Congotronics

Description

EDITORIAL REVIEWS Featured in Crammed's Congotronics sereis, these musicians left the bush to settle in the Congolese Capital. Their unique sound is attributed to their clever manipulation of DIY sound amplification with traditional African instruments such as the thumb piano. This is electronic Africanized trance at it's zenith. Konono No.1 were featured in the Peter Gilles IN AFRICA and AFRICA REMIX: AH FREAK IYA compilations. 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 ABOUT THE ARTIST KONONO N°1 was 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 musicians come from an area, which sits right across the border between Congo and Angola. Their repertoire draws largely on Bazombo trance music, but they've had to incorporate the originally unwanted distortions of their sound system. This has made them develop a unique style, which, from a sonic viewpoint, has accidentally connected them with the aesthetics of the most experimental forms of rock and electronic music, as much through their sounds than through their sheer volume (they play in front of a wall of speakers) and their merciless grooves. The first album by Konono N°1 was recorded and produced by Vincent Kenis - definitely the right person for the job: he is a great connoisseur of Congolese music, he has produced albums by Zap Mama, Taraf de Haïdouks & Koçani Orkestar, and has also been playing a key part in the sonic design of many albums of electronic music on Crammed/SSR. See more