what’s new
The Very Best, “Yoshua Alikuti” (Nairobi, Kenya), 2012
Any resemblance to this is purely intentional.
Lil Wayne, “A Milli,” 2008
*****
Here’s a big shout-out to my son Alex, who just finished his last week of classes, graduates from Harvard next month, and introduced me to The Very Best in the first place.
what’s new
Let’s pick up where we left off—Mali.
Amadou & Mariam (with Tunde Adibimpe & Kyp Malone [TV on the Radio]), “Wily Kataso,” 2012
career plans for the next life
If none of the other things I’ve mentioned pan out (tap dancer, rubboard player, reggae bassist), I might take a stab at playing guitar in a Malian band.
Salif Keita & Band, live, Germany (Leverkusener), 2010
Part 1
***
Part 2
***
Part 3
**********
lagniappe
reading table
a glimpse of moon
over my home village . . .
then clouds—Kobayashi Issa, 1807 (translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
*****
taking a break
I’m going to take a little break—back soon.
I don’t know what these folks call this stuff, but one thing I’m sure of: it ain’t “world music.”
Sobanza Mimanisa (“Orchestra of Light”), “Kiwembo,” live
Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), c. 2005
**********
lagniappe
reading table
The 100 Most Powerless New Yorkers
Have you noticed that power lists, which have been spreading like the clap lately, from the Time 100 to the Forbes 500, tell you things you already know about the rich and famous and give publicity to people who already have more of it than they know what to do with? For the rest of us, here’s a power list to get 2012 going in the right direction. They’re in no particular order. (Like it really matters.)
1. Weed-delivery guys
The reason so many marijuana arrests are of black and Hispanic people is not because they smoke weed more. White New Yorkers, by the NYPD’s own numbers, have a higher per-capita rate of contraband when they’re arrested. However, white people stay safe in their apartments while colored folks deliver drugs to them. Delivering drugs puts you on the bottom of a pyramid scheme where you usually earn less than minimum wage, making you vulnerable to homicide and giving you about as much of a chance of becoming a rich kingpin as being a production assistant or a media intern gives you of becoming a celebrity. . . .
—Steven Thrasher, Village Voice, 1/11/12
three takes
Salif Keita (with Cesaria Evora, takes 1 & 2), “Yamore”
Luciano remix, 2006
***
Original recording & video, 2002
***
Live, London, 2002
More? Here.
more favorites from the past year
Wild Flag, live, SXSW (Austin, Texas), 3/11
“Romance” (Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop)
***
“Future Crimes” (IFC Crossroads House)
Someday an all-female band will seem no more remarkable than an all-male one.
(Originally posted 10/24/11.)
*****
She’s going to be a big star someday.
Nneka, live
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 2/15/11.)
three takes
“N’teri”
Habib Koité, live, c. 2007
*****
Regina Carter (violin), Yacouba Sissoko (kora), Will Holshouser (accordion)
Live, radio broadcast (KPLU-FM), 2011
Kora, violin, accordion—even the names of these instruments sound good together. You have, in succession, words of two, three, and four syllables. Consonants repeat (k/c, r, n), as do vowels (o, a). The last word (“accordion”) echoes both syllables of the first (“kora”), reversing them, as well as the end of the second (“violin”). What does any of this mean? Nothing—it’s simply, for me, a small source of additional pleasure.
*****
Habib Koité, recording, 2007
Charisma needs no translation.
Mahmoud Ahmed & Badume’s Band, live, France (Festival de Sete), 2008
“Belomi Benna”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Atawurulegn Lela”
Vodpod videos no longer available.
music clip of the day 