STILL-SINGLE REVIEW FOR THAI POP SPECTACULAR: VARIOUS ARTISTS 2xLP — EXCLUSIVE RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE OUT TODAY APRIL 18th!

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STILL-SINGLE REVIEW FOR THAI POP 

SPECTACULAR: VARIOUS ARTISTS 2xLP

EXCLUSIVE 

RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE 

APRIL 18th!

Various Artists – Thai Pop Spectacular 2xLP
RECOMMENDED Thai Pop Spectacular collects 21 tracks of Southeast Asian pop nuttiness that was first released sometime in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, and pulled together by Alan Bishop and Mark Gergis in 2007. The CD has been sold out for years, but Record Store Day 2015 is as good a moment as any to reissue it on vinyl. As is often the case with Sublime Frequencies vinyl, the packaging (a gatefold with notes and a few head-scratch-inducing photos) is fabulous, and the pressing pretty decent too. The music ranges from dusk-of-psychedelia twang to passably deep funk to straight-up disco, and almost none of the vocals are in English; this music was intended for the home market, not tourists. The singing tends towards extravagant nasality, and if the translated song titles are to be believed, this is pretty nutty stuff. But Google Translate didn’t corroborate any of the translated titles, so it is possible that “Papaya Salad Merchant” and “Look Whose Underwear Is Showing” are really about something more prosaic. But for the non-Thai speakers out there, what does it matter? (http://www.sublimefrequencies.com)
(Bill Meyer)

Original Link at: http://still-single.tumblr.com/…/various-artists-thai-pop-s…

Djolo Cultures d' Afrique Review For Baba Commandant

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Original link can be found here: http://djolo.net/baba-commandant-le-punk-noir-du-burkina-faso/

Baba Commandant, le punk noir du Burkina Faso

21/03/2015 par Aodren

Je me souviens une fois avoir lu une critique reprochant l’ambiance « pirate » et la dangerosité d’un petit maquis à Bamako, dans un guide touristique (à bien y penser et vu l’impertinence du commentaire ça devait être le guide du routard) ; et bien l’écoute de cet album de Baba Commandant m’a rappelé l’ambiance « pirate » de ce bar, un petit endroit sombre, ou l’on peut boire une bière Castel mal déglacée, en écoutant le son d’une guitare distordue crachée par un vieil ampli grésillant.

C’est dans ce décor, avec son kamélé n’goni à la main (instrument à cordes, proche de la kora, typique du Mali et du Burkina Faso) et son look de punk dozo (confréries de chasseur anciennes) un peu barré, que le burkinabéBaba Commandant, vient livrer son nouvel album Juguya ; d’ailleurs à le voir, on pourrait penser qu’il s’agit d’un de ces éternels mauvais musiciens qui tenterait vaguement de se raccrocher à un semblant de patrimoine culturel…. grosse erreur !!

Baba Commandant fait exploser le patrimoine culturel de son pays, comme aucun musicien burkinabé avant lui, ou presque. Et si l’on retrouve les sonorités traditionnelles mandingues, l’artiste originaire de Bobo Dioulasso (ville à la frontière malienne), n’hésite pas à aller emprunter du côté de l’afrobeat (avec des sections cuivres remarquables, assurées par son groupe le Mandinguo Band), mais aussi du rock, du punk, du hip-hop, et même du dub.

L’image de punk du Baba Commandant, Mamadou Sanou de son vrai nom, n’est pas née aujourd’hui ; il faut dire qu’il n’est pas un de ces jeunes premiers pris au berceau sous l’aile d’une maison de disque international, son parcours artistique a débuté en 81 comme danseur, puis petit à petit, au rythme des cabarets et des balani, et au côté de grand nom de la musique ouest-africaine (notamment le burkinabé Victor Démé), Commandant Baba s’est forgé une solide réputation. Aujourd’hui, son album Juguya, paru sur l’excellent label Sublime Frequencies, lui apporte une visibilité, et une reconnaissance internationale.

Sur Juguya, vous retrouverez 8 titres, où se s’entremêlent avec harmonie, les notes cristallines des kora et ngoni, l’énergie brute des guitares saturées, la transe des rythmes de balafon, et bien sûr le chant âpre et puissant de Baba Commandant.

Si vous avez apprécié le contenu de cet article sur Baba Commandant, n’hésitez pas à visiter notre page facebook et a y réagir, et pourquoi pas même nous encourager d’une petite mention « j’aime ».

DUSTY GROOVE and AQUARIUS RECORDS' REVIEWS FOR BABA COMMANDANT & THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA

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DUSTY GROOVE REVIEW FOR
BABA COMMANDANT & THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA

Link at: https://www.dustygroove.com/item/734939

One of the most solid albums we've ever heard on the Sublime Frequencies label – a studio recording by a group with a really great approach to their music – a style that mixes classic Afro Funk elements with rootsier elements on the instrumentation! The grooves are tight, but the sound has some nice earthy qualities at times – especially in Baba Commandment's use of ngoni, which rings out in a way that's both melodic and rhythmic at the same time – echoing an older mandingo tradition, but coming across with a lot of punch! Other instrumentation includes lots of percussion, fuzzy guitars, and balafon too – and most of the vocals have a call/response style, in which other singers call out alongside Baba's lead. Really great stuff – with titles that include "Tile", "Folon", "Wasso", "Juguya", "Siguisso", and "Ntijiguimorola". © 1996-2015, Dusty Groove, Inc.

AQUARIUS RECORDS' REVIEW FOR
BABA COMMANDANT & THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA

Original links at: http://aquariusrecords.org/ #469
http://aquariusrecords.org/cat/newest.html

Well, there's Records Of The Week, and then there's Records Of The Week. This one was quite a nice surprise. And it's not like we don't already expect great things from the globetrotting subversives at the Sublime Frequencies label, they're always making great discoveries - we almost take 'em for granted now, we suppose. So with this album, by the wonderfully-named Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band, which boast a striking cover design too, at first we were like, that's probably going to be cool, but then when we heard it, we were like, this is REALLY cool. We were expecting some kind of funky Afrobeat, and that's what it is, but much wilder than we ever imagined. Totally off the hook! 

http://aquariusrecords.org/images/dot.gifBaba Commandant (aka Mamadou Sanou) and his band are from the West African state of Burkina Faso (formerly the Upper Volta), and in a true, underground, DIY style, mix up the traditional, tribal Mandingo music of their region with a more modern, electric approach. Baba Commandant, born in 1973, who sings and plays the ngoni (an ancient, traditional lute), has been an active and original presence on the music scene in Burkina Faso for many years. He's been in various other bands, but as far as we know, this is the debut release from this group. It's a cool discovery on the part of Sublime Frequencies, but we bet Baba Commandant & Co. would have been heard sooner or later over here, just due to the tons of rhythmic energy radiating from their music. Yup, they've got plenty of power (there's guitars to go with the ngoni, horns too, and they don't hold back), making for some pretty hot jams. The wide ranging vocals of Baba and his backup singers are crucial too, and together the group really casts a hypnotic spell. Fans of Konono No.1, of all the cool desert guitar bands that Sublime Frequencies has brought us before (like the late, great Koudede, whom Baba Commandant has performed a live tribute to), of anything Afro-funky and maybe a bit eccentric in that vein, check this out, you will dig!!

http://aquariusrecords.org/images/dot.gifOn cd and lp, and as usual with Sublime Frequencies, the vinyl is a limited edition release.

MPEG Stream: "Waso" 
MPEG Stream: "Folon" 
MPEG Stream: "Ntijiguimorola" 
MPEG Stream: "Siguisso" 

OUT NOW AND IN STOCK!! BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA — AVAILABLE ON CD AND LP!

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES 

 PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

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OUT NOW AND IN STOCK!!!

 BABA COMMANDANT 

AND THE MANDINGO BAND:

 

JUGUYA

AVAILABLE ON CD AND LP

SF - 097 CD / SF - 097 LP

To hear Samples and to Order from Forced Exposure (cd version): http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/baba-commandant-and-the-mandingo-band-juguya-cd/SF.097CD.html

To hear Samples and to Order from Forced Exposure (lp version): http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/baba-commandant-and-the-mandingo-band-juguya-lp/SF.097LP.html

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary group from Burkina Faso. Coming from Bobo-Dioulasso, the group is steeped in the Mandingue musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) is an original and eccentric character who is well respected in the Burkinabé musical community. A sort of punk Faso Dan Fani activist for traditional Mandingo music, Baba continues to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he embarked on his current musical direction as a singer, first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band. His current band -- when he's not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé -- is the Mandingo Band. At present, he is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia. Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprises multiple generations and strata of Burkinabé society; he accordingly adapts his repertoire to his surroundings, which range from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Dioulasso to the sound systems of Ouagadougou. Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a formidable force steeped in Ouagadougou's DIY underground musical culture.Juguya is their sound. Limited edition LP housed in a Stoughton tip-on sleeve.

Spectrum Culture Review: Various Artists: Folk Music of the Sahel Vol. 1: Niger

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Various Artists: 

Folk Music of the Sahel Vol. 1: Niger

Original link: http://spectrumculture.com/music/various-artists-folk-music-sahel-vol-1-niger/

Rating: 3.75/5  

This year marks the 100th birthday of folklorist Alan Lomax, whose field recordings provided scholars and musicians with essential examples of American folk music. Sublime Frequencies co-founder Hisham Mayet carries on in this tradition with his own series of field recordings that go further than Lomax would have ever dreamed of. The first volume of the new Sublime Frequencies series Folk Music of the Sahel focuses on ethnic groups in Niger, and consists of field recordings Mayet made in his travels through the country in the past decade.

Mayet’s interest in the region stemmed from an ethnographic film about the Bori possession cult of Niger. You can’t get more exotic, and “other” than that, but if the allure of the spirit world was what started Mayet on this journey, he found not just spirit ceremonies but the extraordinary music of ordinary life.

Opening track “Al Fulani” comes from the Hausa region and features two musicians playing the gourmi, three-stringed instruments played with a stick, accompanied by vocals and a talking drum. The traditional string instruments are percussive, and bring complicated polyrhythms to a song that praises the beauty of women in a region of Western Niger. Lyrics aren’t provided, but I imagine this frenetic music boils down to, “I wish they all could be Fulani girls.”

Other tracks from the Hausa region tackle more serious matters. Ceremonial music performed by The Orchestra of the Sultan of Zinder has the chaos of free jazz, vocals and horn lines and drumbeats all in apparent discord from another. But there must be some kind of structure I can’t hear, because the chants are in honor of the Sultan, and you’d think he’d demand order in his praises.

If you came to this set looking for music from possession ceremonies, you won’t be disappointed. “Music for a Hauka Ceremony” is led by a goje, a one or two-stringed fiddle frequently used in possession ceremonies. This track is a rare recording of such a ritual, the musicians performing along with a priest, two mediums and a client in spiritual crisis. It’s distracting that, if you’re wearing good headphones, you can hear someone cough and hock up a luger near the end of the track, but perhaps this unceremonious sound is a signal that the spirit was expelled and the ritual was a success. The album includes a brief recording of a second possession ceremony in which the goje solo septs out from the traditional rhythm for some free spirited, incantatory improv.

Traditional instruments are featured through much of the set, but Niger is also known for a vibrant modern music scene. The seven-minute “Denke Denke” is guitar-heavy music for a Fulani wedding. “Bismillhia” is a collaboration between Ousenni, master of the stringed molo, and Koudede, a beloved Tuareg guitarist who died in a car accident in 2012. Those intrigued by this sound should track down music by Mdou Moctar, whose modernized Tuareg guitar music with electronic treatments are featured on albums released by the Sahel Sounds label. The booklet that accompanies Folk Music of the Sahel includes vividly colorful photographs of the people of Niger. I wish there were more photos to accompany the set, but as Sublime Frequencies has promised more volumes in this series, I’ll just have to wait for their next exploration of the region.

• Label:
  Sublime Frequencies
• Release Date:
  December 9, 2014

The List Review for Various Artists – The Travelling Archive: Folk Music from Bengal

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The List Review for

Various Artists – The Travelling Archive: Folk Music from Bengal

Captivating glimpse of a diverse musical culture

• Source: The List
• Date: 18 December 2014
• Written by: Stewart Smith

The latest batch from Sublime Frequencies includes a smokin' live album from Lebanese / Egyptian guitar legend Omar Khorshid and a compilation of mesmeric Sahel folk, but this collection is of particular interest, representing the first fruits of the label's relationship with Bengali musiciansand researchers Moushoumi Bhowmik and Sukanta Majumdar. Their field recordings from Bangladesh, India and the Bengali diaspora offer a captivating glimpse of a diverse musical culture: wedding songs, Hindu devotionals, and songs from those travelling bards, the Baul. The striking instrumentation across these ten tracks includes tabla, violin and the brittle twang of thedotara. Taped in an office off Brick Lane, Ahmed Moyez's acapella performance of his Sufi poet grandfather's 'Paradhi Hoilam Ami' ('Friend and Master, by what law of yours am I made guilty') is deeply moving, while the Tea Garden singing and stories of a group of young women are a delight.

Link to original review: https://www.list.co.uk/article/67022-various-artists-the-travelling-archive-folk-music-from-bengal/

NEW! FEBRUARY RELEASES NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND: JUGUYA / MARK GERGIS: RADIO VIETNAM / MUSIC OF TANZANIA: VA

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES 

 PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

https://www.facebook.com/SUBLIMEFREQUENCIES

NEW! FEBRUARY RELEASES 

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

 BABA COMMANDANT 

AND THE MANDINGO BAND:

 

JUGUYA

AVAILABLE ON CD AND LP

SF - 097 CD / SF - 097 LP

To hear Samples and to Pre-Oder from Forced Exposure (cd version): http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/baba-commandant-and-the-mandingo-band-juguya-cd/SF.097CD.html

To hear Samples and to Pre-Oder from Forced Exposure (lp version): http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/baba-commandant-and-the-mandingo-band-juguya-lp/SF.097LP.html

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary group from Burkina Faso. Coming from Bobo-Dioulasso, the group is steeped in the Mandingue musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) is an original and eccentric character who is well respected in the Burkinabé musical community. A sort of punk Faso Dan Fani activist for traditional Mandingo music, Baba continues to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he embarked on his current musical direction as a singer, first inDounia and then in the Afromandingo Band. His current band -- when he's not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé -- is the Mandingo Band. At present, he is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia. Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprises multiple generations and strata of Burkinabé society; he accordingly adapts his repertoire to his surroundings, which range from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Dioulasso to the sound systems of Ouagadougou. Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a formidable force steeped in Ouagadougou's DIY underground musical culture.Juguya is their sound. Limited edition LP housed in a Stoughton tip-on sleeve.

NEW! FEBRUARY RELEASES 

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

MARK GERGIS: 

RADIO VIETNAM

SF - 095CD

To hear Samples and to Pre-Oder from Forced Exposure: http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/gergis-mark-radio-vietnam-cd/SF.095CD.html

Radio is an audio compass; the radio antennae, a divining rod. Positioned anywhere, it opens an exclusive window directly into the location in which it sits. Signals received on the medium wave (AM) and FM bands reveal programming intended for a local population by governmental, independent, pirate, or corporate media broadcasters. Anything from low-powered ethnic minority transmissions, high-powered westernized pop stations, and omnipresent state-run radio can be found on these bands. Shortwave bands expand the breadth and scope, pulling in regional and international receptions. Everything received factors into the experience. Music, news, talk shows, advertisements, station IDs, cross-phased interference, errant or intentional static-generated sounds, distant detritus, and random broadcast anomalies all become equally relevant. This disc continues the Sublime Frequencies locale-specific radio collage series with Vietnamese radio recordings culled and assembled from signals received in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City between December 2013 and November 2014. Inside the 70-minute program are moments of outstanding folkloric, traditional, and pop music, including performances on the electric guitar and the dan bau (a one-stringed guitar-like instrument), eclectic Vietnamese folk and rock stylings, dramatic effects-laden radio theater and musical segues, new wave pop forays, traditional percussion and vocal chants, news segments, dynamic radio bumpers, jingles and advertisements, comedic interludes, phoned-in karaoke sing-a-longs, English-language programming, early-morning exercise regimens, and coded messages from the outer ether. The grand total sum of these radio recordings doesn't aim to present a certified ethnographic study of contemporary Vietnam. Rather, the material here aims to distill and replicate the excitement, engagement, and discovery gained during heavy exposure to Vietnamese broadcasts over an eleven-month period during the teenage years of the twenty-first century. CD comes in a beautiful digipak with full color images, a booklet, and liner notes by Mark Gergis, who recorded, compiled, sequenced, and produced the project for Sublime Frequencies on location in Vietnam.

NEW! FEBRUARY RELEASES 

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

MUSIC OF TANZANIA: VA

SF - 096LP

To hear Samples and to Pre-Oder from Forced Exposure: http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/va-music-of-tanzania-2lp/SF.096LP.html

Music of Tanzania is a spectacular collection of field recordings gathered by Laurent Jeanneau between December 1999 and March 2000. This debut volume of Sublime Frequencies' exploration of indigenous Tanzanian music compiles sacred and profane songs and dances of the Hadza, Datoga, and Makonde people. Highlights include stoned ecstatic dancing in a Hadza encampment; a drunken celebration of preteen sexual initiation from a Makonde fishing village; baboon imitations performed on the malimba; electrified Islamic trance percussion; and useful tips for amateur hyrax hunters. Many of these poignant, exhilarating performances come from dwindling minority groups whose way of life stretches back to the Stone Age, and who are capable of creating breathtaking music with anything from agricultural tools to tin cans and plastic tubes. Laurent Jeanneau is absolutely fearless in his pursuit of rare, exceptional and vibrant performances. He views his ongoing documentation of ethnic minority music as an act of resistance to globalization, state-sanctioned "peasant traditions," and cultural homogeneity, and accordingly spends months living under harsh and dangerous conditions in order to capture impromptu performances in their everyday cultural context. Using this method, Jeanneau has self-produced almost 100 albums preserving threatened musical traditions from some of the most remote regions on earth, in addition to compiling multiple volumes for Sublime Frequencies. This limited edition double LP tip-on gatefold package includes striking photographs by James Stephenson and detailed liner notes by Jeanneau.