Mahjongg makes densely repetitive, experimental rock that draws from various facets of world music, including contemporary Congolese—check out their slow-building track, “Pontiac,” and compare to the distorted mbira (“thumb-piano”) stylings of Konono No.1. Their sound also recalls the seminal David Byrne/Brian Eno work, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which placed North African rhythms and melodies in the context of electronic music. Whereas Vampire Weekend threads bright, uptempo, guitar lines through breezy pop songs, Mahjongg requires a more concerted listen: songs add and shed layers at their own languid pace, repeating rhythms to trance-like effect. The organic spirit of African music is fed through a synthesizer, reborn on a drum machine.
Their latest release, Kontpab, samples from eclectic sources. “Problems” adds synth-pop to the mix; “Those Birds Are Bats” squeals into lo-fi punk. Elsewhere, they share a tendency toward droning tribalism with Drum’s Not Dead-era Liars. More than many of their compatriots, Mahjongg have chewed up their influences, spitting back a sinister musical polyglot that will reward the curious and infuriate the impatient. We asked Mahjongg multi-instrumentalist Hunter Husar to share his thoughts on Africa’s popularity with the indie crowd, and he was more than happy to opine.
How do you feel about the recent surge in popularity of indie bands borrowing from contemporary African music? How would you answer the devil's advocate accusation that world-music fans have made for years: fans should go to the source material, rather than hearing how Western bands reinterpret that source material?
Indeed it is a surge—white boys have been stealing African music the whole time. Appalachian country music is the combination of Christian choir music and the banjo. The banjo is from Africa. All western music, especially rock’n’roll, is derived from the music the slaves brought with them. We could give a f*ck what a fan is supposed to do. Most Western bands do suck. There is no source material. All ''contemporary' world music is informed, almost exclusively, by the American-dominated music industry, at least anytime after the James Brown '60s, and when technology brought vinyl around the world. If you go back far enough, you see that all good music comes from the glacial collide between cultures, and African music is no exception.
Mahjongg has a fairly dark, dirty, dense sound, as compared to the joyful, celebratory tone of much African music—like township, kwassa kwassa and the sort of traditions a band like Vampire Weekend is freely borrowing from. How do you fuse your chosen African influences with the electronic noise and "traditional" rock sounds you're also throwing into the mix?
We are a rock band. We are American. The world is ending. We make the kind of music we like to listen to—none of it is very conscious. To be honest, Mahjongg is more informed by Native American rhythm than African music. We like the timbre of African music, but structurally we believe we borrow more from the first Americans. It is in the ground here, and it's more like working on a time-coded puzzle. Cambodian and traditional Indonesian music has this quality as well. We combine anything and everything that puts a smile on our face.
Have you been particularly influenced by any of the pioneering efforts by David Byrne, Talking Heads and Brian Eno to integrate African musical influences within a Western, pop context?
Hard to say. Everyone said on our last albums we ripped off My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but I just heard it for the first time the other day. Wow! It's good. I can see why they said that, but it's simply not true. When I was little, I thought David Byrne was cool. We are friends. Music is like food. It's always better to combine cultures than detract. It's the only intercontinental weapon musicians have.
Are there any particular African artists that you'd like to cite as having directly influenced Mahjongg's sound?
I really like Algerian music, like early Khaled, and lately have been getting into a lot of Salegy. Of course, the world changed when Konono No. 1 broke. Congolese music is the best and definitely influences our sound.
Have you followed the ongoing debate as to whether indie rock is "too white," unwilling to risk the creative "miscegenation" that once made rock music so vital? What are your own thoughts, in the context of indie acts that are freely appropriating from African and world music?
No, but couldn't agree more. Ownership is theft; to steal musically from another culture is to do a service to humanity. We don't like white music, including rap, and think America is f*ck*d. Monoculture has arrived, especially in the larger cities.
Please stop saying the word "appropriating" -- it's gross and belittles the efforts people make to simply make music they enjoy. We don't care about Africa any more than any other place. We just want people to love one another.
Further Reading:
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Bamako to Brooklyn (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: The Dirty Projectors (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Vampire Weekend (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Rafter (PLAY)
Vampire Weekend's Celebrity Playlist (PLAY)
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
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