CrammedBlog

Konono No. 1: Congotronics: Pitchfork Review

Great Congotronics review on Pitchfork!

"It is entirely possible that an amplified, slightly distorted likembe creates the most awesome sound on earth. There’s no other sound quite like it, and there’s no other band like Konono No. 1, the assemblage of Bazombo musicians, dancers, and singers from Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) that makes the likembe the center of their sound. It’s something of an accidental update on Bazombo trance music, and it’s thrillingly unique stuff, a torrent of kinetic sound that straddles the line between the traditional and the avant-garde."

... and more:

"Konono No. 1 are the kind of band that remind us that music still possesses vast wells of untapped potential, and that there’s virtually no limit to what can be developed and explored. There’s little precedent for a record like Congotronics, even as the music at its core goes back many generations and predates the discovery of electricity by some time. It’s important to note that these are not pop songs in any sense of the word-- this is traditional trance music with an electric twist, and should be approached as such. That said, 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."

Konono N°1 Reviews

Reviews from The Telegraphm Stylus Magazine, The Wire, The Beat, Dusted, Word, Pitchfork, The Guardian, Les Inrockuptibles, RFI, Le Journal and others are now available at Crammed website.

The album is available through Amazon.com here

CONGOTRONICS: Konono Nº1

Crammed are very excited to release the first volume of Congotronics, a series devoted to the spectacular styles of music which bloom in the suburbs of Kinshasa. These are bands who draw on traditional trance music, to which they’ve incorporated the heavily-distorted sounds generated by DIY amplification of their instruments, making their music a sonic cousin of some extreme forms of experimental rock and electronic dance music.

Congotronics 1 is the long-awaited album by Konono N°1, a band founded in the ‘70s by Mingiedi and featuring three electric likembés (thumb pianos), megaphones, hand-made microphones and percussion built from old car parts.The album was produced and recorded in Kinshasa by one of the best connoisseurs of Congolese music and old car parts, our own Vincent Kenis.

Konono N°1 in the press

KONONO N°1 IN THE PRESS
‘Every so often there comes a record of such unlikeliness, of such overpowering rhythmic intensity and such majestic indifference to global musical trends that you’re knocked sideways. This is one of them.’ Telegraph (UK)