Kirungi Okwogera (”It’s good to talk”): Ugandan Talk Radio EP

Compiled from hours of radio recordings taken in Kampala, Uganda, I have compiled a short, free 33-track EP for your listening enjoyment. Hopefully it will serve as a compelling, but light-hearted glimpse into a country clouded in infamy and misunderstanding. Morning breakfast radio gags; sports highlights; political and community debate. Radio in the heart of Africa… it just may not sound like it sometimes!

Download HERE

I’m seeking a bit of help in trying to identify the following 4 cassettes. If you are able to discern any information on them, please email me at geoff.hawryluk@gmail.com. Many thanks to all those who have assisted me in the past. Here are 3 tapes from Ethiopia and 1 from Kuwait

From the moment I landed in Addis Ababa until I tracked down all four original casettes of this legendary music, everyone wanted to share the story of Kiros Alemayhu, his life, music and tragic death. His family still lives in Makele, Ethiopia where his daughter continues to play music. This is stylistically different from many other musics of Ethiopia, and my attempts to describe it would be undone upon hearing it anyway, so here are a few songs from one of the earlier Kiros Alemayhu cassettes.

Song 01
Song 02
Song 03
Song 04

as per my other Ethiopian cassettes, any help in translating the album name or providing information about the year it was released, song titles, etc… are greatly appreciated and can be sent to geoff.hawryluk@gmail.com.

I recieved a request to share a Gashaw Adal cassette I picked up in Makele, Ethiopia, so here it is for your enjoyment!

Song 1
Song 2
Song 3
Song 4
Song 5
Song 6
Song 7
Song 8
Song 9
Song 10
Song 11
Song 12

I spent the month of April in Ethiopia this year and was able to bring home a shoe-box full of cassettes from some of my favorite musicians. Ethiopiques offers one of the most comprehensive and expansive collections of Ethiopian music, so my cassette shopping focused more on musicians I enjoyed from the series, or some that were conspicuously excluded, like Kiros Alemayhu, perhaps the most legendary of Tigray singers from Northern Ethiopia. The next few posts will be some cassettes from Ethiopia, from the likes of Kiros Alemayhu, Mahmoud Ahmed, Tilahun Gessesse (who passed away while I was in Addis Ababa, tragically), Gashaw Adal, Tsegaye Eshetu and a few others, as well as some Ugandan FM radio broadcasts.

Here are a few tracks from one of the six Mahmoud Ahmed cassettes I grabbed from National Music Shop in Makele, Northern Ethiopia.

“Silenafekechign Aynamayitu”
“Ere Goraw”
“Tizita”
“Esti eyulign Yachin Loga”

thanks to Jofe for the translation and song-titles! Here’s a bit of info from the email regarding these songs:

“1. “Silenafekechign Aynamayitu” – Silenafekechign=Because I miss her, Aynamayitu=Her, with big bright eyes..

Thanks Jofe!

The incomparable Ton Tay Thein Tan; loved and respected, enigmatic and utterly unique in Burmese popular music of the 80s. A favorite of mine with a wealth of material available throughout the country. Sprawling and epic piano-based ballads featuring jazz ensembles, traditional burmese instruments and patient compositions that flutter about, settling with each subsequent listen.

Song 1 MP3
Song 2 MP3

Here’s yet another cassette from Sumba, Indonesia. Of the dozen or so locally produced cassettes to find anywhere on the island, this was one of the more fascinating- an east-Sumbanese crossover between Indonesian pop, keyboard technology and Sumbanese music. And best of all, the cover art:

dangdut

“Rongu Hili Rongu”
“Umbu Hara Ndappa”

I know this hasn’t been updated in months, but I am about to embark on a venture out to Yemen and Ethiopia, so I am certain to have an array of new recordings to share this spring!

Bachata is as much a latin american staple as salsa, merengue or these days, reggaeton, but I’ve noticed that many people are unaware of the genre, and in some cases have never heard it before. If you frequent latin clubs this is likely of no interest to you, but I wanted to share a couple examples I recorded from FM radio broadcasts in Guatemala earlier this year.

Bachata originated in the Dominican Republic and is a guitar-driven style- It’s instantly recognizable!

MONTERRICO RADIO #1

MIGUELITO – MOCHILA DE AMOR

HONDURAS RADIO #1

Here are 3 MP3s of Malaysian lounge music which I captured on the daily “National Classics” AM radio broadcast in Kuala Lumpur. If anyone has information on Malay lounge music, any names for these songs/artists, please contact me.

SONG 1
SONG 2
SONG 3