{{Infobox album| | name = Congotronics | type = [[Album]] | artist = [[Konono Nº1]] | cover = Konono No.1-Congotronics-Album Cover.jpg | alt = | released = 2004 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = | length = 50:58 | label = [[Crammed Discs]]<br />[[Ache Records]] <small>(vinyl)</small> | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }}
'''''Congotronics''''' is the official debut album by [[Konono Nº1]]. It was released in 2004.<ref name="Forced Exposure">{{cite web | title= Konono No. 1 | url= http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/konono.no.1.html | work= [[Forced Exposure]] | accessdate= 1 May 2009 }}</ref> by [[Crammed Discs]]. It has won the band massive favour in the dance and alternative rock scenes as well as in world music circles and in the North American and European media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crammed.be/index.php?id=45&art_id=77 |title=Sounds & Visuals etc.: CRAMMED DISCS |publisher=Crammed.be |date= |accessdate=2012-02-10}}</ref>
Konono Nº1's ''Congotronics'' was also released on vinyl by Canadian label Ache Records, who issued three vinyl pressings of the album: the first included 546 on black and 548 on dark green; the next two were each 1,000 copies on black vinyl.<ref name="ACHE021">{{cite web | title= Congotronics LP | url= http://acherecords.com/releases.php?release=21 | work= AcheRecords.com | accessdate= 1 May 2009 | url-status= dead | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080518184225/http://www.acherecords.com/releases.php?release=21 | archivedate= 18 May 2008 }}</ref>
''Congotronics'' will now also be released on vinyl as part of Crammed Discs Congotronics Vinyl Box Set, a limited-edition box containing 5 albums from the [[Congotronics Series]] as well as assorted bonuses.
== Reception == {{Album ratings | MC = 87/100<ref name="metacritic"/> | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r793004|pure_url=yes}}|title=Congotronics: Overview|author=Leggett, Steve|work=AllMusic|accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[Robert Christgau|Christgau’s Consumer Guide]]'' | rev2score = {{Rating-Christgau|hm2}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Konono+No.+1|title=Konono No 1|website=[[Robert Christgau]]|last=Christgau|first=Robert|access-date=April 27, 2025}}</ref> | rev3 = ''[[The Guardian]]'' | rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/mar/04/popandrock.shopping3|title=Konono No 1, Congotronics|website=[[The Guardian]]|last=Denselow|first=Robin|date=4 March 2005|access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref> | rev4 = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' | rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>Stick on the nine minutes of opener Lufuala Ndonga, turn the bottom end up and stand back. What happens next is unbelievable. [May 2005, p.98]</ref> | rev5 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' | rev5score = 7.9/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4596-congotronics/|title=Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Konono N°1: Congotronics|work=Pitchfork|author=Tangari, Joe|date=March 16, 2005|accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref> | rev6 = ''[[PopMatters]]'' | rev6score = 8/10<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/konono_no_1_congotronics-2495674752.html|title=Konono No. 1: Congotronics|website=[[PopMatters]]|last=Kramer|first=Michael J.|date=27 January 2006|access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref> | rev7 = ''[[Stylus Magazine|Stylus]]'' | rev7Score = B+<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2771|work=Stylus Magazine|title=Konono No. 1 - Congotronics - Review - Stylus Magazine|author=Powell, Mike|date=February 23, 2005|accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref> | rev8 = ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]'' | rev8score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/konono-no1-congotronics|title=Konono No.1 - Congotronics|website=[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]|last=Writer|first=Guest|access-date=April 27, 2025}}</ref> | rev9 = ''[[Tom Hull (critic)|Tom Hull]]'' | rev9score = A−<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tomhull.com/ocston/nm/get_gl.php?n=Konono+No.+1|title=Grade List: Konono No. 1|website=[[Tom Hull (critic)|Tom Hull – on the Web]]|last=Hull|first=Tom|access-date=April 27, 2025}}</ref> }}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot--> Initial critical response to ''Congotronics'' was positive. At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a [[Standard score|normalized]] rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an [[weighted mean|average]] score of 87, based on 11 reviews.<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web | url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/kononono1/congotronics | title=Congotronics reviews at Metacritic.com | work=[[Metacritic]] | publisher=CNET Networks, Inc | accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref>
The album placed 31st in [[webzine]] [[Pitchfork Media]]'s staff list, "Top 50 Albums of 2005,"<ref name="Pitchfork Staff Lists: Top 50 Albums of 2005">{{cite web | title= Pitchfork Staff Lists: Top 50 Albums of 2005 | url= http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6222-top-50-albums-of-2005/2/ | work= Pitchfork | accessdate= 6 June 2010}}</ref> and in August 2009, "Paradiso" was named the 386th track in their staff list, "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s".<ref name="Pitchfork Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201">{{cite web | title= Pitchfork Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201 | url= http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/3/ | work= Pitchfork | accessdate= 17 August 2009 }}</ref>
== Track listing == {{Track listing | title1 = Lufuala Ndonga | length1 = 9:27 | title2 = Masikulu | length2 = 8:01 | title3 = Kule Kule | length3 = 4:33 | title4 = Ungudi Wele Wele | length4 = 8:27 | title5 = Paradiso | length5 = 7:04 | title6 = Kule Kule Reprise | length6 = 3:04 | title7 = Mama Liza | length7 = 10:22 }}
==Congotronics series== Konono Nº1's ''Congotronics'' was the first volume in the eponymously titled, ongoing Congotronics series of albums devoted to electrified traditional music from the Congo, curated and produced by [[Vincent Kenis]] for the Crammed Discs label. Volume 2 of the Congotronics Series is the multi-artist ''Buzz'n'Rumble In The Urb'n'Jungle'' album (released on CD and video), volume 3 is ''In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic'' by the [[Kasai Allstars]] collective, and Konono Nº1's 2010 album ''Assume Crash Position''.
To date, the ''Congotronics'' series has featured music by bands such as Kasai Allstars, Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Congo, Masanka Sankayi and Basokin. These bands play what is referred to in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]] as ''tradi-moderne'' music, and comprise musicians who left the bush in order to settle in [[Kinshasa]], the capital of the [[Democratic Republic Of The Congo]].
In order to continue to fulfill their social role (they play at weddings, funerals and social gatherings) and make themselves heard by their fellow citizens despite the high level of urban noise, they had to resort to a makeshift electrification of their instruments, which provoked a radical mutation of their sound. The much-commented similarities between this music and some forms of avant-rock or electronica is purely fortuitous, since these bands draw exclusively on traditional trance music and have been totally unaware of current Western trends so far.
===Bands featured=== * '''Konono N°1''' is the band which first introduced electrified traditional Congolese music to broader audiences in North America and Europe. The band was founded in the 1960s by Mingiedi Mawangu, a virtuoso of the [[likembé]] (a traditional instrument sometimes called "sanza", [[kalimba]], [[mbira]] or "[[thumb piano]]", consisting of metal rods attached to a resonator). The band's line-up includes three electric likembés (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. * '''Kasai Allstars''': A province the size of France situated in the center of Congo, Kasai is well known for its diamond fields and vivid musical traditions. This collective of artists incorporates members from four different Kasaian bands, including Basokin and Masanka Sankayi, and personalities as diverse as singer Muambuyi (from West Kasai), and singer/dancer/slit drum player Tandjolo (from the Tetela region, which links Kasai to the Equator province). * '''Masanka Sankayi''': dancers, singers and story-tellers Muyamba Nyunyi and Kabongo from East Kasai have been together since the 1970s. Muyamba the preacher is also an excellent bass likembe player. Unlike Konono's, his instrument is a 20" square box featuring half a likembe on each side and on which he sits in a foetus-like position. * '''Sobanza Mimanisa''' (orchestra of light) are the resident band in Nganda Boboto, in the Selembao district. They perform with a limited range of instruments: a bell, a whistle, makeshift percussion, a guitar - whose 'power chord' style is very unusual in Kinshasa - and a likembe playing the bass and solo parts at the same time. Sobanza Mimanisa comes from the Bacongo province. * '''Kisanzi Congo's''' line-up is similar to Konono's, and they also come from the Bacongo province (specifically the Mbeko region). But whereas Konono's electric likembes use raw power to carry their message, Kisanzi Congo rely more on virtuosity and adopt a freer form. * '''Basokin''' (the Basongye from Kinshasa) are from the Songye region, at the Eastern fringe of Kasai. Their frontman Mputu Ebondo 'Mi Amor' is a well-known spokesman for the Songye and Kasaian community. * '''Bolia We Ndenge''' come from the Lake Mai Ndombe. They're remarkable by their central use of the accordion, an instrument which had become very popular in Congo until it was supplanted by the guitar in the '50s.
===Releases===
* ''Congotronics 1'' by Konono N°1 (2004) * ''Congotronics 2 - Buzz'n'Rumble In The Urb'n'Jungle'', a multi-artist album comprising a CD and a DVD, and featuring original material by Konono N°1, Basokin, Masanka Sankayi, Kasai Allstars, Bolia We Ndenge, Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Congo and Tulu (2005) * ''Live At Couleur Café'' by Konono N°1 (2007; this album was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]]) * ''In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic'' by Kasai Allstars(2008) * ''Assume Crash Position'' by Konono N°1 (2010) * The album ''Très Très Fort'' by [[Staff Benda Bilili]] is considered as closely related but not strictly part of the ''Congotronics'' series. * ''The Congotronics Vinyl Box Set'' (2010): in April 2010, Crammed Discs have released a limited edition box set, containing vinyl versions of all the albums listed above (except Konono N°1's ''Live At Couleur Café'', but including the [[Staff Benda Bilili]] album and Konono N°1's ''Assume Crash Position''), plus assorted bonuses including a 7" single featuring a collaboration between Kasai Allstars and US indie-folk-rock band [[Akron/Family]], as well as videos and mp3s. * ''Congotronics 5 - Beware the Fetish'' by Kasai Allstars (2014)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.crammed.be/index.php?id=37&rel_id=124 The band's pages on the site of their label] Crammed Discs * [http://www.congotronics.com The Congotronics mini-page]
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[[Category:Konono Nº1 albums]] [[Category:Crammed Discs albums]] [[Category:2004 albums]]