Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: Ba Power
Release date: April 24th 2015
Glitterbeat Records
www.glitterbeat.com

Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba’s fourth album Ba Power (and his first for Glitterbeat Records) is a striking, career defining record marked by mesmerizing songs, razor-sharp riffs and full-throttle emotions. Following two years of worldwide touring for the much heralded Jama Ko album, Bassekou’s band, Ngoni Ba, has turned up the volume and dynamics significantly and Bassekou’s masterful ngoni playing has achieved a new level of intensity that can only be called: afro-rock. Distortion and wah wah and propulsive rhythms are now the defining backbone of his songs and the heat lightning vocals of his wife Amy Sacko, more than ever serve as the passionate and perfect foil. This is not the same Ngoni Ba. This is indeed: Ba Power.

When asked what Ba Power means to him, Bassekou told us:
"Ba", in Bambara means "strong" or "great" and it also means "group.” I called the album Ba Power because I think the messages on it are very important and strong, and it is also definitely the album with the toughest sound I've ever made. I want these songs to grab as many people as possible.”

Without question Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba has revolutionized the sound and narrative possibilities of the ngoni, the lute-like instrument that is essential to Mali’s Griot culture. Griots are esteemed musician/storytellers whose lineage stretches back centuries. Bassekou was born into this resonant tradition but his relationship to it has been anything but static. From the beginning of his career, through his invention of a previously unheard repertoire built around the melodies and rhythms of four interlocking (and at times electric) ngonis, Bassekou has demonstrated his respect for the past by radically pulling it into the future. 

Ba Power contains all the swagger, precision and wide-eyed excitement that the title implies. It is the album where Bassekou’s music engages with the world in ways he could have only imagined 10 years before. It is the album where he confirms his status amongst the 21st centuries most relevant musical artists.

I think African music and culture deserve to be spread to the broadest audience possible.
That is what I want to accomplish with Ba Power.
--Bassekou Kouyaté


Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba - Siran Fen

Tycho - Awake (Remixes)
Ghostly International
January 15th, 2016

Purchase now: https://ghostly.lnk.to/tycho

1. Awake (Com Truise Remix)
2. Montana (Christopher Willits Remix)
3. L (Dusty Brown Remix)
4. Dye (Nitemoves Remix)
5. See (Beacon Remix)
6. Apogee (RJD2 Remix)
7. Spectre (Bibio Remix)
8. Plains (Baio Remix)
9. Montana (Few Nolder Remix)

TYCHO. DJ SET. TOUR DATES.
02.10 Denver, CO @ Club Vinyl *
02.11 San Diego, CA @ Bang Bang *
02.12 Tucson, AZ @ Gem & Jam Festival 
02.13 Los Angeles, CA @ Exchange LA * #
02.16 Miami, FL @ Bardot *
02.17 Washington, DC @ Flash *
02.18 Brooklyn, NY @ Output *
02.19 Chicago, IL @ The Mid *
02.20 Detroit, MI @ Populux *
03.04 San Francisco, CA @ 1015 Folsom w/ Nitemoves, Dusty Brown
03.05 San Francisco, CA @ 1015 Folsom w/ Few Nolder, Christopher Willits

* - w/ Nitemoves
# - w/ Autograf

Tycho - Apogee (RJD2 Remix)

Recorded by Guy Staley at Gossard Studios.
Mixed by Andrew Munsey.
Mastered by Rick Fisher at RFI Mastering.

Shaun Lowecki - drums
Carmen Rothwell - bass

Photos by Peter Hilgendorf
Artwork by Sophia Burke

Parkside

alex pinto

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