There's a bunch of street musicians of all sorts in the neighborhood I live in. There's one group that plays all of the songs that I hated from the mid-seventies with about a half a dozen singers all singing at once, with relentless tamborine bashing. There's the bluegrass-ish group that have a revolving cast of surprisingly good pickers (one with "Fuck the devil" painted on his banjo. I dig that.) And then there are the percussive groups, the worst of which (gutterpunk drum circle, I'm talking to you) couldn't carry a beat in a bucket. When I walk past the latter, it just makes me think "nice try, but you need to get serious if you're going to do this" and consider what a more caring person might do. They'd load up an mp3 player with Konomo No. 1 and explain to them what it means to be really resourceful.
Konomo No. 1 take DIY to whole new level. Just about every instrument, including their microphones and amplification, were fashioned from, literally, junk. Their thumb pianos form the basis of their music, with car parts used as percussion, an carved wood microphone (amplified with the aid of an alternator magnet), a whistle here and there, some vocals over bull horns...you get the idea. All of this is played at a volume that can be heard over the traffic and noises in the urban settings that they play in. This can lead to distortion, which they embrace, partly out of necessity and partly because most of the musicians came from outlying areas and have not been exposed to slickly produced music.
It's been said that Konono No. 1's music is a primitive form of trance, but that's selling them short. The origins of trance were primitive. In other words, they're a crudely amplified version of the real deal. While it isn't the type of music that you pour over every note, when it's on for a few minutes you find yourself getting into the rhythm of whatever the hell it is that they're banging on, and groove to it as a whole.
From their debut "Congotronics":Konomo No. 1 take DIY to whole new level. Just about every instrument, including their microphones and amplification, were fashioned from, literally, junk. Their thumb pianos form the basis of their music, with car parts used as percussion, an carved wood microphone (amplified with the aid of an alternator magnet), a whistle here and there, some vocals over bull horns...you get the idea. All of this is played at a volume that can be heard over the traffic and noises in the urban settings that they play in. This can lead to distortion, which they embrace, partly out of necessity and partly because most of the musicians came from outlying areas and have not been exposed to slickly produced music.
It's been said that Konono No. 1's music is a primitive form of trance, but that's selling them short. The origins of trance were primitive. In other words, they're a crudely amplified version of the real deal. While it isn't the type of music that you pour over every note, when it's on for a few minutes you find yourself getting into the rhythm of whatever the hell it is that they're banging on, and groove to it as a whole.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Konono No. 1 - Paradiso mp3 (right click to save) at FMLY
From their newest album "Assume Crash Position":
Konono No.1 – Guiyome mp3 (right click to save) at Rollo & Grady
Konono No. 1 - Fula Fula mp3 (right click to save) at Passion of the Weiss
Misc:
Konono No. 1 video at YouTube
Konono No. 1's page at Crammed Discs
Konono No. 1 page at Wikipedia
Public Service links:
Raise Hope For Congo: Learn more about conflict minerals and violence against women in the Congo
Run For Congo Women
Women For Women International
1 comment:
if we're talking congolese ingenuity, staff benda belili *must* be mentioned: http://gimundo.com/news/article/staff-benda-bilili-congolese-musicians-with-disabilities-make-it-big/
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