Africa

Leave a comment Posted on Africa, Current Episode, Music, West Africa

Sounds) Suppress)) Struggle)))

guineabissau-dance

¡Música!  It will manifest inner strength and help transcend troubles of the material world.  In the case of Guinea-Bissau, a small, perpetually politically-handicapped nation of only 1.5 million humans, the odds against a music industry’s very existence have been overwhelming. ((Manecas Costa’s Paraiso di Gumbe (2003) is considered the first album recorded in the country.  Before then, Bissau-Guineans mostly recorded in Portugal, and neighboring countries Sénégal and Guinea))

Despite the hardships that the people have faced since independence from Portugal in 1974, Bissau-Guineans have created beautiful, culture-unifying music to express their quest for shared emancipation.  Some of the most exceptional music came out of the push for nationhood, as bands such as Super Mama Djombo provided the soundtrack for revolution.

This week’s program features nearly an hour of music spanning the first four decades of Guinea-Bissau’s existence.  The groups display many different degrees of blending between Portuguese and ethnic African influences (chiefly Mandinga and Fula).  I hope you hear something that moves you.

Listen to the sounds of Guinea-Bissau here.

Leave a comment Posted on Africa, Music, Southern Africa

A Mandolin and Electronic Heartbeats

Dear friends, I have fallen hopelessly behind on these posts.. but the show has skipped nary a beat!  From this week’s radio broadcast, a performance by our good friend Brandon “Blocktreat” Hoffman:

We preview tracks from his forthcoming album Stuff Gets Bent, and talk about bears, beat-making, and bear attacks on beat-making machines.  {{Listen here}}

Also, a short trip to the highest nation in Africa: the Kingdom of Lesotho!

Hear here!

Africa's Clint Eastwood

Africa’s John Wayne

Leave a comment Posted on Africa, Music, Southern Africa

The Batswana Groove

Welcome to the new mecca of heavy metal…

Gaborone, Botswana

Gaborone, Botswana

Against the odds, the African nation of Botswana has not only become a successful and peaceful country in the half-century since achieving independence, but has also developed a thriving heavy metal scene.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.  But still, with the care and precision it takes to cultivate the classic metal lifestyle, it seems more like an honorable religion than the devil’s music.. doesn’t it?

Other Batswana sounds are less Norwegian and more South African.  Seeing as Gaborone, the capital and largest city of Botswana, hugs the border of South Africa, many of the styles from down south are now firmly entrenched in the soundscape of Botswana– most notably Kwaito and electro-hip hop.

Hear these and much more on our BOTSWANA SPECIAL!

And hear the weekly Global Mix right ova here.

Leave a comment Posted on Africa, Music, North Africa

Warping Giant Afro-Beats

MiamideviceA full episode exploring sublime sounds inspired by and emanating from the African continent!  During the first hour, we are joined by sonic alchemist Brandon “Blocktreat” Hoffman, who guides us through the world of his darling Afrobeat monsters Miami Device.  Brandon discusses their upcoming show, trading cards, and debuts tracks from the as-yet-unreleased Miami Device remix album (stirring up their joyous 2012 LP Monopoly).

Stream part 1 of Wandering Rhythms HERE

For the second half of the show, our musical safari takes us to a land of many wonderful surprises, as we visit the North African sands of Algeria.  On Wandering Rhythms, we love when traditions diverge in unexpected new directions, and to this end Algeria offers a fascinating mix of regional styles that effortlessly blend with rock, hip hop, and blues that have found their way into the Algerian music scene mainly because of the close ties the country has had with France over the past two hundred years.

Kabyle rock, experimental Raï, Gnawa, classic hip hop, desert blues, folktronica, and more as we explore the spectrum of contemporary Algerian music..  Truly some of the most beautiful sounds on the planet.

Stream part 2, the Algerian Odyssey HERE

Algiers-Algeria

Leave a comment Posted on Africa

Chadians United!

chadiansChad: the country not the man.  A nation apart from the modern world, with struggles far more profound than the state of their music industry.  Yet with roughly 200 different ethnic groups and over 100 languages (French is widely spoken in the south, Arabic in the north), the diversity of music-making in Chad is ever present.  Perhaps in reaction to the neglect the country has received from the world community, Chadians have largely shunned modern music.  Other African rhythms, such as Congolese soukous, have seeped into the soundscape, but traditional instruments still hold sway.

The Chadian balafon has phallic calabashes hanging underneath which act as resonators to give a gritty, distorted sound:

chadhuhu

And then there are Chadians living abroad, making fearless musical hybridity…

Listen to La Seconde Méthode’s sublime first album here.  Hovering somewhere between desert blues and post-rock.  Superbe.

Stream part 1: the Global Mix

Stream part 2: Chad