NGOMA 2: Afro Techno / UK Funky

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:18 pm

it is said that the drum itself was invented in Africa. and as far as i'm concerned, all modern pop and especially dance music have deep roots in the musical traditions of that continent. and it should be no surprise that today amazing techno is coming from there: after all, the 4 on the floor hypnotic groove can be found in the myriad styles of African music from every era, be it high-life, rumba, or the thousands upon thousands of much older regional traditions.

most people were, and still are, confused, skeptical, or straight up dismissive when i talk about African Electronic Dance Music, but history was made in 2008 with Warp Records' release of DJ Mujava's Township Funk in Europe, which i believe is only the beginning of Europeans coming to grips with the awesome power of African Techno.

i have been playing Euro-centric Minimal, Hard Techno, Tech House, Breaks, Electro, etc., for years, but in recent years have increasingly sensed a solipsism, stagnation, and bankrupsy. in 2009 i feel the style loosely termed "UK Funky" is leading the way out of the rut; and it is no coincidence that the most exciting thing happening in European dance music is directly derivative of African and Afro-Caribbean rhythmic structures.

enough talk. switch on the speakers, lower the lights, and put on those dancing shoes...

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DIRECT LISTEN AND SINGLE FILE DOWNLOAD (192k):

http://www.getdarker.com/gotdarker/file ... 899d0e72a3

SEPARATE TRACKS DOWNLOAD (320k):

http://rapidshare.com/files/203599358/d ... GOMA_2.zip

or

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XX6NJBR1

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NGOMA 1: global hiphop and dancehall:
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 768#895768

NGOMA 3: Zulu House / Afro Electro / UK Funky
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 07#1033507

FUSION 1: indigenous dubs
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... ight=ngoma

optimum · Post by **optimum** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:38 pm

Many thanks for this, looks really good!

brockolio · Post by **brockolio** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:37 pm

wow, this looks awesome.

big ups zhao

diss04 · Post by **diss04** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:12 pm

this looks awesome

brockolio · Post by **brockolio** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:31 am

this mix is AWESOME!

way to be Zhao. tossed it up on the blog as well. keep em coming.

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:29 am

bigup!!!

Rob H · Post by **Rob H** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:29 pm

this looks great, cant wait to listen!

powerpill · Post by **powerpill** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:35 pm

very very good

datura · Post by **datura** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:08 pm

Looks intriguing to say the least Zhao, on the download now.

cosmic revenge · Post by **cosmic revenge** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:55 am

downloaded, listened, and loved it

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:59 am

Lazy t/l

skipple · Post by **skipple** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:25 am

yessir just what im after today, bing bang

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:50 am

doomstep wrote:Lazy t/l

mix is too long or my rant is too long? you gon say both aren't you.

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:47 am

Rant is overly 1st year, like others have said, let the music do the talking.

More to the point; wwwaaaaayyyyyy too many of these tunes have come straight off a certain forum, there is one really bad error in the tracklist that anyone whose been paying more than a little bit attention to Funky wouldn't make & overall, despite the amount of tunes here, the selection is really narrow, cheap & sells the music short.

I want to like it, but as it stands I'm not even gonna download it, it could be so much better.

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:46 pm

doomstep wrote:Rant is overly 1st year, like others have said, let the music do the talking.

More to the point; wwwaaaaayyyyyy too many of these tunes have come straight off a certain forum, there is one really bad error in the tracklist that anyone whose been paying more than a little bit attention to Funky wouldn't make & overall, despite the amount of tunes here, the selection is really narrow, cheap & sells the music short.

I want to like it, but as it stands I'm not even gonna download it, it could be so much better.

thanks for the critique... even from someone who has not experienced the thing he is criticizing?

there were hundreds of tunes that i was selecting from -- and these made it simply because they worked the best for this particular mix. where they came from did not even factor in, at all, as a criteria in the process -- only how well they work.

and the "narrowness" of the selection was absolutely intentional: earlier versions of this mix had all kinds of Coupe De Cale, Hiplife, Kuduru, Kwaito, Dubstep, and Minimal Techno tracks on it, but they were edited out -- because i wanted to make this edition, above all else, a solid dance-floor experience.

would like to know what you mean by "cheap", and how exactly this mix "sells the music short". thanks.

and i guess it's a deal breaker if a song title is wrong? and you, someone who clearly knows more about it than i do, are not going to enlighten me with where this "really bad error" is? i looked again and i can't spot it.

so, i'm sorry that you have a problem with this; and please educate me with a much better mix.

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:09 am

Its not a critique of the mix its a critique of (what appear to be) your intentions & your methods. Why should I take the time to D/L & listen if you havn't taken the time in the first place?

Fair play on the 'narrowness' being intentional, I meant it in a slightly more concrete way tho. Sure, you have selected the tunes here based on merit, but, the pool you've selected them from is limited by whats availible for free on the internet.

This is what I mean by selling the music short, you are representing the music thru a filter which has nothing to do with music. It also makes me skeptical of the rest of your work, I liked Vol.1 but this tarnishes it, I can't help but wonder if perhaps because I'm not familiar with the music on that one, same things havn't happened.

zhao wrote:and i guess it's a deal breaker if a song title is wrong

Errors in a T/L are not a dealbreaker, no. Listing 'Reign' as 'Grrrw' because thats what its called on that 'Funky House Affair' bootleg is. Don't even matter if you didn't buy the tune, if you'd been listening to radio you'd know.

A simple error, easily overlooked if the mix didn't come with the baggage, if you hadn't prefaced it the way you did, w/ abstracts & artworks & had just flung it up shit like that wouldn't matter.

Just like posting a mix with leaked tunes wouldn't matter if the person hadn't listed the stolen tunes as [UNRELEASED] in an arse forward way to make it somthing it wasn't. (not aimed @ u zhao, just sayin)

Zhao, don't take shit to heart so bad - sometimes what I consider robust debate others take as rude, but these things need to be talked about. Theres alot goin on here I aint really even touched on.

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:27 am

not going to retype it, just my reply from dissensus:

But, how would you know if other tunes wouldn't have fit better? If you'd bought em....

Sure, you have selected the tunes here based on merit, but, the pool you've selected them from is limited by whats availible for free on the internet.

The way you have presented this work leaves you open to criticism.

i was selecting from hundreds of tunes, a lot of them i had purchased. and it just so happens that the ones i got on the nets worked better. if i had saved them i could output earlier versions of the mix which included much more tunes not from the web to show you. it was actually a decision i made many times over: "this one is less known... but that more well known one works better" --- and for this mix i always went with the one which works better.

but it's partly true: in recent months my free lance work slowed down a bit, as it sometimes happens during the winter months, and i did not have much extra income to spend on music ---- and when it came to making NGOMA2, the tunes i bought earlier just didn't work as well as the material i got from various forums. (and the African ones from Mr. Sloane i've been wanting to use for ever) big fuckin woop. a lot of big djs mix selections are not much deeper than this either.

and based on this one mix, you get up in arms and basically insinuate that as a whole i am a "lazy and shallow internet dj who copies and pastes top downloads":

you are representing the music thru a filter which has nothing to do with music. It also makes me skeptical of the rest of your work, I liked Vol.1 but this tarnishes it, I can't help but wonder if perhaps because I'm not familiar with the music on that one, same things havn't happened.

things like this i do not take lightly. "lazy copy paste internet djs" don't get invited to open for Pan Sonic. or get booked to play Fusion Fest.

i search long and hard and dig deep for the sounds i'm after -- there are tracks on VOL. 1 i bought from my travels; there are tracks from personal connections not commercially available anywhere. and you can be sure that the next volume will be like VOL.1 -- full of diverse selections that will make people scratch their heads.

even with a lot of the tracks coming from the web on this mix (which there is nothing wrong with, as the web, in case you didn't realize, is a BIG fuckin place), the juxtapositions and edits are absolutely unique, and the meticulously sequenced flow speaks for itself. the work i put into it is apparent, and there for all to scrutinize and enjoy.

you have not even heard the thing, and yet jump to conclusions and make broad judgements on my character and integrity as an artist.

no, music is not competitive sports, but when you say things like:

the selection is really narrow, cheap & sells the music short.
... I'm not even gonna download it, it could be so much better.

you better post a better one.

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:50 am

blap!

Adelaide Deep... Worldwide House Music

That Beep (Radioclit Remix) - Architecture In Helsinki
Fashion (Drum Remix) - Guzluv
Mbeki - Andy X
Alone In Africa Pt. One (Arnaud D Deep Mix) - Niko De Luka
Katumbo (Beats Mix) - Abicah Soul
Greenlight - Footsteps
So Good Today (Yoruba Soul Remix) - Ben Westbeech
Passages - Franck Roger
Mirror Dance (Yoruba Soul Mix) - Afefe Iku Ft. Oveous Maximus
Labyrinthe - DJ Gregory
Compromise - N.B. Funky
Seasons - Lil Silva
I Will Hold On (Ndiza Kulinda) - DJ Choc Ft. Mercy Pakela

zhao · Post by **zhao** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:35 am

nice mix. feeling it.

like i said on the other place:

the point you bring up is valid, and lazy ass djs annoy me too -- why i wrote the DOGME 08 list. but don't confuse me with one of them just based on 1 mix (which intentionally uses some big obvious bangers -- Dogme directors make non-Dogme films all the time, and should not have to apologize for them)

in the end, thanks for the input, and thanks for keeping me on my toes. i'll perhaps factor in the source in my selection process in the future. and thanks for heads up on the track name error.

peace.

NGOMA 2: Afro Techno / UK Funky

NGOMA 2: Afro Techno / UK Funky

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