In my quest to redeem that last lost post, let me invoke the name of half-Kenyan, half-American benga band, Extra Golden. Among the premier practioners of contemporary afro-beat, they’re living proof that the American legacy of Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and D.O. Misiani, isn’t entirely the province of a bunch of pencil-necked geeks rocking Lacoste and loafers.

In advance of their show tonight at the Echo, I spoke with guitarist Alex Minoff about the band’s alternately uplifting and tragic history, African music, and the difficulty of getting an American visa. If you’re still looking for tickets, Duke at You Set the Scene still has a pair to give away.  Extra Golden will be playing alongside reggae legends, The Meditations. If you don’t want to go, you deserve to watch comical cat videos for the duration of your existence.

LA Times: Extra Golden on African Music, Obstacles, and Obama

Download:

MP3: Extra Golden-”Anyango”
MP3: Extra Golden-”Ok-Oyot System” (Left-Click)

MP3: The Meditations-”There Must be a First Time”

Stumble It!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 3:20 pm and is filed under African Music, LA Times. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.