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When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

newyorker.com

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Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#11

Post by beat »

barkingcat wrote: post #10
beat wrote: post #2

The richness of the west African music scene continues to astound me. I think the western Sahara area (Mali, Niger) is producing the best music in the world today, but the depth of it, going back to the introduction of commercial recording in the post-WWII era, is fantastic.

There's no such thing as "best music in the world" ... It's very subjective and while I'm sure the beats are deep, using superlatives don't really do the music justice.

You're no fun.

It's English. It's a language of poetry, not precision.

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#12

Post by fruffy »

isserson wrote: post #4
leesec wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this is super interesting. I've listened to just a very small amount of African music but really enjoyed it. Any artists or albums you can point me towards?

I personally find that labels and anthologies are an easy way to discover artists: * Awesome Tapes from Africa: https://www.awesometapes.com/ * Analog Africa: https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/ * Sublime Frequencies: http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/ Here's one album, "Bambara Mystic Soul": https://youtu.be/8XWuFG-Sq_g

Analog Africa is a great label. I have been slowly working my way through their collection and the amount of disco, funk, and rock music they exposed me to is amazing. The music is very refreshing. It just ever so slightly odd and different while also being very positive and rhythmic.

My favourite albums of their collection right now are Space Echo, Amara Toure, and also Bambara Mystic Soul.

I think partially because of Spotify's and Youtube's recommender systems this type of music has picked up popularity lately. There are also several DJs such as Palms Trax and Hunee who have recently started mixing in African Disco into their tracks. I do not complain about this trend.

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#14

Post by 24gttghh »

leesec wrote: post #3
beat wrote: post #2

The richness of the west African music scene continues to astound me. I think the western Sahara area (Mali, Niger) is producing the best music in the world today, but the depth of it, going back to the introduction of commercial recording in the post-WWII era, is fantastic.

Wow, this is super interesting. I've listened to just a very small amount of African music but really enjoyed it. Any artists or albums you can point me towards?

African Scream Contest - Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s[0]. Not the best name I guess, but it is one of my favorite compilations of any genre. I found the 3rd song, 'It's a Vanity', from a snowboarding video that came out a couple years ago called "Glue"[1].

As others have mentioned, its released by Analog Africa.

[0]http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/mf4h/

[1]https://youtu.be/udf7DywE2Iw

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#16

Post by barkingcat »

beat wrote: post #11
barkingcat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no such thing as "best music in the world" ... It's very subjective and while I'm sure the beats are deep, using superlatives don't really do the music justice.

You're no fun. It's English. It's a language of poetry, not precision.

It can be both. The more precise, the more poetry there is.

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#17

Post by carlos_silva »

leesec wrote: post #3
beat wrote: post #2

The richness of the west African music scene continues to astound me. I think the western Sahara area (Mali, Niger) is producing the best music in the world today, but the depth of it, going back to the introduction of commercial recording in the post-WWII era, is fantastic.

Wow, this is super interesting. I've listened to just a very small amount of African music but really enjoyed it. Any artists or albums you can point me towards?

I like Les Wanyika. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxhOV1gvVTI As a bonus you can see some great dance moves ;-)

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#18

Post by emmelaich »

leesec wrote: post #3
beat wrote: post #2

The richness of the west African music scene continues to astound me. I think the western Sahara area (Mali, Niger) is producing the best music in the world today, but the depth of it, going back to the introduction of commercial recording in the post-WWII era, is fantastic.

Wow, this is super interesting. I've listened to just a very small amount of African music but really enjoyed it. Any artists or albums you can point me towards?

This is very old (1958) but my Dad introduced me to Missa Luba - a Catholic Mass sung by Congolese.

Famously used in the movie "If..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missa_Luba

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#19

Post by ptd »

wilsonfiifi wrote: post #15
ptd wrote: post #7

As someone who was born in Burkina Faso, this was a great read. Thank you for sharing. If you found this article interesting I recommend you look into Salif Kieta and Ali Blondy.

Alpha Blondy you mean?

Yes, my mistake! Thanks for the correction.

Re: When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture

#20

Post by trisomy21 »

beat wrote: post #8
leesec wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this is super interesting. I've listened to just a very small amount of African music but really enjoyed it. Any artists or albums you can point me towards?

My personal passion is the "desert blues" music that's mostly Tuareg. Start there with Tinariwen and Bombino. They're widely available in the West without much effort. They also tour heavily in the US, so keep your eye out for concerts! From there, the Sahel Sounds label puts out a lot of obscure and interesting music on Bandcamp. I can recommend two films as well. The first is "Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai" (Rain…

Great recommendations. Thanks for sharing!
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