Saturday, June 24, 2006
Ali Farka Touré -
RIP, Ali.
Ali Farka Touré was perhaps the most influential and widely celebrated African musician in history. He adapted his ancestral music to the 6-string guitar. The results are brilliant. I won't say much more, there's been more than enough written on Ali in the last while. I'm too lazy to link most of it here, but you can get a good start with NPR's tribute piece and Banning Eyre's Village Voice obit.
Side note: this tape reminds me of John Fahey, another enormously influential late folk/roots guitar hero.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Ata Kak - "Obaa Sima" "Moma Yendodo" "Yemmpa Aba" from Obaa Sima
A Ghanaian highlife singer gone horribly right, Ata Kak is a visionary. He spits serious rhymes, waxes romantic, and issues lo-fi digital quick-shrieks, listen specifically to the chorus of "Moma Yendodo."
I posted this tape earlier, but these songs are so ridiculously sweet, I invite you to listen (again). Here you've got the comeplete "Moma Yendodo" (the first time I posted it was not the entire track).
It sounds so home-made funky yet spooky, like a warped Prince protege from Africa by way of 1986 Chicago.
