Shazam Around The World: Out Of Africa
Since Vampire Weekend and other NY hipsters began digging out Afrobeat treasures and using their findings as a musical reference in their records, the interest for African music has experienced a significant boost, affecting not only classics but also helping current artists to leave the World music circuits they are normally confined to and reach wider audiences. Recent examples are aplenty. The following are some of the most relevant:
To begin with, The Very Best, a duo formed in London by Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit. Last year, their presentation mixtape earned rave reviews and set sky-high expectations for their forthcoming debut “Warm Heart Of Africa”. The title track doesn’t disappoint. It benefits from a helping hand courtesy of Vampire Weekend’s own Ezra Koening and can be streamed at the band’s My space page.
Another high profile collaboration, this time Senegalese legend Baaba Maal teaming up with Didi and Sabina from Electro-pop New York combo Brazilian Girls in the first single from his new album “Television” already topping the European World Charts. The title track is the subject of a remix competition. Details can be found at the singer’s website.
No strangers to high profile collaborations with pop stars – Manu Chao or Damon Albarn have succumbed to their charms – Mali’s most popular artists, Amadou & Mariam, became some sort of critical darlings since their breakthrough album “Dimanche A Bamako”. A position that the couple have cemented with their latest opus “Welcome To Mail”. This is the excellent animated video for second single “Masiteladi”.
Also from Mali, one of the maximum representatives of the Wassoulou region folklore, based on traditional hunting songs, is Oumou Sangare. A talent contest winner at the age of five, Ali Farka Touré got her signed by the specialist label World Circuit and since then she’s established herself as a notable voice for Women’s rights in Africa, while her music has gone from strength to strength. “Seya” is her fifth studio album, currently generating waves of enthusiasm among fans of the genre.
Further proof of the expansion of this African trend can be found in a number of new pop-rock bands around the globe. Back in British shores, promising London duo Friendship, recently signed by indie label Too Pure, mixes in “The Graveyard Shift” their noise-rock distortion with a distinctively Afro guitar riff to great effect. Those of a cynical disposition will discard it as a mere copy of the Vampire Weekend trickery; but it all adds up to the fact that a new generation of musicians is awakening to the rather unknown sounds of the great continent and this is likely to bring a diversity of refreshing ideas to a pop world that sorely needs them.
