Blog September 4, 2012
Autotune the World: Another Report from an Alternate Future
For some time now, Chris Kirkley (who runs the must-read Sahel Sounds Blog) has been responsible for bringing some truly amazing music to the ears of the western world. Exploring the musical zones that lie in the jagged interstices between technology, youth, folk culture, and the ever-mutating impact of globalization, the blog (and label) drop music that offers a head-spinning take on the basic possibilities of how music is produced, consumed, and understood.
In a strange way, the music (and website) can have an effect that isn't all too different from the very best science fiction, questioning our own society through the exploration of alternative forms of organization. By depicting a set of technologically mediated cultural products that move and function in in a way that is entirely (or at least mostly) different from what currently holds sway in the west, the blog opens up a realm of radical possibilities and potential futures. and, of course, a kingdom of some truly amazing soundscapes.
Okay- enough of all that. The reason for this is the release of "Autotune the World," a sick new tape of crazy desert-guitar-techno-pop jams. Don't believe that description? You can listen, or download, the tape HERE. Or you can support good music, and order it from Mississippi records.
You can also HEAR more of Chris in our latest show "Nollywood: Nigeria's Mirror," where he discusses the Hausa film music of that nation's Muslim north.
