This is World Beat part 3, read other more World Music here. Yeah, this might be the 4/20 edition.

SEUN KUTI

knittingfactoryrecords.com

Seun Kuti is the son of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti . Like his father before him, Kuti took up music and even leading his father’s band Egypt 80! Kuti and Egypt 80 are currently on tour in America.

I have previously mentioned that Kuti released his album, From Africa With Fury: Rise via Knitting Factory Records. If you liked the album, good news: some of those songs have been remixed in an EP that came out yesterday (4/10) called From Africa With Fury: Rises Remixes.

Tracks includes “The Good Leaf (Spoek Mathambo Remix)”, “Slave Masters (Jacques Renault Remix)”, “African Soldier (JD Twitch Remix)”, and “You Can Run (Falty DL Remix)”. The first track mentioned is available as a free download via thefader.com. I believe this is a digital-only release.

If it all goes well, I will be covering his Minneapolis show:

4/12 – UW Madison – Madison, WI

4/13 – Rhythm Foundation – Miami, FL

4/14 – The Cedar – Minneapolis, MN

4/15 – Coachella – Indio, CA

4/16 – Campbell Hall – Santa Barbara, CA

4/18 – UC San Diego – San Diego, CA

4/19 – Zellerbach Hall – Berkeley, CA

4/20 – UCLA Royce Hall – Los Angeles, CA

4/22 – Coachella – Indio, CA

4/24 – KTAOS Solar Center – Taos, NM

4/25 – Albuquerque Museum Amp – Albuq, NM

4/27 – New Orleans Jazz Fest – New Orleans, LA

4/29 – Houston Internat’l Festival – Houston, TX

5/2 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA

5/13 – Lake Eden Arts Fest – Black Mountain, NC

THE BLACK SEEDS

theblackseeds.com

The Black Seeds are described as “New Zealand’s reggae-soul heavyweights”. Their album, Dust and Dirt, just came out yesterday (4/10), and to celebrate, their previous albums (Keep On Pushing, The Black Seeds Live Vol. 1, On The Sun and Into The Dojo) are also seeing a North American release.

The Black Seeds are currently on tour:

April 11 – Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound

April 12 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile

April 13 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom

April 14 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre

April 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl

April 17 – Ithaca, NY – Castaways

SECRET STASH RECORDS

secretstashrecords.com

We’ve mentioned Secret Stash Records a few times here. Not because they’re based out of Minneapolis, but that we actually like them. They concentrate on collectable and cool looking vinyl as their main bread and butter. And no different, their latest release will be a compilation called Long Live Boogaloo. The double vinyl will be out April 17th, while the CD version will be out in May 8th.

The first 250 copies will come with an extra 7″. Based on the fact that their limited T-Shirt are sold-out, I would recommend pre-ordering now for the 7″.

Description from the label:

In the mid 1960s Latin teenagers in New York’s Spanish Harlem neighborhood created a new style of music called Latin boogaloo. The sound was a mix of the Cuban music they grew up with and American R&B like James Brown and Hank Ballard. It quickly caught on and before long the young purveyors of this new sound were taking business from the likes of Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and Eddie Palmieri. Soon the established acts reluctantly joined the craze and recorded a smattering of Boogloos. However, many of them were not happy about it. In general they felt it was beneath them. Eventually a small group of the most powerful people in the Latin music business conspired to kill off the Boogaloo and make way for the burgeoning Salsa craze. Concert promoters, DJs, and venues were bribed to turn away any and all Boogaloo business. As soon as it came, it left.

BRIEFLY:

SIMON RICHARDS

simonrichardsmusic.com

World musician, Simon Richards announced that he’s officially signed with Fontana/Universal for his debut album Kaleidoscope Worlds. The album is so far in advance (to be released on September 2012) that I don’t actually have a cover artwork for it.

Look for his first single, “Bee Bopping to My Life”, to be a reggae influenced song. Speaking about the single Richards stated, “This is just one of those fun songs where the idea is for you just to kick back and enjoy life! I wanted the single to be a fun, upbeat track that everyone can relate to.”

BOB MARLEY

bobmarley.com

Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) will be releasing the official soundtrack from the documentary on Bob Marley, simply titled MARLEY, as a 2-CD collection and a special 3-LP vinyl set!

The soundtrack will contain 24 tracks, hand-picked by the Marley family and Chris Blackwell, so expect hits like “Jammin”, “One Live”, and “Exodus”.

Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald’s MARLEY will open in US theaters on… 4/20, duh.

ZZK RECORDS

simonrichardsmusic.com

Nicole wrote about ZZK Records before, describing them as “as Cumbia, mixed with electronic beats, funk, tribal sounds, dancehall, tons of random neon objects, and hallucinogenic substances, boiled in a pot under extreme pressure, causing an awesome, danceable, music explosion known as ZZK”.

The Future Sounds of Buenos Aires is a new compilation record from ZZK, set for release on May 1st.

ELISA LUU

elisaluu.com

Italian ambient electronica artist Elisa Luu is releasing her second album Un giorno sospeso (which literally translate to “One day suspended”) via Hidden Shoal Recordings on June 1st.

Her music is described as a mix of digital manipulation and analogue tones with immersive drones.

Listen for yourself, a free download of “Se fosse per me” at hiddenshoal.com.

ELIN FURUBOTN

elinfurubotn.com

Norwegian Elin Furubotn’s International Debut Album, Heilt Nye Vei (New Path), just came out yesterday (April 10th) via Ozella Music.

The singer-songwriter describe her music on the album as: “crosses lines between jazz and singer-songwriter stuff, between rock and folk, but I don’t like to split my interests and passions up. And in scenes like in [sax player Karl] Stavanger, you get to know everyone very well. It’s a more intimate scene, and it’s easy for musicians from different backgrounds to work together.”

THE HIGHEST PASS

thehighestpass.com

The Highest Pass is a full length documentary about a journey to the high mountain region of Ladakh. It is directed by Jon Fitzgerald, and will premiere in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex and in Pasadena at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7, starting April 27, 2012.

The singer from YES, Jon Anderson, wrote two original songs for the film including the title song, “The Highest Pass”, with composer Michael Mollura.
Mollura’s work was influenced by his love of world music and yoga meditation.

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