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aimed at, it's another blunt missive fired at an already media-saturated west from a label whose early novelty has long been replaced by some seriously profound collections.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

** SPECTRUM CULTURE REVIEW FOR JUGUYA **

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Baba Commandant 

& the Mandingo Band: Juguya

4 / 5

The names themselves are exotic: Ouagadougou, the Burkina Faso capital with a thriving underground music scene; the ngoni, a stringed instrument that is an ancestor of the banjo; “Ntijiguimorola,” a song as funky as its title. The Sublime Frequencies label releases music from faraway places with faraway names, and that faraway mood is a big part of the label’s draw. But one of the label’s most recent releases does not offer their usual field recordings with birds competing for sound space or vintage pop records recorded under compromised circumstances and pressed on bad vinyl. Juguya, the new album by Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band, is a professional studio recording with strong production values that blend traditional Mandingue music and electric instruments for an intensely funky Afrobeat sound.

Commandant was born Sanou Mamadou in Bobo-Dioulasso, which, after the capital, is the second largest city in Burkina Faso. Mamadou’s stage name suits a commanding musical leader, and his booming voice dominates the album, his dreads and menacing look a compelling visual signature for the music. But is he a figurehead? In a promotional video for the funky title track “Juguya,” you see Mamadou performing the long-necked, six-string ngoni, which adds a delicate texture to the solid rhythm section. Yet the music is dominated by another sound, its grooves breaking out not just with voices but with electric guitar. Simon Chenet and Issouf Diabaté split guitar solo duties on the album’s eight tracks. Frenchman Chenet achieves an electric trance with his solos, while the Burkinabé Diabaté is the more metal of the two. Yes, metal. This smoldering blend of traditional and modern African music sounds a lot like Fela Kuti cranking it up to 11.

“Tilé” opens the album with a funky guitar line before horns and call-and response chants come in over the simmering groove. This is a more condensed Afrobeat than Fela’s, topping out at six minutes instead of Fela’s typical half-hour pulse. I can only imagine how these songs expand in concert, developing into deep trances and even more incantatory solos.

Diabaté pushes “Folon” along with sludgy metal riffs, while the amps get turned down for “Siguisso,” which is the album’s most traditional-sounding track. Still, Mamadou’s booming voice makes it an intense piece. “Wasso” breaks out into a blistering guitar solo from Chenet, its rhythms shifting from sheets of sound to sharp, echoing wails and dropping out into an even more heavily reverbed drum and bass section that comes off like Afrobeat dub.

Juguya is a well-paced groove album, its rhythms based in Afrobeat but taking survey of American rock and funk genres and laying electric waste to them. The music is made of raw materials carefully mixed for sonic effect, like the rippling guitar figure that comes and goes on “Wasso.” French producer Camille Louvel, a champion of hip-hop and other musicians in Burkina Faso, worked on this album’s rich, modern mix with Colin Thevenin and Sublime Frequencies co-founder Hisham Mayet. The production elevates their dense sound without making it slick. If you ever wondered what the music of Konono No. 1 and other Congotronics artists might sound without the lo-fi trappings, get this album.

Original link at: http://spectrumculture.com/…/baba-commandant-the-mandingo-…/

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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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.

Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band | Juguya - Reviewed at Global A Go-Go

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Global A Go-Go Review for

Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band | Juguya

ARTIST: Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band

TITLE: Juguya

LABEL: Sublime Frequencies

The Sublime Frequencies label is best known for its audio verite recordings and for reissues from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Recently they’ve dipped their toe into releasing studio recordings of current artists, most famously Omar Souleyman. Now they have another winner in Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band from Burkina Faso in West Africa. They’re a soulful, gritty, funky band, playing a variety of local rhythms with the forward thrust of Afrobeat and the attitude of rock ‘n’ roll. Baba Commandant has a gravelly voice that growls and moans like Howlin’ Wolf or Moussa Doumbia (the James Brown of Mali); his donso ngoni(West African hunters’ harp) playing provides the harmonic center for stinging guitar and saxophone solos that occasionally spiral out into space like free jazz and are brought back to earth by an in-the-pocket rhythm section of bass guitar and drum kit. Is this folk music, pop or jazz? Yes, it’s all of the above and then some. The recording is basic and spends more time in the red than a pro might recommend – it sounds just like they must sound in a sweaty little nightclub. This is the real sound of Africa today – don’t miss it.

TOP TRACKS:    1    3    5    6    8

ALSO RECOMMENDED:    2    4    7

Review link here: http://www.globalagogo.com/2015/01/baba-commandant-mandingo-band-juguya.html

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.