FollowA musical tribute to “bedeaste and high priest of painting mystico-African religio-secret,” Mfumu’Eto (Mfumu’Eto Nkou-Ntoula) combining black magic and religion, pulp fiction and politics, irony and attitude, whizzzz bang and SPLAT!
but its not all just fun & games, as Papa Ramps warns:
“watch the skeleton’s break-dance in the electric storm
shattered spleen in the rain eye shattered spleen in the rain
eyeballs shower down they are playing marbles in paradise
bleed irrigation scheme…sell their kidneys to disney’s cartoon farm
the cyber-race’s operating system
the hour-song they sing the mechanical anthem
human & machine become one in the lie-tech dream”
Jayne Cortez & The Firespitters: “Cheerful & Optimistic”
Poet, musician, activist, and entrepreneur Jayne Cortez and her band combine playful irony with “capillary current” contemporary poetics and hybrid Caribbean-Harlem sounds.
Amiri Baraka “In Walked Bud”
A jazz-influenced paean welcoming Bud
Wanlov the Kubulor “Live at Pass 2009”
Kubolor! Kubolor! ‘Supa Chompia’ Wanlov stole our hearts last year at PASS with his rascally blends of Pidgin rap with Ghanian folk sounds. Kubolor is a rascal or truant; one who does not appear to be under parental control or guidance, always on some adventure like the Ghanian fictional ‘can’t do no good’ boy Kofi Babone. As Fela tells us, “Because we are dealing with corrupt people we have to be rascally with them.”
Carlo Mombelli & the Prisoners “The procession march of King Ferd the 3rd” (off Strange off I Stared into My Head)
As Carlo tells us: “If the music was composed or improvised from that inner child that we search for, pure and innocent, listening to the voice of your muse, then we are on the right track of beauty.”
Sun Ra “Zip a Dee Doo Dah” (off Second Star to the Right: Salute to Walt Disney)
Audience tape of a concert in Austria, 1989. Sun Ra, the cosmic black radical hijacks and reanimates Disney; the protector of white normativity. Part liberation, part celebration, all reinvention, all fun!
Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath “Kongi’s Theme” (off Live at Willisau)
A group rendition of Kongi’s Theme from the soundtrack to film of Wole Soyinka’s play Kongi’s Harvest, 1969
John Zorn’s Naked City “Batman Theme” (off Naked City)
Zorn’s Batman theme spurns grand narratives and decentres the process of improvisation and composition with abrupt segue, ‘jump cuts’, that channel zapping on television.
Sonny Sharrock “Out to Launch” and “Space Ghost” (off Space Ghost: Coast to Coast TV soundtrack)
Freeform guitarist gives uncle Eric a shout out.
Tyondai Braxton “Uffie’s Woodshop” (off Central Market)
Baby Braxton takes over “Uffie’s Woodshop” to carve sharp black music menace out of classical wood chips
16-17 “Attack-Impulse” (off Jazz Satellites: Electrification Vol. 1)
Some animated free sax ‘n guitar courtesy of noise/electro/dub producer Kevin Martin.
African Noise Foundation “Hymn”
A hymn to our civilisation
Jon “Il Kawa: A Tough Skin” (off Smoke)
Enigmatic Japanese organist shares this lullaby for her dog. Woof!
MF Doom “Lightworks”
We originally heard Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli & Q-Tip rock over this Dilla beat on the Dillagence mixtape. Now the masked villain takes a crack at it for his upcoming project BORN LIKE THIS.
Sensational & Kouhei Matsunaga “The Purple People For Future Earth’ (off Sensational Meets Kouhei)
Anti-apartheid protesters marching to Parliament in Cape Town on September 2, 1989 were stopped by police who retaliated with batons, tear gas and a new weapon — a water-cannon spraying purple dye to stain demonstrators and make them easier to identify and detain. As protesters scattered, one of them, 25-year-old Philip Ivey, climbed onto the armoured vehicle and turned the cannon’s purple jet on the police. Purple dye stained most of the surrounding buildings, including the National Party headquarters and the whitewashed walls of the historic Old Townhouse, on Greenmarket Square. And so the march became known as the “Purple Rain” event. The next day, graffiti around the city proclaimed: “The Purple Shall Govern”.
Lee “Scratch” Perry & the Upsetters “Black Panta” (off Johnny Greenwood is the Controller)
Perry and his Cartoon Saints And Villains salute the Panthers
Bebson De La Rue and Tryonix “Live at Pass” 2008
Bebson de la Rue, the poet laureate of Kinshasa’s streets and a singer/rapper and the leader of Afrofuturist project Tryonix, delivers some Original Raggamuffin Folklore at PASS 2008.
Brasse Vannie Kaap “Vyfster” (off Goemarati)
Flats crew reanimate Lloyd Ross’ theme to the jailbird TV show.
Rammellzee & K-Rob “Beat Bop”
Keep these articles coming as they’ve oneped many new doors for me.
Kuduroblend
Some Angolan dance madness
the Spoek in the machine!!!
Spoek Mathambo “H.I.V.I.P. Devil House Mafias 2” (mix)
Globe-trotting day-glow disco, rapid-fire socially conscious vernac wordplay, lo-fi kasi-infected kwaito beats and politically charged post-human soul from South Africa’s ghost in the electro-clash machine.