burkinaelectric1

Burkina Electric - new album, tour dates, NYC on Saturday

Burkina Electric

Burkina Electric is the first electronica band from Burkina Faso, in the deep interior of West Africa. With its main base in the music scene of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, it is, at the same time, an international band, with members living in New York, U.S.A. and Düsseldorf, Germany, as well as in Ouaga. In Burkina Electric’s music, the traditions and rhythms of Burkina Faso meet and mingle with contemporary electronic dance culture, making it a trailblazer in electronic world music. Before starting Burkina Electric in 2004, band members Maï Lingani, Wende K. Blass, Pyrolator, and Lukas Ligeti had become close friends as members of Beta Foly, a group that emerged from a workshop led by Lukas and Pyrolator in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which, among other experiments, created some of the earliest fusions of techno/trip-hop with African traditional music.

Saturday’s Mondo Mundo Festival show at Hiro Ballroom (tickets) also serves as the CD release party for Burkina Electric‘s debut LP, Paspanga, which is coming out February 9th on Cantaloupe Music. Chris Weingarten describes the album as “West African ebullience, timeless electronic brainbugs, tireless experimentation, no hipster pandering”. I’m listening to it on repeat as I type this. The group combines composer-percussionist Lukas Ligeti, vocalist Maï Lingani, guitarist Wende K. Blass, VJ/sound artist Pyrolator, and dancers Vicky and Zoko Zoko.

Listen to some songs on MySpace. All dates below…

Burkina Electric – 2010 tour Dates
Jan 09 Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel New York, New York $
Feb 06 Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin *
Feb 17 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, Illinois
Feb 19 Newman Center, University of Denver Denver, Colorado &
Feb 23 Grand Théâtre de Verviers, Festival Pays de Danses Verviers, Belgium #
Feb 26 Ludwig-Forum, Schrittmacher Festival Aachen, Germany #
Feb 27 Ludwig-Forum, Schrittmacher Festival Aachen, Germany #
$ Mondo Mundo Festival
* Shared concert with Present Music
& Mile High Voltage Festival
# Itutu -Burkina Electric w/Armitage Gone! Dance