GriffDawg's Choice Nugs: Los Delinqüentes

I moved to San Sebastian, Spain in January of 2012 on the recommendation of my great friends and Vagabrothers, Marko and Alex Ayling.  I moved for the wild adventures, excitement and new experiences.  Hemingway, stories about Spanish culture, bullfights, tapas, warm weather, and flamenco stoked my excitement. 

I took the train from Madrid to San Sebastian on a cold January night.  As our train pulled into the station, the conductor announced that we were arriving in “Donostia.”  I was confused because the next stop should have been San Sebastian.  I looked around wildly and noticed that no one looked as concerned as I did.  In a wave of panic, I ran to an elderly gentleman who was donning a funny little hat and asked,

“Disculpé señor pero, ¿¡¿ Cuándo llegaremos a San Sebastián?!?”

With a quizzical look on his face he replied,

“Pues, hijo, ya estamos en Donosti.”

That moment I realized I was on a different adventure from the one, which I had envisioned. Donostia, or Donosti for short, is the Basque name for San Sebastian. I quickly learned that natives proudly consider themselves Basque and not Spanish. They have culture, language, and history different from the other parts of Spain and they have oft been ostracized.

I love the Basque Country.  It is an amazing place that is as culturally and traditionally rich as it is naturally beautiful.  However, here, Spanish is not cool.   If you come here with a Real Madrid jersey you will probably be called a fascist.  No one listens to flamenco music, bull fighting is frowned upon, and tapas have been renamed “pintxos.”

When Basques allow something Spanish into their little world you know that is radical.[1]  My favorite examples of Spanish imports are; ham from Extremadura, wine from La Rioja[2], and the super radical band Los Delinqüentes from Andalusia.    

Los Delinqüentes, made music worthy of Spanish adventures, life on the streets, farms, and in the plazas of southern Spain.  The band’s members came from humble backgrounds and frequently busked in the Central Jerez Train Station.  Later, they adopted the tick as their symbol due to its association with farm and street life. The music, deeply rooted in flamenco and rock and roll, was crisp and energetic.  Their lyrics highlighted the tomfoolery omnipresent Spanish plazas and in their “tick” lifestyle. 

The band was formed in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz in 1998 by Marcos del Ojo and Miguel Benitez who were both 15 at the time.  Because Los Delinqüentes were always in the street their mentor and guitar teacher, Diego Pozo, gave Marcos and Migue guitar lessons on the front step of the Jerezano Movie Theater.  Later that year, Marcos y Migue incorporated Diego into the mythical band.  After recording their second demo, the band was signed to Virgin Records.

The trio, made three albums before Migue died of a heart attack at the age 21.  Migue had the attack shortly after a series of stints in rehab.  The band has since come out with three more albums and gained a certain amount of international exposure.   What follows are just some of their JAMANDAHALFS!

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[1]The autonomous community of the Basque Country is located the northeastern corner of Spain and is the about the size of Delaware.  The unofficially recognized Basque Country, which includes parts of other Spanish communities and a part of France, is closer in size to New Jersey. 

[2] Basques claim that the part of La Rioja which lies north of the Ebro River as their own.  

Miriam Makeba-Pata Pata

To celebrate what would have been Miriam Makeba's 81st birthday (thanks Google Doodle for the reminder) here is the post we wrote about her eternal jam "Pata Pata" back in the summer of 2011. Make sure you raise one up to Mama Africa at some point today. 

Go to almost any megaclub in the world right now and you're likely to hear the same songs. Take away most of the lyrics other than the chorus and honestly I don't think people would really notice/care. There is nothing behind it, no greater meaning, no higher cause. This is not an attack on getting funky on the dance floor, as I'm known to do, but like my buddy Joey talked about in his great post a while back, the abscene of something more in a lot of modern music is something that belittles it.

It wasn't always like that. Miriam Makeba's great dance track "Pata Pata" is your quintessial dance track. A catchy chorus on top of a danceable beat are the basic ingredients to every club hit out there and this jam is no different. The only difference was the setting. When "Pata Pata" came out, it symbolized something. For black South Africans living in townships, parties and dances were a way to escape Apartheid. Dancing to tracks like this jamandahalf on a crisp Joburg night was a way to forget the toils of day to day life. These parties were often a type of loud but peaceful temporary revolt against a system which in many ways was set up to make life as miserable as possible for millions of people. As long as it makes people happy, I can't criticize someone's musical choices. But it's important to know that not too long ago, dance music meant just a little bit more. 

Click here to download

Miriam Makeba Pata pata

The African Cup of Music

The African Cup of Nations finished about 10 days ago, bringing an end to a lackluster three weeks of footy action. I'm a huge proponent of African football, yet the quality of play displayed on those dusty South African pitches was not what the continent deserved, especially from some of the big names in international football like Yaya Toure, Victor Moses, Didier Drogba, etc.

Among the final four teams was a favorite, the Ghanaian Black Stars, and three underdogs, the Mali Eagles, the Stallions from Burkina Faso, and the Nigerian Super Eagles. In the real-life soccer tourney, Nigeria and Burkina Faso both upset their favored opponents to face each other in the final where a wundergoal by Nigerian Sunday Mba was enough to win it. However my question is, what if instead of 11 athletes, the countries had faced off with 11 songs that defined the last 50-so years of their musical legacies? How would that have played out? You've reached the perfect place to find that answer.

NOTE: I tried my best to have as little personal input in the song choices as possible. As much as I could I picked songs highlighted in the fantastic collection Africa: 50 Years of Music. I also went through some of the wonderful  Putumayo series as well as the Rough Guides to Music and other collections. My selections were limited to what Spotify offers (which is a surprisingly large amount of tunes). I also limited each artist to one song. I one day hope to host the ultimate battle of the bands between all of these artists (with holograms for those who have passed) but that day is not today.

Semifinal 1: Ghana vs Burkina Faso

While Burkina pulled out the shock upset in real life, with the Black Stars once again disappointing their fans by chumping the penalty shootout, this musical match-up is a truly lopsided affair. Burkinabe music is very underexposed, and only features once in the 50 Years Anthology. The Rough Guides and Putumayo barely mention the Sahelian country. Two highlights start off the playlist: "Djon Maya" (a former jamandahalf itself) and "Taximen", yet two studs don't make no footy squad. The other nine songs show promise and some flashes of brilliance, yet the lack of depth hurts the Stallions.

On the other hand, Ghana has had a vibrant and constantly evolving music scene for decades. Highlife music, a fusion of local rhythms mixed with Caribbean flavors, was born from the optimism surrounding Ghanaian independence and produced some legendary musicians such as E.T. Mensah. Highlife later evolved to hiplife and now Ghana is once again making waves on the international music scene with Azonto, a style of music which has already spread to Nigeria and the UK and could quickly be heading to further shores. Azonto revolves around a kaleidoscopic dance that brings in movements from every day life, ranging from calling someone on the phone to brushing your teeth (no joke). Ghana, which also has historical ties to the Rasta movement, keeps the irie vibes going with many well-known homegrown reggae singers. Although the Stallions were, in actuality, able to steal the shine of the Black Stars, in this first semifinal match up, Ghana's combination of historical heavy weights and modern moves make it the clear winner.




Semifinal 2: Nigeria vs Mali

The Malian squad was probably the feel good story of the tourney. While the desert country was in the midst of an icy armed standoff between the shaky government forces and Islamist rebels, Mali surprisingly made its way to the semis, led by former Barcelona midfielder Seydou "Cooler than a Polar Bear's Toenail" Keita. The French/African Union invasion of the rebel held north happened while the tourney was going on and many Malian players revealed shirts with messages of peace after scoring goals, showing their clear understanding of the greater significance of their play. Nigeria was expected to play, well, like Nigeria. Although the team featured stars like Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel, the expectations were that in-fighting and traditional Nigerianness would sink the squad. Nigeria ended up putting on one of the best performances of the tourney in this game, trouncing Mali 4-1 with an impress mix of unstoppable speed and power.

However, the musical battle is a much tighter affair. Mali's rich musical history, stemming from the oral tradition of griots who pass down family history from one generation to another, has today created stars on the world music scene such as Ali Farka Toure, Habib Koite, and Amadou & Mariam. The tradition present in the music is something that's hard to define but easy to hear, so much so that Habib Koite's latest forays into American blues sound sacrilegious  Listening to the dusty classics of greats like Toure, you almost can see the musical lineage work its way through centuries from the griots to across the Atlantic, ending its journey in more modern Jazz and Blues. 

Nigerian music on the other hand is fiercely modern. Afrobeat, the style of music pioneered most famously by Fela Kuti is the Malcolm X to highlife's MLK. Afrobeat both mirrored and influenced the American Soul movement of the 60s and 70s and is sublimely proud while wondering what happened to the promise of independence  Very aware of itself and, above all, very African, Nigerian Afrobeat and funk is undergoing a rediscovery in recent years, spearheaded by a Broadway play based on Fela's life. 

On the pitch, the West African musical titans start their finest 11 each and Mali manages to squeak out the victory with a combination of traditional sounds and modern stars. While the impact of Afrobeat is undeniable, modern Nigerian music fails to live up to the strong musical heritage of the 60s and 70s, a lopsidedness that the Malian greats are able to exploit. 

Championship Match: Ghana vs. Mali

After cruising through the Semifinal, Ghana comes up against a weary but proud Malian squad. Ghana's young guns, the artists at the forefront of the Azonto movement, seem to be the new gatekeepers of a bright musical legacy and are once again putting Ghana on the musical map, gaining unexpected listeners along the way (see: Said the Gramophone). However, although the commercial future for this homegrown movement is bright, the music is more known for its dances than its jams. While this could be perfect in an Instagram/YouTube world, the quality of what's being produced can't compare to the desert ballads of Mali. Mali's musical history is incredibly rich while its future also looks bright. Following the tradition of the griots, Malian music continues to be passed along (sometimes within families themselves such as Ali Farka's oldest son Vieux) with the weight of past grandeur seeming to push younger Malians to excel. While Nigerian and Ghanaian music perhaps better contextualize their young histories as independent nations, it's the timeless, transcendent nature of Malian music that makes it the winner of the Cup of African Music.

In the end we all win. West Africa as a region has a musical heritage that rivals any in the world. Check out the combined songs below, a sampler of 44 songs that give a glimpse into this old yet vibrant tradition.

The Tallest Man on Earth feat. Idiot Wind-Working Title

There are few things that could make me feel better after ONCE AGAIN the Ghanaian men's soccer team lose on penalty kick in a big game.

That one thing is this great unreleased collaboration between The Tallest Man on Earth and Idiot Wind (who is also Swedish!). This collaboration proves that: Swedes speak better English than most Americans do and that these two need to make a collabo album together. A Swedish tv program did a series on the two, but most of it is shots of the Swedish country side during the winter and the two of them speaking in Swedish. This song however is like an aurora borealis: something you see during the coldest nights of winter to make the rest of it worth it. I'm hoping that this (or other) collaborations go on the the next TTMOE album because it's nothing but beautiful music.

The California Honeydrops-Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You (Live)

There are a lot of great things going on with this song. The first is the groove: it's undeniable. A nine-and-a-half minute take on the old Wilson Pickett classic (by the same name), the California Honeydrops (their name-another great thing about this band) infuse the original soul classic with a little more swing, a little more optimism. While the original was almost a plea, this one seems to be more of a suggestion. The band themselves have a great story and the track shows each off each of their individual abilities as well as their combined funkiness. The lead singer is actually Polish, proving that soul is birthplace blind, and the band honed their craft in subway stations throughout Oakland. This live track off of their third album proves that they have come a long way from the damp underground and it's not hard to see why: great name, great sound; soulful music at its finest.

Spotify Link

Youth Lagoon-Dropla

Youth Lagoon's The Year of Hibernation was a coup for bedroom musicians worldwide. Proving that good music doesn't have to be created by the hour, Youth Lagoon's debut was both a contender for the album of the year of 2011 and a possible sign of the wave of the future. It's been almost a year and a half since his debut with nary a peep from the Idahoan but luckily for fans of his chillwave sound and bedroom producers everywhere, he's coming out soon with his sophomore album and is probably celebrating the big news that he'll be playing Coachella in a few months time. Big 2013 for the young man so far, and although I have my doubts that his sound will translate well to the massive tents of Chella, there are few things that sound better through headphones than his almost spartanly minimalistic sound. On his new single "Dropla," YL expands his sound and incorporates effects whose sources seem to range from Bollywood flicks to space travel. A 2013 twist on Peter Pan's "I'll never group up," YL repeats "You'll never die" until it becomes a mantra that guides along a story of betrayal- making this probably the most interesting song I've heard in the last six months. Ending with a drawn out fade-out, "Dropla" is an early standout for a year in music that should be pretty amazing. 

Download Youth Lagoon Dropla

Griffdawg's Choice Nugs: The Offspring-Nitro

This is GriffDawg checking in from the Basque Country-

Discovering new music is one of the raddest things around.  Rediscovering music is just as cool.  I love finding an album that I used to listen to all the time but have not heard in years.  Listening to that music takes me back to a different point in my life.  It helps provide me with perspective.  And, most of the time, I can still sing all the words!

I recently rediscovered the album Smash by the Offspring, which is a classic album from my childhood.  One of the reasons I stopped listening to this album was because The Offspring started making horrible music like “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” and other such horrible songs.  After making such horrible commercial music, I became embarrassed to listen to them.  However, now enough time has passed so that we can listen to Smash, appreciate it for what it is, and not think about how bad of a band the Offspring became.

The album is one that can be listened from front to back.  The band captured an amazing energy and the bottom line is that it fucking rocks.

I have a great idea, listen to Smash, grow your hair long, scream along, rock out, and drink a Budwiser!

Download The Offspring Nitro (Youth Energy)

1Train Spotify Playlist

Proving once again that an earlier-than-usual leak means absolutely nothing, A$AP Rocky's debut album LONG.LIVE.A$AP is already being penned in as the best rap album of the year despite it being only mid-January. He's not the best storyteller, and the album is bereft of any stellar lyrical content, but it does have a bold vision and a unique sound and will likely be one of the most influential albums of the year in terms of the direction that rap is going.

Like Lebron taking his talents to South Beach to play alongside of Wade and Bosh, rappers in 2012-13 also seem to putting aside the beefs that marked the rap landscape in the 90s and early 00s to instead get together every chance they can to make supertracks. It's not long before we see another misfated attempt to recreate the rap supergroup like The Firm, and in some ways we already have with groups like OFWGKTA, Slaughter House, and Black Hippy popping up in recent years. A$AP's DWade moment comes on "1Train" off of his debut, where he brings along some of the hottest names from the last eighteen months to create rap's version of the Dunk Contest, with each rapper both introducing his sound to those who don't know while trying to prove that their mic is the biggest in the room. Check out the Spotify playlist below to get a taste of some of the established names and up-and-comers who dropped off verses for this megatrack (Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.) in order of appearance.

Debruit-Afro Booty Musique

Sometimes when you're blogging, you put absurd pressures on yourself such as, I just posted the first new "Outkast" song in years, what could possibly follow up that firey fuego? The answer is "nothing" so I can either go back into blogging hibernation or drop the funkiest psychedelic bootyshaking jam I've heard in the last year; and that's exactly what I'll do.

"Afro Booty Musique" is a song that somehow sounds a lot longer than 5+ minutes. An interstellar journey between the planets shakewatyomammagaveya and FelaKuti, it juggles being just bizarre enough so that you are intrigued with funky enough so that you listen to it over and over again. Fusing together space-age sound effects with traditional drumming breakdowns, this song is probably like nothing you've ever heard before. On Twitter, the artist calls himself an "afro-beat surrealist" which is incredibly fitting and his creation of afrobeat surrealism is something I'm looking to hear more from, at least on days when I want to take spaceship journeys to one of West Africa's finest musical exports.

Click here to download 

Pink Matter-Frank Ocean feat. Outkast(?)

There can be no clearer sign that JamandaHalf has to spread its wings again than a new song featuring Outkast (or is it Andre 3000 + Big Boi?). Regardless, hearing the two on the same song again is undeniably a treat, especially when it's on one of best jams of 2012, Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter." Like seeing two old friends kick it after not seeing each other for a while, hearing Big Boi play off of Andre's verse is both comfortable and a little awkward, it sounds both familiar and distant. Both are representing themselves, not the mighty Outkast, but appearing on the same song makes them Outkast, right? With Big Boi having released a critically blasted but enjoyable album recently, and Dre sticking to Gillette commercials, the gulf separating the two seems to increasingly grow, a gulf which 3000 addressed on a cameo on TI's "Sorry." A theory that I've had all along is that Andre is no longer making music because of a lack of competition. He reminds us that he's the best rapper alive with a cameo here or there, but as far as new competition to himself or to Outkast as a group, there hasn't been any. However, with the emergence of Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, etc, we are finally seeing artists who have both the creativity and the skills to challenge both Dre and Big Boi, and Outkast, and this rise has also seen an uptick in the number of Dre features. Regardless, I can only pray to the music gods that this trend continues. The JamandaHalf bear finally got his spring sun to wake him up from his hibernation, this time he'll stick around for a while.