Congotronics series
Encyclopedia
The Congotronics series is a collection of albums devoted to electrified traditional music from the Congo, curated and produced by Vincent Kenis
for the Crammed Discs
label.
To date, the Congotronics series has featured music by bands such as Konono N°1
, Kasai Allstars
, Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Congo, Masanka Sankayi and Basokin. These bands play what is referred to in the Congo
as tradi-moderne music, and comprise musicians who left the bush in order to settle in Kinshasa
, the capital of the Democratic Republic Of The Congo
.
In order to continue to fulfill their social role (they play at weddings, funerals and social gatherings) and make themselves heard by their fellow citizens despite the high level of urban noise, they had to resort to a makeshift electrification of their instruments, which provoked a radical mutation of their sound. The much-commented similarities between this music and some forms of avant-rock or electronica is purely fortuitous, since these bands draw exclusively on traditional trance music and have been totally unaware of current Western trends so far.
Vincent Kenis
Vincent Kenis is a Belgian musician and record producer. He was a member of the avant-garde group Aksak Maboul and of The Honeymoon Killers, an experimental rock band...
for the Crammed Discs
Crammed Discs
Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
label.
To date, the Congotronics series has featured music by bands such as Konono N°1
Konono N°1
Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
, Kasai Allstars
Kasai Allstars
Kasai Allstars are a 25-piece musical collective based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The musicians originally come from five bands, all from the Kasai region, but originating from five different ethnic groups: the Songye, Lulua, Tetela, Luba, and Luntu...
, Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Congo, Masanka Sankayi and Basokin. These bands play what is referred to in the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
as tradi-moderne music, and comprise musicians who left the bush in order to settle in Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, the capital of the Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
.
In order to continue to fulfill their social role (they play at weddings, funerals and social gatherings) and make themselves heard by their fellow citizens despite the high level of urban noise, they had to resort to a makeshift electrification of their instruments, which provoked a radical mutation of their sound. The much-commented similarities between this music and some forms of avant-rock or electronica is purely fortuitous, since these bands draw exclusively on traditional trance music and have been totally unaware of current Western trends so far.
Notable Congotronics bands
- Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
is the band which first introduced electrified traditional Congolese music to broader audiences in North America and Europe. The band was founded in the 1960s by Mingiedi Mawangu, a virtuoso of the likembé (a traditional instrument sometimes called "sanza", kalimba, mbiraMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
or "thumb pianoThumb pianoThe thumb piano is an African musical instrument, a type of plucked idiophone common throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.-Description:Each note of a kalimba, mbira, etc. is a separate idiophone, and in orchestral terms, the instrument as a whole belongs in the bar percussion family...
", 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. - Kasai AllstarsKasai AllstarsKasai Allstars are a 25-piece musical collective based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The musicians originally come from five bands, all from the Kasai region, but originating from five different ethnic groups: the Songye, Lulua, Tetela, Luba, and Luntu...
: A province the size of France situated in the center of Congo, Kasai is well known for its diamond fields and vivid musical traditions. This collective of artists incorporates members from four different Kasaian bands, including Basokin and Masanka Sankayi, and personalities as diverse as singer Muambuyi (from West Kasai), and singer/dancer/slit drum player Tandjolo (from the Tetela region, which links Kasai to the Equator province). - Masanka Sankayi: dancers, singers and story-tellers Muyamba Nyunyi and Kabongo from East Kasai have been together since the 1970s. Muyamba the preacher is also an excellent bass likembe player. Unlike Konono's, his instrument is a 20" square box featuring half a likembe on each side and on which he sits in a foetus-like position.
- Sobanza Mimanisa (orchestra of light) are the resident band in Nganda Boboto, in the Selembao district. They perform with a limted range of instruments: a bell, a whistle, makeshift percussion, a guitar - whose 'power chord' style is very unusual in Kinshasa - and a likembe playing the bass and solo parts at the same time. Sobanza Mimanisa comes from the Bacongo province.
- Kisanzi Congo’s line-up is similar to Konono’s, and they also come from the Bacongo province (specifically the Mbeko region). But whereas Konono's electric likembes use raw power to carry their message, Kisanzi Congo rely more on virtuosity and adopt a freer form.
- Basokin (the Basongye from Kinshasa) are from the Songye region, at the Eastern fringe of Kasai. Their frontman Mputu Ebondo 'Mi Amor' is a well-known spokesman for the Songye and Kasaian community.
- Bolia We Ndenge come from the Lake Mai Ndombe. They're remarkable by their central use of the accordion, an instrument which had become very popular in Congo until it was supplanted by the guitar in the ‘50s.
Releases
- Congotronics 1 by Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
(2004)
- Congotronics 2 - Buzz'n'Rumble In The Urb'n'Jungle, a multi-artist album comprising a CD and a DVD, and featuring original material by Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
, Basokin, Masanka Sankayi, Kasai AllstarsKasai AllstarsKasai Allstars are a 25-piece musical collective based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The musicians originally come from five bands, all from the Kasai region, but originating from five different ethnic groups: the Songye, Lulua, Tetela, Luba, and Luntu...
, Bolia We Ndenge, Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Congo and TuluTulu languageThe Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
(2005)
- Live At Couleur Café by Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
(2007; this album was nominated for a Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
)
- In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic by Kasai AllstarsKasai AllstarsKasai Allstars are a 25-piece musical collective based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The musicians originally come from five bands, all from the Kasai region, but originating from five different ethnic groups: the Songye, Lulua, Tetela, Luba, and Luntu...
(2008)
- Assume Crash Position by Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
(2010)
- The album Très Très Fort by Staff Benda BililiStaff Benda BililiStaff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They live around the grounds of the zoo in the countries capital city, Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm 'n' blues and reggae...
is considered as closely related but not strictly part of the Congotronics series.
- The Congotronics Vinyl Box Set (2010): in April 2010, Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
have announced the imminent release of a limited edition box set, available only on pre-order and containing vinyl versions of all the albums listed above (except Konono N°1's Live At Couleur Café, but including the Staff Benda BililiStaff Benda BililiStaff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They live around the grounds of the zoo in the countries capital city, Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm 'n' blues and reggae...
album and Konono N°1Konono N°1Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
's Assume Crash Position), plus assorted bonuses including a 7" single featuring a collaboration between Kasai AllstarsKasai AllstarsKasai Allstars are a 25-piece musical collective based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The musicians originally come from five bands, all from the Kasai region, but originating from five different ethnic groups: the Songye, Lulua, Tetela, Luba, and Luntu...
and US indie-folk-rock band Akron/FamilyAkron/FamilyAkron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and its members currently live in Portland, Oregon , Tucson, Arizona and New York City, New York.-Music and history:...
, as well as videos and mp3s.
External links
- http://www.congotronics.comThe Congotronics mini-site on the Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
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