| 1. Lufuala Ndonga |
| 2. Masikulu |
| 3. Kule Kule |
| 4. Ungudi Wele Wele |
| 5. Paradiso |
| 6. Kule Kule Reprise |
| 7. Mama Liza |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Here's truly remarkable music from a streetcorner band that hails from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. "Discovered" by awesome Dutch avant-punk act the Ex during a tour in the embattled region, Konono #1 makes hypnotic, beautiful, heavily rhythmic dance music with an often heavily-distorted electric thumb piano as the lead instrument. Fans of Fela and the Ethiopiques discs will dig this, as will fans of the Notwist, Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin. Thankfully, Vincent Kenis' production allows the music to sound truly live, with plenty of distortion, frenzied call and response, and shambling percussion. Most of the instruments (including the twelve-piece group's renowned sound system itself) were scrounged ingeniously from scraps while microphones were carved from wood, so it's really important that the rough edges do show through. That's not to say there isn't inventive grace throughout, just that it's rad there's no candy-coated Daniel Lanois-type sheen here. In fact, it sounds like the whole studio was dancing up and down while making this awesome document. --Mike McGonigal
Product Description
A combination of ethnic tradition with a raw punky attitude played on improvised instruments. It's an important cultural link and it is also a significant demonstration of resourcefulness and musical development but more than all that Konono No.1 are extremely enjoyable."
Congotronics
It's (semi-)traditional Congolese rhythms, played on home made thumb pianos and percussion instruments, mostly improvised from old rusted car parts, and ran through home made amps and sounds systems. The description may make it sound like it should be low-tech scratchy badness, but its honestly just beautiful, and I challenge you not to bob your head through the entire album.
When I playthis CD, and it must be loud, everyone will ask, "who is this group?"
Check it out.
The main instrument though, and the one which defines their sound, is an amplified likembe, a sort of thumb piano, which when run through the homemade pickups and ramshackle PA speakers buzz and distort and the melodies end up sounding like some strange sixties psych fuzz guitar. So those distorted melodies atop a wild festive bed of tribal percussion, hand drums, whistles, call and response vocals, it's like African highlife music but infused with all manner of, well like the title suggests BUZZ and RUMBLE.
But it would be naive to think a band like Konono No.1 developed in a complete vacuum. And one would assume that the music scene in Kinshasa would at least in some ways be like any place else, with loads of bands, all playing together, swapping members, that sort of thing, and this record demonstrates that for sure. While Konono No.1 ended up being the worldwide ambassadors for the Kinshasa sound, they are most definitely just one of many groups creating an amazingly vibrant scene. In fact some of the groups on Congotronics 2 take some of my favorite parts of Konono's sound and take them even further!
All of the bands on Congotronics 2 sound at least similar, employing the same basic song structure and same basic instrumentation. Cyclical repetitive rhythms, bells and hand drums locked in dense pulsing frameworks, loose but definitely the backbone of the music, the vocals are festive and wild, a single voice joined by a chorus. Each track is typically one part, maybe two, repeated and repeated with subtle variations, being as that it is an offspring of trance music, this hypnotic quality definitely defining all of these bands, a buzzing looped joyful noise, the sort of music that makes people want to dance and sway and move, eyes closed, getting lost in the mesmerizing repetition.
All of the bands also seem to employ the electric likembe as well to different effect. Sobanza Mimanisia up the distortion, their thumb pianos practically growl, super percussive and blown-out, definitely the heaviest band of the bunch. Whereas the Kasai Allstars employ their likembes as a swirling delicate percussive background, not at all distorted, gentle, lilting and pretty, sounding the most like traditional high life music. The one way in which many of the bands differ from Konono is their use of guitars, the interplay between a distorted thumb piano and a distorted guitar can be beautifully dizzying.
While all the bands are different, those differences are subtle enough that this could very well be a record by a single, albeit quite varied band, almost as if Konono No.1 decided to expand and explore a little for record number two. If you loved Congotronics, then this will for sure hit the spot, and actually the more I listen the more I think this might be even better than the first one.
Konono No.1 have a SOUND, and that sound is amazing and beautiful and practically perfect, but they truly traffic in trance music, every song a subtle variation of the song before, almost like they have ONE hour long song that just happens to be split into parts, which I love, like most droning repetitive music, if there was a way to have each track last for six hours I would, but by the same token, one has to be in the right frame of mind to bliss out and trance out. So while this collection is still most definitely trancey, it's a bit more varied, with more instrumentation (one group even incorporates accordion!) and thus ends up being a bit more engaging, especially to the casual listener.
And as if another disc of buzzing rumbling joyful trance music wasn't enough, there is also a DVD featuring live footage of 6 of the bands, including Konono (so for those of you who missed their recent visit to the US, here's your chance to see what you missed). Each band performs live, surrounded by throngs of families and children, often performing in houses, on street corners, people dancing, smiling, embracing, this is truly happy joyful music. And the footage is amazing, allowing us a glimpse not only of these amazing bands, their individually customized instrumentation, sardine cans, milk crates, springs, lengths of PVC pipe, hubcaps, film canisters, wooden boards, tin cans, thier costumed and face painted dancers, their dramatic introductions to performances, but also a look at the people, and the city, and the houses, and the streets of Kinshasa, and the culture that inspired such an amazing music.
It's (semi-)traditional Congolese rhythms, played on home made thumb pianos and percussion instruments, mostly improvised from old rusted car parts, and ran through home made amps and sounds systems. The description may make it sound like it should be low-tech scratchy badness, but its honestly just beautiful, and I challenge you not to bob your head through the entire album.
When I playthis CD, and it must be loud, everyone will ask, "who is this group?"
Check it out.
Here's truly remarkable music from a streetcorner band that hails from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. "Discovered" by awesome Dutch avant-punk act the Ex during a tour in the embattled region, Konono #1 makes hypnotic, beautiful, heavily rhythmic dance music with an often heavily-distorted electric thumb piano as the lead instrument. Fans of Fela and the Ethiopiques discs will dig this, as will fans of the Notwist, Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin. Thankfully, Vincent Kenis' production allows the music to sound truly live, with plenty of distortion, frenzied call and response, and shambling percussion. Most of the instruments (including the twelve-piece group's renowned sound system itself) were scrounged ingeniously from scraps while microphones were carved from wood, so it's really important that the rough edges do show through. That's not to say there isn't inventive grace throughout, just that it's rad there's no candy-coated Daniel Lanois-type sheen here. In fact, it sounds like the whole studio was dancing up and down while making this awesome document. --Mike McGonigal
Product Description
A combination of ethnic tradition with a raw punky attitude played on improvised instruments. It's an important cultural link and it is also a significant demonstration of resourcefulness and musical development but more than all that Konono No.1 are extremely enjoyable."
Congotronics
Congotronics,Konono No.1,Crammed Disc,African,African Folk,Afro-Pop,Congo,Int'l & World Music,Mbira,Pop
Average customer rating: 
|
Congotronics
Konono No.1 Manufacturer: Crammed Disc Us ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Africa
| International
| Styles
| Music
Zaire & Congo
| Africa
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| International
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000ASATRG Release Date: 2005-09-27 |
Tracks:
- Lufuala Ndonga
- Masikulu
- Kule Kule
- Ungudi Wele Wele
- Paradiso
- Kule Kule Reprise
- Mama Liza
Amazon.com
Here's truly remarkable music from a streetcorner band that hails from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. "Discovered" by awesome Dutch avant-punk act the Ex during a tour in the embattled region, Konono #1 makes hypnotic, beautiful, heavily rhythmic dance music with an often heavily-distorted electric thumb piano as the lead instrument. Fans of Fela and the Ethiopiques discs will dig this, as will fans of the Notwist, Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin. Thankfully, Vincent Kenis' production allows the music to sound truly live, with plenty of distortion, frenzied call and response, and shambling percussion. Most of the instruments (including the twelve-piece group's renowned sound system itself) were scrounged ingeniously from scraps while microphones were carved from wood, so it's really important that the rough edges do show through. That's not to say there isn't inventive grace throughout, just that it's rad there's no candy-coated Daniel Lanois-type sheen here. In fact, it sounds like the whole studio was dancing up and down while making this awesome document. --Mike McGonigalAlbum Description
A combination of ethnic tradition with a raw punky attitude played on improvised instruments. It's an important cultural link and it is also a significant demonstration of resourcefulness and musical development but more than all that Konono No.1 are extremely enjoyable."Customer Reviews:
Incredible world music strangeness.......2007-07-22
It's (semi-)traditional Congolese rhythms, played on home made thumb pianos and percussion instruments, mostly improvised from old rusted car parts, and ran through home made amps and sounds systems. The description may make it sound like it should be low-tech scratchy badness, but its honestly just beautiful, and I challenge you not to bob your head through the entire album.
Wow!.......2007-01-04
Everyone will ask "Who is this band?".......2006-12-16
When I playthis CD, and it must be loud, everyone will ask, "who is this group?"
Check it out.
fascinating trance music!.......2006-11-11
Repetitious, but bass so strong will cause your walls to shake.......2006-03-22
Average customer rating:
|
Congotronics 2: Buzz 'n' Rumble from the Urb 'n' Jungle
Various Artists Manufacturer: Crammed Disc Us ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Africa
| International
| Styles
| Music
Zaire & Congo
| Africa
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| International
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000E6EJK2 Release Date: 2006-02-21 |
Tracks:
- Wa Muluendu - Kasai Allstars
- Koyile/Nyeka Nyeka - Kasai Allstars
- Kiwembo - Sobanza Mimanisa
- Kabuangoyi - Kasai Allstars
- Soif Conjugale - Kisanzi Congo
- Le Laboureur - Masanka Sankayi
- Bosamba Ndeke - Bolia We Ndenge
- Mulume - Basokin
- T.P. Couleur Cafe - Konono N.1
Amazon.com
The follow up to Konono No. 1's fantastic Congotronics, Congotronics 2, has the same heavily distorted thumb pianos, chattering hand percussion, gritty homemade amplification, and driving rhythms. This amazing sound clash was an unlikely hit in 2005 that captured the imagination of musical thrill seekers, world music enthusiasts, and hipsters into dance and electronic music. Now five other Congo bands join Konono on this two-disc set that offers nine audio tracks on CD and six videos on an accompanying DVD. While the video serves as a reminder that this music is generally meant for dancing and drinking, the audio proves that this unique approach and sound can have many more mutations than the one hit upon by Konono. The sound ranges from Kasai Allstars' warm African high-life feel to Sobanza Mimanisa's hard metallic shuffle. This is a must for those who fell under the spell of Konono's hypnotic grooves and want to hear more. --Tad HendricksonAlbum Description
Hot on the heels of Konono N°1, Congotronics 2 - Buzz 'N' Rumble From The Urb 'N' Jungle offers a fresh selection of even more remarkable sounds, courtesy of seven electro-traditional bands from Kinshasa, Congo. These bands draw on traditional trance music to which they've incorporated heavily distorted sounds generated by do-it-yourself amplification...much like, except that these musicians come from various regions (Kasai, Lake Mai Ndombe, Bacongo province), they use diverse rhythms, timbres and instrumentation. The trademark electrified thumb pianos and megaphones are joined by an array of buzzing drums, swirling guitars and hypnotic balafons.Includes a 41-minute bonus DVD of material filmed in Kinshasa!
Customer Reviews:
WOW-IF YOU LIKE TO SMILE..........2006-03-19
music that makes people want to dance and sway and move, eyes closed, getting lost in the mesmerizing repetition.......2006-03-05
The main instrument though, and the one which defines their sound, is an amplified likembe, a sort of thumb piano, which when run through the homemade pickups and ramshackle PA speakers buzz and distort and the melodies end up sounding like some strange sixties psych fuzz guitar. So those distorted melodies atop a wild festive bed of tribal percussion, hand drums, whistles, call and response vocals, it's like African highlife music but infused with all manner of, well like the title suggests BUZZ and RUMBLE.
But it would be naive to think a band like Konono No.1 developed in a complete vacuum. And one would assume that the music scene in Kinshasa would at least in some ways be like any place else, with loads of bands, all playing together, swapping members, that sort of thing, and this record demonstrates that for sure. While Konono No.1 ended up being the worldwide ambassadors for the Kinshasa sound, they are most definitely just one of many groups creating an amazingly vibrant scene. In fact some of the groups on Congotronics 2 take some of my favorite parts of Konono's sound and take them even further!
All of the bands on Congotronics 2 sound at least similar, employing the same basic song structure and same basic instrumentation. Cyclical repetitive rhythms, bells and hand drums locked in dense pulsing frameworks, loose but definitely the backbone of the music, the vocals are festive and wild, a single voice joined by a chorus. Each track is typically one part, maybe two, repeated and repeated with subtle variations, being as that it is an offspring of trance music, this hypnotic quality definitely defining all of these bands, a buzzing looped joyful noise, the sort of music that makes people want to dance and sway and move, eyes closed, getting lost in the mesmerizing repetition.
All of the bands also seem to employ the electric likembe as well to different effect. Sobanza Mimanisia up the distortion, their thumb pianos practically growl, super percussive and blown-out, definitely the heaviest band of the bunch. Whereas the Kasai Allstars employ their likembes as a swirling delicate percussive background, not at all distorted, gentle, lilting and pretty, sounding the most like traditional high life music. The one way in which many of the bands differ from Konono is their use of guitars, the interplay between a distorted thumb piano and a distorted guitar can be beautifully dizzying.
While all the bands are different, those differences are subtle enough that this could very well be a record by a single, albeit quite varied band, almost as if Konono No.1 decided to expand and explore a little for record number two. If you loved Congotronics, then this will for sure hit the spot, and actually the more I listen the more I think this might be even better than the first one.
Konono No.1 have a SOUND, and that sound is amazing and beautiful and practically perfect, but they truly traffic in trance music, every song a subtle variation of the song before, almost like they have ONE hour long song that just happens to be split into parts, which I love, like most droning repetitive music, if there was a way to have each track last for six hours I would, but by the same token, one has to be in the right frame of mind to bliss out and trance out. So while this collection is still most definitely trancey, it's a bit more varied, with more instrumentation (one group even incorporates accordion!) and thus ends up being a bit more engaging, especially to the casual listener.
And as if another disc of buzzing rumbling joyful trance music wasn't enough, there is also a DVD featuring live footage of 6 of the bands, including Konono (so for those of you who missed their recent visit to the US, here's your chance to see what you missed). Each band performs live, surrounded by throngs of families and children, often performing in houses, on street corners, people dancing, smiling, embracing, this is truly happy joyful music. And the footage is amazing, allowing us a glimpse not only of these amazing bands, their individually customized instrumentation, sardine cans, milk crates, springs, lengths of PVC pipe, hubcaps, film canisters, wooden boards, tin cans, thier costumed and face painted dancers, their dramatic introductions to performances, but also a look at the people, and the city, and the houses, and the streets of Kinshasa, and the culture that inspired such an amazing music.
Average customer rating: 
|
Congotronics
Konono No.1 Manufacturer: Crammed ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Africa
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| International
| Styles
| Music
International
| Imports
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B0006UGGX4 Release Date: 2005-07-26 |
Tracks:
- Lufuala Ndonga
- Masikulu
- Kule Kule
- Ungudi Wele Wele
- Paradiso
- Kule Kule Reprise
- Mama Liza
Album Description
Konono N°1 is the first volume of Crammed's new series Congotronics, which is devoted to electrified traditional music from the Congo. Cramworld. 2005.Album Details
First in a Series Titled 'congotronics', this is the Long-awaited Album by Konono N°1, a Band 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 Album was Produced and Recorded in Kinshasa by One of the Best Connoisseurs of Congolese Music and Old Car Parts, Crammed's Own Vincent Kenis.
Average customer rating:
|
Congotronics
Manufacturer: Crammed Discs. ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
General
| International
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B0007PCDM6 Release Date: 2005-02-03 |
Tracks:
- Lufuala Ndonga
- Masikulu
- Kule Kule
- Ungudi Wele Wele
- Paradiso
- Kule Kule Reprise
- Mama Liza
Amazon.com
Here's truly remarkable music from a streetcorner band that hails from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. "Discovered" by awesome Dutch avant-punk act the Ex during a tour in the embattled region, Konono #1 makes hypnotic, beautiful, heavily rhythmic dance music with an often heavily-distorted electric thumb piano as the lead instrument. Fans of Fela and the Ethiopiques discs will dig this, as will fans of the Notwist, Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin. Thankfully, Vincent Kenis' production allows the music to sound truly live, with plenty of distortion, frenzied call and response, and shambling percussion. Most of the instruments (including the twelve-piece group's renowned sound system itself) were scrounged ingeniously from scraps while microphones were carved from wood, so it's really important that the rough edges do show through. That's not to say there isn't inventive grace throughout, just that it's rad there's no candy-coated Daniel Lanois-type sheen here. In fact, it sounds like the whole studio was dancing up and down while making this awesome document. --Mike McGonigalAlbum Description
A combination of ethnic tradition with a raw punky attitude played on improvised instruments. It's an important cultural link and it is also a significant demonstration of resourcefulness and musical development but more than all that Konono No.1 are extremely enjoyable."Customer Reviews:
Incredible world music strangeness.......2007-07-22
It's (semi-)traditional Congolese rhythms, played on home made thumb pianos and percussion instruments, mostly improvised from old rusted car parts, and ran through home made amps and sounds systems. The description may make it sound like it should be low-tech scratchy badness, but its honestly just beautiful, and I challenge you not to bob your head through the entire album.
Wow!.......2007-01-04
Everyone will ask "Who is this band?".......2006-12-16
When I playthis CD, and it must be loud, everyone will ask, "who is this group?"
Check it out.
fascinating trance music!.......2006-11-11
Repetitious, but bass so strong will cause your walls to shake.......2006-03-22
Rock Music:
- Cuba
- Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms, Vol. 1
- E Ala E
- Egypt
- Embrace
- En Mana Kuoyo
- Enchanted Spirits
- Fado Curvo
- German Drinking and Beer Garden Songs: 14 All-time Favorites
- Grace
Recommended Music:
Born to Die [Original recording remastered]
Chaos Breeding [Explicit Lyrics]
Brahms: The 21 Hungarian Dances/The 16 Waltzes
Canta a P. Neruda & V. Huidobro [Import]