With Strut’s tireless recent focus on Mulatu Astatke’s rich musical past, it was almost a relief earlier this year when the label unleashed a record of new material from the Ethio-jazz master. To be honest, the guy’s written music enough for two lifetimes – it would be easy for him to coast – but as […]

Aaron Matthews doesn’t discriminate, he regulates every shade of that…. Tony Allen had a lot on his mind in 1979. Recorded shortly after his split with Fela Kuti, he recorded his first solo album with a crack band comprised of expatriate Africa ‘70 players. No Discrimination imagines an even more global reach for afrobeat– it […]

In the hopes that a co-sign from Sean Carter and Willow Smith’s dad will suddenly stir your desire to cop a half-dozen coasters that you can illegally download via the magic of Google search, Knitting Factory Records has made an MP3 of “Zombie” available to you, discerning blog readers of the galaxy. I have yet […]

Tonight begins a two-week descent into deadline madness. Coupled with Sach’s National Lampoon vacation and Douglas’ ongoing move, content could grow a bit scarce in these parts. If my rambles become even more weird and disjointed, it’s because my bloodstream is 4.2 percent 5-hour energy drink, and I have cleaned out the last few remaining […]

Thomas Odumade last lectured on the virtues of Lidget Green Position. This time he tackles the King–allapologies to Elvis, Michael Jackson, T.I., and Louis XIV. Both the band and the enlightened monarch. Despite a surge in interest in West African music over the last few years, little has been written about legendary Juju pioneer King […]

Soweto, the most infamous apartheid stronghold, has received the brunt of attention from crate-diggers panning for  gold via the largely unknown outfits that perfected their craft in isolated township halls. Described by “trombonist Jonas Gwangwa as the “soundtrack for knife fights between local and visiting criminal gangs,” the bands culled for the Next Stop…Soweto series […]

Madlib is releasing 18 albums this year. Maybe 19. Maybe more. No one really knows. Not me. Not Egon or Peanut Butter Wolf. Not Madlib himself. We know that there are a dozen Beat Konducta albums surveying Otis Jackson’s far-flung tastes. Reggae and Afro-Beat. Tropicalia and New Wave. Actual rap music for those down since […]

Before Strut, Soundway, Analog Africa, and Now-Again, emerged as the top tier of archivists crawling the earth for lost gems, there was Afro Rock, Volume 1, a little-heard but widely influential compilation released on Kona in 2001. Back when Ezra Koenig was freestyling over the instrumental to “All Mixed Up,” Duncan Brooker was excavating crates […]

Consider Tinariwen an amalgam of The Grateful Dead, The Wu-Tang Clan, and the sublime frequencies of the Sublime Frequencies comp of 1970’s Algerian Rai underground. Crossroads dirges. Six weary travelers singing traditional arrangements turned electric, a nomad blues. Hypnotic guitars, ragged laments, and a subtle ferocity flashing its fangs at all the right moments. Tapes […]

I’m possibly this site’s least athletically inclined contributor (my physique has been described as “Snoop-esque,”) but even I’ll be getting together with the guys, a case of beer and all the food that’s fit to eat tonight, cheering on a bunch of people attempting to move a ball from one side of a field to […]