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 The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter