African Music » Passion of the Weiss

Aug
02

Tonight begins a two-week descent into deadline madness. Coupled with Sach’s National Lampoon vacation and Douglas’ ongoing move, content could grow a bit scarce in these parts. If my rambles become even more weird and disjointed, it’s because my bloodstream is 4.2 percent 5-hour energy drink, and I have cleaned out the last few remaining… Continue reading »

Aug
02

King Sunny Ade: The King of Juju Music

Thomas Odumade last lectured on the virtues of Lidget Green Position. This time he tackles the King–allapologies to Elvis, Michael Jackson, T.I., and Louis XIV. Both the band and the enlightened monarch. Despite a surge in interest in West African music over the last few years, little has been written about legendary Juju pioneer King… Continue reading »

May
25

Next Stop…Soweto Volumes 1 & 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFOLyjqb28 Soweto, the most infamous apartheid stronghold, has received the brunt of attention from crate-diggers panning for gold via the largely unknown outfits that perfected their craft in isolated township halls. Described by “trombonist Jonas Gwangwa as the “soundtrack for knife fights between local and visiting criminal gangs,” the bands culled for the Next Stop…Soweto… Continue reading »

Mar
09

Globetrotting With the Beat Konducta

Madlib is releasing 18 albums this year. Maybe 19. Maybe more. No one really knows. Not me. Not Egon or Peanut Butter Wolf. Not Madlib himself. We know that there are a dozen Beat Konducta albums surveying Otis Jackson’s far-flung tastes. Reggae and Afro-Beat. Tropicalia and New Wave. Actual rap music for those down since… Continue reading »

Mar
03

Rough and Tough with My Afro-Rock

Before Strut, Soundway, Analog Africa, and Now-Again, emerged as the top tier of archivists crawling the earth for lost gems, there was Afro Rock, Volume 1, a little-heard but widely influential compilation released on Kona in 2001. Back when Ezra Koenig was freestyling over the instrumental to “All Mixed Up,” Duncan Brooker was excavating crates… Continue reading »

Feb
24

Beards, Blazers & Bruins: Tinariwen Take Over Royce Hall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ij7nm7UYpU Consider Tinariwen an amalgam of The Grateful Dead, The Wu-Tang Clan, and the sublime frequencies of the Sublime Frequencies comp of 1970′s Algerian Rai underground. Crossroads dirges. Six weary travelers singing traditional arrangements turned electric, a nomad blues. Hypnotic guitars, ragged laments, and a subtle ferocity flashing its fangs at all the right moments.… Continue reading »

Feb
07

Sach O: FACT Mix – Bass Clef

I’m possibly this site’s least athletically inclined contributor (my physique has been described as “Snoop-esque,”) but even I’ll be getting together with the guys, a case of beer and all the food that’s fit to eat tonight, cheering on a bunch of people attempting to move a ball from one side of a field to… Continue reading »

Nov
25

Legends of Benin> Legends of the Fall>I Am Legend >John Legend

Thanksgiving, blah, blah, blah. Inevitably, there are things that we are grateful for, but blogs are not the ideal forum to fulminate. Or maybe they are. Tucker Max had a movie made based on his sordid chicanery. Diablo Cody turned a season of stripping into stardom. Starting in January of 2010, Passion of the Weiss… Continue reading »

Nov
23

The Spread of Nigerian Fuzz Funk

As though to justify my recent rave about their archival efforts, Now-Again strikes uh, again, with the announcement of the Nigerian Fuzz-Funk anthology, a compilation that promises to succeed in being both categorically awesome and sounding like the name of a rare Equatorial disease. Partnering up with Uchenna Ikonne of the phenomenal With Comb &… Continue reading »

Oct
08

Felabrations: Like Normal Celebrations But With More Weed and Polygamy

Since it is widely accepted logic around these parts that Fela Kuti is the G.O.A.T., I’d be remiss not to mention the Felabrations being held in 15 cities across North America over the next month. According to the flacks, “the original Felabrations date back to the early 1970s when Fela and his band took over… Continue reading »