Konono No.1's "Congotronics" album introduced the world to the strange and spectacular electro-traditional mixtures which are being concocted in the suburbs of Kinshasa, Congo. World music, electronica and avant-rock aficionados have all been equally amazed by this otherworldly music, which has driven the international press to come up with some surprising comparisons (from Can and Krautrock to Jimi Hendrix, Lee Perry and proto-techno!...).
The band was founded back in the 1960s by Mingiedi Mawangu, a virtuoso of the likembé (a traditional instrument sometimes called "sanza" or "thumb piano", consisting of ...
KONONO N°1 & BATIDA say "Bom Dia"!
Les Inrockuptibles premiere the new video by Konono n°1 & Batida, and are dubbing them "Purveyors of Joy"....
The joyful music video illustrating this track from the new Konono n°1 album was shot by Catarina Limão (who is a.o. the VJ in the collective around Batida), during rehearsals for the common live show by the Congolese band and the Angolan-Portuguese electronic musician.
In the lyrics of the song, which mix Kikongo, Portuguese and French, Konono n°1 leader Augustin Mawangu imagines that he fortuitously meets some of his partners (his manager, the boss of his label…) in the streets of Brazil or Australia, reconverted into fish or banana vendors, following the collapse of the music industry… Premonitory vision, warning or plain fun? Future will tell…
Konono N°1 are on tour in Europe NOW!
DATES here
