Must Listen: Angélique Kidjo
Yesterday, old reliable I Am Fuel, You Are Friends posted her weekly "Monday Music Roundup," a summary of music tracks that are blogworthy in Ms. Browne's opinion.
Despite her Pearl Jam affinity, Heather's tastes run a little more indie than mine, so I look, register, but don't always listen.
Yesterday, she dropped the following, and I am lazilly ripping her entire blurb:
listen: Salala (featuring Peter Gabriel)
Angélique Kidjo
I have written before about the wonderful West African songstress Angélique Kidjo, and I always get into the Africa world-beat fusion of her music. She has a new album out May 1 called Djin Djin and it features a whole host of A-listers like Amadou & Miriam, Ziggy Marley, Joss Stone, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys and this guy. Every time I hear Peter Gabriel's gruff, velvety voice I say to myself, "I forgot how much I love Peter Gabriel." The whole album is very good global listening.
So, I checked it out and I have to say I am in 100% agreement with this assessment. Every once in a while, I have a hankering for some good world music (and Heather's blog has a treasure
trove of it). I particularly dig Brazillian songstress Cesária Évora, and have always been a fan of Peter Gabriel's world slant, especially on his Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ.I will definitely be looking out for this new album in May when it is released.
Click the link above to hear the song and let me know what you think!
1 comment:
Nice to see a bit of African music in the mix. A couple quick recommendations from the past few years for anyone who is interested:
Orchestra Baobab -- Specialist in All Styles
Amazing. This is the "reunion album" for a group formed in Senegal in the early 70s. Very cool African-Latin sound. Saw them live in 2004 in a VERY small venue in SoCal.
Amadou and Miriam -- Dimanche a Bamako (Sunday in Bamako)
This CD is fantastic. Great vocals, fast driving beats, plenty of random "extra" sounds courtesy of producer/guest star Manu Chao (ringing phones, street sounds, people talking, etc.) On a lot of "best of 2005" lists. Took me a couple listens to get into, now it is on continuous in-car play. My three-year old loves this "crazy rock and roll."
They are known as the "blind couple of Mali" because, umm, they are blind, a couple, and from Mali.
Ali Farka Toure -- Savane
Just died in 2006. All of his recordings are masterful, but this is the posthumously-released last album. Great guitar work.
Salif Keita -- M'Bemba or Moffou
Another Afro-pop superstar out of Mali who's been on the scene for 30+ years, Keita's latest two recordings are mostly acoustic fare, lots of back-up singers, etc. For first-timers, I'd recommend starting with Moffou (~2002), but the two CDs are pretty similar in style. Tours in the US a lot, so try to see him.
Anything by Baaba Maal, Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Habib Koite, and Toumani Diabate.
I should stop now - Can't imagine anyone is still reading this far...
Good site for plenty more recommendations (and lots of NY-specific concert listings): http://www.afropop.org
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