monday morning (yawn) … up with the worm-catchers to bring you some mp3s from yesterday’s show. next sunday, if you’re a sydney-sider, then get close to yr li’l radio box as i’ll be ending the year with a special treat – fat planet meets IRMIN SCHMIDT, founding member of the legendary german krautrock pioneers CAN. tune in from 3pm on sunday 19th for this rare interview and tracks from newly re-issued CAN albums.
KONONO NO.1 [CONGO] (pictured)
ditshe tshiekutala mp3
on the fat planet radio show, i try to play as much contemporary african music that i can get my hands on, without straying too far down the path of traditional world music. hence the recent posts on senegalese hip hop. however, electronic music from africa is practically non-existent – understandable given the reliance of electronic music on PCs and suchlike. so, it’s great to see belgian label crammed discs giving us what they’re billed as ‘congotronics’. konono no.1 (who’ve been around for 25 years apparently) use an electro version of the thumb piano, wired to an almighty soundystem and marry it with all manner of pots’n’pans metallic percussion. as you can imagine, the results are breathtaking. you really have to see the photographs over at crammed to get an indication of how rare this project is. crammed have promised us not only a full studio album from konono no.1, but also a compilation entitled ‘buzz n rumble’ featuring five similar acts (due early 2005). when searching for the some konono no.1 files, the above mp3 duly turned up on the excellent mp3blog ‘the suburbs are killing us‘ and is taken from a live album entitled ‘lubuaku’. more info on this release can be found over at subterranean distribution.
DJ RUPTURE [SPAIN]
lonesome (feat.lily) mp3
i can’t seem to leave this guy alone, but when you’ve got an artist of such high quality around, what are you gonna do? today i played the track ‘little more oil’ from dj rupture‘s new album, ‘special gunpowde’r. the track is a collaboration with old skool dancehall artist sister nancy. there’s not a great deal of info on nancy around on the web, but you can find some introductory bio info here. the above mp3 is taken from rupture’s better propaganda page, where you’ll also find a 2nd mp3 from the new album. (i’m listing rupture as coming from spain, and although he’s a resident of barcelona, he’s actually from the u.s.. so now you know.)
MAGNETA LANE [CANADA]
the constant lover mp3
a three-piece girl band from canada who are probably sick to death of finding people refer to them in the same breath as the strokes. of course, i wouldn’t dare do such a thing. thanks to leila from paper bag records in toronto for getting in touch and pointing fat planet in the direction of lexi, french and nadia. this is a killer track, a great slice of alt.pop that has been ringing around inside my skull for the last few days – fast, to the point and smacking you in the nose with a fistful of attitude. all the great attributes of rock’n’roll, surely? check out paper bag records for a diverse roster rammed with quality tunes.
PITCH BLACK [NEW ZEALAND]
lost in translation mp3
this NZ duo have a new album out called ‘ape to angel’ and i played the track ‘freefall’ today. they’ve been playing together for nearly eight years and ‘ape to angel’ is their third full-length. i found a website that described them as ‘the hexstatic of new zealand’ – and the sounds definitely fall into the long embrace of the ninja tune style zone. it’s a smart blend of warm, dub-infused electronica – which would undoubtedly translate incredibly well to the live arena and festival circuit where pitch black spend a great deal of their time. check out the band’s web site for a further batch of free mp3 downloads.
SITJN [BELGIUM]
ochtendbericht mp3
stijn would appear to be the one-man powerhouse behind the mijn label – have a look at the site at mijnlabel.com. the track played today ‘wrong’ has stijn coming off like tiga in a three-in-the-bed romp with metro area. alas, there’s no such similar mp3s on the mijn site, merely some soundtrack mp3s from stijn’s work on a project called ‘nine to five’ – and the tunes are simple, looped minimal electronica, pleasant enough but i’m feeling the ground swell beneath my feet. you might have more joy over at this mini site for stijn ‘euphoria’ album, where you can stream all the tracks from the album (including ‘wrong’).