ROOTS WORLD REVIEW FOR RADIO VIETNAM SF095 CD

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Roots World review of SF095 CD Radio Vietnam.

Which brings us to the latest in Sublime Frequencies' confounding, mapless, aural travelogues into “the other.” Like their other radio series recordings, Radio Vietnam is a jarring stew. Here we have politically charged transistor snippets, news in English, ESL lessons, Vietnamese electric slide street guitar, lo-fi, synth drenched pop not unlike the grooves from neighboring Cambodia and Thailand, and hit-and-run hunks of ethnic minority music that somehow got caught up in the mix. The track titles, as usual, only enhance the confounding collage. “Morning Exercise in the Coded Ether,” for example, starts with digital beats, but switches abruptly to what sounds like a Martian pronouncing doom over a zither and feedback, only to be interrupted by a young Vietnamese woman speaking about something made esoteric by its lack of context before some of the most gorgeous electric guitar balladry ever copped from radio appears. This then is interrupted again by water chimes, incantations, socialist radio and perhaps what truly is an exercise regimen. And all of this takes about five minutes.

To go through this track by track seems as futile as trying to alleviate US poverty while Republicans have control of government. On and on this collection goes, perhaps useless to Vietnamese in country, but likely a joy to the few expats to hear it. But for the audience this is no doubt aimed at, it's another blunt missive fired at an already media-saturated west from a label whose early novelty has long been replaced by some seriously profound collections. Whether or not this CD-only release finds itself amongst them doesn't really matter. Oh, and Woody Guthrie even appears for a millisecond. 

- Bruce Miller

THE ATTIC REVIEW FOR BABA COMMANDANT & THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA

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Burkinabé traditional music has continued to flourish and musical output remains quite diverse. In spite of this influx of popular styles, a few original talents have emerged, such as Koudbi Koala's Saaba, who perform traditional Mossi music from the region around Ouagadougou, the nation's capital. Popular traditional groups from Burkina Faso include balafon bands, percussion ensembles and others such as Farafina and Gabin Dabiré, who use elements of traditional Burkinabé music.

Burkinabé music tradition is rich and loaded, but how does it sound nowadays? It seems that the awe-inspiring people from Sublime Frequencies have managed to place this quest in a professional environment, resulting a great album of contemporary Afrobeat delivered by Burkibabé based musician Baba Commandant and his Mandingo Band. On his real name Mamadou Sanou, Baba is an original and eccentric character, well respected in the Burkinabé musical community.

After joining the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer, baba embarked later on his current musical direction as a singer, first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band. Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, a stringed instrument that is an ancestor of the banjo, also the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). Members Simon Chenet and Issouf Diabaté are both on guitar solo duties, with Frenchman Chenet assigning an electric trance with his solos and Diabaté adding even more metal feel. 

Juguya is an eight tracks package, conveying essential rhythms, soulful, gritty, funky vibes and combining in a distinctive mode the heritage from Fela Kuti and Africa ‘70s, Moussa Doumbia (the James Brown of Mali) together with American rock and funk genres. This is modern DIY Afrobeat sound with the ngoni. 

Party mood activated! Don’t miss this.

Original review link here: 

http://the-attic.net/reviews/1451/baba-commandant-&-the-mandingo-band-_-juguya.html