Well I thought Togo was going to be a complete b*tch to post about, but by the mercy of whatever lord the people in Togo worship, an angel has blessed me with an email containing a few great tracks for me to post. Many thanks to Zappa3000 from So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away. Fortunately I remember enough French from high school to leave him a comment on his site telling him so, but if any of you speak Francais, head over there and tell ’em who sent you. Also many thanks to Matt at Benn Loxo du Taccu, I’ve quoted him for the second track posted. I wish I could have gotten more posts out of the way before those teams were out of the tournement, but I’ve been busy napping and avoiding all the heat. Oh well, I’ll get ’em all at some point, don’t worry.
Afia Mala – Ena. I’m not sure what an “Ena” is, but it sounds pretty. As does the song, it starts off with some pleasant percussive tracks and goes right into Mala’s verse. My favorite part is the chorus, however. I can imagine it being used for some inspiration intro or outro scene in a movie set in Africa. Perhaps Ghost and The Darkness without all the blood and lions. Anybody feel me on this?
Manu Dibango feat. Bella Bellow – Dasiko. This track comes from Benn Loxo du Taccu, an African music blog I stumbled upon while researching this post. The following is Matt Yanchyshyn‘s post regarding Togo:
“Bella Bellow had a great name. She’s also one of Togo’s most famous musical exports. The young Togolese vocalist got her break when, at 23, she travelled to Dakar in ‘66 for a music festival. She got noticed and went on to record a bunch of successful albums. Her beautiful ballad-style brought her success both in Africa and in Europe, including performances at the Olympia in Paris and recordings with Manu Dibango.
Unfortunately Bella Bellow’s career was cut short when she died in a car crash in 1973 at the age of 27. Her music is still popular today and she remains for many the queen of the “chanson togolaiseâ€.
Today’s track features Bellow in collaboration with Manu Dibango. I love the way the wah-wah and typical Dibango rhythmic style blends with her beautiful voice. I can picture this song accompanying the slow motion, flashback portion of a good soul-era gangster movie…”
A few more artists hailing from Togo who I couldn’t track down music for include Jimi Hope and King Mensah.
Click on the flag for more info about Togo’s team.