From his base in Tel Aviv, Gili Yalo is launching a solo career in a new project that combines Ethiopian roots with soul, funk, psychedelic, and jazz music. Yalo, who has collaborated with top music producers Beno Hendler (Balkan Beat Box) and Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam), incorporates sounds from traditional Ethiopian music into a contemporary music production.
The result is an exceptional, rich, vivid melody accompanied by Gili's unique voice with lyrics in both English and Amharic. The music embodies his own personal story, which inspired the rhythm and flow of the whole project. And what a story he has to tell: Operation Moses was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984. These Ethiopian Jews fled from their native land on foot to refugee camps in Sudan. Together with his family, Gili Yalo made this perilous trip, walked through the desert towards the "Promised Land" and sang to his beloved ones.
Gili Yalo - Selam
Gili Yalo's band is made up of five musicians, including guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and trumpet. An entrancing rhythmic motion is apparent when listening to Gili's music, from the groove, beat and flow, and up to the lyrics, concept and style of the project. Today, Yalo's music gives a new meaning to traditional Ethiopian music. The expression of his story through an advanced music production represents his own personal triumph. Gili Yalo's album combines Ethiopian roots music with a modern touch of jazz and soul. Yalo began writing the songs for his album in 2015 coming from a strong desire to express himself and to send out a message to the world: in order to guide yourself forward you have to carry your roots with you and remember where you came from. Through this album, Yalo has managed to connect his personal history to his current life alongside renowned music producer Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam) and many talented local musicians who were brought together for this project.
Yalo reveals a fresh perspective to Ethiopian culture by using his personal musical influences such as James Brown and Mulatu Astatke to blend the sounds of funk and soul with Ethio-jazz music. The album, like Africa itself, is a rich patchwork of color and rhythm. The sound is influenced by '70s blues, soul, and funk music, with Ethiopian music at the core of the project. Also features Keren Dun.
The Ex are an underground band from the Netherlands that formed in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion. Initially known as an anarcho-punk band, they have since released over 20 full-length albums of musical experiments and numerous collaborations blending punk and free jazz with styles of folk music from all over the world.
The Ex - Lale Guma (Aha Begena, አሀ በገና)
The Ex + Fendika - 01 - Lale Guma (4:43) The Ex + Fendika - 02 - Addis Hum (5:25)
Invisible System return with another highly original eclectic fusion album. Following their internationally acclaimed and Songlines World Music Awards Best Newcomer Nominated CD Punt (Made in Ethiopia), Street Clan is named after some graffiti Dan Harper found in Mali, West Africa. It is again not a pure world music album. It covers genres such as rock, dance, drum and bass, dub, reggae, Ethiopian, post-punk, kraut rock, pop, psychedelia and even this time r'n'b and dubstep.
17 tracks take you through a real journey of shockingly original pulsating sounds that tie to Punt but sound more accomplished and distinctive in style. The album was again recorded between Ethiopia, Mali and the UK whilst Dan Harper was aid working, with the mixing finished in country. Many known guests again feature on this album including Portishead's Adrian Utley and Skip McDonald (African Head Charge, The Sugar Hill Gang, Tackhead and Little Axe.
It’s impossible not to admire Dan Harper. Until five years ago, he was an aid worker in Ethiopia, where he not only became fascinated by the country’s remarkable music scene but built his own studio in Addis Ababa and managed to persuade leading local artists to record with him. He also invited producer and bassist Nick Page, also known as Count Dubulah, out to Ethiopia and introduced him to his musical friends; as a result, Page formed his highly successful Ethiopian fusion band Dub Colossus.
Once he returned to England, where he now works as an unconventional music teacher in the West Country, Harper continued work on a fusion project of his own. He persuaded an impressive selection of British musicians to add their contributions to his Ethiopian recordings, and the result was the album Punt, credited to a band Harper called Invisible System. It included a remarkable cast, from the legendary Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed through to punk hero Captain Sensible, guitarist Justin Adams and Count Dubulah; the results veered from African styles to psychedelic rock, trip-hop and dub. Although this was originally something of an obscure DIY release, Harper managed to bring his work to national attention, and won impressive reviews.
Since then, the two Ethiopian fusion experiments have continued. Dub Colossus, now a rousing live band rather than merely a studio project, have a new album of Ethio-jazz and reggae fusions, Addis Through the Looking Glass, while Invisible System have a very different second set, Street Clan.
Once again, the album is based around recordings that Harper made in Africa – this time in Mali as well as Ethiopia – to which he adds his own guitar, bass, synth programming, percussion and production work. Then there are contributions from a new set of Western musicians, including the great American guitarist Skip McDonald, Adrian Utley(Portishead), Stuart Fisher (who has worked with Courtney Love), and members of psychedelic hippie heroes Ozric Tentacles. Then there’s Jamaican singer Dennis Wint, who Harper met in the Somerset town of Frome, where he lives and works.
Street Clan is even more wild, frantic and unexpected than Punt, with sections that work brilliantly and tracks where Ethiopian vocals are surrounded by a blitz of thrash guitar and percussion, results ranging from exhilarating to messy. The best tracks come towards the end, where the emphasis shifts from the clash of African vocals with full-tilt Western guitars, through to more conventional dub reggae. There’s still an African edge to Teenage Lion and Broken Heart, thanks to the vocal work from Zewditu Tadesse; but Wint dominates the songs with an energy and style that makes him sound like an unlikely male answer to early Patti Smith.
There's a huge sea change between Invisible System's debut and this sophomore outing. Where the first was definitely based around Ethiopian music, this is a much more amorphous and adventurous beast. If it needs to be defined, it's a rock -- maybe even post-rock -- album. Ethiopia is still there, and some of the music was recorded in Addis Ababa. But many of the sounds were made in England using a truly staggering range of musicians, and there's a powerful Jamaican influence at work here, too. If you need an analogy, think of the work of Adrian Sherwood, or even some PiL (in fact, "Mutant Miners" sounds like it could be have been smuggled off some fantastical PiL album). This is world music in the sense that it was made by people from different parts of the globe coming together, but its roots are in the here and now rather than in any tradition. It's challenging, adventurous, and heavily textured; the tracks were recorded live and later chopped up and mixed, although you'd never notice the joints. It might prove to be one of the finds of 2011, a real sonic adventure that speaks highly of Dan Harper, the man behind it all.
review by Chris Nickson
01 Tizita (feat. Portishead Adrian Utley, Ethiopiques)4:01 02 Ambassel (feat. Mimi + band (after signed as Dub Colossus also)) 5:25 03 Zedanmer (feat. Eat Static, Ethiopiques) 4:38 04 Bone Flaps (feat. Merv Pepler and Los Mutartis + Ethiopiques) 3:51 05 Backyard (feat. Skip McDonald (On U Sound, LIttle Axe, Sugar Hill Gang), Dennis… 4:47 06 Skunk Funk (feat. The Ullulators) 4:30 07 Opidervtu (feat. Eat Static, Ethiopiques) 4:26 08 Womens Love (feat. Ozric Tentacles, Rythmites, Ethiopiques, Sydney Salmon) 6:15 09 Mutant Miners (feat. Merv Pepler, Los Mutartis, Ethiopiques) 6:08 10 Live Up To Love (feat. Hilaire Chabby (Baba Maal), Dennis Wint, Ethiopiques) 3:15 11 Men Dont Cry (feat. Eat Static, Dennis Wint, Ethiopqiues) 2:46 12 Oumabetty (feat. Jonny / Akrilu (Mamoud Ahmed)) 3:13 13 Teenage Lion (feat. Ryhthmites Flash, Ethiopques,) 6:08 14 Broken Heart (feat. Dennis Wint, Leyikun Ethiopia) 3:33 15 Katabo (feat. Merv Pepler, Dennis Wint) 3:45 16 Naturalisation (feat. Dennis Wint, Joie Hinton) 7:57 17 Rapture (feat. Merv Pepler, Dennis Wint) 3:20
Invisible System actually has two new records out this year, although both of them incorporate already-released material. The group's music is featured on a digital-only album issued by World Music as part of the compilation entitled The Rough Guide to Ethiopian Music. This disc features earlier material; this enables Dan Harper to welcome new listeners to his canny mix of dark dub, metal, Ethiopian pop, and techno stylings.
Traditional-sounding songs, such as "Hode Baba (I'm Worried He's Moving)", rock along nicely, balancing jangling guitars with a rocksteady groove and lamenting vocals. On later tracks, like "Skunk Funk" - taken from their 2011 album, Street Clan, my favorite record of last year - Harper swirls things up a bit with psychedelic wah-wah work, lovely drifty melodies, and a spooky vocal performance from Tewabe Tadesse. This is also a great way to experience tracks from The Cauldron EP, including the disorienting dub spectacular "Azmari Fuze", with vocals from wonderful singer/clubowner Mimi Zenebe.
Invisible System - Gondar Sub
01.Invisible System - Closer To The Edge (3:36) 02.Invisible System - Gondar Sub (4:04) 03.Invisible System - Tizita (4:04) 04.Invisible System - Dark entries (6:12) 05.Invisible System - Skunk funk (4:33) 06.Invisible System - Azmari fuse (6:41) 07.Invisible System - Maljam kehnoelish (If this is what you want) (4:05) 08.Invisible System - Oumabetty (3:15) 09.Invisible System - Hode baba (I'm worried he's moving) (5:58) 10.Invisible System - Mama yey (5:56) 11.Invisible System - Fiten azorkugn (I turned my face away) (5:49)
reviews
The Introducing series has brought some fabulous artists to wider attention. Its latest is a digital- only release of producer and musician Dan Harper's Invisible System. He's a former aid worker who settled in Ethiopia, built a studio and invited some of the country's finest musicians to step inside. He then returned with the tapes to the UK and introduced them to an eclectic range of British musicians.
Introducing comprises four new songs alongside seven from 2009's Punt (nominated for a 2010 Songlines Award), last year's Street Clan, and recent The Cauldron. The line-up includes Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed (whose vocal on the blues 'If This Is What You Want' is glorious), pianist Samuel Yirga and Justin Adams, as well as Dub Colossus vocalists Tsedenia Gebre Markos, Mimi Zenebe and Desta Firka. Two fast, tight new songs, 'Closer to the Edge' and 'Gondar Sub', start it off, while Tizita's powerful vocal is set to a shady, shimmering semi-electronic backdrop, and the new 'Dark Entries' mixes Ethiopian fiddle with a lean chiming guitar. 'Azmari Fuse' sets what sounds like a field recording under a canopy of layered voices, reverb and Ethiopian fiddle. Fusion can be a messy business, but by assiduously mining several deep veins, this is a well-cut gem, bringing flavours of reggae, trip-hop, dub, post-punk and psychedelia to a strong and pungent Éthiopiques core.
Tim Cumming
A note of caution: despite the title, this is not the first offering from this adventurous fusion project, and you could have heard many of the songs before. Introducing… draws from Invisible System's two previous albums, Punt and Street Clan, as well as The Cauldron EP, and adds some good extra material.
Currently a download-only affair, Introducing… will be released on CD in September, as a "bonus" album with the new Rough Guide to Ethiopia. But it's well worth checking out now if you've not heard Invisible System before.
A boldly unusual project, the man behind it all is Dan Harper. A former aid worker in Ethiopia, Harper built his own studio and persuaded several of the country's best musicians to record with him. Back in England, he asked a wide selection of British musicians to contribute, with Harper on guitar, bass, percussion and programming.
Results, for the most part, are impressive, with the African recordings matched against settings that range from dub reggae to trip hop and psychedelic rock.
Though there were sections on the Street Clan album where the Ethiopians were almost lost in the exuberant musical blitz, Harper manages to avoid such problems here: the backing is assured and at times even restrained, though still highly original.
The Ethiopian musicians include the great Mahmoud Ahmed (whose compelling voice can be heard on Maljam Kehnoelish), along with pianist Samuel Yirga and singers Tsedenia Gebre Markos and Mimi Zenebe of Dub Colossus. The British players include Justin Adamsand Ed Wynne.
Introducing… presents considerable variety, with songs like Oumabetty dominated by powerful Ethiopian female vocals, set against a rumbling bassline, while on Skunk Funk the vocals are set against a slinky groove. Gondar Sub finds African singing dissected by slashing, reggae-influenced guitar lines, and there's more reggae on the upbeat Mama Yey, which includes Jamaican-style toasting.
The closer, Fiten Azorkugn, sounds more mainstream and contemporary, though it's dressed up with throbbing bass and percussion. All told, this is impressively original stuff.
Robin Denselow 2012-07-27
It makes perfect sense that World Music Network would put out a second edition of The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia. The first, in 2004, was a near-perfect sampler comprised of classic tracks from the Ethiopiques collections. Volume 2 goes further, showcasing not only Golden Age performers like Mahmoud Ahmed and Orchestra Ethiopia but also several fusions of those old time sounds with other genres, ideas and players from outside Ethiopia. Thus we are treated to sax great Getatchew Mekuria jamming through a new version of that great standard "Musicawi Silt" accompanied by Dutch band The Ex, the funk/hip hop leanings of Bole 2 Harlem, Krar Collective's tart mix of ancient lyre riffs and modern attitude, Tirudel Zenbe's interpretation of traditional rhythms for contemporary dance floors, solo piano brilliance from Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou (who got her start way back in the 1940s) and much more, including a hot bonus disc by Anglo-Ethiopian outfit Invisible System, who mix familiar Ethiopian modes with techno, dub and all manner of sonic experimentation. Wild, wonderful and very highly recommended.
World Music Central Review
The latest of the label's unlabeled updates/Second Editions/Volume 2s of national overviews they did well by the first time (catalogue number: 1286CD) favors 21st-century material whether it's quinquagenarian Dutch punks inviting a septuagenarian saxophonist up from Addis or Tirudel Zenebe's abrasive Ethiopian disco. On some of the 13 tracks, the beats and tonalities first documented by the completist overkill of Buda Musique's Selassie-era Éthiopiques collections are infused with a funkier feel, but the old-school stuff also sounds pretty fresh-my favorite is a contemplative workout on a buzzing lyre called the begena by Zerfu Demissie, one of many artists here better served as a taste on a sampler than an album-length meal. Which in turn is provided by Anglo-Ethiopian Invisible System's bonus disc, a best-of that often surpasses their track on the overview. Start with "Gondar Sub," or "Dark Entries."
Robert Christgau USA
Which roughly translates as "With Invisible System, which like Dub Colossus dub reggae in its 'package' but has a broader spectrum of styles handling, including post-punk and even techno, finally we get another side of Ethiopian music presented."
Dutch review of the Rough Guide
People really began discovering vintage Ethiopian music with the superb Ethiopiques series, which showed just how varied and soulful the scene was in Ethiopia during the 1970s. It's arguable that it's just as vibrant these days, as this excellent compilation shows. There are some international collaborations from Dub Colossus and Invisible System (who are given an entire bonus album with this disc and are well worth hearing, managing to be sonically adventurous, incorporating many elements, including dub, into their sound, without losing the essential Ethio-centric core of the music), but the focus is on the homegrown. There's still soul, from Mahmoud Ahmed, then the strangeness of Krar Collective, who've been garnering widespread praise, and it's easy to understand why. Jazz has long been part of the spectrum and the glorious Samuel Yirga offers plenty here. The overall variety of the disc makes it a joy, an excellent snapshot of a country's music, and an indispensable primer. Add in cult favorites the Ex on one cut and you have a real winner.
Amen Dunes is the project of Damon McMahon, whose mix of folk, psychedelia, and atmospherics has drawn comparisons to Roky Erickson, Syd Barrett, Chris Knox, Suicide, and Royal Trux.
Ethiopian pop is one of the world's strongest vernaculars, mainly because the guitars always sound wonderful and the singing is quite lovely and trembly. A far more astute analysis of one the country's vast archives is available through Buda Music's Ethiopiques, but Ethio Covers 7" by Amen Dunes is a nice entry point. Damon McMahon covers three unknown songs he found on a tape, layering sheened history and musicality with intelligence and depth. It's quite, quite lovely.
Amen Dunes - Ethio Song II
The self description of the Ethio Covers 7″ from the Amen Dunes website is that it is a “downer take on three Ethiopian tracks culled from unnamed tapes.”
Anyone familiar with music from the Ethiopa knows that the pop music exported from the country is a often jubilant music that simmers with heat and high energy vocal arrangements. These traits are not long for this world in the hands of McMahon. He strips most the sun from these tracks and leaves a final product that is more detached than simmering. The three tracks, titled “Ethio Song I,” “Ethio Song II” and “Ethio Song III,” are sweetly meditative songs that do an excellent job of recreating the sweltering setting where McMahon first heard the originals.
The three tracks are foggy yet sensual, with the ambient nature of the songs allowing for empty spaces where the listener can imprint their own feelings into the song (as good ambient songs are known to do).
“Ethio” is all reverb guitars and wobbly vocals, creating an eerie ambiance that is somehow both soothing and unsettling.
“Ethio II” is more muted and restrained, with a haunted organ riff that dances around a skeletal drum beat and some truly warped vocal styling. The three song 7″ is wrapped up with “Ethio III,” which splits the difference between the first two, with slightly more life than “Ethio” but more flesh and bone than “Ehthio II.”
All three tracks allow the listener to fall into a dream like trance and be swept up into the ether created by McMahon. The songs still capture the vibrancy of the original Ethiopian tracks, but are surrounded and engulfed by the sonic textures that McMahon is so deft at creating. The 7″ flies by in a brisk 11 minutes, but the time is well spent and the songs are packed full of life, showing again that the best ideas can really come from the most surprising places, even through the walls of your apartment.
The meeting of the mythical Dutch punk-rock band The Ex and the legendary Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria has given rise to a CD (Terp Records) as well as many performances to enthusiastic audiences in various venues and festivals, among them the concert in Diksmuide.
Most compositions come from the Ehtiopian repertoire. While The Ex do not speak Amharic and Getatchew understands only a few words of English, communication flows between them, in the sensitive way they find musical solutions, the energy they put in and the instant pleasure of playing together.
Getatchew Mekuria (Mekurya) – Biography Gétatchèw Mèkuria is an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist. Mèkuria began his musical studies on traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the messengo, and later moved on to the saxophone and the clarinet. Upon reaching adolescence, he began his career in 1949 as a part of the Municipality Band in Addis Ababa. In 1965 he joined the famous Police Orchestra. He was also one of the first musicians to play an instrumental version of the Ethiopian war chant “Shellela.” With the album Negus of Ethiopian Sax (since re-released as part of the Ethiopiques CD series), Mekuria became known as internationally as one of the most important proponents of Ethio-jazz. He has had a long career working alongside many of the biggest orchestras in the Ethiopian capital. He has also accompanied Alemayehu Eshete, Hirut Beqele and Ayalew Mesfin. He still lives in Addis, and shows up regularly at the Sunset Bar at the Sheraton. In 1974, he became a professor of police orchestras (?) in Addis, where he still lives. The album "Negus of Ethiopian Sax" caught the ears of Dutch avant-garde/punk band The Ex who invited the septuagenarian sax player to perform at their 25th anniversary show in Amsterdam. In turn, Mekuria asked The Ex to be the backup band for his 2006 album, Moa Anbessa. The Ex and Mekuria toured The Netherlands, Belgium and France together in 2006 and 2007.
01. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Muziqawi Silt (5:24)
02. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Ethiopia Hagere (7:01)
03. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Sethed Seketelat (5:05)
04. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Ambassèl (5:06)
05. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Belomy Benna (6:16)
06. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Che Belew Shellela (4:41)
07. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Aynamaye Nesh (5:08)
08. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Aynotche terabu/Shemonmwanaye (8:08)
09. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Eoleyo(6:51)
10. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Aha Begena (6:57)
11. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - Tezalegn Yetentu (11:17)
12. Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Orchestra - (Getatchew Mekuria solo encore) (4:35)
The Ex – Biography
After their start in 1979 The Ex developed over the years into a melting-pot of divergent musical styles: noise, rock, jazz, improvisation, and ethnic music have been interweaved under one unique umbrella: ‘Ex-music’. Discordant, highly rhythmic guitars, the rolling, almost African drumming style, and the furious delivery of the often sarcastic lyrics give the music of The Ex its special character.
So far, in almost 28 years, The Ex played 1,270 concerts all over Europe, Northern America and Africa, and made over 20 CD-albums. Never pigeon-holed into one of pop music’s corny corners, The Ex is continuously in development, and always open for new ideas and collaborations with people of all kinds, people who’s spirit inspires and appeals to the group. The main principle remained; to make music with heart and soul, out of reach of commercial trends or expectations. The consequent independent approach of the group and the manner in which they organize their concerts and release and distribute their records themselves, set a significant example for the alternative music circuit.
New Constellations is an original, all instrumental band from Chicago, IL. Their sound combines East + North African melodies, Afro-Cuban rhythms, psychedelic + ambient textures, and American roots music. Memorable hooks and melodies are balanced with a flair for improvisation. Ideal music for either a party atmosphere, or as chill background music.
Some acts members of New Constellations have previously been or are currently involved with are : Ted Sirota's Heavyweight Dub, Frank Catalano/Jimmy Chamberlin, Joe Pug, The Interiors, Van Ghost, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Rebel Roots.
Original, all instrumental Global Psych music. The New Constellations sound combines Ethiopian + North African melodies, soulful Afro-Cuban rhythms, psychedelic + ambient textures, and American roots music. Memorable hooks and melodies are balanced with a flair for improvisation. Ideal music for either a party atmosphere, or as chill background music
Following in the
tradition ofDr. No'sOxperiment, Oh No delves headfirst into an album
inspired by and sampled from rare 60's and 70's Ethiopian funk, jazz, folk,
soul and psychedelic rock.
He calls itEthiopium. Previous
descriptions used to describe Oh No's adventures into
"never-sampled-before" territory apply - adventurous, exotic, smart, fun, andthrilling.
Even if you've never heard an instrument tuned to the qenet
scale before, even if you're more into ballads than you are tezeta's, Oh No's
transformative effect on his source material will blow you away in its
otherworldy funkiness.
1. Getatchew Mekuria - intro the convoy tour dvd (4:13) 2. Getatchew Mekuria - the ex & getatchew mekuria (7:06) 3. Getatchew Mekuria - the ex & han bennink in ziway, ethiopia (5:47) 4. Getatchew Mekuria - the ex at lincoln center, part 1 (3:55)
