eyescratch on Mon, 3 Mar 2003 00:48:40 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> dze plzr ov muz!k = dzat !t !z > eaz!l! abztraktd 4rom a r!g!d mean!ng ov dze veLt


Well, maybe the Carnival does creep up here and there from time to time.
A friend I met at x-Fest swears this sounds just like a gameboy:

http://www.crammed.be/konono/index.htm

live line-up:
Mawangu Mingiedi : likembe
Mawangu Makuntima : likembe
Dodika Kungu : bass likembe
Lulendo Arumba : percussion
Nzimbu Kuavita : tam tam
Kanda Mateta : percussion
André Kiala, Luti Misamu ,Mankueno Ntumba, Lubuya Ngalula, Miezi 
Mankala : dancers

20/01/03
TOUT PUISSANT       KONONO N°1

This band is one of the main       exponents of a spectacular style of 
music which has developed       in the suburbs of Kinshasa (DR Congo). 
The Congolese call it       " tradi-modern ", in other words : 
electrified       traditional music.

These are musicians who left       the bush to settle in the capital 
and who, in order to go on       keep fulfilling their social role and 
make themselves heard by       the ancestors (and, more concretely, by 
their fellow citizens)       despite the high level of urban noise, 
have had to resort to DIY amplification of their instruments, and to 
megaphones (conical speakers). This makeshift       electrification has 
provoked a radical mutation of their sound,       as it has introduced 
distorsions which they have integrated to       their style.

KONONO N°1 was founded over 25 years ago by Mingiedi , a virtuoso of 
the likembé (a traditional instrument sometimes       called "sanza" or 
"thumb piano", consisting       of metal rods attached to a resonator). 
The band's line-up includes       three electric likembés (bass, medium 
and treble), equipped       with hand-made       microphones built from 
       magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. 
       There's also a rhythm section which uses traditional as well      
  as makeshift       percussion (pans, pots       and car parts), three 
singers, three dancers and a sound system       featuring these famous 
megaphones.

The musicians come from an       area which sits right across the 
border between Congo and Angola.       Their repertoire draws largely 
on Bazombo trance music , but they've had to incorporate the 
originally-unwanted       distorsions of their sound system. This has 
made them develop       a unique style which, from a sonic viewpoint, 
has accidentally       connected them with the aesthetics of the most 
experimental forms of rock       and electronic music , as       much 
through their sounds than through their sheer volume (they       play 
in front of a wall of speakers) and their merciless grooves .

The first album by Konono N°1       is currently being recorded by 
Vincent Kenis (definitely the       right person for the job: he is a 
great connoisseur of Congolese       music, he has produced albums by 
Zap Mama, Taraf de Haïdouks       & Koçani Orkestar, and has also been 
playing a key       part in the sonic design of many albums of 
electronic music on       Crammed/SSR).

This new album should be released       by Crammed Discs before the 
Summer of 2003.

Konono N°1 will be doing       a short tour between Jan 26 and Feb 15, 
in       France, Belgium and Holland (where they'll be playing 
alongside       avant-rock band THE EX ).

26/01 Cité de la Musique Paris (F)
05/02 Vera Groningen (NL)
06/02 Patronaat Haarlem (NL)
07/02 Worm Rotterdam (NL)
08/02 4AD Diksmuide (B)
09/02 Occi Amsterdam (NL)
28/02 Willemeen Arnhem (NL)
01/03 Ekko Utrecht (NL)
02/03 Paradiso Amsterdam (NL)
Mingiedi, leader and likembe       virtuoso

left: mixing desk - right: microphone       made of carved wood

drums

electric ikembes
left to right : bass, solo, accompaniment


On Thursday, February 27, 2003, at 04:50  AM, integer@www.god-emil.dk 
wrote:

> Humans are unable to share that which they know until they can put it 
> into
> high level symbolic form.  More importantly humans are very poor at 
> updating
> what they know because they have no efficient delete key.
 <...>

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