The Whole Thang

African Panorama

Naïm Megassabi — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:53:51 GMT

As the Nkengas put it: "Welcome to this African Culture Panorama!". Sorry for the delay folks! It took a while to get this episode online, mostly due to an acute herb-fueled manifestation of sloth. Even the word itself sounds lazy... Anyway, I tried to make it worthwhile, now it's up to you to hear if it is! Starting off with some good news from Zimbabwe - the legendary Green Arrows at work in a stunning 'waka waka' tune. A welcome change to the tragic vaudeville surrounding Mugabe & his acolytes. Is it a sign of the times that this "good news" is more than 3 decades old? Next up is some uptempo highlife straight out of Naija. Wicked afrobeat, super fuzzy zambian sounds & some seriously funky stuff make up the rest of this episode. Roll up, spark up, press play and... DANCE! 00'00 - the Green Arrows - Madzangara dzimu 02'43 - Godwin Ezike & the Ambassadors - Torri wowo 05'44 - Tony Tete Harbor & the Star Heaters of Nigeria - Tete muo bu muo 10'40 - Geraldo Pino plus the Heart Beats '72 - Black woman experience 15'18 - Afro National - Push am forward 18'52 - Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sound - Another man's thing 22'47 - the Witch - Tooth factory 26'54 - Question Mark - Scram out 30'35 - Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - Oh yeh yeh 33'06 - Ofege - Gbe mi lo 37'05 - the Wings - Love is meant for two 38'58 - Monomono - Get yourself together 44'00 - Bongos Ikwue & the Groovies - You've gotta help yourself 47'52 - Nkengas - Nkenga special 51'35 - Eric Showboy Akaeze & His Royal Ericos - Wetin de watch goat, goat dey watcham Questions, comments, remarks, suggestions? You know what to do ;-)

Give Me Fever!

Naïm Megassabi — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:23 GMT

Hello & welcome to yet another episode of this podcast! Push your furniture aside, crank up the volume and get ready for some serious nyaash-shakin', afro style! As some of you might have expected after hearing (& liking?) one of the previous posts, it's all afro & very, very groovy - don't take my word for it though... The Ekambi is supposed to be a little intro, but when the Force 7 kicks in things should start heating up considerably... Special mention goes out to 2007 Matsuli's label of the year Oriki Music for releasing the "Allo Bamako" selection of which the last tune is taken. It's only their second release, but if upcoming releases are going to be anywhere near as good as the first few - and all signs point to "f*ck yeah!" - we're in for one hell of a ride! I'll cut the silly banter and get to down to it, here's the playlist: 00'00 - Ekambi Brillant - Africa Africa 01'58 - the Nigerian Police Force Band (Force 7) - Asiko mi ni 06'55 - Bola Johnson - Lagos special 11'17 - Orchestre Lissanga - Okuzua 19'42 - Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes - Akayan ekassa 22'40 - Bokoor Band - Onukpa shwarpo 25'43 - Hamad Kalkaba - Fou sei allah 30'21 - Orlando Julius & His Afro-Sounders - Mura sise 37'11 - the Ogyatanaa Show Band - Disco Africa 41'14 - Jingo - Fever 47'49 - Lokonon Andre & Les Volcans - Mi kple dogbekpo 51'24 - Djelimady Tounkara & le Rail Band du Mali - Djiguiya If you like the stuff I'm posting, let me know. Feedback is often underappreciated... Not here though! Enjoy!

Dancing Time for Dancers!

Naïm Megassabi — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:14:09 GMT

Hello and welcome to the slightly overdue 3rd episode. Put on your dancing shoes as we take a dive onto the African dancefloors of the 70s from Accra to Lagos! From the fuzzy funk of Aktion to Joe Mensah's extended Afrobeat work-out, it's all heavy and designed to shake your nyaash... If you have a pulse of course! Here's what the playlist for today's episode of African Dancefloor Madness from Lagos and beyond looks like: 00'00 - Let's Have A Party - Geraldo Pino & the Heart Beats 04'02 - Groove The Funk - Aktion 08'36 - Sakatumbe - the African Brothers 14'45 - Diwela - Jerry Malekani 19'50 - Omo Lewa - Peter King 24'56 - Some More - Jay-U Experience 28'25 - Amalinja - the Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination 33'30 - Envy No Good - Mercury Dance Band 38'11 - Because Of Money - the 3rd Generation Band 43'57 - Love Affair - S.J.O.B. Movement 50'23 - Africa Is Home - Joe Mensah 57'02 - Dancing Time - the Funkees Many thanks to Soundway Records for making many of the tunes featured here available to dancefloors worldwide. Hope you enjoy the show Comments, questions, suggestions, remarks, etc? Drop them on the page!

West African Soundz

Naïm Megassabi — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:36:26 GMT

Welcome to the second episode of this podcast!! That's 2 exclamation marks right there. If the fun I had putting this mix together is of any measure, might as well have put in 10 instead. Since the early passing of the Black President Fela Kuti there has been some sort of surge in the worldwide interest for West African music. It got to me too, and in a rather bad way. Superb labels such as the classic Soundway, Afrostrut and - more recently - Oriki Music & Analog Africa (get these!) opened my eyes and ears to a whole host of wonderful sounds I never realized even existed. Sounds to make your nyaash bend in ways banned in several countries... The tunes here range from pretty straightforward Afrobeat to "haoussa Funk", "Pop" and the slightly less straightforward Jerk & Dindi styles... I actually have almost no clue where to draw the lines between genres or tendencies here (those names come from the 45 labels), so I usually just end up calling it heavy afro!! 00'00 - the Black Santiagos - Ole 03'05 - Ahouangnimon Sebastien Pynasco et l'Orchestre Discafric-Band de Cotonou - Mi hlin migan 07'10 - Clement Melome et l'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Zoun mi bo 12'17 - Clement Melome et l'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Ma savo home (Ne te plains pas) 16'45 - Orchestre Picoby-Band - Ye houe deou 20'09 - Orchestre Anos Band - Boro non andou nan 23'12 - Clement Melome et l'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Nougbo vehou (La verite blesse) 27'57 - Nestor Hountondji accompagne par les Volcans de Porto-Novo - Emalon ni hokowo 32'25 - Eskill Lohento & Poly-Rythmo - Iya me dji ki bi ni 36'23 - Orchestre Super Borgou - Ya bara 41'52 - Orchestre Super Borgou - Wegne'nda m'banda 45'06 - Daga H. Georges et l'Orchestre Black Santiago- Ayi e non Akome ye 50'23 - Leon Keïta - Dakan sate, korotoumi Some of these sounds have already been featured on some truly superb music blogs. Unlike those folks, I'm only a beginner in this vast territory of african grooves. So, if you want some proper background info, please take more than a cursory look at the links in the right column. The blogs they link to, such as Voodoofunk, Analog Africa, Matsuli - I'm only mentioning a few here but there are many more - all cast a much deserved spotlight on all too often forgotten but vibrant and uniquely diverse scenes across Africa. They all deserve your attention. My 2 cents here is but a drop in the bucket - but definitely one I'm very happy to add. Enjoy! Feel free to drop comments, remarks, suggestions, ask questions etc: it's all very welcome! UPDATE: a few months ago podomatic changed its policy, and as a result free users such as myself can no longer host files with a bitrate in excess of 96. So, if you like this mix and would like to download a (slightly) better version, here's one at 320 kbps http://rapidshare.com/files/199577908/West_African_Soundz_320kbps.mp3.html Enjoy ;)