Member Since: 9/12/2006
Band Website: crammed.be/konono
Band Members: Listen to Konono N°1 and Bjork's New York show: just click here
Konono and Björk, during the recording sessions for her new album.
Get Konono's brand-new "LIVE AT COULEUR CAFE" CD
8 tracks / 56 minutes of steaming performance recorded at the Couleur Café Festival
Here's a link to the "Lufuala Ndonga" music video (off the Congotronics album):
To get Konono's "Congotronics" album:
buy the CD:or download it from
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Influences: A dialogue with Konono N°1 founder Mawangu Mingiedi:
When did you start Konono N°1?
1965/1966 in Kinshasa.
When did you move to Kinshasa?
I was born in Angola in 1933 and moved to Kinshasa in 1949.
Have you always been a musician or did you have another job when you first moved to Kinshasa?
I was a taxi driver before i became a full time musician.
Are you married? Do you have children? How many?
I have about 20 children, and all the women left me when i did not have any money anymore (big laugh).
How long have you been playing the likembe?
I've always played the likembe, ever since i was a child in the 30s. At the time, they were made from the stems of palm leaves.
Why did you decide to build amplifiers for your instruments?
It's god the creator who inspired me to amplify the likembes.
What are the amplifiers made from?
I started with low frequency radios (6 volts) and i moved on to low frequency radios from cars (12 volts).
Sounds Like: According to the Western press ?
"Somewhere between the motorik Kraut-rock repetition of prime Can, a Brazilian carnival and pre-historic acid house (The Word, UK).
"A blend of traditional Bazombo folk with gritty sound distortions that would make Jimi Hendrix proud..." (Newsweek, USA).
"Sounds like no other type of African music... The sophisticated brutality of Konono N°1 leaves permanent traces in the conscience of the listener (Les Inrockuptibles, France).
"Simultaneously evocative of avant-garde rock and electro-acoustic experimentation... areas which are of course totally alien to the members of Konono" (Libération, France).
"They have as much connection with Einstürzende Neubauten as with Tabu Ley... (...) the frenzy and locomotion of prime '70s Miles or a Krautrock jam " (Village Voice).
According to Mingiedi ?
"I didn't know there was such a thing as electronic music. I don't borrow from anyone"
Konono N°1 also appear on Congotronics 2, an album (CD+DVD) featuring 6 other bands playing electro-traditional music:
also available from
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Record Label: Crammed Discs
Type of Label: Indie