Afrika

Hello all!

This week on Miliki System: Wassoulou music!! Its From the Wassoulou region of southwestern Mali. In the 1980s, Wassoulou music became a sensation in Mali. The emerging sound featured the deep-toned, six-string harp called kamelen’goni, and most of the time, women singers. Coumba Sidibe, with her robust, tenor voice was the first to garner widespread public attention. Currently, Oumou Sangare is the biggest star of Wassoulou music, with her 2009 album being released on Nonesuch! Get ready to grove and dance to this ubbeat, passionate, beautiful music!

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Check out this amazing vid of Coumba Sidibe playing “Yali Djamou”:

(courtesy of this amazing blog http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com/)

Everything Everything,

Mister Senor Love Daddy

To raise awareness of the ongoing crisis in Haiti, I have decided to dedicate my show to Haitian music.

I don’t know too much about Haitian music, but members of Moyuba, a local Afro-Haitian drumming group have helped me out by making me a mix of some good Haitian music. Also thanks to Jean-Pierre Bourget for helping me pick out some contemporary Haitian music.

An easy way to help is through text message. You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti, charged to your cell phone bill.

Learn more about the 7.0 earthquake that has devastated Haiti, destroyed Port-au-Prince, and killed possibly over 100,000 people at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122522434

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(fast forward about 7 minutes for the time being, hopefully I will have time to edit this week)

My 2nd show of the semester focuses on Makossa music. It is a contemporary “urban” style of music. Based on punchy call and response riffs. More percise although more minimal then Zairiean or Congolese rumbas or uu. It is has upbeat drums, funky basslines, solo guitar parts, crisp, fresh, state of the art sound. Usually sung in the Douala language,  its a fusion of traditional with the contemporary. The Makossa rhythms come from the south, actually the original makossa wasn’t a rhythm but a style of expression that grew out of the kossa, a children’s dance accompanied by handclapping. It is also inspired by neighboring Nigerian highlife and Congolese rumba. Sax player, Manu Dibango’s super funky quintessential African record, Soul Makossa released in 1972, brought Makossa to international stardom and Dibango remains one of the stars of African music.  Alright, enough talkin’.  Lets Boogie.

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Everything Everything,

Mister Senor Love Daddy

Welcome to the Next Generation!!!

Its  the dawning of a new age, and as such, I have decided to change the name of the soooooooo 2000’s Afrika to a more hip, more ‘cutting edge’ name:  Miliki Soundsystem. OooooOooOoh yeah

This week I focus on South African Mbaqanga music . Mbaqanga grew out of earlier styles–pennywhistle kwela, township sax jive, gospel-inspired African choral music, and marabi, the lifeblood of South Africa’s illegal township shebeens and dancehalls in the first half of the century.  South African mbaqanga is Africa’s hardest-driving pop sound with frisky riffing and a knockout downbeat to rival Cajun zydeco or Brazilian foroIt is Africa’s hardest-driving pop sound with frisky riffing and a knockout downbeat to rival Cajun zydeco or Brazilian foro.

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