The term ‘World Beat’ music is often used to describe what, outside of the Western World, is just music. There are so many tempos, genres, and styles of what we call World Beat to the point where trying to lump them into one category seems almost pretentious, and incorrect cataloging at the very least. To address that here I have begun breaking this playlist down into playlists with more defined parameters, such as my Middle Eastern and World Dance Music playlists. The music on here ranges in tempo from slow folk to high energy dance beats, and covers many different types of “World Beat’ music, most of it African, Middle Eastern, Indian or Asian influenced.
Liam Farrell, aka Doctor L, born Irish, raised Parisian, is a musician, composer and producer with a wide sonic palette, and an impressive score sheet that includes Assassin, FFF, Psycho on Da Bus, Tony Allen, Mbongwana Star, Babani Koné, Nneka, Les Amazones d’Afrique. Some of these videos have great animation, which is always best watched on full screen!
Afrquoi are a live African dance music project based in London. The masterful 5-piece show combines Gambian kora, Congolese guitar + Mandinka percussion styles with electronic music drawing on house, soca, hip hop, soul + jungle to create something entirely unique. A UK afro supergroup, with every musician a band leader in their own right, its members range in age across 3 decades, originating from Africa, the Caribbean and the UK.
English Patiperro EP is the first official release of ¨El Extravagante¨, Felipe Nadeau’s side project and a release through Regional Label. A mix of Electronic Folklore, Digital Cumbia and World Music, with the remixes of some of the most promising artists of these genres in Latin America. Available for free download below. -Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/selloregional/… * https://soundcloud.com/elextravagante
Hope has always been involved in healing & creative arts, from visual arts & music, to sustainability education & community health. Music: The hand drummer for world roots rock band, Medicine for the People (Nahko.com) since 2007, Hope has been playing percussion for over twenty years. Her first teacher was Babatunde Olatunje, and she has studied with master drummers in West Africa, Peru and Brazil. She is honoured to use indigenous instruments on a modern stage. Hope has also facilitated drum circles and taught rhythm classes to over 2,500 participants. She also has her own solo music projects; her most recent is her third album, ‘Bring to Light’
Art: Hope has been painting since childhood. She often combines rich colour and lines, poetry, and textures of natural earth elements to tell the story of her journeys, and create worlds seen through her dreams, travels, and visions. Hope has been painting since childhood. Environmental & Social Projects : Hope was a founding board member of Tryon Life Community Farm, an environmental education centre in Portland, Oregon. She co-created and taught their education program, which includes a fusion of permaculture, natural building, sustainable energy and social justice. Hope is a board member of Honour the Earth, an indigenous environmental justice project, working alongside the Indigo Girls and Winona LaDuke.
Women’s Health & Birth: Hope has trained and worked as midwife and doula, a graduate of the National College of Midwifery, and has attended over 400 births in the U.S., Indonesia, and Africa, where Hope worked at a village birth centre with the African Birth Collective. This inspired her to work harder to educate and raise awareness for women as to their options for their health, thus Hope began Artemis Healing Arts (artemishealingarts.com) education program and has taught natural birth classes in Peru, Brazil, Bali and at FIndhorn, in Scotland as well as in the US. – Article & Image: hopemedford.com
Nasambu and the Mystic Nomads based in Los Angeles and Nairobi, infuse African music with jazz, reggae, latin and funk grooves that bring crowds to the dance floor while the soul stirring lyrics and melodies depict the realities of today’s mystic nomads.
First video release from Activate Afrika
Activate Afrika was released in 2012 and produced by Nasambu and her band, The Mystic Nomads, The Mystic Nomads are: Huit-Kilos ~ Lead Guitar Michael McTaggart ~ Rhythm Guitar Dale Black ~ Bass Thiane Diouf ~ Djembe Jayson Fann ~ Congas, Percussion Sandie Castaneda ~ Drums , and of course Nasambu ~ Vocals, Producer
Dance music, just like almost all music came from Africa. This track is 37 years old but with that beat and funky bass line, you could drop it on any dance floor and still get people moving. Ivory Coast, Africa – 1981
The debut album by Goatman, a new solo project by one of the mysterious members from the Swedish collective GOAT. The 6 tracks on Rhythms reveal a true collision of African Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Gospel and Psych, but all put through the famous GOAT filters. Rhythms is a very apt title for the album as each track is an exploration of the ‘groove’. From the Fela Kuti‘esqe drums and horns jam of Jaam Ak Salam, to the frantic gospel-jazz of Carry the Load. From the fuzzed Can via the ‘Bristol sound’ track of Hum Bebass Nahin, to the cinematic, Spacemen 3‘esqe drones of the album closer Baaneexu. The end result is quite an astonishing and very unique album, like what you would expect from an album made by a member of GOAT – an album that is hard to put your finger on, but one that you will keep revisiting, the more it’s sounds reveals itself. Goatman plays all the instruments on the album bar some additional drums by Hanna Östergren from fellow Swedish bands Hills and Träd, Gräs & Stenar, and an added horn section courtesy of Johan Asplund, David Byström. One of the standout highlights of the album though is the collection of great guest vocalists Goatman has enlisted. Tracks Jaam Ak Salam and Aduna feature the very special voice of Senegalese singer Seydi Mandoza. You will also hear the vocals of Swedish based singers Amanda Werne on Carry the Load and Amerykhan on Hum Bebass Nahin. Goatman’s passion for traditional and contemporary music from around the world can be clearly heard when listening to Rhythms. The level of authenticity and willingness for exploration that Goatman has captured truly shows a fanatical respect for the music he is greatly influenced by. But at the end of the day, Rhythms is an album that has a sole purpose, and that is for to you to enjoy, dance and have fun too!” Boomkat Records
One of the high points of his post-Fela catalog was in the 1999 record Black Voices, which crosses over so many musical boundaries that it is impossible to name them all. A group effort in every sense of the word, Tony Allen found himself surrounded with some of the most innovative, talented, and energetic musicians on the planet, and the sounds and moods they created as a group represent the pinnacle of what can happen when such talent is properly focused. Each of the tracks on Black Voices explodes with positive energy and irresistible grooves, yet there are also social criticisms and observations running underneath the stunning musical arrangements. – music_emporium
As a key member of Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70, Tony Allen single-handedly created some of the most propulsive and innovative rhythms of the 20th century. Homecooking finds him on scarily good form, laying down a foundation of the crispest, spikiest drum tracks. All the familiar Afro-beat elements are present and correct, including hard-riffing horns and righteous, mantra-like vocals. There is also more than a touch of Kuti in some of the lyrics, which address such concerns as war, the folly of taking advantage of other people’s kindness, and generally staying in touch with your roots. The album has an edgy, contemporary feel, courtesy of English rapper Ty and Damon Albarn, who appears on the lead-off single, Every Season. Albarn layers Allen’s loose, spacious groove with a catchy hook-line, although the rest of the album is stronger on hip-swivelling rhythms than hummable melodies. – The Guardian
Tony Allen played drums in Fela Kuti’s bands between 1964 and 1978, contributing a vital element to Afrobeat’s evolution. And while he’s been active as a bandleader for nearly three decades, Allen’s presence has intensified during the last five years. This set was recorded in Lagos, and manages to harness the rugged grit of that difficult city, whilst simultaneously presenting Allen’s signature sound with a slick production sheen. Intense horn riffs, choppy guitar, call-and-response vocals: all of these elements are interwoven with Allen’s detailed, cyclic beats, his taut tripping lending an elastic tension to the dancefloor. – BBC
The sticker affixed to the front of Tony Allen’s new album says it all, really. “Perhaps the greatest drummer ever,” reads a quote from Brian Eno; “Without Tony Allen, there’d be no Afrobeat,” reads a quote from the late Fela Kuti. Allen has never crossed over and become a name of wide renown, and oddly his Nonesuch debut could give the drummer his widest platform to date. Yet Secret Agent is only the latest step of a creative continuum set in motion over 40 years ago, beginning with Allen’s pioneering and prolific work in Fela Kuti’s band through his years as a solo act and bandleader and even, a few years back, as a quiet but important component of Damon Albarn’s the Good, the Bad & the Queen project. Allen’s particular genius has been his ability to lie just behind the beat, pushing and pulling the song without calling too much attention to himself. Secret Agent frequently directs your attention to the song’s component parts– the backing brass, Cameroonian guitarist Claude Dibongue’s jazzy licks, Rody Cereyon’s funky bass on tracks like “Ijo” or “Ayenlo”. (Those two feature R&B-like vocals from Orobiyi Adunni, one of several guest singers; Allen himself grumbles lead on the title track and album closer “Elewon Po”. In fact, it’s so easy to get lost in these elements that Allen almost blends into the background, camouflaged, his cymbal pings, rolls, and ghost strokes like rivets holding the whole construct together.Granted, Secret Agent doesn’t represent Afrobeat at its most fiery, but it does represent Allen (nearing 70) continuing his late career high, mellow in the way he swings songs like “Busybody” or “Pariwo” (the latter surprisingly strident nonetheless despite its gentle, accordion-laden gait) but never more confident. Leave it to Fela scions Seun and Femi (among other aspirants to the Afrobeat throne) to swagger like they’ve got something to prove. But Tony Allen? Allen as always lies back and waits for you to come to him. – Pitchfork
Film of Life doesn’t quite break new ground for Allen, but it does offer a pretty solid and succinct demonstration of Afrobeat’s adaptability to changing times. There are no side-long epics in the Fela mold here, but Allen packs quite a bit into each of these four-to-seven-minute-tracks, building up from his own drums grooves with hypnotic guitar and bass patterns, a richly arranged horn section, and an assortment of other sounds that are nearly all overwhelmed by the massive rhythm that dominates everything. Allen himself handles vocals on the first two tracks, mostly talking in his deep bass register and aided by a female chorus, narrating a personal history and thanking the listener for being there. His voice is appropriately situated well down in the mix; he does his best talking with his hands, and though he shows a little uncharacteristic flash here and there, the really impressive thing about Allen is the way he can take a simple, slow beat like the one on “Tiger’s Skip” and make it sing when a lot of drummers would have trouble just staying in time at that tempo. Comparing it to the much faster beat on the storming, spacey funk instrumental “Ewa” reveals a lot about what makes his playing so special; no matter what else is going on, Allen has an ability to stay steady and fill time with exactly as much embellishment as necessary. – Pitchfork
Hot Casa Records presents Dans le Tchink Système, an Afro-soul treasure by Stanislas Tohon. Tohon was born in 1955 in Abomey, Benin, and, at the age of nine, began a musical career that would produce over thirty albums and many collaborations with such greats as Africando vocalist Gnonnas Pedro. Influenced by traditional tchinkoumé music, Tohon developed his own musical style called “Tchink Système,” a mix of modern soul and Beninese traditional rhythms. Tohon recorded Dans le Tchink Système in Kumasi, Ghana, in 1979, with the incredible Vis-à-Vis Band of Ghana. The album is presented here in full, along with “Africa,” the B-side of Tohon’s rare debut 7″, recorded the year before with Ghanaian band Les Satelites. Sung in Fon, Tohon’s native language, this album is a soulful call for peace and unity in Africa and an exemplary collection of Afro-soul music. This incredibly hard-to-find record is now available again, remastered and limited to 1000 copies. – Forced Exposure
After making her name fronting Ntombi & Survival, Ntombi Ndaba went solo in the late 80s. Her band also did their own thing, releasing The Big Mechanics in ’89 as The Survivals, and continued to back her on Mina Ngilijaja. It’s vintage bubblegum that shows off Ntombi’s powerful vocals and songwriting skills, driven by uptempo synths and the complimented by the emphatic backing vocals of The Angels. The title track (‘I am the judge’) is a self-affirmation of note (“You can’t tell me what to do!”), ‘Flood’ references the classic ‘Pule ea na’ by Hugh Masekela, Mara Louw, the Black Five and others, while obligatory slow jam ‘Weakness In Me’ is an uncredited but impressive cover of Joan Armatrading’s 1981 hit. – Blogspot
James Stewart is DJ host and co-programmer for the Black Atlantic club monthly party at Le Sucre in Lyon. He is an active member and programmer for the collective Palmwine Records and the founder of the blog Afrosouldescarga, and hosts radio shows devoted to Black Atlantic music on Radio Nova Lyon. He also gives lectures on the subject. He’s a member of the Voilaaa Sound System. A Producer and percussionist, his first EP, Cotonou was issued June 8 2018 on the Alma Negra label. – Mixcloud
In January 2018 Electro-Dschungel re-released their 1987 LP Kebab- Und Andere Traume. The album was produced by Winfried Nacke, a social worker who enlisted international students from Wiesbadener Jugendwerkstatt to form the group for a youth outreach programme he oversaw. The music is a blend of Turkish Pop, Soul, Funk and Disco.
The Brother Moves On (TBMO) – is a South African performance art ensemble from Johannesburg, Gauteng. The group was founded somewhere between the years 2008 and 2010 by broad-based artist Nkululeko Mthembu and his brother Siyabonga Mthembu. TBMO began as a self-proclaimed art movement mainly of graphic and fine artists and since began incorporating instrumentalists for the live performance environment. In its current configuration The Brother Moves On performs mainly as a band. Members include Siyabonga Mthembu aka Mr.Gold (storyteller, lead vocalist, performance artist), their first cousin on their father’s side Zelizwe Mthembu aka Makongela (vocalist, guitarist, flautist), Ayanda Zalekile (vocalist, bassist, multi-instrumentalist), Simphiwe Tshabalala (vocalist, drummer) and Molefi Kgware (saxophone). The band feature a variety of instrumentalists from bands in the Johannesburg live music scene namely Itai Hakim from poetry duo Children of the Wind, Malcolm Jiyane from the Malcolm Jiyane trio and Solethu Madasa from the Solethu Madasa quintet-Wikipedia
Here’s a 8 song playlist of mostly live performances.
TootArd (Arabic for Strawberries) is a “mountain rock reggae” band from the majestic mountainside village of Majdal Shams in the Occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Their “Laissez Passer” documents say their identities are “Undefined” but they are sure that music will lead them. Singing in Arabic and gliding across the borders of West African, Saharan, Caribbean grooves and classical Arabic modalities, they will make every audience laugh, dance, smile, ask questions, and imagine the many possibilities for a better future…Soundcloud
Nasambu and The Mystic Nomads is a dynamic expression of African World Soul music currently based in the sprawling, diverse urban metropolis of Los Angeles, CA.
The debut album, Activate Afrika, sets the stage for a new wave of fresh sounds and visions, featuring some of the top African, Jazz and Latin musicians of our day.
It is music that steps outside of the box and into the vast uncharted territory of channeled creativity for the sake of greater harmony and connection to the sacred movement in music and life.
Nasambu, a singer-songwriter of Kenyan descent, has captivated audiences worldwide with the power of African music and dance. Her music brings together a unique rhythmic fusion of musicians, live painting, and grooves from across the diaspora combined with soul-stirring lyrics reflecting the realities of today’s mystic nomads living in a global village.
Heres her Soundcloud profile with a bunch of other great songs on it!
‘Palo e’ Mango is a cutting edge music collective, which brings together today’s electronic sounds with the traditional music of Bullerengue and other ancestral rhythms of the African diaspora in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, with eyes on the future and roots in the oral traditions of the villages of this region of the Americas.
The fusion seeks balance between ancient and modern sounds, with love for the local roots, bringing them to new audiences and stages of borderless music.
‘Palo e’ Mango is : Jorge Pérez, Emilsen Pacheco, Daudet Salgado, Mauricio Araya(Mr. Toé), Michael Wagner(Biomigrant).
South Sudanese-Canadian musician, actor, and political activist Emmanuel Jal was only eight years old when he was kidnapped. Trained through the abuse of his rebel captors, by the age of ten he was a killer. He was a Sudanese child soldier, one of tens of thousands of kids taken from their families. Emmanuel Jals first music video, released in 2005, was for Gua. The symbolism of unity is expressed in the title of the song, meaning both “good” in Nuer and “power” in Sudanese Arabic. The lyrics illustrate the desires of the Sudanese people to return to a peaceful, independent homeland. Gua topped the music charts in Kenya and was played by BBC across Africa. It was Jal’s breakthrough to the international market.
Jimi Bazzouka loves all sorts of music, and especially African and traditional music. For this 3rd episode of outstanding edits, Jimi goes Industrial + Synth Pop + Techno + African music
Born in Mali, Baba Sissoko is the master of the Tamani (talking drum), that he has played since he was a child, thanks to the teaching of his grand-father Djeli Baba Sissoko. Baba Sissoko also plays ngoni, kamalengoni, guitar, balaphon, calebasse, sildrum and of course he sings. He is from a great and ancient dynasty of griots from Mali. Bandcamp
In terms of being an afrobeat legend, Pasteur Lappe is Cameroon’s Fela Kuti, an unsung hero who was ahead of the game back in the 1970s and 1980s, and one whose been famous for burning the pockets of many diggers nowadays. Luckily, Africa Seven have compiled some of his best work onto a ten-track LP, ranging from the funky oddities of “More Sekele Movement” or “Na Real Seke Fo’ya”, to the future-zouk sound of “Sanaga Calypso”, and plenty of jazzy, popped-out, disgruntled soulfulness to satisfy anyone from Gilles Peterson to Cherrystones. Heavy and warmly recommended. Juno Records
World Beat Playlist – For me ‘World Beat’ music has always been an odd definition of what outside of the Western World is just simply called music. There are literally hundreds of tempos, genres etc. to the point where trying to lump them into one category seems almost pretentious, and incorrect cataloging at the very least! Anyways the, ahem, ‘World Beat’ music on here ranges in tempo from slow folk to high energy dance beats, and covers many different styles, much of it Middle Eastern, African, Indian, or Asian.If you want to hear just the faster, dance friendly tracks on here check out my World Dance playlist.
Co-commisioned by 14-18 NOW and Holland Festival, the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, featuring current and former members of the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music, take the stage for a rare concert to showcase Syrian and Arabic music.
Artists from Britain and Syria were joined by performers from Algeria, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia and the United States. Among those performing are Bassekou Kouyaté, Bu Kolthoum, Eslam Jawaad, Faia Younan, Julia Holter, Malikah, Mounir Troudi, Noura Mint Seymali, Paul Weller, Rachid Taha and Seckou Keita who joined Damon Albarn and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. – Youtube
Jawhar has created his own signature style of world-folk music that one could probably describe as midway between arab chaâbi and Nick Drake’s dreamy folk lullabies. The Tunisian singer-songwriter re-explores his roots and his mother tongue to let them sing once again with his newly released album Qibla Wa Qobla- Jawhar
And here is a side project of his. RAS KALB is a collective inspired by Jawhar Basti’s music of Macbeth – Leila & Ben, a play co-written by Lotfi Achour, Anissa Daoud and Jawhar Basti, directed by Lotfi Achour.
Dengue Dengue Dengue! is a Tropical Bass duo from Lima-Peru. Behind the masks are Felipe Salmon and Rafael Pereira, two producers, dj’s and graphic designers. For their live performances they team up with Nadia Escalante (A.K.A. Vj Sixta) for a full Audiovisual Show. DDD was born in mid-2010 and immediately made themselves well known thanks to an impeccable audiovisual show, remixing and making mash-ups from their own tracks with old cumbias and modifying cumbia cult themes to electronic versions. All this always joined by amazing visuals and the always present masks.- Soundcloud
Jhon William Castaño Montoya is a Colombian violinist and composer who grew up in Pereira, a Colombian city 1700 meters high in the central part of the Andes, surrounded by mountains and coffee plantations.
His song titles are taken from the languages spoken by the indigenous peoples of Colombia, as the Muisca and Embera. So Antumià is the spirit that lives in the deep forest, and the spirit of the wild animals that are reincarnations of human souls; Jai are the shamans who learn of the teachers everything about health, naturalness, the rules of life; Quincha means hummingbird in Chibcha language and symbolizes youth and renewal, “the only creature capable of stopping while flying at a frightening speed, can thus fluctuate, advancing and retreating, going up and down.”
Italian producer DJ Khalab (previously notable for a string of buzzy solo releases on Clap!Clap!’s Black Acre Records) teams up with prolific Malian master musician and Griot singer Baba Sissoko for an exploration into deep, minimal experimental African/Electronic sounds. On the “A” side “Kumu” is a dark, glitchy four to the floor track with bubbling synths, live percussion and Baba Sissoko’s unmistakeable voice, while German producer Harmonious Thelonious aka Stefan Schwander (Antonelli Electr., Repeat Orchestra, Rhythm Maker) stretches out the tracks inherent minimalism while tastefully beefing up the drums, adding synth flourishes and well timed drops. On the flip, “Kumu” is a more acoustic vocal and Xalam driven track with stuttering electronic growls and groans and minimal percussion. London based Ibibio Sound Machine (Soundway Records) brings the funk into the mix with keyboard stabs, guitars, and a super catchy bassline and plenty of synthesizer explorations- Soundcloud
Since its formation in 2001, Novalima has been breaking down boundaries, uniting seemingly irreconcilable genres, communities and generations to create an inspiring movement that has revolutionized the music scene in their native Peru. Founded by four friends from Lima with a shared passion for both traditional Afro-Peruvian music and modern DJ culture, Novalima searches for the common ground between past and future, between tradition and innovation. A few of these recording sessions were done in Colombia which has given some of the new tracks an Afro-Colombian vibe and takes their exploration of deep Afro rhythms into the future.
The Spy From Cairo returns after his well received “Arabadub” album with a new EP entitled “This Is Not Sparta” showcasing more of his signature middle eastern and arabic infected bass and dub music.
The original song “Soukura” gets a signature deep and entrancing Ancestral Soul remix by African house legend Boddhi Satva . Perennial Wonderwheel favorite The Spy From Cairo gives “Nuba Noutou” a dubby dancehall re-rub, and label head Nickodemus takes “Rennat” into late night house territory with his remix, letting only the slightest of vocals come through and build tension until the final moments of the tune.
Alsarah is a Sudanese born singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist. Born in the capital city of Khartoum, where she spent the first 8 years of her life, she relocated to Taez, Yemen with her family to escape the ever stifling regime in her native country. She abruptly moved to the US in 1994, when a brief civil war broke out in Yemen. Now residing in Brooklyn, NY, she is a self-proclaimed practitioner of East-African retro-pop. Working on various projects, she most recently has been working with The Nile Project and was featured on their debut release, Aswan
The Spy from Cairo is Moreno Visini, the artist formerly known as Zeb. He has written hundreds of songs & has produced over 10 albums over the past 12 years including 5 ORGANIC GROOVES albums, 3 ZEB albums, 2 THE SPY FROM CAIRO albums. He has contributed to Turntables on the Hudson Compilations as well as Buddha Bar & countless others! Furthermore, this talented musician & studio wizard has done around 80-100 remixes for artists as diverse as Tosca, Billy Holiday, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Baba Maal, Astor Piazolla, Nickodemus, Novalima & many more…
The Brooklyn Gypsies are a group of NYC based musicians/ producers whose creative influences draw from the constant shifting of an ever changing urban sociopolitical landscape while retaining their unique cultural backgrounds through what has come to be recognized as “Gypsy” music. Originating from Spain, Japan, Russia, Italy & U.S.A. BK Gypsies truly represents Brooklyn’s diverse ethnic heritage and style. The gypsies came to be in 2012 within Williamsburg Brooklyn’s Studio BPM music scene. Members include: Carmen Estevez, Takuya Nakamura, Tina Kristina, Brandon Lewis, Troy “Mobius” Simms & Zeb “The Spy From Cairo”. After a number of collaborative projects between the artist were explored the opportunity to form a band that incorporated elements from each project arose. The groups sound is an infusion of Mediterranean, North African, Arabic Themes with Electronic, Dancehall and Dub Reggae. The term “Gypsy” was incorporated into the band name representing the nomadic spirit & way of life within this musical journey.
Born in the northern woodlands of Sweden, his Cypriot mother and Swedish father encouraged Thor Partridges leanings at a young age. Partridge grew up in a household filled with traditional Greek, African and Caribbean music and in early childhood his family relocated to New York, a city whose cultural diversity further influenced his style and taste. Thor added to his rich musical palette by studying classical piano, jazz guitar and bluegrass banjo. He showed a penchant for the ‘art of remix’ at an early age when he couldn’t help tinkering with classical piano arrangements. Thornato’s track “Gaita Gaita” was featured in Shambhala’s “A Journey Home” 2014 Afterstory movie. His musical style is generally referred to as Global Bass.
‘Ines’ is a Nicolas Jaar compilation through his Clown and Sunset label, featuring himself alongside fledgling producers Nikita Quasim and Soul Keita. The full-length follows two mini-compilations on Clown and Sunset, both of which exclusively showcase the aforementioned three artists. Much like Jaar, Soul Keita and Quasim are unusually young producers: the former was 17 year old, the latter 20 when this was released in 2010. Musically, Soul Keita limits himself to Ethiopian traditional instruments and an 808 drum machine. As for Quasim, her interest in music composition supposedly began at the age of 11, when she made a field recording of various sounds from around her house as a birthday present to her mother.Ines features ten new productions in total from the trio of artists, including one that shoes all three collaborating for the first time as the Clown n’ Sunset Collective-Resident Advisor
Nicola Cruz’s music invokes the landscapes and rituals of his homeland, Ecuador, a country that is home both to the Andes mountains and the Amazon jungle. His music is an exploration of ancient mythologies and folkloric traditions in a modern setting. Nicola was born in Limoges, France, to Ecuadorian parents. His upbringing was surrounded by a rich musical education in both indigenous traditions and Western theories and from a young age he took to percussion.
From this musical connection between past and present, traditional and modern, an ongoing South American movement has arisen, exploring the local indigenous and Afro-cosmologies through a carefully crafted analogue sound.
For more than a decade, the Berlin-based Daniel Haaksman has put out urban sounds from Brazil via his compilations and releases on his label, Man Recordings. In 2012, he traveled to Angola for a DJ gig and plunged into the world of Kuduro, that specific Angolan high-speed dance style that originated in the late 1980s from hybridization of Euro house, American rap and Angolan semba. He then encountered various musical concepts for the future that are far from the nostalgic look of pop and club music in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, on a trip through the former Portuguese speaking colony Mozambique, as well as numerous visits to Lisbon.
Throughout and after those trips, Haaksman tells us, he found himself wondering, “What kind of sounds are associated with the African continent? How does Africa sound in the 21st century? What is ‘African’ music in the age of digital media and a frenzied globalization?”
He attempts to provide answers in his new album, African Fabrics.-Sound and Colours
Andi Otto is a composer and performer of electronic music from Hamburg, Germany. He has released three Electronica records as Springintgut on international labels and performs live with a combination of cello, computer and sensors which he calls Fello. The Fello development has been supported by STEIM in Amsterdam, a studio and research institute dedicated to the instrumental in electronic live music. Andi Otto currently writes his PhD on the history of STEIM’s electronic musical instruments since 1969. In autumn 2011 he received the Villa Kamogawa scholarship from the Goethe Institut in Kyoto, Japan and tours internationally, often as duo with a DJ.
The Very Best features Vampire Weekend’s Chris Baio, Vaccines guitarist Freddie Cowan, and EDM newcomer Jutty Ranx. On ‘Makes a King’ they move away from the Afro dance pop of their last effort for something that feels much closer to the earth.
History of Colour, a collaboration project between El Búho and Barrio Lindo, returns with their second release, “Calidoso”. The 4 track EP explores new sonic landscapes, inspired by slow-dance and flitting between andean folk, marimba, electronica and organic sounds.
Khyam Allami is a British-based musician and musicologist of Iraqi descent. He is best known as a contemporary player of the Arabic oud lute and has also written about and lectured on Arabic music
Alif (Arabic for the letter A) are a kind of alternative Arabic supergroup, featuring famously innovative Iraqi oud player Khyam Allami, Palestinian singer-songwriter Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, Lebanese percussionist Khaled Yassine, bassist Bashar Farran and Egyptian keyboard player Maurice Louca.
The Alma Negra collective consists with four Swiss based friends and musical kindred spirits. Crossing many musical traditions their eclectic sound is perhaps a result of their varied and cross cultural backgrounds. The Figuiera Brothers Dersu & Diego who have their roots in Cape Verde, Dario is half Italian, half Portuguese and finally Mario who has has Spanish roots. Collectively the foursome’s influences and skills are wide ranging, bringing of course DJing and production prowess and pooling a vast musical knowledge from jazz to African and Latin-music, Donald Byrd to Fela Kuti to Theo Parrish to name a few respected musicians.
A musical meeting between musicians from Morocco, France, Algeria and England. This is about the traditional music of the Gnawa brotherhood of Morocco.
Mogador is the ancient name given to Essaouira. This mythical town of south Morocco was compared to the Tombouctou harbour. That is why most of the Gnawa people are living in this town. The Gnawa people come from the Guinea empire (today Senegal, Guinea, Mali). In the 16th century, they have been deported in North Africa as slaves of rich sultans and integrated this new culture and religion into their own. Just like the Haitian voodoo or the Brazilian candomblé, they use to express themselves playing music, singing, dancing, and by rituals of possession which induce the trance.
At the origin of the group Mogador was the meeting between Ali (addicted to the Moroccan band Nass el Ghriwane) and Julian (strongly influenced by Hendrix) in a bus to Essaouira. In this town, they learned Gnawa music with Hassan a member of the Gnawa brotherhood. He introduces them to the traditional instrument of the Gnawa called sintir : three strings stretched over a camel skin that produces an infra-bass sound which leads the dancers into the trance.
Back to France, they create the group Mogador with Sihem and Yves. After a serie of gigs in the North of France, they start a collaboration with Peter and Ben from London to create a cross cultural music where the traditional music of the Gnawa meets jazz, groove and world music.
Julien Raout – Sintir, djembe, electric guitar, backing vocals Abdul Mohamed – Lead vocals, qarqabu, sintir Sihem Merad – Lead vocals, backing vocals Peter Dry – Drums, keyboards, bass Benoit Viellefon – Electric, acoustic & classical guitars, derbouka Luc Viellefon – Soprano saxophone Yves Leguilcher – Derbouka
Thomas Blondet is a Washington DC producer whose music infuses elements of downtempo, dub, Middle Eastern, African and House. This playlist covers everything but his house tracks.
