World music, compiled by Cobie Ivens, with music from Ghana, Eritrea and the United States of America.
1- Sk Kakraba.
The album ‘Songs of Paapieye’ is a collection of traditional songrs from Kakraba’s birth place Accra, in Ghana. Kakraba is a master of the Ghanaian xylophone, which is made by stretching 14 wooden boards over gourd resonators. This description doesn’t really tell you what is sounds like, but imagine distorted resonations, with rich harmonic tones that give a completely unique character to the instrument, which really makes it one of a kind.
CD. Sk. Kakraba – ‘Songs of Paapeiya’. Label: Awesome Tapes From Africa (2015), code: ATFA018LP. Video
2- Awalom Gebremariam.
Eritrean Awalom Gebremariam fled the violence in his country when he was a young man. After years in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, he was able to reach the United States. There, he has officially been granted refugee status. The fact that Gebremariam had recorded the album ‘Desdes’ even before he left Eritrea, where is became a huge hit, makes it even more special.
CD. Awalom Gebremariam – ‘Desdes’. Label: Awesome Tapes From Africa (2016), code: ATFA020LP. Video
3- Orkesta Mendoza.
Orchestra Mendoza, and their bandleader Sergio Mendoza, transport the fiery sound of the South of the US to Europe, with their ‘Mambo Mexicano’. Sergio jokingly calls this festive mix ‘Indie Mambo’, which is a mix of psychedelic cumbia, merengue, rumba, jazz and indie rock. The band seems to have come from the old west and fully ramps up the tempo. CD: Orkesta Mendoza – Vamos a Guarachar. Label: Glitterbeat/Xango Music, code: GBCD039. Video
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