Ernie's African Odyssey Pt. 2 - Angola

After kicking our Grand Tour off in Algeria last week we got in the van, hit the Trans-Saharan Highway heading south, and roughly 5000 miles and a couple of ferry crossings later rocked up in Angola. 

Not surprisingly, we are now a bit knackered. So it would have been very easy just to play five tracks from 'Angola Saudade 60-70', a magnificent 4 CD box set I picked up in Aviero in Portugal a few years back. I believe George knows the record shop. 

But that is not in the spirit of this particular adventure so you are only getting two, starting off with a classic garage band racket courtesy of Noombe Jazz. I think I may have featured this before but you can't have too much of a good thing. Dig that screaming!

The Dikanza Do Prenda merengue tune that follows leads nicely into the Irmãos Almeida (Almeida Brothers) track. The brothers Moniz and Beto de Almeida originally had solo careers but teamed up in the mid 1990s and achieved much greater success. Beto sadly died ten years ago but Moniz is still going as far as I can tell.

Kuduro is an Angolan dance music that became very popular in the 2000s and early 2010s catching on throughout the Lusophone world. There was even a film made about the scene and a few hip types like M.I.A jumped on the bandwagon. It is not really my cup of kissângua but I felt I should include an example as it is possibly Angola's only notable musical export. So that's where Queima Bilha fits in.

We finish up with some MAR (Mandatory African Reggae) courtesy of Pitshú, an Angolan singer now living and working in Brazil. This is from his 2013 album 'Pitsh​ú​: 2', available on Bandcamp for a mere $7. It's a bargain.

"Sheike Adeus Azevedo" - Noombe Jazz

"Merengue Catembe" - Dikanza Do Prenda

"Katumbo" - Irmãos Almeida

"Kwanzas" - Quiema Bilha

"Pastore" - Pitshú

Next week we'll be in Benin. See you there.