Konono No.1

This Congolese musical group has been active since the late 70s, going under various names including Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe Konono No 1 and L’Orchestre Folklorique T.P. Konono No 1 (the T.P. stands for tout puissant, French for ‘all powerful’). Based in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the group is led by likembé player Mawangu Mingiedi (1933). He assembled a group of amateur musicians and singers from his native tribe, the Bazombo, but attempts to play the acoustic music associated with the likembé (a traditional Congolese thumb piano) were hampered by the ambient noise of a bustling city. In response, Mingiedi assembled new likembés made out of car panels and constructed a DIY sound system featuring microphones built out of alternator magnets and some discarded tannoy speakers. The other group members then provided rudimentary percussive backing on snare drums and pots and pans, and a female vocalist and dancers were recruited to complete the ensemble.

The remarkable music created by Konono No 1 is based around the crackling hum generated by their homemade amplification system. The musicians utilise this electronic vibration to great effect, with the three likembés (bass, medium, treble) sounding remarkably like electric guitars fed through very cheap amplifiers, and the clattering percussion providing an insistent, infectious beat.

The group enjoyed some success in their homeland and even recorded the odd side for local compilations, but it was not until the start of the new millennium that their music began to be heard by a global audience. They were invited on tour by Dutch anarcho-punks the Ex, who also released a live set in 2004 on their Terp Records imprint. Word-of-mouth about the group began to fly around, with many excited commentators comparing their sound to the work of many contemporary electronic and experimental rock acts, despite Konono No 1 being effectively isolated from developments in modern music over the previous 25 years. The Belgium label Crammed Discs got the group into a studio and the result was the wonderful Congotronics. Wisely, the label did not meddle with the group’s sound or set-up and the result was one of the highlights of the musical year. Musicians appearing alongside Mingiedi include Mawangu Veta, Mawangu Makuntima, Waku Menga, Mbuta Makonda, Vincent Visi, Ndofusu Mbiyavanga and Pauline Mbuka Nsiala.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze. Source: Colin Larkin

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