Here is the video for "Mappando" by WaFlash & Ken Stringfellow, the title track from a 'digital EP' recently released exclusively through iTunes and Napster and some other sites like that, a collaboration between a member of The Posies and a group from Senegal that is immensely popular in their home country but has not had anything released in North America or Europe. Ken seems to have become one of those eclectic international jetsetting rock star types since becoming an auxillary member of R.E.M. in the late 90's, as evidenced by the fact that his latest solo album, last year's Soft Commands, was written and recorded largely in places like Stockholm and Paris, and features multicultural flourishes such as a song with an extended dub section. Or at least, those are the dots I tend to connect when a Western musician whose previous music draws almost exclusively from the anglo pop tradition decides to head to Africa for inspiration. And within that frame, "Mappando" doesn't seem to break the Graceland mold, but it's kind of an interesting fusion nonetheless. Apparently the OS on my laptop is too old for me to be able to buy songs from iTunes, and I don't know if that one song has enticed me enough that I would get the whole EP anyway, but maybe if they manage to release it as a proper CD sometime I'll check it out.

Labels: The Posies, video

This entry was posted on Monday, January 31, 2005 at 10:44 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.