4 November 2009, World Cafe

1 Khoi Khonnexion - Jan jan jan (Khoi Khonnexion)


You’ve just heard the Khoi Khonnexion from Cape Town. Garth Erasmus, Glen Arendse and Jethro Louw. That piece was called “Jan Jan Jan”. It’s a slice of life from the Cedarberg and the Kouebokkeveld.

Tonight it’s the usual mix - with some of the usual suspects.
• In the Ethiopian slot we are going to play two dubbed-up versions of the same piece both involving the great, musical polyglot bass-playing producer Bill Laswell. In fact, as you will see, bass-playing global fusion producers are a mini theme in tonight’s programme.
• We will go to Kinshasa for another injection of urbanised rural music from the Belgium-based imprint, Congotronics.
• From the Indian sub-continent we’ll hear sort-of field recordings of Indian radio.
• We will go to northwest China, swing to west to Norway, and then to Sweden.
• In the Anglo American section of the show, we’ll bring you sounds from late 60s and early 70s English folk revival, and then “American folk music revisited”, as one of the records we are going to play puts it.
• We’ll end with some very spacey stuff, firstly, from Mali and secondly, from some non-place, fusion space.


Next, we have two pieces from the deserts of Western and Northern Africa. The first one is by the great Touareg group from northern Mali, Tinariwen, and is titled “Lulla”. Lulla appears to be one of a number of impassive women the singer tries to court in the song. At one point the singer exclaims, “ the situation is hard”.


2 Tinariwen – Lulla (Indepiendiente Ltd)


3 Hansa el Becharia - Djazair Johara/Ah Oueja (Indigo France)



First we heard Tinariwen, with their song, “Lulla”, from their new CD “Companions”. That was follow by Hansa el Becharia. Hansa el Becharia is a rare women gnawa musician and song-writer from Southern Algeria. This recording comes from her sole CD released in 2001 which features musicians from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Niger. As you have heard, her guitar playing is completely stellar and that’s what originally attracted attention to her in Paris in the late 90s.

We go now to West Africa for a double play, first to Mali and then Nigeria.


4 Amadou and Mariam - Djama (Nonesuch)


5 Sir Victor Uwaifo - KiriKisi (Ekassa 24) (Soundways)


First we had Amadou and Mariam, the king and queen of West African pop, at least in Europe. After a sojourn with Manu Chao as a producer for their breakthrough CD, “Dimanche a Bamako”, they’re back together with their long-time Paris based producer, Marc-Antoine Moreau.

After that was Sir Victor Uwaifo who hails from Benin City, in Edo State, Nigeria. The piece, “KiriKisi”, dates from 1973. Victor Uwaifo, we are pleased to report, is still going strong. The track comes from a recent collection of his 70s stuff out on Soundways, called “Guitar-boy superstar 1970 - 1976”.

Now to Ethiopia, or more correctly NYC, for 2 closely related pieces.


6 Abyssinia Infinite - Alesema (Rykomusic)


7 Bill Laswell and Jah Wobble – Alsema Dub (Palm Pictures)


That was “Alesema” flowing into “Alsema Dub”. Both pieces have Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw at their centres. Bill Laswell produced both. The dub version is reinforced at the bottom end by Jah Wobble, who, like Laswell, is also a global-fusion bass-playing producer-collaborator. The dub version was actually made about 2 years before the regular version. The regular version is driven by a number of Ethiopean musicians, while the more dubby version has the normal stable of musicians associated with Laswell’s Axiom label.

From the Congotronics stable this is Kasai Allstars and the very trancey “Quick as White”.


8 Kasai Allstars - Quick as white (Crammed Discs)

That was the Kasai Allstars, from Kinshasa. It comes from the 2008 release, “In the 7th moon, the chief turned into a swimming fish and are the head of this enemy by magic”.

And now for something completely different: field recordings of Indian radio, if we can call them that. This stuff has been collected by the Seattle-based label Sublime Frequencies. We can’t improve on the blurb on the CD – so here it is: “Radio stations in India assault the listener in a variety of ways. DJs, adverts, drama and music are juxtaposed seamlessly to create improbable and spectacular audio art. This is Radio collage with minimal contextual identification as a Visa requirement. This is a map without a key. This is an encyclopedia without an index.” What we are going to hear now is called “Radio Hill Station”. Don’t adjust your sets – it’s complete with static, hum and poor tuning.


9 Radio India - Radio Hill Station (Sublime Frequencies)

That was Radio India, but you’re on FMR 101.3.

Now to Bengal for a song by Paban Das Baul:

“In my room is some bird,
who lives here from time to time.
If I try to catch it,
the bird eludes me.
What shall I do?”



10 State of Bengal vs Paban Das Baul – Kon Ek Pakhi (Real World)


That was Saifullah Zaman (aka State of Bengal) – yet another bass-playing producer. On the piece, “Kon Ek Pakhi”, he collaborated with singer, poet and musician Paban Das Baul. Paban also makes the instruments he plays on the track: the dubki, a sort of tambourine; the khamak, a plucking drum; and the dotora, a five-stringed lute.

Now music from the Qitai County in China’s northwest Xinjiang province, far from the ambit of Beijing (2000 miles away). The song we are going to hear is by Mamer.


11 Mamer – Mountain Wind (Real World)


12 Varttina – Lumotar / The Enchantress (Real World)


13 Frifot - Sluring (Amigo Music AB)

First in that triple play was Mamer, drawing on grassland songs and music from northwestern China. It comes from his recent Real World CD called “Eagle”.

We then had Varttina from Finland, and after that Frifot from Sweden.

Set your controls for England in the 1971. The first is by guitar maestro Bert Jansch and is the traditional “Reynardine”. As the sleeve notes say: “the song of the fox, played here in D major with the bass string down to D”.


14 Bert Jansch - Reynardine (Transatlantic Records Ltd)


15 Anne Briggs - Willie-o-winsbury (Topic)

After Bert Jansch’s “Reynardine” from the LP “Rosemary Lane”, we had “Willie-o-Winsbury” sung by Anne Briggs, with John Moynihan and Briggs on bouzouki. Moynihan was more or less responsible for bringing the bouzouki into English folk in the late 60s.

Off to the US for two old-style, rootsy blues songs, both off newish CDs. The first by Ramblin Jack Elliot, “Please remember me”. The second is by Seasick Steve, who introduces it himself.


16 Ramblin Jack Elliot - Please remember me (Anti)


17 Seasick Steve – Chiggers (Warner Brothers)


First we had Ramblin Jack Elliot off his 2009 CD “A Stranger Here”. The CD consists of his interpretations of country blues music from the depression era and is deftly produced by Joe Henry. The song we heard was “Please remember me” and was written by Walter Davis. Van Dyke Parks played the piano.

More “American folk music revisited…”


18 Bob Neuwith and Eliza Carthy - I wish I was a mole in the ground (Shout Factory)


From Hal Willner’s tribute to “The anthology of American folk music” - the very influential collection of 78s from the 20s and 30s put together by Harry Smith, which he put onto 6 records and released in the 50s, that was “I wish I was a mole in the ground”. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, who hailed from North Carolina, wrote the song. Here Bob Neuwith and Eliza Carthy played it.