Season's Greetings!

Kwanzaa times are here again, and i have been passing this link around to family and friends to set the holiday mood. 12 tracks of explosive african dance music.

KWANZAA_II



Dessalegn Melku – Guazuadegnozocheze
Super Jamono de Dakar – Yaraal sa doom
Johnny Bokelo – Moi Pas Comprendre Toi
Oliver de Coque & his Expo ‘76 – All Fingers Are Not Equal
Dur Dur – Hak Somalk Dumark
Extra Golden – Love Hijackers
Moussa Doumbia – Black & White
Mahmoud Ahmed – Nafqot Nèw Yègodagn
Cheb Amar – Sid El Harat
22 Band de Kankan – Sapony
Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Moçambique – Piquenique
Number One de Dakar – Adouna


Merry kwanzaa & a happy new year people!

Izanzaren

The place to get IZANZAREN is at the blog called Snap, Crackle and Pop. Comes heavily recommended. It's from the 60s and 70s, from the mountains of Morocco. The sound often reminds me of Tinariwen, though the jams are longer and the style is unique, the grooves are pretty similar. So I guess we could call it mountain blues. Heavy moroccan mountain blues banjo jams. And check out the pictures (!)

Golden age Guinea mix

Golden age Guinean mandingo music has been constant in my ears & head for a few months. It's a really distinct style, the vocals, guitarwork and horn arrangements are all off the hook. The bands have awesome names like Le Simandou de Beyla, 22 Band de Kankan, Le Nimba N'Zerekore and Tropical Djoli Band de Faranah. If you want more there are impressive guinea/mandingo back catalogues at worldservice and globalgroove.

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In april I was lucky enough to catch the Mandingo Ambassadors in Brooklyn, New York. They are led by guitarist Mamady Kouyate who was in Bembeya Jazz National back in the heydays. If you are ever in New York, they play every wednesday at Barbés by Park Slope.

OST: Farz (1967) & Jeene ki raah (1969)

This is great bollywood pop from the songwriting brains of Bollywood composer duo Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, aka Laxmikant-Pyarelal aka "LP" aka Laxmi-Pyare. The songs were sung by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and then of course mimed acted and danced by someone more beautiful in the movies. Anyway, the music is sweeet.

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The Thai that binds

12 tracks drawn from vintage Thai music compilations, Thai Beat a Go Go Vols. 1-3 samt Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s. Adds up to 33.6 minutes, which coincidently happens to be the exact amount of Thai music you can listen to without going koko like the guy on the cover above.

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