It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Eritrea Week here at Benn loxo.

Following a comment by listener and stellar DJ, Boima, I decided to give Eritrea a go. We’ve heard lots from Ethiopia in the past but never ventured north.

I’m an Eritrea beginner so as usual if you have any contributions or something to say about my picks please leave a comment. On that note, have any of you ever been to Asmara? It looks like an interesting place to visit. All that modernist architecture plus a rich culture that gets little exposure next to its well-known neighbour.

Apologies in advance for all the “unknown” track titles and the shoddy recording quality of the some of the music I’ll post this week. I wanted to find contemporary Eritrean music that is actually popular with Eritreans so I used message boards, video sties, online radio and other sources instead of the lacklustre selection of Eritrean music that I’ve been able to find in Paris or for sale in Europe online.

We’ll start off the week with Yemane “Ghebremichael” Baria (sometimes spelled “Barya” in English). From what I can tell he’s easily the most popular contemporary musician in Eritrea, even though he died over ten years ago. You can find Eritreans singing his praise all over the net.

Baria was heavily involved in Eritrean politics, particularly the fight for independence from Ethiopia . He was also a strong advocate for establishing Eritrean identity – for example he promoted and sung in the Tigrinya language, the “Eritrean language”, despite the predominance of Amharic in Eritrean daily life. More on Tigrinya (sometimes spelled Tigrigna) later this week…

I’m no Eritrea expert and don’t speak a lick of Tigrinya so what grabbed me most about this guy wasn’t his politics. It’s his soul. I love classic Ethiopian and Tigrinya music from the 1960s and 70s. Think Broken Flowers, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayhu Eschete… that whole crowd are some of my favourite African musicians from this side of the 20th century. Yemane Baria has a similar thing going on.. funky Eritrea. Who knew.

Check-out this video of a live Yemane Barya concert and you’ll see/hear right away what I mean:

Here’s another more recent video to get a feel for his newer style:

Lstly, here’s a nice track that I picked up in some Ertirean corner of the web:

Yemane Barya – Unknown

During all the Kuduro hype started up by Benn loxo contributor, Boima, several people noted that French electro musician and producer Frédéric Galliano has been really active on the Kuduro scene lately. His MySpace page is full of music from his latest project, Kuduro Sound System. (Love that picture of him arm wrestling Dog Murras.)

Galliano’s interest in African music is wide-ranging, and definitely not limited to Kuduro nor Angolan music. He’s traveled and recorded all over the continent and other parts of the globe, including several solid projects with his own label, Frikyiwa, and its mobile studio in Senegal, Guinea and Mali.

This morning I dug-out one of Galliano’s Frikyiwa projects from Senegal, Ali Boulo Santo. This Dakarois musician, son of respected kora player, Soundioulou Cissoko, is part of that new generation of Senegalese musicians sticking to their acoustic, native instruments and then remixing the results.

Ali Boulo Santo – Dame Fall

Today we have another urban Angolan guest post by Benn loxo listener, DJ Chief Boima:

“So Kuduro. It seems to be making some waves on the international scene. And reflections on why lead me to thoughts on post war youth expression. Young people who grow up seeing humanity at it’s worst feeling the need to create something put something in the world, blow it up, and not themselves. Youth, fueled by emotions: anger, sadness, jubilation, create.

When the war is over, the world takes a peak into a society that many times is left for years, isolated to deal with its issues on its own.

So now we have Kuduro. Another ghetto expression where dancing replaces shooting. While the roots of Kuduro go way before the war was over, it is now that it’s getting some international attention. As for reasons why it’s getting attention, I would like to speculate on some deep emotional connection to violence that is counteracted by music, or go off on how many times the internet creates bandwagon trends, and then leaves when they find the next it thing, but the explanation could be as simple as the fact that so many people become displaced from a country and it’s culture during conflict times that their culture gets dispersed throughout the world in the diaspora. People living abroad want to connect to home, especially if they can’t go back, so they bring a part of home with them. The original international distribution is migration.

I don’t know a lot about the history of Angola, so I won’t go any further on what’s going on there now. All I can say is I love this music. It resonates with me, and always gets the crowds movin’. It’s crazy danceable with a clave backbone, (we are close to Congo here, and as hinted in my previous post I know, there’s a Rumba/Soukous/Kuduro Connection) an electronic 808 thump, created on the computer and ready for internet distribution, some hand claps for those disco/house throwbacks, (percolator eat your heart out!) and a fast orgulloso lyric that represents “where you’re from.” With all these ingredients, you have a mix for great music.

If you want to pick some of this music up a good starter is Frederic Gaillano’s CD available on Calabash. Buraka Som Sistema available on iTunes. Dog Murras is available on various Portuguese mail order sites, Puto Prata, Os Alameda, and Se Bem have also made some great tunes.

And if you’re in the states and you don’t know someone that just visited Africa who can sell you CD’s at three times the cost, these are two sites for music called CaboVerdeOnline, and Acheio.com. I’m not gonna vouch for them because I haven’t used them, but if you’re dying to get your hands on some hard copies here’s a start. Also if you’re in Europe FNAC Portugal carries Kuduro CD’s and DVD’s. I don’t think they have a ton, but you can order them online. Some of these groups are touring and Kuduro is spreading through Europe by way of Portugal, so just look around your town to get involved. Watch Kuduro dancing on You Tube.

These are my favorite Kuduro songs that I’ve heard so far. Nao Reipeitao Neh has the best beat I’ve ever heard. Hand claps I can’t get enough of! And Meu Povo’s drum intro and Angola Chants make me jump everytime I hear them. Enjoy…”

Amazing, as usual. Thanks, Boima.

Alameda – Nao Reipeitao Neh
Dog Murras – Meu Povo

Benn loxo listener Chief Boima comes through with a great Afro-Portuguese hiphop guest post today:

“I don’t know why but I too have become infatuated with Afro-Portuguese music. Maybe it’s because I’m Sierra Leonean and the Portuguese were the first to colonize before the British, and some Portuguese words survived in Krio like “sabi.” Or, maybe it’s because I speak Spanish not French and the it is much easier for me to get the general meaning behind the Portuguese lyrics than songs in other languages. Or, maybe because when I first heard Kuduro it blew my mind, and as a dj I became obsessed with the music that moves your booty like the Chicago House I used hear to at our middle school dances, but has roots in music like the dance tunes I knew from the African parties of my parents’ generation. But, here I am today collecting anything I can get my hand on from Bahia to Lisbon to Luanda and beyond.

Here are two hip hop tracks that also blew my mind when I first heard them. They are from two hip hop artists from Angola.

The first is Das Primeiro whom I heard the first time on some hip hop compilations when I took a trip to Portugal, he also has a track on the Rough Guide to African Rap. I think that he lives in Europe somewhere now, (Amsterdam?) but he reps Angola, and has a monster flow, with the confidence and delivery that could stand up to any of the greats in any language. I like his use of samples and really seems to be aware of his cultural roots while maintaining a strong hip hop identity. I chose the song Mana Maria because it has a real nice guitar sample that reminds of some of the Kizomba tunes or the other guitar based tunes that I’ve heard from Angola.

The second is Sonho Africano from Hemoglobina two Angolan MC’s, who live in South Africa now. (?) I heard them first on DJ Edu’s show on BBC 1xtra. This song is my favorite African hip hop song, because it reps a bunch of different nations, as well as the dope lyric content about what a gwan in Africa. It also has a beautiful guitar sample, and the beat drops heavy! I haven’t tracked down their album yet, but writing this has reminded/inspired me to do so. If any one knows where I can get it, hit me up: boima [at] ironmilitis.com. There are ton of great rappers in Portuguese out there, not just from Angola and who all use cultural influences to make their own brand of hip hop, like Sir Scratch, Rappin’ Hood and Marcelo D2. Check em’ if you get the chance.”

Thanks, Boima.

Das Primeiro – Mana Maria
Hemoglobina – Sonho Africano

My lasting memory of Sierra Leone is watching UN personnel in makeshift camps beside my plane hang their laundry to dry. I feel like I got to know the soldiers personally as I watched them make breakfast and peg underwear to strings attached to their tents. During these predictably long layovers on Dakar-Lagos flights I would also admire the Freetown cityscape at a distance: the city rises right out of the ocean into a mountain range of traffic nightmares.

Sierra Leone has a mixed legacy. Some of my friends call it the friendliest place on earth and one of the more beautiful countries in Africa. Apparently Beach #2 is unrivaled for a good tan after a dose of aid work or a press scoop. That said, most people will immediately associate it with armless refugees, blood diamonds and Charles Taylor.

These days Sierra Leone is all over the media thanks in no small part to hype from Kanye West about the evils of Sierra Leone’s diamond industry. Indeed, a friend just published the cover story for Fortune magazine entitled “Diamonds aren’t forever“, a look at the diamond industry in Sierra Leone and the hapless masses who dig in the mud all day looking for a way out of a severe poverty.

Those of you who’ve read Benn loxo for a while will know that I’m big fan of music from places that most people associated with misery, violence and the rest of Africa’s dark side. This is because while most people won’t get a chance to visit Sierra Leone (or Angola, or Ethiopia, or Liberia, or….), everyone should have the chance to give it a second listen. Freetown has thriving clubs and a budding music scene, including some decent rap and reggaeton-esque musicians. The country is at a point now where, if its neighbours behave and politics hold together through next year’s elections, things could be looking a little bit up. All the more reason to pay some attention and give some respect, even if that just means sampling the music.

Benn loxo listener and good DJ Chief Boima agrees. A few weeks ago he gave me a copy of his latest mix, Diamonds From Sierra Leone. On the album, Boima, an American-Sierra Leonian, gives us plenty of reasons to listen to Sierra Leone. Where did you find that last track, Kimjimi? Fantastic. More on his myspace site.

I happen to have an album or two that he samples so I thought I’d follow up on yesterday’s post with some original/mix combos.

Emmerson – Borbor Bele (original)
Emmerson – Borbor Bele (remix)
Emmerson – Sugar Meresin (original)
Emmerson – Sugar Meresin (remix)
Unknown – Kimjimi

Big thanks to Benn loxo listener and solid DJ, Boima, for the tickets, beer and music last night at the Trabendo. You can catch Boima on tour in Europe with Spearhead at the moment. I’ll be posting something off his latest release, a Sierra Leone hip-hop mix, later this week. In the meantime check-out his web site.

It’s great to keep meeting Benn loxo people. Nice crowd.

Anyway, over a year ago a Benn loxo listener, Carsten, sent me a guest post. Sorry for taking so long to put it up. I re-found Malika’s Poleni just the other day after digging Carsten’s e-mail out of the depths of my inbox:

“Malika was born on the island of Lamu (Kenya) and at an early age moved to Somalia where she began her singing career. In the 1960s she appeared on Somali radio and television and soon gained fame as a singer up and down the East African coast.

Apparently at some point in her career, Malika suffered damage to her voice but unfortunately, I don’t have any early recordings by her so I can’t really make a before and after comparison. Although Malika’s voice at present is not an excessively powerful one nor does its have an extraordinary range, it is a joy to hear her sing. Her phrasing is exquisite and her singing exudes a subtle poignancy that this reviewer finds irresistible.”

You can hear more Malika on the album, Tarabu: Music from the Swahili of Kenya.

Thanks for the post, Carsten.

Malika – Poleni