Berichten met de tag ‘Africa’
Lizzy Mercier-Descloux
Mais ou sont passées les gazelles?
Indépendance cha-cha
This is a great tune and a brilliant video. It’s a new take on what is one of Congo’s (and perhaps even Africa’s) most famous tunes “Indépendance cha-cha”. This 2010 version is sung by the Congolese-born and Belgian-raised rapper/singer Baloji (formerly of the hiphop crew Starflam) and it’s taken from his album “Kinshasa Succursale” which is surely worth checking out as well.
Baloji talks about the days after (“le jour d’après”) the independence and the new lyrics he has written, calls for his fellow Congolese to leave the violence behind, to re-unite and to work together on a new future.
The video is produced by Spike and Jones and shot in the “Bon marché” (Barumbu) neighbourhood, at the heart of Kinshasa. It features the backing band of the late Wendo Kolosoy, a famous Congolese singer, and also shows Baloji and the others adopting a sapeur-like style.
The original “Indépendance cha-cha” was written in 1960 by Joseph Kabasele, aka Le Grand Kalé, and African Jazz. They wrote it while Congolese delegates Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Kasavubu negotiated the terms of independence with Belgian officials and drafted a provisional constitution. The song became an instant hit in Congo and abroad, and the most popular anthem for independence struggles across the African continent.
Here’s the original.
And to top things off, here’s a street brass version of the tune. Just to show that the tune is still very much alive in Congo.
Musik Line
Musik Line is a brand new online journal / blog dedicated to sound system culture and to African, Caribbean and other music. It features short articles, interviews, mixes, reviews and other interesting sonic and literary fragments.
The first issue is now online and features range from Gnawa Music and the Black Diaspora in Morocco to a snapshot of the hip hop scene in Mauritania in 2005. This is truely fascinating stuff.
Two more Dr. Auratheft mixtapes
He’s still producing mixtapes faster than his shadow. Dr. Auratheft has two new great mixes online.
Sahara (Gathering Sand and Dust) brings us the sound of the sand with a mix of traditional tracks, some Touareg blues and a few lofi “desert punk” bands. Makes you wanna gather dust. Trangalanga is a tropical mixtape released at The New Worck, containing some great afro-latin, kuduro & cumbia with dub influences.
Go there and download them all.
Dr. Auratheft mixes
Some recent mixes from the always fascinating Dr. Auratheft:
- Africa Wakbarr Volume 8
- Moulay El-Hassan, Essaouira: Gnawa
- Discipline, Dreams and Dimes. Sun Ra and His Arkestra. Volume 7
- Rewind_Love Joys Updated_1981-2006
And many more on his blogspot. We love it.
Mulatu Astatke – Yegelle Tezeta
Following our post on Dub Colossus, we return to Ethiopia for some swing with the father of Ethiojazz Mulatu Astatke.
Dub Colossus In A Town Called Addis
We know it’s a bit late, but for some things it’s never too late. Like for writing down a few words about a record that was released months ago. We’re talking about “In A Town Called Addis” by Dub Colossus, released october 2008 on Real World Records.
Now why talk a few months later about “A Town Called Addis”, if it’s not because the record made it number 1 in february’s World Music Chart Europe? We’re not really chart people and we’re not into hit music, so there must be other reasons.
One could be the fact that we have been listening to Nick Page (aka Dub Colossus) ever since he was one of the founding members of Transglobal Underground. That was 1990, long before world music and cross-over would become radical chic. After Transglobal Underground came Natacha Atlas, Temple of Sound and countless collaborations and since a few years there is Dub Colossus. So we kept following the musical outings of Nick Page, always curious about what his next move would be.
Another reason is that a few years ago we got to know Ethiopian music and fell in love with it. It was through the musical collaborations set up by anarchopunx the Ex that we discovered this hidden gem of Africa. We found out how astonishing it is to hear how dreamy blues, hypnotic grooves, jazzy piano and driving funk brass all blending together into an other-worldly listening experience. Wonderfull music, as you can hear for yourselves on the Ethiopique series, of which by the way there is now a “Very best of”
2cd compilation.
So if you put one (Dub Colossus) and one (Ethiopia) together, you get something extraordinary like In A Town Called Addis, fusing traditional Ethiopian music with spacey dub. We heard somebody compare it to Lee Scratch Perry producing Éthiopiques. In the same vein Nick Page turns out to be a real alchemist who has created a completely contemporary dub marvel. Much respect!
You can listen to samples of each song on the Real World website or hear more on the Dub Colossus Myspace page.
Nick Page talks about the project, the music and the album:
Listen to Sima Edy, one of the songs on the album:
