Benn loxo du taccu turns 2-years-old today!

There have been 265 posts and over 1200 comments since I started this site in September 30th, 2004. Thanks to everyone for listening, reading and participating. We’ve had some great guest posts this year and plenty of music, photo and idea submissions from people all over the world.

Judging from the feedback I got from that world map of Benn loxo listeners, many of you are interested in who else is visiting this site. As of today, 187 of you are subscribed to the notification e-mails and many more read Benn loxo on the web, via RSS or subscribe to the podcast. If Google Analytics is to be believed, we’re holding steady at about 350-600 unique web visitors per day from over 100 different countries, including:

United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Australia, Spain, Sweden, Senegal, Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, Colombia, South Africa, Finland, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Argentina, Norway, Poland, New Zealand, Greece, China, Ireland, Denmark, Israel, Morocco, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Mali, Russia, Egypt, Croatia, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Cyprus, Singapore, Romania, Cote D’Ivoire, Thailand, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Iceland, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Kenya, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Bulgaria, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Uganda, Iran, Oman, Rwanda, Tanzania, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Mauritania, Pakistan, Cameroon, Slovenia, Algeria, Puerto Rico, Jordan, Congo, Sudan, Seychelles, Namibia, Libya, Madagascar, Macedonia, Gabon, Barbados, Syria, Uruguay, Botswana, Paraguay, Gambia, Slovakia, El Salvador, Qatar, Burkina Faso, Angola, Eritrea, Tunisia, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Togo.

I’m constantly impressed by the diversity of the visitors and that people are interested in my casual exploration of African music. Sure, most people just swing by and pick-up the music.. but that’s cool, especially if they enjoy it. Many of you stick around and leave comments that enrich the content and keep me on my toes when I make mistakes. I’ve learned a lot over the last two years and maintaining this site has kept me motivated to keep collecting African music since leaving Senegal.

My collection continues to grow but so far we’ve only heard a tiny portion of what the African continent has to offer. With this in mind, I’m heading to Dakar, Senegal, for a week in October where I’ll hopefully dig-up some solid tunes for all to hear. Stay posted.

Cheers,
Matt

ps- the amazing cover below is courtesy of Fabian at Special de Kenya

Many of you probably have Emmanuel Jal and Abdel Gadir Salim’s album Ceasefire already but I haven’t yet posted it on Benn loxo.

Nominated for the 2006 BBC World Music Awards, Emmanuel Jal has risen from obscurity to become one of Africa’s most well-known rappers.

He’s a good musician in his own right, but Jal’s life story makes journalists drool. He was a child-soldier in Sudan from a young age until was smuggled into Kenya by a British aid worker. In Nairobi, Jal flourished as a musician despite the aid worker dying in a car crash. He eventually started giving concerts for homeless kids as well as participating in the local hiphop scene as an MC.

For 2005’s Ceasefire Jal collaborated with Sudanese oud-playing legend, Abdel Gadir Salim. Jal raps and sings in English, Arabic, Swahili and Dinka while Salim strums it out, occasionally busting in with his own vocals. The combination of old-shcool and new-school East African sounds works really well. It’s no surprise that this album has become a success, with or without the “media-friendly-so-now” Jal bio.

You can pick up Ceasefire over at the World Music Network or at any good record shop. You might have heard Jal on the latest War Child/Help compilation, too.

ps- there won’t be any new posts until the beginning of October. Time for some time in the sun, you know.

Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim – Elengwen

Yesterday I featured a Rock Paper Scissors project, Bole 2 Harlem, so today I’d thought I’d explore another of their chosen groups, Tartit.

Tartit is a Tuareg group of female musicians belonging to the Kel Tamashek society. Their music sounds a like a toned-down, more rootsy Tinariwen. I love the rythms and singing style.. plus they can produce sounds in their throats that would tie mine in knots.

Like Tinariwen, Tartit has its origins in the refugee camps of northern Mali. Tartit roughly translates into union, which refers to the cultural union of the Kel Tamashek society, now spread throughout Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

Tartit’s only US release, Ichichilla, was put out by Network in 2000. You can see some cool photos of Tartit in Essakane, Mali, here. The album can be bought online at cdRoots.

One of these years I’m going to make it down to the Festival In The Desert in Tombouctou and Essakane, way up in northern Mali. Have any of you been? Maybe a few of us could split the rental cost of a 4×4 and head there for January 2008.

Tartit – Buloululba
Tartit – Holiyane Holiyana
Tartit – Hamoye

Benn loxo listener, Tristra, sent me some really great new music the other day. Bole 2 Harlem are an Ethiopian-American group out of NYC who combine traditional Ethiopian sounds with hiphop and other contemporary American styles.

The album grew out of Saturday night jam sessions at NYC Moroccan-French restaurant L’Orange Bleue. The mix of Ethiopian, American and Malian musicians who played together there everntually decided to put out an album.

I’m all about fusion and getting people otherwise not bothered about African music to give it a listen. It’s great, then, to see groups like this who make something that sounds cool to the young, urban American ear even while incorporating foreign styles.

You’ll hear this album played at parties and in taxis in both Ethiopia and North America.. that kind of successful musical bridging is rare. It’s also cool to hear some contemporary Ethopian-inspired sounds that aren’t from the “golden age” of Addis Ababa in the 1960s and 1970s.

You can grab Bole2Harlem on Amazon or at a good record shop after it’s release in the US on November 21st. Check-out their web site for more info. I’m loving the second track, Home, this morning…

Bole 2 Harlem – Bole 2 Harlem
Bole2Harlem – Home

Ex-roommate and Benn loxo listener, Ben, says:

“I know I’m late, but HOW COULD YOU miss I. K. Dairo (MBE) and his Blue Spots!?!?!

1. The guy has a seriously cool outfit.
2. He’s carrying an accordian.
3. In 1963 Queen Elizabeth awarded Dairo the MBE (Member of the British Empire).
4. And best of all… He helped to found “the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria” – tougher jobs do not exist.

And Michael sends us a album cover rarity, along with a request for some Tropics and Snow, plus some Fireworks to go with the music.