Konono No. 1 Assume Crash Position (Crammed)
3/5
By: Liane Escorza
Let’s talk about trance made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “What?” I hear you say. Well, yes, come to think of it, tribal sounds are pretty much what trance aims at conquering in an electronic, Westernised form. Isn’t that so?
Take, however, a street band from this African area, armed with scrap metal drums, homemade speakers built with magnets salvaged from car radios, more scrap vehicles parts, electric likembé thumb pianos and a 70-something-year-old leader, Mingiedi, and you will get Assume Crash Position, the latest album by Konono no.1 – a tasty stew of both modernity and tradition. And, in its own way, a trance record.
This form of ‘Congotronics’ (as their debut album was titled) will make you twitch, bounce, fret, contort and spring like no other polyrhythmic sound has ever done. It contains a spirit of infinite joy, organic pulses and fuzzy distortion that make this work spectacular. But it’s also the choppy percussion, electric twists and clinging noise that make Assume Crash Position so addictive and contagious.
Without their indefatigable spirit, their pile of junk wouldn’t be at all this useful, and in turn, utterly powerful and astonishing.
Artists in this article: Konono No. 1
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