Konono N°1

Industrial tribal electric junk funk -- it's a mouthful of marbles. But these are the only words extant that encapsulate the crude, raw, and rock-hard African dance grooves churned out by the 25-year-old Congolese group Konono N°1. In anticipation of this oral awkwardness, I have crafted the following etymological breakdown. The "industrial" and "electric" tell you that the group amplifies traditional Congolese instruments called likembes (thumb pianos) until they sound like staccato flashes of metallic distortion (just like those old industrial bands banging out punk rock with anvils and jackhammers). The "junk" tells you that the group constructed most of its instrumentation from discarded pots, pans, and car parts. The "tribal" tells you that I am using a generic world-music phrase to describe the group's relentlessly hammering rhythms because I am ignorant of the accurate term, "Bazambo trance music." And the "funk" tells you that your ass is going to stink after it's been worked to this collection of dance jams recorded live in 2003.

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More About

• Konono No.1
• World Music
• Punk Rock