074: Très Très Fort, by Staff Benda Bilili

Staff Benda Bilili (DR Congo)
Très Très Fort (2009)
11 tracks, 59 minutes
Bandcamp • Spotify • iTunes (with extra tracks and videos)

There was quite a discussion within world music circles around Staff Benda Bilili. They were a global hit with a fantastically compelling story behind them: a group of musicians left paraplegic from polio, living on the streets of Kinshasa in specially-adapted motor-wheelchairs and practicing their music in the city’s zoo – they were a world music marketeer’s dream. But therein lies the debate: would they have been successful without that story?

Arguably not, but that says more about the problems of ‘world music’ than it does Staff Benda Bilili: they certainly deserved their fame on the strength of their music alone. It’s mostly a mix of Latin-inspired genres such as soukous, played on a bunch of ultra-cool semi-acoustic Socklo guitars (check them out), but whereas that description may bring to mind raucous party music, this album, their debut, is actually really delicate. There are lots of slower, more romantic-sounding pieces together with warm and gentle three-part harmonies and bits of feel-good reggae now and then. They do do party-mode sometimes – especially in live performances – but this record is much sweeter overall than that would suggest.

The real revelation of the album is Roger Landu. When the album was recorded, he was a 17-year-old street kid, playing his home-made and self-invented monochord, the satongé. Made from a paint can, a bent stick and some fishing wire with some jury-rigged amplification, it’s such a singular sound. It’s high-pitched and squeaky, rather bendy in its pitch and even slightly imprecise, but in Roger’s hands it can be the perfect melody instrument, especially when backed by the band’s twangy guitars. In Staff Benda Bilili’s second album, Roger got to show off his singing voice too, which is absolutely lovely, but he leaves vocal duties to his elders, here.

Unfortunately, the band split in 2013 due to internal arguments, paranoia over money and accusations of mismanagement, having made only one more album and conducted a handful of European tours. The group splintered apart into factions, and some of them formed part of the later group Mbongwana Star, but they never managed to reach the heights they’d hit after their first album. As far as I can tell, Roger Landu hasn’t appeared on any other international releases since, but a Facebook search shows that he’s still making music. Maybe we’ll get to hear it one day. I hope so.