World music
News: Rey Sapienz & The Congo Techno Ensemble announce a July album; hear a new track, ‘Eza Makambo’
IN CASE you hadn’t noticed, the sound of afrobeat is taking on a new dimension: riding on a surge of youthful energy; absorbing rap’s bite and electro’s drive; committed to the cutting edge but respectful of sources. Rey Sapienz and his new collective The Congo Techno Ensemble look set to add their dynamic to this …
Album review: Mdou Moctar – ‘Afrique Victime’: a coming together of the West African and western rock
MDOU MOCTAR is at last gathering momentum; but it’s been an epic journey since 2008, when his raw emotional guitar music first began to spread across West Africa via the DIY network of traded SIM cards. Picked up by Chris Kirkley of Sahel Sounds, who sent Mdou a much-needed left-handed Strat, then released his first …
Album review: Kasai Allstars – ‘Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound’: maybe more restrained, but still surprises
SOMETIMES a record comes along that disrupts your expectations. Since their debut album in 2008, Kasai Allstars have been one of the cornerstones of Congotronics, that vibrant assemblage of polyrhythms and scrapyard instrumentation which bolted a whole new wing to the afrobeat star-liner. Buzz drums, wired-up thumb pianos, hubcap percussion and salvaged guitars mixed with …
Album Review: Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell’s new album ‘Burn’ is an enthralling cinematic vision that mesmerises
Australian duo Dead Can Dance (consisting of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry) were an extraordinarily innovative band signed to the legendary 4AD label (becoming their highest selling artists), fusing medieval music with gothic undertones and ambient textures. The band has disbanded and reformed over the years since it began in 1981 – the most recent being the release of the album …
Album Review: Serendip Quartet – Queen of Fire; a homage to the Women of Congo.
There is a need to begin this review with a direct quote from its band leader, saxophonist Arnaud Guichard : “This record is dedicated to all the victims of sexual violences in DRC and to Dr. Denis Mukwege and his team who work hard at restoring the pride and dignity of all the victims of …
Track: Okute release new track ‘ Quiere La Rumba’ and forthcoming album
In the same way that BCUC went to the root of their roots to inspire some wild new afrobeats, Okute look set to do the same for Cuban music. The eight piece collective of seasoned players, based in Havana, are steeped in rumba/ Son cubano with a focus on the tradition’s afrocentric heartbeat. That may …
Album Review : Adam Moezinia’s ‘ Folk Element Trio’ – A Sonic Travelogue
New York based guitarist Adam Moezinia first debut album ,’Folk Element Trio’ is what we at Backseat Mafia have suspected it would be , after premiering its single ‘Celebration’ last month : a triumphant celebration. It is a union of global folk traditions featuring elements of Beninese, Malian, Welsh and American folk music in a contemporary …
Track: Toumani Diabate & The London Symphony Orchestra debut new track, ‘Elyne Road’
“ELYNE ROAD” is the debut track to premiere from the highly anticipated recording of the masterful collaboration between celebrated kora player Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra. The track is a truly wonderful preview to what’s a rather fascinating combination of West African griot/jeli tradition and the neo-classical brilliance of Western European conservatoire musicians. The LSO does …
See: Moonshine – ‘Ginseng (Zaire Space Program: Act I)’: utopian Afrofunk where Congo meets Canada
LINKING together the musics, the aesthetics and traditions of Paris, Portugal and the the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pan-African collective Moonshine have dropped a brace of singles – “Malembe” and the deeply bassy, Afrofunk groove of “Ginseng (Zaire Space Program: Act I)”, which we’e concerned with here, featuring the Paris-African talents of Bamao Yende, …
Album review: Crimi – ‘Luci E Guai’: potent fusion music from Julien Lesuisse
THE MOST potent fusion music, the stuff that’s born from experience rather than cooked up as an experiment, comes from travellers in search of sounds. Julien Lesuisse is one such explorer. The vocalist and sax player has been a central player in Lyon’s Mazalda, a band that steadily evolved from jazz messengers to sound system-driven …