Author: jbenton

brazil post-punk, west african psychedelia, ghana soul

I mention this only because it’s not listed on Amazon (and thus I can’t list put it on my wish list, where I’d remember its existence), but my oh my do I want Nao Wave: Brazil Post Punk 1982-1988. “A definitive collection of ’80s-era Brazilian new wave/post-punk. From the cries of the oposicionistas, to the obscure first Agentss 7” single, to clubs such as Napalm, Madam Sata, Rose Bom Bom, and Aeronauta, all the way to TV Globo, “n

fun! links!

How to cut your phone bills.
The growing pains of Lonely Planet.
Get Your War On takes on Mugabe. “Hell, invisible mayonnaise makes more sense than fueling an arms race between India and Pakistan.” And: “I had a great idea for a comic about the Pentagon’s post-9/11 progress in teaching Arabic skills to its military personnel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a clip-art picture of a committee of retarded snails with one thousand thumbs stuck up their butts slowly backing away from a burning tower into a bottomless pit of molasses.”
Recommended listening: Connie Price and the Keystones (wide-angle early ’70s soul); Spoon’s Gimme Fiction (soooooo good…a big jump over the last one, even though they’re jumping backwards); The Go! Team (ohmygod so good! sounds like the best theme music to ’80s Nickelodeon anime ever — and/or Beulah on Zoloft); Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois (I didn’t think it could happen, but it’s better than Michigan).

nigeria stories

Here are my Nigeria stories from the last three days:
– From Saturday’s Religion section: “For centuries, Christianity has been primarily a white, European and North American religion. But the explosive growth of Africa and Asia, combined with the success of evangelization there, will change that forever.”
– From today’s front page: For generations of Nigerians, ‘missionary’ was a synonym for ‘Irishman.’ Thousands of Irish Catholics left Europe for the wilds of Africa, braving heat and disease to bring the message of Christ to heathen animists. But today’s missionaries are working in the opposite direction. They’re native Nigerians who talk about healing the secular sickness of the West. And these Catholic Africans are crossing the oceans in unprecedented numbers to return the favor Western missionaries once paid them. ‘They have a saying: “Africa has AIDS, but North America has theological AIDS,”‘ said Philip Jenkins, a professor of religious studies at Penn State who studies Christianity in developing nations. ‘”Our continent’s being devastated by one thing. Yours is being devastated by another.”‘”
– And finally, from Sunday’s front page: This story, by far the best of the bunch. You’ll want to read this one, which features satanic frogs, animal sacrifices on Catholic altars, and a hundred Nigerians rolling on the ground while speaking in tongues.

nigeria stories on the way

Self-promotion alert: If all goes according to plan, this weekend’s papers will be silly with Nigeria stories, all produced by yours truly.
There should be two in Saturday’s paper — one on page 1 and one on the cover of the religion section — and another one on page 1 Sunday. I think they’re pretty interesting — all on Nigerian religion. The Sunday one you’ll particularly like, I bet.
So go buy some newspapers and support my employer’s bottom line.