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Michael Mountain – Two Big Elephants: when the corrupt politicians fight for power, they are like two big elephants trampling the grass (and as Michael puts it: “we, the grass, keep on suffering”)

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The recording of Michael Mountain’s upcoming album has been shaped by the pandemic in many ways – Michael is in Malawi; drums recorded in Jamaica; backing vocals in Sweden; and here am I in Bristol, UK, adding a guitar track to this energetic little masterpiece.

We plan to release the album later this year, a blend of Reggae, Ska and Singer/Songwriter. If you want to hear Michael’s previous work, have a listen over here: https://michaelmountain.bandcamp.com

At last, I’ve managed to track down the person who filmed this famous original Gasper Nali clip all those years ago! I finally had a phone call with him (a fellow Swede at that): Anders Olsson. In the 70s he was the co-creator of the travelling puppet theatre group Abellis Magiska Teater (Abelli’s Magical Theatre), and in the late 00s he visited Nkhata Bay, Malawi, and managed to get this wonderful clip recorded, including the dug-out canoe and the distant cloud of lake flies and all.  

We didn’t get a chance to talk for very long, but I’m curious to hear his story. He was keen to get in touch with Gasper again after all this time to see where things have gone since   …and I can’t help but wonder if the original capture is still there, and if there might be more video lurking somewhere, past the abrupt cut-off at the 2:59 mark! We’ll let you know 🙂

 22/6 Africa Oyé - Liverpool
22/6 Neuadd Ogwen - Bethesda
23/6 SOLAS Festival - Errol
26/6 The Canteen - Bristol
27/6 - TBA -
28/6 - TBA -
29/6 Glastonbury - Shangri-La
30/6 Glastonbury - The Common

If you’ve wondered why it’s been a bit quiet from us lately, it’s all because of this brand new rock’n’roller demanding a lot of attention! Fear not, we’ll soon get this new member of the crew up to speed, and we’ve got some really exciting announcements in the near future. Stay tuned!

 

ZOONA MALAWI

available Nov 2, 2018

 

 

 

Gasper Nali’s second album, Zoona Malawi (roughly translates to ‘It’s true, Malawi’), is a return to simplicity. While his debut album had a band arrangement of instruments, this time it’s only Gasper.

Recorded on a beach in his hometown of Nkhata Bay, only meters from Lake Malawi, Gasper plays six songs from beginning to end – and that’s it. No additional instruments, no overdubs. Just Gasper’s voice, his huge Babatoni bass guitar and his cow skin kick drum. And that characteristic droning rhythm and hypnotic melodies. And if you listen carefully, the faint sound of the surf in the background. It took three tries to get the recording happening, due to the frequent power cuts in the area and some sporadic end-of-rain-season rain.

Zoona Malawi is released on Nov 2^nd, 2018, by Spare Dog Records (UK) together with Mississippi Records (US) and Sing A Song Fighter (SWE) on vinyl and digital.

Pronunciation: The oo in ‘Zoona’ sounds like in ‘More’ or ‘For’ – not like in Zoom.