KONONO NO. 1 @ Bowery Ballroom – 5/5/07

In the spirit of opening our readers up to new types of music, this week NYC will be hosting one of the stranger stories in popular music, that of Konono No. 1. Part electronic music, part afro-beat Konono No. 1 is a group of Congolese musicians who literally built their soundsystem themselves out of spare parts, trash, and other paraphernalia. As it wasn’t a perfect science, the experiment resulted in the system emitting a huge and intense reverberation throughout their sets. Instead of scrapping the system, they decided to build their sound around it, making it their signature style. The final product is music that somehow toes the line between traditional and cutting edge. Now you will have a chance to get lost in the intensity of the sound Konono No. 1 puts together.

RIYL: Lightning Bolt, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Black Dice