The Congolese seven-piece band Mbonwana Star releases its debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, next week, with vinyl to follow on June 9. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full all this week via Vice's music site Noisey. The group stiches "together bombastic African rhythms with lithe guitars and sinuous basslines to make your body bang," says Noisey. "Mbonwana Star's debut album, From Kinshasa, features a breadth of textures and moods," the site continues. "Its strength lies in its dynamic eclecticism, a gleeful mish-mash of genres ... It's time to press play and immerse yourself in another world."
The Congolese seven-piece band Mbonwana Star releases its debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, next week via World Circuit, distributed in North America by Nonesuch Records, with vinyl to follow on June 9. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full all this week via Vice's music site Noisey. Along with Parisian producer Doctor L, the band has created a sound that embodies the “smashed-together” nature of the surroundings from which it was born—fusing traditional Congolese rhythms with European post-punk bass and busted electronics from recycled and reconstructed instruments miked and distorted in unexpected ways.
"Meet Mbongwana Star: the Congolese septet who stitch together bombastic African rhythms with lithe guitars and sinuous basslines to make your body bang," says Noisey's Kim Taylor Bennett. "Mbonwana Star's debut album, From Kinshasa, features a breadth of textures and moods," Bennett continues. "Its strength lies in its dynamic eclecticism, a gleeful mish-mash of genres ... It's time to press play and immerse yourself in another world."
Read more and listen to the complete album, streaming now at noisey.vice.com.
To pre-order From Kinshasa in North America and download the album tracks "Malukayi (feat. Konono No.1)" and "Shégué" at checkout, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders also include a download of the complete album available starting on release day.
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