mudd up!

a piece I wrote on Toumani Diabete is in the current issue of Freize, a magazine whose cover looks like this:

click on the foto for a readable version:

Hello kitty kitty kitty … Are you an orphan? Are you Sudanese? Chadian? Are you a sub-Saharan African suffering from mild mental retardation? Are you an African woman suffering from the African male? Would you like an Oxfam biscuit? Organic antiretrovirals? Have you been raped? You might not know it, but you are an orphan, a refugee. Can we fly 103 of you to France to be loved? We can breastfeed you. We can make you a Darfur orphan. Even if you are not. If you are black and under 10 years old, please come talk to us.
Come kitty kitty.

– Binyavanga Wainaina, from “Oxfamming the whole black world“

plus

i’ll be dropping a guest DJ set @ The Let Out w/ The Fader crew on East Village Radio tonite (friday), sometime in the 2nd half of the show, which runs 6-8pm. This is a warmup. I’ll be playing all African jams. Warming up for what? the Fader Africa issue release party!! - details & date said quietly, but: Johannesburg’s Blk Jks (an African ‘rock’ band who sound waaay better than all the ‘African-sounding’ rock bands), Eddie Stats , me, and more…

[Blk Jks “Lakeside” video]

back to Africa? yes please.

The Fader’s AFRICA issue is on newstands now — it’s big and beautiful. Free PDF version. Lush photography accompanies a wealth of articles, including a Sweat.X piece by yrs truly.

needless to say, i heartily recommend Sweat X’s recent mixes available for free on myspace; the ebonyivorytronic South African duo is on tour now in Europe, sharing their

another big shoutout to our peripatetic South American point-man, Sonido Martines — his latest heads-up comes in the form of a deadly recommendation:

http://africolombia.blogspot.com/

…is EXACTLY the blog I wanted to exist right now, but didnt know existed, until now. The subtitle — Africa - Colombia - Cultura - Música — just about covers it, a treasure trove of mp3s & album cover scans and INFORMATION. Syllart rubbing elbows with Cartegena cumbias & other forms of tropical? si señor. ¡Adelante!

There is no way to expect beauty, or to deserve it. - Ursula K. LeGuin

[Colombiafrica myspace photo]

Colombiafrica - The Mystic Orchestra - Sambangole / Tres Golpes Na’ Mas

“I mean we don’t care very much about salsa, because we were born into salsa, right? We care about soukous, we care about highlife, Afrobeat, mbaqanga, Soweto music, Kenya music, Nairobi music. You know, in Colombia, salsa is for the people who have money, to go into a disco. But when you are a black man in Colombia, you can’t go in that places. So you have to make your party in a street.” - Lucas Silva

vamos a grabar… rooted champeta, Colombiafrica. three hits, no more. music for places.

a big shout to The Fader, who reminded me that tonite’s special guest on my radio show is Brian from the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog. (yeah, i’m in France, and kinda sick too; he was kind enough to come down a few weeks ago & pre-record the show).

Brian is super-knowledgeable about this stuff & has a killer selection in store for us… listen in 15min or catch the archive. PLUS, next week, a live DJ set from Fool’s Gold nonstop DJ-alchemist Nick Catchdubs, fresh from his label’s debut US tour!