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- Summary: The first installment of a series of "Congotronics" releases features seven tracks by 30-year old Kinshasa-based band Konono No. 1, whose unconventional, homemade amplification brings an almost experimental edge to traditional African trance music.
- Record Label: Crammed Discs
- Genre(s): World
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 11
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Mixed: 0 out of 11
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Negative: 0 out of 11
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Part traditional, part African rhumba, part smart avant-garde electronica, Congotronics is the sound of an urban junkyard band simultaneously weaving the past and the future into one amazingly coherent structure, and not only that, you can dance to it.
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Almost classically psychedelic at times, with the overdriven saturation of too much light, motion and volume applied to every aspect of the music, this ensemble... represents the best of gritty, pre-funk groove music, Day-Glo popcorn cooking in gasoline, rattling like a machine gun.
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Truly remarkable... Fans of Fela and the Ethiopiques discs will dig this, as will fans of the Notwist, Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin.
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This could be one of the unexpected successes of the year. Play it very loud.
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MojoStick on the nine minutes of opener Lufuala Ndonga, turn the bottom end up and stand back. What happens next is unbelievable. [May 2005, p.98]
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At once ancient and modern.
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It's among the most fascinating music I've heard and deserves a listen by anyone with even the remotest interest in the possibilities of sound.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 2
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Mixed: 0 out of 2
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Negative: 0 out of 2
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MD.Nov 18, 2007
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larrylApr 12, 2006
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