In an industry where it has become commonplace to watch bands perform with laptops & backing tracks instead of live musicians, Zongo Junction takes the stage 9 strong. The Village Voice describes their live show as "Sheer energy with the force of a tractor- trailer that roars with power and noise" while the SF Chronicle says that "Zongo Junction plays its own fractured version of Afro-beat and generates an unstoppable groove when it takes the stage."
The music on No Discount, which was produced by Mikey Freedom Hart (Sinkane, Albert Hammond Jr, Bleachers), embraces the individual members' interests, from Dirty Projectors to Albert Ayler, Wu Tang to Meshugguh. At its core, you will find the addictive West African grooves that are the foundation of Zongo Junction's music.
The album was recorded to 24 track, two-inch tape at The Bunker studio in Brooklyn NY, then disassembled and polished, piece by piece, by producer Mikey Hart, over a year-long mixing process. It was mastered by all-star engineer Brian Lucey (The Black Keys). Featuring swaths of analog electronics, hairpin rhythmic turns, and elaborate statements from a powerhouse 5-piece horn section, the band has become impressively adept at nestling entire sound worlds on top of authentic afrobeat grooves. The result is one of the most sonically intricate, and infectiously danceable recordings imaginable.
