Konono No1 - Assume Crash Position

Okay! If you are into angry white dark electronic music from the US or EU you might want to stay away from this band. If you are into sounds from other cultures you might find this interesting because this is Industrial from Africa! This album is already two years old, but i think it is important to check out new and interesting developments, so a late review.

The genre is called Congotronics, and it basically consists of a bunch of bands hailing from Kinshasa in Congo. Konono No1 is the best known, but there are also others active like Kasai Allstars and Masanka Sankayi. What happened in the dark jungles of Central Africa?

Well, in the 60's people migrated from the jungles of Congo to the big city and capital Kinshasa. These people brought their own tribal music with them, but were faced with a problem because their instruments couldn't cope with the hard sounds and noise from a big third world city. They needed amplification and being poor but inventive they made percussion of car parts, build their own microphones and amplifiers and invented the electric Likembe (a traditional instrument from those regions). Essentially they did the same what Einsturzende Neubauten did when forced to sell their drumkit to buy drugs. The result was a form of tribal african music which got a gritty noisy edge because of all the makeshift amplification and the metal percussion.

African music is always very upbeat and happy so don't expect dark stuff here. Despite using a largely industrial like soundbase the music is merry, very rhytmnic and groovy, and filled with tribal singing. "Assume Crash Position" is already Konono No1's third album and is somewhat better produced then the first two. As with all their albums this one is recorded live in Kinshasa, which gives it a raw unpolished quality.

This band has been around for 40 years now, and bandleader Mingiedi (now in his 70's) is already training his grandson into the secrets of the electric Likembi. What is funny about some music from Africa is that bands go from farther to son, and with music this good i hope they stay on the scene for as long as Morrocan's "The Master Musicians of Jajouka" of which legend tells that this band is around for 1300 years now.

Very progressive music fans not afraid to be exposed to very different and alien cultures might find this CD very interesting. This is miles away from what we think is industrial, but i think its very interesting to hear what another culture does with instruments not unlike those of Einsturzende Neubauten and SPK. Dec 22 2012