Forgive me for loving it when it says ‘Various Artists’ on the cover. It’s so not cool but there’s something intriguing about albums that feature re-workings of favourite producers or artists. The Bob Dylan tribute I’m Not There was a wonderful case in point. Tori Amos singing Smells Like Teen Spirit was not. But anyway, the album in
question is Tradi-mods vs Rockers —a really interesting piece of work. The Congolese music group Konono No 1 are from the derelict bits of Kinshasa who made a name for themselves with their stripped down, bare-bones approach to music (home-built speakers, drums made out of scrap) in their album Congotro-nics. Now the term has come to loosely define music from the Congo.
It’s either interesting or short-sighted but you can’t deny it’s quite a stretch to get indie gurus like Animal Collective and Deerhoof and put them in the studio with hard dance producers like Bass Clef to put electric into the traditional based but progressive sounds of the Congo. Still, the Belgian label Crammed Disc thought it would be a good idea and while certain tracks are challenging it is quite an experience. This may also be because, as Ey3, a Jap-anese musician and DJ on the album says, one of the traditional scrap-made instruments used, the likembe can reach ‘the skull in soil’. Brr. There are funky bits Travel Broadens the Mind, very chilled bits, mind-melting sounds Konono Wa Wa Wa… It’s a two-disc, 26 track compilation so take your time.