This week we’re exploring psych rock and groove, primarily from Africa and South America. We’re especially listening to Zouk, a sound from French Antilles that blends Caribbean, African and North American influence. The word first meant all night dance party on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and that’s what we’re going for this week — albums and songs that can sustain all night dancing.
We begin with En Balaté from pioneering Zouk band Kassav, first from Guadeloupe then relocating Paris. This album came to me by way of a favorite DJ of mine Chloe Calliet, whose rework of the title track is something I end up playing a lot. We move into the Shangaan disco king Penny Penny, an enigmatic breakdancer and producer whose tenacity and drive led led him into a bio fit for Hollywood: “a nearly homeless janitor without formal education gets a record deal, becomes a multi-platinum selling pop star, plays stadiums across Africa, then builds a career as a popular politician for Nelson Mandela's African National Congress party.” The music itself is equally impressive, with its funky blend of traditional sound and American influence (Penny Penny was deeply influenced by Michael Jackson and MC Hammer). Next, we have left field chanteuse Anne Pigalle, a re-imagined, avant garde Edith Piaf. The album ranges from fatalistic piano ballads through a “kitchen sink” sound, a genre-bending journey through traditional and untraditional French sounds. If you’re looking for a sexy, mysterious sound — think Parisian Twin Peaks — start here. This is one of my all time favorite French records. We re-visit Surprise Chef, who was featured in Dinner Music 63, whose sound is best described as “the moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk.” This album walks the walk — funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, groove, R&B. They’re like the smokey underground jazz club version of Khruangbin, a little bit of everything but still with their own unique stamp of a sound. We end with a Kwaito album that “runs the sonic spectrum from slow house music with chanted raps and repeated phrases.” This is an unbelievable South African house music album that hits every single time.
Enjoy.
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The playlist
Monday
En Balaté - Kassav' and Jean-Claude Naimro (1985)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Tuesday
Shaka Bundu - Penny Penny (1994)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Wednesday
Everything Could Be So Perfect - Anne Pigalle (1985)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Thursday
Education and Recreation - Surprise Chef (2022)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Friday
Bafana Bafana - Professor Rhythm (1985)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Pair with
Asparagus Ricotta Pasta With Almonds. An easy, easy Sunday night recipe. I made this last night for a group of six and it was simple and delicious. I added some grilled chicken and a bit of red pepper.
This Italian natural box wine. The closer summer gets, the more I find myself buying box wine. There’s some really great natural ones, like this one from Rosie Giovese. It’s the easiest way to drink as a group and to have a house wine on tap.
A trip to a listening bar. If you’re in Austin, try Equipment Room. If you’re in New York, try Public Records. If you’re in Miami, try Dantes HiFi. If you’re in LA, try Gold Line. I’m sure there are many others, please send me the ones you know and love!
New fiction from Miranda July. ‘But my mind won’t wander! I’ll be totally present all the way there and all the way back. And for the rest of my life I’ll tell people about this cross‑country drive I did when I was forty‑five. That’s when I finally learned to just be myself.’
This great essay about the commodification of the cowboy. “Our nostalgia for the cowboy is for a cowboy who did not exist. And to claim the objects of the West, stripped of their practical function, is to wrap oneself in the fabric of that collective fantasy — about a place where natural resources are boundless, good guys wear white hats, and the skies are not cloudy all day.”
Thank you, thank you. Have a great week.
If you’re in Austin, I’ll be slingin’ vintage at Paperboy this Saturday with Rose who writes Truck Songs, another great newsletter you should subscribe to if you’re interested in the dialectics of country music and the myth of the american west.
Love this substack for discovering music!