TAG: Dan The Automator

Aug31

Hear First Songs From Damon Albarn’s DRC Congo Project (MP3)

The term “world music” has unfashionable in the past decade, but if one person can make it cool again, it’s Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind Blur, Gorillaz and dozens of other exceptionally cool music projects. Last month, Albarn headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo with Dan the Automator, (XL Recordings head) Richard Russell, Actress and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs to record music with Congalese musicians. The project was called DRC Music, and the album, now titled Kinshasha One Two, is intended for release on WARP Records to benefit Oxfam.

Now, you can hear the first results of the excursion to the central African nation with these three tunes posted onto Soundcloud. The tunes are significantly different from the sound found on Albarn’s 2002 album, Mali Music, which found him collaborating with musicians in Mali. This may speak to the changes in sound in style over the past decade, or could be equally attributed to the diverse nature of African music, one that is often loston Western ears.


DRC Music - Kinshasa One Two (see http://drcmusic.org ) by DRC Music

You can pre-order the ful album at the DRC Music website. And check out the full album track list and watch a video clip of the recordings after the jump.

…MORE

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Jul21

Damon Albarn Takes Dan the Automator, Richard Russell, Actress To The Congo For Album

When you have a catalog a large as Damon Albarn’s, a few gems are bound to be missed. Such is usually that case with his 2002 Mali Music, in which Albarn visited the African country to record with local musicians. The album represents one of the most seemless integrations of African and European music we’ve ever heard, and still sits near the top of our list of hidden gems.

A decade later and it appears that Albarn is trying to recapture some of that magic, in a more high-profile way, taking along Western musicians such as Dan the Automator, (XL Recordings head) Richard Russell, Actress and, as we learned at MELT! festival this weekend, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The project, entitled DRC Music, will be a benefit album for Oxfam to be released on Warp Records.

The …

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Aug20

2 Mo’ Gin: Reef The Lost Cauze “OPG Theme”/J-Swift “I’ll Do Mine” (MP3)

Nice Pair 

Last night in Philly, Prince Paul was on the wheels at a shi-shi spot, only 5 bones before 11. Sorta made me sad for us aging heads, the man that DJ’ed for Stetsasonic, brought us De La Soul, tutored 3rd Bass and helped turn the phrase Dan The Automator into something of a household name through the legendary Handsome Boy Modeling School project (has anyone heard from Dan lately?), had been reduced to rocking for a buncha Rittenhouse drunktards and deluded musician types (myself included). I guess money is money, dough.

That self-indulgence aside, I must pass along another couple of joints to check for, the first accompanied by another anecdote that all four of my readers have come to expect and revile. I don’t have satellite radio in the car but my fancy friends do; I consider it a treat …

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