Algerian raï, Congolese soukous, Senegalese mbalax: the music of Africa is as diverse as its people, climate, food – as diverse as, well, Africa. The tie that seems to hold the continent’s music together lies in its ability to hypnotize, to start your legs moving before you realize they’re doing so, to make joy rise up and provoke a sing-along regardless of the fact that you don’t speak a word of Swahili or Bambara. Here are my African favorites of the decade – each of which represents rich memories of celebration and dancing as those were the times that I turned to these oeuvres: daily dance-a-thons rituals with my brother to Mariama by Pape & Cheikh, coasting through the Atlas mountains of Morocco with Tinariwen leading the way… Just a few more hours and we will be turning the page, welcoming a new year, a new decade – I can’t wait to see what the world of musicians have waiting in the wings for us all! Tracks after the jump!

Continue reading...

Photo Credit: Lo Martin

Last Friday, December 18th, the Iggy crew headed out for a second live session at Brooklyn’s Vibromonk Records. Our recording just a few months earlier with Youssou N’Dour at this quirky industrial space was such a blast that we quickly snatched up the chance to return – this time with Brooklyn wunder-band, The Antlers. Here are some behind the scenes snaps of the session with Peter, Darby, and Mike – and, not to worry – videos of the shoot will be up in January!

Continue reading...

I bought a little album called L’Ecole Du Micro D’Argent by IAM just a dozen years ago and since then, French rap has been a staple in my musical diet. I’ve discovered some incredible start-to-finish albums along the way (Taxi OST, Freeman’s L’Palais De Justice, Oxmo Puccino’s L’Amour Est Mort) along with a solid podcast: Yo La La! (although no more new episodes are being produced, you can listen to the entire archive here). I hope these ten tracks serve as a cross-section of what is best about the genre: incredible scratching, great collaborations, Arabic left and right, a diversity of regional slang, and some badass chicks who can really hold their own. Allons-y! All tracks after the jump!

Continue reading...

This holiday season, whether you’re driving over the hill and through the woods or taking a transatlantic aeroplane to get to grandma’s house, the better you pack the smoother your journey will be. The comfort of long travels comes down to one essential piece of luggage: the Carry-On (or, if you’re roadtripping, the one bag you don’t chuck in the trunk). When the wonderful Jee Kim, founder of Peasants and Travelers, sent us the P&T Doctor’s Bag to test drive, I immediately knew that this hard-shelled beauty was born to make my flights to Marseille and Tel Aviv more bearable…

Continue reading...

Any CMJ showcase called Clusterf#ck gets a couple snarky brownie points from me. Throw in a venue (Glasslands in Williamsburg) known for nudging bands like MGMT & Yeasayer into the spotlight and the potential for a effing good night is solid. Oh, did I mention? Brooklyn-based Israeli alt/punk band Pink Noise (think Sonic Youth & PJ Harvey’s lovechild) starts the killer lineup at 9pm…

Continue reading...

You must listen to Flying Lotus. The mastermind beat-making great-nephew of music legend Alice Coltrane, Steven Ellison puts together some very eclectic & modern beats, full of pixel-ish samples that spark a hint of nostalgia for more than a few of us 80’s Nintendo generation kids. I doubt you’ll make it through half of “1983″ without shaking your tail feathers or breakdancing on your kitchen floor…

Continue reading...

Eeek! Fun fun fun video from Canadian electro-folk singer / songwriter Ariane Moffatt! This amazing celebration of wacky caricatures was realized and animated by Baillat Cardell & Fils, another très talented team hailing from Québec. There’s a high-res version of the video at Ariane’s site plus all the regular details: discography, show dates, etc. I must say, she’s got some catchy little jazzy Franco-tunes…

Continue reading...