Dagmar Andrtova / Susheela
Raman / Amadou et Mariam / |
KONONO N°1
In the early nineties the group Swede Swede broke the mould by scoring some international success with their powerful wall-of-sound created by multiple percussion, plastic tube marimba, over-amplified harmonica and raucous vocal animations. The same label that gave Swede Swede their first international release have now picked up a band with a similar style and equally abundant raw energy and pizzazz. Konono N°1 are led by three thumb pianos ("likembé" in the Congo) that have been fitted with electric pick-ups. They have actually been in existence since the 1970s playing their folklore style from the Bazombo tribe who originate from the border regions of Congo and Angola. Anyone fortunate enough to have purchased the stunning CD on the Ocora label Zaire: Musiques Urbaines a Kinshasa will already be familiar with the group who recorded a 27 minute extract under the name Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembé Konono N°1. The new album Konono N°1 - Congotronics is similar in energy to all the Swede Swede configurations that you may have already heard but they have a slightly different instrumental set up. Instead of the harmonica fronting the aural attack it is three likembés crudely fitted with electric pick-ups. The likembés set up droning and buzzing repeated loops that interplay in a similar way to the distorted guitars of some of the more raunchy Kinshasa guitar bands. Underneath is a barrage of clanging percussion mostly made out of scrap auto parts and a freight train snare sound that penetrates the intense rhythm. This Congolese form of Industrial Gamelan is accompanied by a vocal section who scream, shout, shriek and occasionally sing through megaphones and home made microphones. The vocal chanting urges the dancers and it is difficult to resist the rhythms that are clearly aimed at the hips and groin. Essentially this is Matanga music - an improvised form performed at length during a matanga which is a period of extended mourning during which family and friends congregate to pay respects after a death. Konono N°1 may lack the sweetness of the guitars and the vocal harmonies that we love in Congolese music but they are a direct link between village tradition and popular urban dance music of Kinshasa. Aside from any great cultural significance they are a great deal of fun. In fact the group are a perfect link between a village traditional trance-music sound and a vibrant new urban progressive experiment. Bypassing expensive conventional instrumentation they create a modern challenging roots music that combines 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 N°1 are extremely enjoyable. This year, Konono play the Roskilde festival, and with the Chicago based post-rock ensemble Tortoise perform at Royal Festival Hall in London. Recently they toured with the Dutch band The Ex. Collaborations with The Ex and Tortoise Chicago based post-rock ensemble Tortoise return
to the Royal Festival Hall following their previous sold out show
as part of Lee Scratch
Perry's Meltdown, 2003. This double-bill includes the 12-piece African
Ensemble Konono N°1 whose repertoire draws largely on Bazombo trance
music played in front of a wall of speakers. Their music connects
with the aesthetics of both experimental rock and electronica. Quotes from press: The sharp rattle of the hand-tooled snare drum permeates throughout, relentlessly and flawlessly maintaining the semi-ancient rhythmic cornerstone of claves. Absent the improvised electronics, Congotronics could still fascinate as a tight, 50-minute argument on the sizable contribution the Congo people made to rumba, often obfuscated by its mad popularity as a Cuban export. This is the Alfred in Afro-Cuban, as well as Afro-Brazillian, and maybe Afro-everything. The hard rhythmic backbone is sometimes a ringer for Cuban guaguanco at its fastest, as in the opening "Lufuala Ndonga," and yambu when things relax slightly on cuts like "Kule Kule." Other elements hark forward to other descendant styles, such as the omnipresent whistle heard in popular samba music, and the martial snare work heard in Cuban comparsa. - Martin Sinnock Konono N°1 are the kind of band that remind us that music still possesses vast wells of untapped potential, and that there's virtually no limit to what can be developed and explored. There's little precedent for a record like Congotronics, even as the music at its core goes back many generations and predates the discovery of electricity by some time. It's important to note that these are not pop songs in any sense of the word-- this is traditional trance music with an electric twist, and should be approached as such. That said, it's among the most fascinating music I've heard and deserves a listen by anyone with even the remotest interest in the possibilities of sound. - Joe Tangari, March 17, 2005
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