Fourteen tracks that move between Bamako and Belize, Dakar and Geneva.
Two of these come from Mr Bongo’s crates. Orchestra Baobab‘s “Kelen ati leen” was written by Medoune Diallo and first appeared on Visage Du Senegaal Vol. 6 in 1975, later reissued as a 45 in the label’s Africa series. Honny and the Bees Band‘s “Psychedelic Woman” gets Bonobo’s remix here, taken from Bottletop presents: Sound Affects Africa. Cymande‘s Brothers On The Slide (Promised Heights, 1974) is the other piece of deep catalogue, a London band of Guyanese and Jamaican musicians who called what they played nyah-rock.
The Malian thread runs through Oumou Sangaré‘s Yala, collected on World Circuit’s Oumou, and Fatoumata Diawara‘s Sowa, from her 2011 debut Fatou, a song addressed to mothers who abandon their children. Songhoy Blues formed in Bamako after fleeing the north in 2012; Sekou Oumarou is from Music in Exile, reviewed by KLOF’s Helen Gregory who declared: “By turns energetic and joyous, tranquil and reflective, Music in Exile looks set to be one of the most well-balanced and optimistic records you’re likely to hear this year.” She wasn’t wrong.
The Garifuna Collective‘s Black Catbird was written in response to a recording of the bird itself, part of Shika Shika’s A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean, with profits going to conservation.
Elsewhere: Elia y Elizabeth‘s Alegría, recorded in Colombia in the early seventies and long out of reach before Vampisoul got to it. Sudan Archives folding Sudanese fiddle into her own beats on Sudan Archives. Yalla Miku‘s Al 3mal, which starts funky and ends up somewhere much heavier. Two from beatmakers The Architect and one from Degiheugi, both on X-Ray.
Music Played
- 00:00 Elia y Elizabeth – Alegría
- 03:30 The Garifuna Collective – Black Catbird
- 05:53 Oumou Sangaré – Yala
- 09:43 Cymande – Brothers On The Slide
- 13:27 Fatoumata Diawara – Sowa
- 16:11 Degiheugi – Favelas (feat. Zackarose)
- 19:37 Yttling Jazz, Joshua Idehen & Saturday, Monday – Illegal Hit (Edit)
- 22:47 The Architect, L’Entourloop & Skarra Mucci – Dreader Than Dread
- 25:42 Honny and the Bees Band – Psychedelic Woman (Bonobo Remix)
- 30:04 Orchestra Baobab – Kelen ati leen (feat. Medoune Diallo)
- 33:38 Yalla Miku – Al 3mal
- 36:43 The Architect – Baile De Sol
- 40:04 Sudan Archives – Come Meh Way
- 42:28 Songhoy Blues – Sekou Oumarou