Podcast 95: Awesome Tapes from Africa

While studying hip-hop in Ghana in 2004-2005, Brian Shimkovitz quickly realized that most people outside of Africa have little to no idea of what life there is actually like, even when it comes to music. Although a small handful of African artists gain exposure outside the continent, much of the music that everyday people listen to at home, work, parties, and in the club remains a mystery. Using a hefty stock of cassette tapes acquired during his studies, in 2006 Shimkovitz launched Awesome Tapes from Africa, a blog devoted to sharing these hard-to-find musical gems with audiences outside of Africa. Here at XLR8R we’ve long been fans of the blog, so we tapped Shimkovitz to put together an exclusive mix for our weekly podcast series, and rather than try to neatly summarize things ourselves, we’ve decided to let Brian describe the mix in his own words.

Considering the musical diversity on the continent, this mix just scratches the surface in terms of beat-driven [music], more on the pop/dance side of things. I chose to highlight songs that really stand out to me, songs with incessant rhythms that translate in a variety of contexts, all of which can help make you move. While there are entire spectra of vintage African funk, disco, and Afrobeat to explore elsewhere, this mix culls some of my all-time favorite jams as it moves from electro-juju (King Sunny Ade) to disco highlife (J.A. Adofo) to Senegalese rap (Bill Diakhou) to Kenyan guitar breakdowns (Charles A. Chepkwony) to Zimbabwean dance numbers (John Chibadura) and beyond.

01 King Sunny Ade – “Ase” – (Island)
02 J.A. Adofo – “Medo Wiase” – (Agya Paye)
03 Souley Kante – “Diamanadia” – (Jaamnaty)
04 Bill Diakhou – “Gorgui” – (Gadiaga)
05 Yacouba Kante – “Djandjo”
06 Bainito Muyanda – “Gari Mademo Shina”
07 Charles A. Chepkwony – “Magtalena” – (Chandarana)
08 John Chibaudra and the Tempo Brothers – “Ambuya Vangu”
09 J.A. Adofo – “Aba No Saa” – (Agya Paye)
10 Kante Manfila – “Coh Coco” – (Disques Esperance)

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Poker Flat Lets the Chips Fall

On August 28th, Steve Bug’s venerable Poker Flat imprint will be celebrating 10 years and more than 100 releases with a poker tournament at Spielbank Berlin. Featuring label DJs such as Phonique and Mike Vamp, the 50 EUR buy-in tournament is planned for 70 participants spread across several gambling tables. After the tournament’s conclusion, participants can hop over to the Weekend Club to party it up with other Poker Flat DJs and non-gambling club-goers alike. Sign up via the form at the Spielbank Berlin site.

Michna “Triple Chrome Dipped (Osborne Remix)”

Imagine a cello-less Arthur Russell remixing a slower DJ Slugo or DJ Godfather instrumental. Yeah, it is a bit hard to fathom, isn’t it? Listen to this Osborne remix of Brooklyn’s Michna—which can be found on Michna’s new Eggstra EP alongside some other new tracks and remixes—and you’ll have a better idea of what we’re talking about. Maybe.

03 Triple Chrome Dipped (Osborne Remix)

Georgia Anne Signs to Ubiquity

San Francisco’s Ubiquity Recordings, the premier label for forward-thinking jazz, hip-hop, and R&B, has just signed Georgia Anne Muldrow to its roster, with an EP coming in the fall and an album in early 2010. Muldrow is a perfect fit for the esoteric label, as her productions stretch the limits of genre—on one track she can channel Lauryn Hill’s rapping style over a stuttering break, and on the next she can belt out some positive vibes over a funky ’70s Motown beat. What’s more, she often plays most of the instruments on her productions, and has produced for Mos Def (“Roses”) and played on a number of Erykah Badu tracks. With a new baby in tow, Muldrow is certainly keeping busy, and in releasing her work, Ubiquity will be keeping with its tradition of putting out innovative acts, ranging from the leftfield psychedelic hip-hop of Sa-Ra to the jazzy house of Theo Parrish. Other upcoming fall releases for the label include an LP featuring the jazzy beats and breaks of Lord Newborn & The Magic Skulls, an LP of The Clonious’ cosmic funk, and a 10″ EP of hypnotic electronic beats by Bei-Bei and Shawn Lee.

Voodeux The Paranormal

It’s hard to pull off “creepy” in electronic music without sounding Hollywood-hammy, but Boston/Philadelphia duo Jamie Watts (a.k.a. Kilo Watts) and Tanner Ross have managed to achieve that rare feat of curdling your blood even as they’re prodding you onto the dance floor. The Paranormal is truly on some disorienting horror-film-score shit; think if maverick producers Ricardo Villalobos and Bruno Pronsato plundered Lustmord’s harddrive full of tar-black ambience—Perlon Chaney, perhaps? The result is experimental techno imbued with the sort of ectoplasmic sonic enigmas that the title implies. Voodeux’s future seems very bleak, indeed—and that’s good for the dark side of dance music.

Get Physical Turns Seven; M.A.N.D.Y. Mix

In August, after seven years and 125 releases, Get Physical co-founders M.A.N.D.Y. are celebrating the milestone with a 24-track compilation that showcases the steely German label’s prowess on dancefloors the world over. Focusing on the past three years of the label’s output, the 7th Anniversary Compilation includes club favorites like Booka Shade’s “Duke” and Tiger Stripes’ “Mad at Me,” and because no compilation is complete without some new tracks, remixes of Damian Lazarus and Dakar are prominently featured. With its populist aesthetic and tech-house sensibilities firmly intact after almost a decade, M.A.N.D.Y. and Get Physical are sure to bring shiny grooves to the world for many years to come. This comp lands in the U.S. on September 15.

Tracklisting

1. Fuckpony “It’s Only Music”
2. Audiofly X “Mar Del Plata 2009”
3. Booka Shade “Borghia”
4. Jona “Learning From Making Mistakesv
5. Booka Shade “Duke”
6. Damian Lazarus “Neverending” (M.A.N.D.Y. & Alexkid Nonstop Remix)
7. Einzelkind vs Meat “Baléa”
8. Thomas Schumacher “Late Night Thing”
9. Siopis “Penny From The Lane Feat. Mr Brean”
10. Chelonis R. Jones “Le Bateau Ivre” (Samim & Michal «Almost Sober» Mix)
11. Riton vs Heidi “To the Gum”
12. DJ T. “Gorilla Hug”
13. Dakar “I’ve Got That Feeling” (Saxed Up Version)
14. M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade feat. Laurie Anderson “O Superman” (Reboot’s 20 Cubans Rework)
15. Jona “Take Five”
16. Elektrochemie “Mucky Star”
17. Patrice Bäumel “Roar”
18. DJ T. vs Thomas Schumacher “Lower Instincts” (Original)
19. Mac Neumann “Calypso”
20. Italoboyz “Zinga”(DRAMAdub)
21. Tiger Stripes “Mad at Me”
22. DJ T. vs Booka Shade “Played Runner”
23. Elbee Bad “Just Don’t Stop the Dance” (Slok RMX)
24. Matthew Dear “Free to Ask” (Body Language Exclusive Track)

Major Lazer “Cash Flow (Classixx Glass-Bottom Dub Mix)”

Transforming a dancehall track produced by Diplo and Switch into a near-cosmic Italo number is no short order, but the duo of Classixx have managed to do just that with their new remix of Major Lazer. Setting Jahdan Blakkamoore’s vocals over a slow-motion early house beat and fantastic, bright arpeggiating synths, the track overflows with summer soulfulness.

(Via Mad Decent)

Cash Flow (Classixx Glass-Bottom Dub Mix)

Gareth Hardwick Aversions

Boy, the risks of being a modern musician. The story goes that Nottingham-based drone hypno-sorcerer Gareth Hardwick lost the bulk of his new album in some kind of computer calamity and, rather than attempting to salvage it from memory or begin again from scratch, he shifted direction and instead requisitioned seven reinterpretations of works from his back catalog. Hardwick is an ardent minimalist, working with a palette generally limited to looped guitar and, well, silence, and his remixers hold to that. Library Tapes’ piano chords trail like smoldering ghosts, Strategy’s track buzzes with a loungey deep-space vibe, and the otherworldly scrapes and textures of Machinefabriek’s version of “Lost in the Memory” conjure a distant chill. Two of Hardwick’s brief original works did manage to survive the computer meltdown and appear here, lingering on the album as alluring as any drone we’ve heard this year.

Ivan Smagghe Mixes Robert Johnson Comp

Long known as a DJ’s DJ, Ivan Smagghe (one half of Black Strobe) will bring his eclectic sensibilities to the third installment of the Live at Robert Johnson series this September. Featuring such disparate acts as In Flagranti, Röyksopp, and Wighnomy Bros., the mix is certain to be a wild and hypnotic one, with Smagghe mixing darker tech moments with brighter disco and electronic vibes in a truly elegant, Parisian fashion. The disc will be released on September 21 via the Offenbach club Robert Johnson’s in-house label.

Tracklisting
01 Gary Beck “Drifting” (Original Mix)
02 Two Banks of Four “Junkyard Gods” (Tribute to Sadkin Dub)
03 Eddie Zarook & Casio Casino “Was”
04 In Flagranti “Efx 10-11”
05 Entertainment U “1988” (Kruton Remix)
06 Royksopp “Happy Up Here” (Holy Fuck Re-Interpretation)
07 It’s a Fine Line “Never Go With a Hippie to a Second Location”
08 Wighnomy Bros. “Exvola Stupp”
09 Seymour Bits “Watskeburt” (Original Instrumental Version)
10 Ryan Davis “Spicyal Sound”
11 Battant “The Butcher” (Marc Houle Remix)
12 Loin Brothers “Heavy Helmet” (Mock & Toof Remix)
13 Dark Day “No, Nothing, Ever”
14 Rheingold “Dreiklangsdimensionen”

Artist to Watch: Tempa T

Who:Tempa T
Where: London, U.K.

After cutting his teeth as an MC in East London youth centers, Tempa T (who also goes by the handle Tempz) truly burst out of the underground with the release of smash-and-grab anthem “Next Hype.” Although his retro ’80s hairdo makes Tempa T easy to spot—he’s quick to point out that he has the most famous high top in grime—his fierce delivery and manic live energy are what have really vaulted him into the limelight. Also affiliated with the Slew Dem crew and the No Hats No Hoods label, he’s currently finishing up his debut album.

Watch: Tempa T, “Next Hype”

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