.garden/listen/ruimbo-fm/K0GzTafQ . I've no idea on this kind of music, btw, but this station just has a constant stream of upbeat, sun-kissed tracks that I tend to dance badly around the kitchen to while cooking.
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
BARON CORNY DOG
Diamond Geezer
Posts: 45153
Joined: 18 Jul 2003, 05:38
Location: Impregnable Citadel of Technicality

Re: Modern African music

Postby BARON CORNY DOG » 08 Jul 2021, 16:06

Cool, thanks Darkness!
Africa is such a massive place, there's bound to be boatloads of interesting sounds out there that don't make it into my very limited headspace. From the first set of clips, Kokoko is immediately winning, but there was something I liked in all of them, except for the grindcore bit, which really makes me feel old.
take5_d_shorterer wrote:If John Bonham simply didn't listen to enough Tommy Johnson or Blind Willie Mctell, that's his doing.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20251
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Modern African music

Postby naughty boy » 08 Jul 2021, 16:11

jimboo wrote:Things are looking interesting in the um, African scene. It is more interesting than that awful drivel that Andy Kershaw used to champion with that reedy fender guitar sound


Bhundu Boys! I saw them in the eighties and they were TREMEND
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: Modern African music

Postby Deebank » 08 Jul 2021, 16:55

Darkness_Fish wrote:For those who don't like programmed beats (although in answer to the question "why", "why not" is always good for me), there's Fulu Miziki:




Slipknot have let themselves go!
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: Modern African music

Postby Deebank » 08 Jul 2021, 17:10

Not sure if it's contemporary but Kanda Bongo Man when they featured in the recent Glastonbury coverage on the Beeb sent me off down memory lane.

Back in the day I made a half-arsed attempt to launch a world music night in Brighton. The first headliners were Kanda Bongo Man and I figured I'd soon have The Bhundu Boys and The Real Sounds of Africa et al beating a path to my door to beg me for gigs... This did not happen but KBM did turn out to be an awesome mesmeric band of some brilliance.

The band flew in from Paris with no 'backline', Now I assumed backline meant amplifiers. I also assumed that drums were instruments, not backline. The band however begged to differ. They had no drums. The support bands also turned up with no drums figuring they'd borrow the headliner's percussion - stupid because many headliners get all protective if a mere support act asks to borrow their gear. I had to rustle up a drum kit at short notice. What amazed me was how fucking amazing the band sounded using this random bunch of amps and drums they'd never clapped eyes on before. I had and have many muso friends who'd shit a brick if they had to rely on whatever stuff happened to be hanging around.

I went home happy (and possibly very stoned) with their circling bass/guitar lines lodged in my brain..



Hardly a student to be seen in a hall full of social studies lecturers :roll: Probably lost a tonne of money (for the SU).

Fucking students!
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
cheifwhat
Posts: 6803
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 19:26
Location: WoOt!

Re: Modern African music

Postby cheifwhat » 24 Jul 2021, 00:13

This is the kind of thing that is popular in Zimbabwe, that my wife likes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1frDfPA2M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Vtwv1npRk
Mostly dancing sir,...


Return to “Yakety Yak”