The Playlist

ONE of the pleasures of being a foreign correspondent in Africa is loading up the iPod for a road trip. Raucous works well in a Land Cruiser banging around the scrublands, especially since I lost the hearing in one ear to machinegun fire in Afghanistan. Buoyant helps in negotiating cities by day. Classic and subtle is best after an equatorial clockwork sunset.

GETATCHEW MEKURIA AND THE EX  Musicawi Silt  from the album Moa Anbessa (download from Beemp3)
Roll down the windows, hit the pedal and damn the potholes. Mixing Mekuria's Ethiopian jazz with The Ex's Dutch anarchist punk, this track is a burst of sunshine when you're driving.

GUACHASS  Dirty Harry (Amazon)
In Congo, the Uruguayan peacekeepers turned the dial to 11 for these Montevideo punk rockers. Ramones clones are not usually my thing, but it worked with steak, booze, guns and beetles whirring about the campfire.

TABU LEY ROCHEREAU  Sorozo (iTunes)
From Congo comes the one and only, the top cat, Tabu Ley Rochereau, whose early live recordings lure you back through the decades. He was among the first to add Brazilian and Cuban rhythms to Congolese music. This track, recorded with Orchestre Afrisa, puts a smile on the morning.

SIGUR ROS  Untitled # 4  from () (iTunes)
I once had to take Jonsi Birgisson out on the town in Prague. He was a gentleman whirlwind. As lead singer of Sigur Ros (above), he is also one of the few Icelanders still solvent. This track is pure accelerant, and an Economist writer can hardly complain about its anonymity.

FELA KUTI  Zombie  from Zombie (iTunes)
Nigeria is coming to dominate African pop—often with dross. All the more reason to listen to Fela Kuti, the Yoruba giant who died in 1997 and whose Afrobeat is ever more revered. This track from 1976 has become iconic: think James Brown with even bigger appetites and a conscience.

VIA AFRIKA  Hey Boy  from Via Afrika (iTunes)
Out of South Africa, in 1983, came a white pop-punk band that broke the mould. This is a contagious hit, just waiting for the bubblegum revival.

ROKIA TRAORE  M'Bifo  from Bowmboi (Amazon)
I saw Rokia play in Bamako and was entranced. The child of Malian diplomats, she adds singer-songwriter influences to the clarity of the traditional music. This live take, recorded in Italy, is slow and intense.

MAGDALENA KOZENA  Nadeje (Hope)  from Songs My Mother Taught Me (iTunes)
Many of Africa's conservatoires have closed. Outside South Africa, classical music is restricted to church, alas. Everyone needs a diva and mine is the Czech soprano Magdalena Kozena. With Kozena at the piano, giving her rich and subtle take on Martinu, you can picture yourself in a conservatoire – or a conservatory, in high summer, with the windows open to the lawns.

Picture Credit: Pennello (via Flickr).