MASENQO

Listen to MASENQO by Mulatu Astatke/The Heliocentrics.


John here, dusting off the cobwebs.

Although spambots will no doubt write my entire digital biography from this information, I picked this track up on a free Strut World Music sampler from Amazon, and eventually bought the album. I like Strut’s curatorial approach (pretty sleeves and deeply researched liner notes), which by some magic process makes listening to vintage AfroLaserDisco an ennobling experience. That said, I was expecting to hear something akin to 2001’s memorable Nigeria 70 compilation (good times, good times), but instead got a mid-60s Ethiopian gentleman (Mulatu Astatke) piano jazzing over a Diesel store soundtrack (The Heliocentrics). What would be kinda boring piecemeal is enlivened by union. Enjoy!


Photo: stars.