Congotronics by Konono N°1

Konono No.1 was founded over 25 years ago by Mingiedi, a virtuoso of the likembé (the traditional instrument sometimes called “sanza” or “thumb piano”, consisting of metal rods attached to a resonator). The band’s line-up includes three electric likembés (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. There’s also a rhythm section which uses traditional as well as makeshift percussion (pans, pots and car parts), three singers, three dancers and a peculiar sound system including megaphones dating from the colonial period, which they call “lance-voix” (‘voice-throwers’). The band's repertoire draws largely on Bazombo trance music, to which they’ve had to incorporate the originally-unwanted distorsions of their sound system.

World music, electronica and avant-rock aficionados have all been equally amazed by this otherworldly music, which has driven the international press to come up with some surprising comparisons (from Can and Krautrock to Jimi Hendrix, Lee Perry and proto-techno!...).

Konono No.1 earned a BBC Award for World Music, prestigious publications ranging from Newsweek, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The Times (UK) enthused about their sound, and they were massively adopted by the alternative rock scene in the US: they played festivals such as Coachella, and the album was quoted among the best records of the year by countless blogzines as well as by artists like Beck, Wilco and… Björk, who ended up inviting them to appear on her "Volta" album, and to perform with her on her 2007 New York shows.

The legendary Congolese band, founded back in the 1960s and masters of electrified likembe, introduced the world to the strange and spectacular electro-traditional mixtures which are being concocted in the suburbs of Kinshasa

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