It's electric
September 30, 2015 1:52 PM Subscribe
Aby Ngana Diop was a practitioner of taasu (alternately spelled "tassou"), a form of performance poetry practiced by female griots in Senegal. In the 90s, she was "a sought-after performer at the weddings and funerals of the rich and powerful" (according to a tangentially related article from The Verge). In 1994, she released her only widely distributed album, Liital, which fuses traditional taasu with the more modern mbalax, a popular style of Senegalese dance music. It's worth it for the title track alone.
Complete tracklist:
Dieuleul-Dieuleul
Ndame
Yaye Penda Mbaye
Liital
Sapaly
Ndadje
Liital was brought to the attention of Western listeners by Awesome Tapes From Africa, and subsequently reviewed by Pitchfork. Awesome Tapes from Africa issued a limited-edition re-release on LP, CD, and MP3, and has also released an EP of remixes by Michael Ozone, Orchestra of Spheres, and Black Dice.
Sadly, Diop passed away just three years after Liital was released.
Complete tracklist:
Dieuleul-Dieuleul
Ndame
Yaye Penda Mbaye
Liital
Sapaly
Ndadje
Liital was brought to the attention of Western listeners by Awesome Tapes From Africa, and subsequently reviewed by Pitchfork. Awesome Tapes from Africa issued a limited-edition re-release on LP, CD, and MP3, and has also released an EP of remixes by Michael Ozone, Orchestra of Spheres, and Black Dice.
Sadly, Diop passed away just three years after Liital was released.
There's a really good article on Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist that mentions her right off the bat. I will definitely have to check this out. Thanks!
posted by sauril at 3:57 PM on September 30, 2015
posted by sauril at 3:57 PM on September 30, 2015
Aww, shit. I picked this up from Awesome Tapes a couple years ago and it's been a secret mixtape weapon ever since. Now it's gonna be popular.
posted by klangklangston at 4:49 PM on September 30, 2015
posted by klangklangston at 4:49 PM on September 30, 2015
Liital is amazing to listen to. Thank you!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:06 PM on September 30, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:06 PM on September 30, 2015
What a bunch of mbalax!
Can't say I can tell you a lot about mbalax, other than it comes from Senegal, Youssou N'Dour uses it as a mainstay of his music and they use sticks on their drums. Here are some fellows dancing to a track, they are the dance crew Goorgoorlu, check it out!
Anyway, the front page of Awesome Mix Tapes is, indeed, awesome!
posted by asok at 2:34 AM on October 1, 2015
Can't say I can tell you a lot about mbalax, other than it comes from Senegal, Youssou N'Dour uses it as a mainstay of his music and they use sticks on their drums. Here are some fellows dancing to a track, they are the dance crew Goorgoorlu, check it out!
Anyway, the front page of Awesome Mix Tapes is, indeed, awesome!
posted by asok at 2:34 AM on October 1, 2015
I just recently found this via the remixes. Thanks for the context!
posted by svenni at 4:46 AM on October 1, 2015
posted by svenni at 4:46 AM on October 1, 2015
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posted by escape from the potato planet at 1:52 PM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]