Download Konono No. 1's New 12-Minute Track "Wumbanzanga"

Konono No. 1, the Congolese trance band who shook the music world (and opened for Björk) with their home-tweaked junkyard electronics and delirious grooves, are returning on June 8th with their long-awaited second album Assume Crash Position. We have the first taste, the 12-minute opening track, "Wumbanzanga," whose distorted likembes pick up where 2005's buzzy, fuzzy Congotronics 1 left off, but adds new swirls of color, joy and hypnotic euphoria. Hear them on their summer tour, or their their contribution to the upcoming Herbie Hancock album.

Listen here:

Download Konono No. 1's "Wumbanzanga" (Right click and choose "save as")

May 7-9 - Minehead, UK @ All Tomorrow's Parties Festival
July 9 & 10 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 18 - New York City, NY@ Le Poisson Rouge
July 19 - Chicago, IL@ Millenium Park
July 20 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
July 21 - Pittsburgh, PA @ World Cafe Live
July 22 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
July 23 - Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter