Luganda, Kalimba, and Litungu

J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere - Onile gogoro (1975) [Nigeria]

The independent music landscape has characteristically been a supercontinent for musicians of "difference", historically supporting unique sounds from from Britian and increasingly inclusive of integral bands from such places as Iceland, Canada, and Sweden. If you're lucky, you may be able to hear the Icelandic language in a drunken crooning of Sigur Ros-ian "asy eeaahhh, o". However, African music has somehow remained distant and foreign, classified with a vague "World" tag and piled in undifferentiated stacks as far away from the casual listener as the physical continent itself. Without advocating asimilation to America's corporate pangea, try hiking the following land bridges - each beautifully accesible while still retaining their integrity.

Salif Keita - Ananaming (mp3) [Born in Mali]

Samite - Tunula Eno (mp3) [Born in Uganda, now lives in Ithica NY] (http://www.samite.com)
"I am convinced that we are all moved by the same desires, needs and emotions, regardless of the language in which those feelings are expressed."

It's a large continent to cover in one post and within lies one of the largest problems... refering to Africa as a single entity and denying complexity out of simple ignorance. But if you're interested... here's news on the new Chad-Sudan conflict.

CHECK OUT and support my friend Abby and the Village Health Project's important and action-oriented work in Uganda. Donate here.

My life is a joke EVENT OF THE DAY: Managed to ignorantly portray a homogenous Africa, encourage assimilation by linking to the African songs that sound the most like American pop, and maintain an air of pseudo-pretentiousness. I rule.
Gratitude of the day: My dad's unbelieveably cool (and personally synonymous) musical taste .