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[13 min 58 sec] on World Cafeadd to playlist
Extra Golden.
"Gimakiny Akia"
"Fantasies of the Orient"
February 9, 2009Blending popular Kenyan benga music and American rock, Extra Golden sings sincerely of loss, hardship and vibrant joy that arises from personal experience.
Extra Golden began as a casual jam session, when Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff of the rock band Golden met Otieno Jagwasi of the Kenyan benga band Orchestra Extra Solar Afriva. A year later, Jagwasi lost a long-time battle with liver disease and Eagleson and Minoff felt it right to release the group's first album. They titled it Ok-Oyot System, derived from the Luo phrase "It's Not Easy."
With a sound that's flexible, resilient and real, the group's new record, Thank You Very Quickly, brings together Eagleson, Minoff and two of Jagwasi's former bandmates to complete the band, which continues to play in his memory.
Based in Philadelphia, WXPN takes listeners on a journey of music discovery through new and heritage rock, blues, roots, and folk artists. WXPN also produces NPR's World Cafe.
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