[Trerit]

Was not expecting at all to find this on head-fi. I had forgotten all about Ali Farka and Oumou Sangare (among others) used to listen to Ali Farka everyday when I was working with my dad. He had his entire discography in his car xD
 
Thanks a lot for the find. Fatoumata Diawara's album will be an excellent birthday present for my dad
 
on a sidenote..
 
http://www.amazon.com/Fatou-Fatoumata-Diawara/dp/B005BO2L9I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332971198&sr=8-2
39.49 USD (24.9GBP)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fatou-Fatoumata-Diawara/dp/B005BO2L9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332971603&sr=8-1
7,99GBP (12.67USD)
 
Price is 3 times higher on US amazon =O some middle man has to be earning loads!

 

[Mike Dias]

Quote:

Thanks for the kind words. You know what I find amazing though, is that looking up a CD, calling or faxing Stern's/London and having the package "Aired" was really no slower than today's Internet shopping. It was fast! The only difference is cost - I paid a bit of a premium (understatement). 
 
Thanks for high-lighting the collection. I had become so fixed on upgrading gear the last two years, I'd completely gone without buying the music I love! Not forgotten... just broke! 

 Now that you've brought this body of work to all of our attention, I'm going to work on securing it right away.
 
Do I really need a few more bottles of Veuve Clicquot in April/May? 

 The verdict is in! This Spring, it shall be AFRICA|50 Years Of Music.
 

Well..... It is hard to say no to the Veuve, but for this particular collection, I'm with you!
 
I haven't bought the collection myself and I'm dying to hear more impressions about it all. Tigre Negrito - any more thoughts on what you've been listening to or are you fully absorbed and not even looking at the thread anymore
 
Hands down, Stern's is one of the best curators of music out there. Hat's off to all of them over there!
 

 

[Mike Dias]

So I've been patiently waiting for Rocket Juice & The Moon. I was thinking about having a whole thread on it but it will have a better home embedded into this one.
 
Anyways, this is the side project of Damon Alburn, Flea, and Tony Allen. I'm just listening to it now for the first time on Spotify. As soon as I heard the opening track 1-2-3-4-5-6, I had to hop on the thread and post. Tony Allen is in top form. Top Form! Track 9, Extinguished , features Cheik Tidiane Seck on keys and vocals. This track is out there but I really am drawn to it. And Fatou hops on 2 tracks to boot.
 
Paste didn't give the album a great write up but I'm very happy with it for what it is. This is a collectors album - not a commercial album. My favorite type of albums are sketches - ideas of what artists are thinking and feeling and how they are creating. This is certainly made in that vein. Here's how I see it. Artists are people too - just like me and you and I'm not really one who enjoys doing the same thing year after year. So why should we expect highly creative individuals to stay in the box that the marketing machine put them in? I personally love listening to side projects and variations. I'll eat those up. And let's not forget that Flea finished up pursuing his degree in music theory, music composition and jazz trumpet. Of course he's going to be drawn to African rhythms. Oh, and I mention that miss Badu lends some vocals on a few tracks too?
 
For me, the album's worth it just for 1-2-3-4-5-6 alone. Take a listen when you get a chance. I'd love to hear all your thoughts. I wouldn't say this album is really approachable and I'm not hearing any "singles" but I'll be sitting with this one for a while. Enjoy!
 
Mike
 
Rocket Juice & The Moon
 

 

[TigreNegrito]

Hey Mike, glad to see you back.  Yeah, that boxed set is absorbing to say the least.  I've got a friend who does missions several times a year to Africa and is putting together a video of the work they are doing there.  After telling him about this set, we've been listening to it a lot and trying to pull tracks to add as background music to his video, so I've been busy with that in 'all' my free time.
 
I'm also kinda in limbo with most of my can's out of service right now: TF10's getting reshelled, TP50's wanting the Thunderpants upgrade, which I paid for a month ago and STILL haven't received the kit for yet, and my Q701's waiting for the damn E17 amp.  That leaves me with the LP's and as much as I like them, they are a bit too heavy for most of the African music (though Morphine and Fu Manchu sound epic with em!).  As a result, I feel I should refrain from any in-depth review until I've heard it with good cans.
 
That said, I'm spending a lot of time with the trio of discs from North Africa as well as those from the west, heavy with Malian artists.  The neat thing about the set is that you can really hear the influences of various genres of music in the tracks.  I'm not a music history buff, but it begs the question, for instance, did our blues sound come from there, or were the artists there heavily influenced by the blues musicians here?  Guess it doesn't really matter, so long as one enjoys the music.
 
I'll give Rocket Juice a listen here in a bit.  Anything with Flea is good for me... as long as it's not my dogs!

 

[Mike Dias]

Quote:

The neat thing about the set is that you can really hear the influences of various genres of music in the tracks.  I'm not a music history buff, but it begs the question, for instance, did our blues sound come from there, or were the artists there heavily influenced by the blues musicians here?  Guess it doesn't really matter, so long as one enjoys the music.  
I'll give Rocket Juice a listen here in a bit.  Anything with Flea is good for me... as long as it's not my dogs!

My man - great to hear all this. I can't wait to read the full review. As for your question, I'm no music historian myself (but good gawd I'd love to go back to school for that one. I've heard of a few ethnomusicologists but haven't ever met one Anyways, here is my understanding. The blues certainly came from over there. Now you can't take away the fact that the blues must have influenced musicians over there as well but West Africa is the root of it all. I'm working on a new thread about the history of banjo and fiddle music and the results of what I've been learning will blow you away. Guaranteed! I'll be real curious to read your thoughts on it in comparison to what you've been hearing and learning from the compilation. More on this very soon.
 
By the way - the more I've listened to Rocket Juice & The Moon, the more I'm loving it. MOJO wrote up a great review of it that's worth checking out.
 
m-

 

[TigreNegrito]

Yeah, I bought the album off iTunes after I made that post last night and have listened to it half a dozen times since then - great find, brother!  Since you mentioned Flea's (real name also Michael, by the way) education and experience with the trumpet, do you know if he is the one playing horn on several of the tracks?  Love hearing his definitive bass lines in each track, too.
 
On a side note, I ordered a set of Denon AH-D1100's since I'm out of cans and about 10 minutes later, Kaysen called and said she was shipping my CIEM's, so now I should be covered!

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Well..... It is hard to say no to the Veuve, but for this particular collection, I'm with you!
 
I haven't bought the collection myself and I'm dying to hear more impressions about it all. Tigre Negrito - any more thoughts on what you've been listening to or are you fully absorbed and not even looking at the thread anymore
 
Hands down, Stern's is one of the best curators of music out there. Hat's off to all of them over there!
 

To Stern's Music-

So good was Stern's Music, even two of some of my favorite music stores imported from them - Virgin Megastore on the Sunset Strip, West Hollywood (closed 2008) and Tower Records, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood (closed 2006).
 
Speaking of Stern's, went over to the online store and discovered "Africa|50 Years of Music" sold out! While there, I pulled up the track listing for the CD's... and was a bit surprised. What I saw was as telling as what I didn't see and that was the glaring omission of a few key artists. Busi Mhlongo was chief among them!
 
Firstly, I understand the Continent has a treasure trove of music - a cutoff had to be made somewhere. 

 But never at Busi! So, this tells me a few things: Volume 2 will depend on the success of the first volume but should be expected. 

 And that it is quite possible that Contracts, royalties, licensing and permissions played a part in what made it and what didn't onto the collection.
 
Busi Mhlongo is perhaps, my favorite female vocalist. She was a world renown Singer-Dancer-Composer-Sangoma from South Africa. And recently lost her battle with Breast Cancer the morning  of 15 June, 2010. Significant on this date was the National Futbol Team was to play its second match in the FIFA World Cup in Jo'Burg; South Africa was the tournament's host, and they lost a national treasure the same day - irony.
 
Anyway, check her out when you've the chance. She's got a voice like none you've ever heard... and were dreaming if you did. 

 It's b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l ! Try to hear one of her first CD's "Busi Mhlongo & Twasa (1993). If you're unsuccessful, I'll make it happen for you! 
 
Also, the omission of Amadou & Mariam from Mail startled me a bit as well. And talk about a love story, this married musical couple met at an institute for the blind. Each already had their respective bands and recordings. After falling in love and marrying, they merged their musical acts together and we are the beneficiaries! 
 
Stern's Music selling the collection out is simply an opportunity for me to raise some money...

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

So I've been patiently waiting for Rocket Juice & The Moon. I was thinking about having a whole thread on it but it will have a better home embedded into this one.
 
Anyways, this is the side project of Damon Alburn, Flea, and Tony Allen. I'm just listening to it now for the first time on Spotify. As soon as I heard the opening track 1-2-3-4-5-6, I had to hop on the thread and post. Tony Allen is in top form. Top Form! Track 9, Extinguished , features Cheik Tidiane Seck on keys and vocals. This track is out there but I really am drawn to it. And Fatou hops on 2 tracks to boot.
 
Paste didn't give the album a great write up but I'm very happy with it for what it is. This is a collectors album - not a commercial album. My favorite type of albums are sketches - ideas of what artists are thinking and feeling and how they are creating. This is certainly made in that vein. Here's how I see it. Artists are people too - just like me and you and I'm not really one who enjoys doing the same thing year after year. So why should we expect highly creative individuals to stay in the box that the marketing machine put them in? I personally love listening to side projects and variations. I'll eat those up. And let's not forget that Flea finished up pursuing his degree in music theory, music composition and jazz trumpet. Of course he's going to be drawn to African rhythms. Oh, and I mention that miss Badu lends some vocals on a few tracks too?
 
For me, the album's worth it just for 1-2-3-4-5-6 alone. Take a listen when you get a chance. I'd love to hear all your thoughts. I wouldn't say this album is really approachable and I'm not hearing any "singles" but I'll be sitting with this one for a while. Enjoy!
 
Mike
 
Rocket Juice & The Moon
 

Glad you were able to pull yourself away long enough to share... this is important! Can't wait to investigate... Tony Allen and Miss Badu live inside the listening room. Though, not familiar with the other two (aware of their bands only), looking forward to the project.

 

[nijohc]

this is nice. music, what we want to listen thru the headphones and all the gears here.

 

[Mike Dias]

GREAT NEWS!
 
Fatoumata Diawara and Toumani Diabaté will join a diverse range of musical legends and emerging new artists, from Africa and the West on The Africa Express Train as it tours England, Scotland and Wales this September.

The tour - supported by The Guardian - will capture the unique spirit of Africa Express, taking its innovative blend of music and mayhem to UK towns that have never seen anything like it. There will be pop-up performances with world-famous musicians playing unexpected gigs in unexpected places. Schools, railway stations, factories, offices, shopping centres and local clubs. Each day, each town, each show will be different. With a customised rehearsal carriage on the train, the artists will create new music along the journey, which will culminate with the train’s arrival back into Kings Cross for a large-scale finale concert in Granary Square - one of London’s newest public spaces.
 
Other confirmed acts include, Amadou & Mariam, Damon Albarn, Nicolas Jaar, Baloji, Charli XCX, Jupiter & Okwess International, Kano, Bassekou Kouyate, Baaba Maal, Noisettes, Jack Steadman (Bombay Bicycle Club), Rokia Traoré, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) Tony Allen, Carl Barât, Hatim Bensalha (H-Kayne), Afel Bocoum, Krar Collective, Kyla La Grange, M1 (Dead Prez), M.anifest, Spoek Mathambo, John McClure (Reverend and the Makers), Nneka, The Temper Trap, Marques Toliver, The Very Best (Soundsystem) and Rizzle Kicks.
 
For confirmed venue line-ups visit www.africaexpress.co.uk
 
Want to learn more about the Africa Express? Watch this amazing video
 

 ​

I wished I lived in the UK. Will someone—anyone—please go to this and let us all know about it?
 
Thanks,
 
Mike
 

 

[Mike Dias]

So 18 months after this thread originally posted, Fatoumata Diawara continues to make international headlines.
 
Having kicked off the summer with a performance at Glastonbury, this year has seen her go on to crack the US, with a special on CNN to prove it. Not to mention brushing shoulders with Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Citizens Awards, as well as performing alongside the Roots in New York! Earlier this month she shared the stage with Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Bassekou Koyate, Kasabian, M and many more when Doc des Suds Festival in Marseilles played host to a six hour Africa Express extravaganza.
 
2014 is shaping up to be just as busy, kicking off with a Malian double bill as Fatoumata and Bassekou Koyate take their countries musical culture to the USA. Finally Fatoumata is currently preparing for a tour next summer with Cuban Jazz sensation Roberto Fonseca.
 
Here's a clip from Glastonbury and here's the link for the CNN feature.