Episode 43
Episode 43 was originally published on April 1, 2019.
Tracklisting:
01) “Maroon Dune” by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society.
From the 2017 album Simultonality.
Chicago, IL, USA.
“Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado.”
You know it’s good when Wikipedia references NPR about a band. The group’s website does not name-drop NPR, but instead says:
“Since 2010 Joshua Abrams has toured North America & Europe with a shifting-line up of musicians as Natural Information Society. The group uses traditional & electric instrumentation to build long-form intricately psychedelic environments, composed & improvised, joining the hypnotic qualities of the Gnawan guimbri to a wide range of contemporary musics & methodologies including jazz, minimalism & krautrock.”
02) “Bila” by Dexter Story.
From the 2019 album Bahir.
Los Angeles, CA, USA.
NPR says: “Finding an acceptable line between influence and appropriation has dogged musicians for generations, and Dexter Story addresses the issue in surprising and joyous ways” (see how we were able to reference NPR in the description for two artists in a row?!).
Dexter’s Bandcamp page says: “East Africa-inspired music on Soundway Records by multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, arranger and ethnomusicologist.”
Visit the official Dexter Story website.
Follow Dexter Story on Facebook.
Follow Wondem (“Wondem, meaning ‘brother’ in Amharic is Dexter Story's Soundway Records album and live ensemble inspired by East African music and culture. ዴክሰተር ሰቶሪ”) on Facebook.
Follow Dexter Story on Twitter.
Purchase Dexter Story’s music at Bandcamp.
Purchase Dexter Story music at Amazon.
03) “Tarha” by Mdou Moctar.
From the 2019 album Mdou Moctar: Blue Stage Session.
Agadez, Niger.
The Facebook page says: “Tuareg rock band from Agadez, Niger.” The Third Man Records website says: “Mdou is a member of the Tuareg music community gestating in the remote desert city of Agadez, Niger, "where guitars are king." His music first came to the attention of Western music-lovers through the essential field recording work being done by the good folks at Sahel Sounds, first on their 2010 compilation Music From Saharan Cellphones.”
04) “Endless Dave” by L'Eclair.
From the 2019 album Sauropoda.
Geneva, Switzerland.
The group’s Facebook page (filtered through Google Translate) says:
“What lies behind the curious nickname of Eclair? The groove. As if Curtis Mayfield had an out of voice and he had fired his violins. As if Soul Train was no longer a quaint nostalgia for bobos but indeed an evidence to take literally. As if Booker T & The MG's came from Eastern Europe. The Eclair is even more obscure than the soundtrack of a 70s movie ever released, and consists of Space Krum on drums, Luciano LaBruxelle on percussion, Cobra on bass wah wah, Mr. China on keyboards wah wah and Colonel Genghis Love on guitar wah wah. Lightning claims the Game and the gangs, as well as a kraut-exo-soul-brutal-funk-turkish-groove guaranteed 100% without pants.”
Each week we not only bring you great music from around the globe, we try to help you get the global perspective by showing you where each artists is from. We currently use Google Maps, which only lets us display 10 episodes at a time, so if you would like to see previous artist maps, visit here. In the meantime, this week’s artists are represented by black colored map-points. Enjoy.