Maga Bo at Turntables on the Hudson - NYC

Turntables on the Hudson
Friday, July 18 at Water Taxi Beach

Maga Bo (Rio de Janeiro/Soot Records)

accompanied by Blanquito Man pon di microphone (Venezuela/King Changó/Rayo Blanco). Cumbia Sobre el Rio feat. Blanquito Man, Control Machete - Celso Piña Y Su Ronda Bogota.

with resident DJs Nickodemus & Mariano + Nappy G & Christiano on percussion.

Starts at 8 and goes to 2ish. Maga Bo set will be from 10 to 12.

#2 Borden Avenue in Long Island City QUEENS - Right on the EAST River. Check Water Taxi Beach for full directions by Water Taxi, car, subway.

Nueva Cumbia Mix by SoundGoods

Nueva Cumbia Mix

01 DJ Negro - Cumbia Rabiosa Feat. Capleton
02 Celso Pina - Cumbia Sobre El Rio
03 El Hijo De La Cumbia - La Mara Tomaza
04 Villa Diamante - Fauna vs. Black Eyed Peas
05 Zurita - Back To The Punk
06 Obama Cumbia
07 El Remolon - Andres Lanredo vs. Madonna
08 Calle 13 - La Cumbia de Los Aburridos
09 DJ Blaqstarr - Shake It To The Ground (Chico Sonido Psych Cumbia Beat)
10 Grupo Kien? - Cumbia Nueva
11 Chancha Via Circuito - Cumbia Malembe
12 The Peronists - Cumbia Check In Ura
13 El Trip Selector - Cumbiancherita
14 Fantasma - Danza Fantasma
15 Sonido Martines - Stone Guacharaca

Here is the link.

Reggie Watts, Zeitgeist, Muto, Science Machine

Mr. Reggie Watts....he probably doesn't even remember me, but I remember him. Nor do I know where he is now....wherever he is, he's doing some cool shit. Part of the "old" school soul funk hip hop crew in Seattle back in the day (Jamabalaya, Sharkskins and alla dem), I met him at a house party where he did his first ever solo performance in the basement for about 10 people. It was killer. Fortunately, he's still doing his thing. The above clip shows him creating a new track on the fly by sampling himself singing and looping all the instruments, singing on top and tweaking FX in realtime.

Below is Zeitghost a sort of (re)mixtape fusing video, music, digital production. Reggie is our host for the ride.



In my digital ambulations on vimeo, I found a couple other jaw-dropping-ly cool animated video clips - see above and below.

Maga Bo - Saye Mbott feat. ALIF

The second (of three) video clips to accompany the upcoming release, "Archipelagoes" on Soot Records. This was filmed in Dakar, Senegal.

Then and now, now and then

What happens when you take advantage of the MTA strike (this was a while ago - notice WINTER colors).
This lovingly manipulated shot is by the one called Steven Miller.

Adriana Pittigliani descansa em paz

Oceans away, I just found out via Wes' blog that Adriana Pittigliani (Pitti), passed away on Sunday. Aside from being a great photographer (she donated her time and energy to help me with some of my first press photos), she was sort of the grand lady of funk behind the scenes. She knew everybody and was always looking to connect people, communicate and help everyone involved in funk grow. She was crazy and fun (she did the bottle dance alongside all the 15 year olds) and had a really positive and excited energy. She invested a lot of time and energy in helping people professionalize their art and get connected with the rest of the Carioca music scene from people just starting out to the old school crew - Mr. Catra, MC Gringo, Diplo, Sany Pitbull, DJ Marlboro and tons of other people (myself included). The photo above was taken at my house during a Sonar Calibrado recording session with Mr. Catra, doing what she did so well - communicating, connecting and facilitating. She will be greatly missed. Adriana descansa em paz.

An Interview with MC Gringo

Another Maga Bo mini-documentary. An interview with MC Gringo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2008.

Jana Winderen

I found Jana Winderen via the description of a field trip to Holystone Forest, Northumberland, England she made with Chris Watson to record woodland ambiences (as well as the ants in the earlier post). A fellow sound recordist, sound artist, performer, radio producer, curator and director, she has some amazing and detailed accounts of other sound gathering missions around the world with text and photos (as well as info on all of her other projects). Field Trips/Sounds.
She writes, "You can listen to hydrophone recording from briksdalsbreen calving uder water here (please note that the MP3 compression destorts the file)." ....a glacier at Briksdalsbreen....There are a number of links to other recordings with hydrophones as well.

To answer your comment, Dave........Well, on the ant recording, they used DolphinEAR Hydrophones (although it wasn't underwater). Here's the site for that mic.

The manufacturer says "DolphinEar/PRO may be buried in earth, or sand, for use as a geophone-type microphone. It is also suitable for direct immersion into many hazardous chemical solutions." Hardcore microphones....yep. In other recordings (available on his site), Chris Watson uses a variety of other mics - parabolic mic, a single point stereo Shure mic, a Sennheiser MKH60 and others.

There is another recording of his, "adult cheetah resting in a baobab tree," is a mystery to me (sorry it's only 128! Big up to Grrrt who gave this to me originally!). I imagine that he found out that the leopard was accustomed to lounge in this certain tree. Ahead of time, he wired up a small mic (such as Countryman B6, which is the size of a matchstick head) with a wireless transmitter attached to the tree and then waited. When the leopard showed up, got comfortable and got into its groove purring, Chris was recording already.....

The Guardian article says, "We listen to a recording from Kenya, of vultures consuming a zebra killed by lions. By tying tiny microphones to the ribs and disguising the cables, Watson takes us right inside the animal. It's a mildly horrifying mix of screaming, pecking, flesh ripping and flies buzzing. "I told some schoolkids that this was the last thing they would hear were they to be eaten alive by vultures. As a joke." He laughs - then reveals how three of them burst into tears."

Chris Watson

"Watson is one of the world's leading recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena, and here he edits his field recordings into a filmic narrative. The unearthly groaning of ice in an Icelandic glacier is a classic example of, in Watson's words, putting a microphone where you can't put your ears."

Holystone Forest, Northumberland, England
Chris Watson & Jana Winderen with Mike Harding. Sounds of an ant nest recorded by Jana. Very nice photos and tech details of recording.
Chris Watson in Iceland, 2007.

A recording from Ouarzazate, Morocco, "The fall had ruptured his spleen. It took the Land Rover nearly seven hours to reach the George lV hotel, they were desperate, but to late... The feast took place and later the musicians played on the very roof where Nickifi had last spoken to the traitor Dris before he was murdered by the daughters of The Magrha. Friday 13th Sept. 1996. Ouarzazate, Morocco."

An Interview with Daniel Haaksman

Another Maga Bo mini-documentary. An interview with Daniel Haaksman from Man Recordings made in Rio de Janeiro, 2008. This is the first (of three) interviews with the "white boy gringos of funk." Guess who the others are.......

Curumin - Japan Pop Show

Veeery nice! Participações do BNegão, Lucas Santtana, Tommy "King of Corn" Guerrero, Marku Ribas, Blackalicious e Lateef the Truth Speaker. Download it here.

Pibes Chorros - "Andrea" - pista vazia.....?!

I had my first experience with digital cumbia on a (very sorry visa changing) trip to Buenos Aires in 2001. I spent most of my time traipsing all over town - to go by foot is cheap, ya know? Plenty of memories of sitting in plazas watching kids play futbol and trying to stay warm (it was august) while wondering how the hell I was gonna get back to Rio....anyway, that's another story all together. I always got curious when a car would pass cranking this super cheesy synthesized cumbia at really high volume - big bass and the characteristic chi-chi-chick sound.
On one of my excursions, I found myself lost in the view from a bridge. Eventually, I looked down and found "Sex, drugs and cumbia" scratched into the railing of the bridge. I decided I had to find out at least a little more about this. I found plenty of house music and electronic music stores, but the cumbia selection was even more cheesy than what I found coming out of the cars. At one of the shops, the guy pulled out the Pibes Chorros CD, Arriba las Manos, shaking his head, saying, "these peopel are very bad." I bought it on the spot. I became completely enamoured with the first track, "Andrea." When I finally got back to Rio, I managed to completely clear the dance floor every time I played this track......anyway, it still sounds great! ;-)

Cumbia Clandestina

Super big up to Soul Cocina for the Cumbia Clandestina mix that I just had the pleasure of listening to. Beautiful.


check it here:

part 1
part 2
part 3

And read the post here. I'm looking forward to checking the tracklist. ;-)

NYC and DC Flyers

Thursday in NYC!
friday in MTL (flyer below) and then,
Saturday the 5th in Washington DC at Eighteenth Street Lounge:

New Maga Bo Mixtape - Os Cacos for Blogariddims

My new mixtape, Os Cacos (as in recolha os cacos, pick up the pieces...) is now up on Blogariddims. Listen to it here.

50 minutes of transnational bass - dubstep grime cumbia hip hop ragga kuduro baile funk dub chaabi soca crunk.

1. Archetype - Innasekt
2. Baile de Almut - Radio Tarifa
3. Freestyle live on radio in houston - Dizee Rascal
4. Punisher (Loefah's SE25 Remix) - DJ Pinch
5. Cheeky Violin Remix - Low Deep
6. Alleyways feat. Neon - Don Fletcher vs. Maga Bo
7. Say More Fire - Aaron Spectre
8. Chab Rassi - Cheikha Remitti
9. 50,000 Watts (Loefah Remix) - Matty G
10. Why Do You Do This? - Klass A
11. Nqayi feat. Teba - Maga Bo
12. Xoyma - Positive Black Soul
13. Xoyma feat. Red Rat - Positive Black Soul
14. Doi Festival (Ghislain Poirier) - Bunji Garlin and JMC Triveni
15. Keeping a Session - Daddy Freddy meets the Rootsman
16. Now Thing - Sly and Lenky
17. Amen break
18. Cumbia Murguera - Chancha VIa Circuito
19. Popotla Sound Machine - Kampion
20. Daleduro feat. Luisao - Carolina Santantonin
21. Don't Guimenin - Ruffman
22. Bloody Potato - DJ Elected
23. We All Go Die Tonite feat. MC Shade - Candie Hank
24. J Adore Whiskey - Candie Hank
25. Applejuice - Krazy Baldhead
26. Princesa 3 - Chancha VIa Circuito
27. Soy el Control - El Hijo de la Cumbia
28. ? - Up, Bustle and Out
29. Kick it Complex - Bassnectar
30. D-Boy Stance - Big Boi/Konkrete
31. Cumvia Slew (Bosquiman vs. Oro11 Remix) - Bosquiman vs. Vampiros
32. Sudaka Invasor - Frikstailers
33. E Dai feat. Speed Freaks - Sonar Calibrado
34. Break - Chancha VIa Circuito
35. Here We Go - Kalil (DJ Eddy)
36. Kriola - Orquestra e Coro
37. Bad Man Pull Up - Crazy Froggy (Hard Slam Riddim)
38. Reggaetron - Pepepe
39. Belselama (Said Qutbs Lawnmower Filastine Remix) - Malorix
40. NYE Riddim - Dub Gabriel
41. Cagnie - Waraba
42. Ben Allou - El Halka and El Twachi
43. Defense (The Soca-Anthem Remix) - Pitbull feat. Machel Montano HD and Lil Jon
44. Tamborzao/Volt Mix
45. Aquecimento Macumba - Electro Jack Juninho Carioca
46. Bonde do Role Remix Riddim - Ghislain Poirier
47. Track 20 - Funk Proibidao Vila Kenedy
48. System Boot - Plug
49. Ya Se Acabo - Pitbull
50. Tchiriri - Costuleta and DJ Znobia
51. Os Marteleiros (Instrumental) - Helder o Rei do Kuduro
52. Leh Jani - Omar Souleyman
53. Alo - Os Vagabundos

Maga Bo North America Tour Dates

March 29, Six Degrees Records Showcase, Opium Garden, Winter Music Conference, Miami, FL
March 31, Beat Research, Enormous Room, Boston, MA
April 1, NuBlu, New York City, NY
April 2, WMFU 91.1 NYC with DJ /rupture 7-8 pm
April 3, Sutra Lounge, New York City, NY
April 4, Baile MTL, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
April 5, Eighteenth Street Lounge, Washington DC
April 8, KEXP 90.3, WoPop with Darek Mazzone
April 8, Nectar, Seattle, WA
April 11, Tormenta Tropical, Tehama 58, San Francisco, CA
April 12, The Walnut Room, Denver, CO

And, here are some flyers......

Maga Bo - Fire feat. Xuman

Here is the first video clip to accompany my upcoming album, Archipelagoes, and 12" vinyl on Soot Records. "Fire feat. Xuman" was filmed and edited in Guediawaye, Dakar, Senegal by Ceptik on an almost non-existent budget with the help and enthusiasm of a bunch of friends (Big up Still crew, Xuman, Omar and Fatou Kande, Edouard Manga, Etienne Senghor and Warustudio!), a super trashed Mercedes and a video camera on loan. Xuman is one third of the heavyweight group Pee Froiss. Stay tuned for 2 more clips coming soon - "Saye Mbott feat. ALIF," filmed in Dakar and "Nqayi feat. Teba," filmed in Cape Town.

Shook Magazine - Addis Ababa

Shook is a new magazine stepping on where Straight No Chaser stepped off headed up by Mr. Jez Smadja. They just released No. 1 Vol. 1. Here's an article of my mine originally written for them grabbed off of their blog.

On his travels to Ethiopia, the cradle of civilisation, Maga Bo delivers the verdict on the latest styles emering from this ancient kingdom and sheds some light on the music industry as the country enters a new millennium. For the full article, check the latest issue of SHOOK. Here's a little extra we couldn't squueze in.

ELECTRONICS MERKATO

Lined by a zinc fence on one side and busy thoroughfare on the other, the electronic recycling and repair market in the Merkato area of Addis Ababa commands the entire sidewalk for 2 blocks. Freelance, self-taught electronics repairmen salvage all manner of appliances from telephones and flashlights to cassette and DVD players. Squatting down in front of a sea of chopped up circuit boards, wires, random electronic components, and gads of dissected radios and televisions, a man presses a radio to one ear in a feeble attempt to block out the noise all around and makes an adjustment with a screwdriver. Next to him, a shelf unit comprised of a stack of skeletons of television sets bursts with excess electronic pieces. He even sells jewelry - several necklaces with cassette capstan cogs as beads are on display. His neighbor deals exclusively in speakers - mix and match to taste. Another strictly deals with video equipment. Chat leaves are scattered all over the pavement and amongst the electronics. I am offered tea. A man says hello and shakes my hand. "This side very cheap, not like over there." He motions to the row of electronic appliance stores which line the opposite side of the road extending in both directions. "Very good workers here." And resourceful, too. Rummaging through the electronic component scrap heap, he finds what he's looking for, quickly unscrews the back of the radio, jacks into the pirate electrical lead that the whole row of workers share with his soldering iron and proceeds to bring the radio back to life.

Prakash Poudel

Just got a commentary from Lapax, who wrote in to clarify the mysterious Nepalese cry style tune (based on a Papa San track called "Maddy Maddy Cry" (thanks to Vamanos for that clarification)) that I posted some months ago:

"It's actually a comedy/parody song by a nepali singer - prakash poudel.

It's about a teenager telling his mom that he can't live without this girl that he likes and she's the only one he can live with..

Not sure if the beats and the music is based on some other song, but there you go.."

Cape of Good Dope; An Interview with Fletcher aka DJ Dope

I was recently in Cape Town, on my way home from Ethiopia, and stopped in to hook up with my good friends from African Dope Records, play a couple gigs and shoot a video with Teba for my upcoming full length album, Archipelagoes, on Soot Records.

Once again, I had the pleasure to stay at my man Fletcher's house in Bo Kaap. It was a short stay that left me wishing I had more time there (as usual), full of tons and tons of music and tech talk, good food, and outings in the city and mountains. Here is another mini-documentary/interview in my slowly (but surely) growing series. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for Fletcher's video/music production work in the coming future.....