Digital Africa 4
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Tag Archives: Africa
Digital Africa 5
Kampala, Nairobi, Madrid
More extensive posts about East Africa will follow. For now, just a few photos.
Jinja, Uganda:
Videos for Hearts, Minds, and Bootays
Ugandan Madness
Nyege Nyege Festival warm up parties continue after last weekend’s epic vibes at Kompala’s oldest night club: Capital. 
Sat: Savane / Sun: Rename
Join us for ECK IM SAVANE at Promenaden Eck on Saturday night for a special night of Cosmik Grooves from the Motherland and beyond. The collectiv Tropical Timewarpwith BestMate? and Bela Patrutzi will heat things up with their impressiv vinyl collection and will give service with an Afro beat – Afro funk mix then Léon Leon from FINOW ZOO and dj zhao will take us deep into the night with their multi-dimensional drum science.
8:00pm – 5:00am
Promenadeneck Schillerpromenade 11, 12049 Berlin, Germany
And on Sunday, we come together for Umbenennungsfestival (renaming festival),on the block where the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884 took place, to enjoy the afternoon and agitate for refugee rights, against Pegida, and the changing of the historic “Mohrenstr.” (N***er Street) to “Nelson Mandela Strasse”. There will be many speakers and artists, and like last time i will contribute with a dj set and a talk on Culture as a Global Process and Dismantling Eurocentricity.
2:00pm – 8:00pm
mohrenstr, berlin 10117 Berlin, Germany
First meme ever / Autumn in Uganda
So that’s the first meme i’ve ever made, hope it goes “viral” 🙂 What do you think? GF thinks it’s too “polarizing”, but i think it’s kind of a necessary illustration of the false dichotomy.
Also, for the entirety of the month of October I will be touring in East Africa: mostly Kampala and Nairobi, playing at festivals and clubs, and working with local musicians. Super excited!!!
Bayreuth (DE) Sat. 30.05.2015
Mashup, an exhibition of artworks by contem- porary artists from Africa generated during the research and exhibition project Mashup the Archive at Iwalewahaus in Bayreuth, Germany.
It’s nice to get booked for the core of what i do. Will be playing alongside many very talented artists such as Miss Eve, Otieno Gomba, Délio Jasse, Raphael Kariuki, Nita., Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Simon Rittmeier, Kevo Stero, Pamela Sunstrum, and Uche Uzorka.
and last weekend Karnival was fun…
Ngoma in Prague 13 / 14 March
NGOMA Classic 3 – Mega Benga
The climate in Nairobi is cool and perfect all year round, despite being on the equator, due to its high altitude. The East African Rumba sound is also often cooler, sans the fiery horn sections of Congolese Soukous. The focus here is on a reduced palette of rhythmic guitar and vocal refrains over driving, insistent 4 on the floor kicks. The motorik, hypnotic motifs and modular progression of this original minimalist dance music here is mostly from 1950s to 1970s, and i play it in the seamless style of techno.
Guardian on UK Funky
The Guardian fails to pin-point the unique significance of Funky: it was the very first time that explicitly African rhythm patterns had been prominently used in, and defined, an entire style of “Western” dance music. This failure is part of a larger pattern. In the following sentence, the journalist clearly denigrates African-ness as the least significant aspect of Funky, in typically Euro-centric fashion: “…’a make-do sound’, patched together by and for an uneasy alliance of shiny-shoes “real house music”-lovers, grime kids craving something less macho, hipsters looking for a new buzz after dubstep, and those raised on the riotous party sounds of dancehall, soca and west African music.” ——— the influence of African music is a less important factor than “real house”, than grime, than hipsters (!); and also less important than Dancehall and Soca. And in this sentence, African-ness is completely omitted: “All were united by a pumping house undercurrent, clattering grime and dancehall rhythms, and car-window-rattling bass” ——– Since Funky started to get coverage, journalists have referred to the style as mostly or entirely Caribbean derived — But if you know music, you know the beats in UK-Funky is much, MUCH more derived from African music than from Dancehall or Soca.
OCORA Africa Mega Post
don’t have time for cover art and little write ups, so you will have to deal with the list dump style of this post (cover art and sometimes scans of liner notes should be in most archives). Includes 2 versions of the much sought after and rare Dogon vinyl, with substantial differences in tracklisting, which among the first wave of awesome recordings was never reissued on CD.
For the uninitiated, OCORA was one of, if not the, most well researched and presented labels which dealt with indigenous sounds from all over the earth, and i made the promise, which i still do intend on keeping, of making the entire past catalog of 500+ recordings available on this blog. there has been quite a few South Asian and African posts already, just look for it. To be continued.
For more Ocora awesomeness, head over to Aaseance.
- [ocora] Africa Burkina Faso – Pays Lobi Xylophone de Funerailles
- [ocora] Africa Burkina Faso Pays Lobi
- [ocora] Africa Congo – Cérémonie du Bobé
- [ocora] Africa Congo Polyphonies Mongo OCR 53
- [ocora] Africa Côte d’Ivoire_ Musique Gouro OCR 48
- [ocora] Africa Ethiopie – Musiques Vocales Et Instrumentales
- [ocora] Africa Guinée – Récits et Épopées (ocora)
- [ocora] Africa Les Dogon
- [ocora] Africa Madagascar – Pays Bara
- [ocora] Africa Madagascar Valiha_OCR 18
- [ocora] Africa Mali – La Nuit des Griots
- [ocora] Africa Mali Les Dogon OCR 33
- [ocora] Africa Niger – Chasseurs du Dallol Mawri
- [ocora] Africa togo – orchestres et lithophones kabiye 2005
- [ocora] Africa Uganda Musique des Baganda
Heart of Light
“Heart of Light” – the last words uttered publicly by democratically elected first president of newly independent Congo Patrice Lumumba at his inauguration address, 3 months before his murder by Belgium and CIA, because he dared to oppose the Western forces of oppression and planned to keep the wealth of the Congo for the Congo. Freedom and hope was killed in 1961, with disastrous consequences that last until today, but The Heart of Light can never die…
FUSION 5 – هلاك / Apocalypse
neocolonialism. exploitation. corporate greed. systemic oppression. global warming. over population. rising oceans. resource depletion. military conflict. economic collapse. mass extinction. hurricanes. famine. disease. hunger. war. annihilation.
01 Amina Alaoui & Jon Balke – Itimad X L-Wiz – Smogged
02 Ora Sittner & Youval Micenmacher – Dror Iqra X Scuba – Sleepa
03 23 Skidoo – G-2 Contemplation X Marc Ashken – Roots Dyed Dark (Skream Remix)
04 Kambarkan Folk Ensemble – Jygach Ooz Komuz X Dj Distance – Nomad
05 Sarah Webster – A Lesson Twice Learned / Drum Talk X Pinch & Loefah – Broken
06 JilJilala – Unknown X JuJu – Iroko
07 Fawzy Al-Aiedy – Milad X Toasty – Like Sun
08 Hossam Ramzy & Phil Thornton – Immortal Egypt X dj quest & eskimo – Speakers Corner (Instrumental Death Edit)
09 Unknown – Arab Flute X Zen Militia – Pull of Guilt (Scuba Remix)
10 Unknown – Morocco Belly Dance X Substep Infrabass Monotonium
11 Guem – Royal Dance X Shed – Panamax Remix
12 Unknown – African Tribal Drums X Unkown – UK Grime
13 Reda Darwish – Raqset El Banat X Headhunter – Drop The Waste
14 Remko Scha – Machine Guitars Slam X Skream – Backwards
15 Andy Moor – Uganda Fly X Loefah – Fire Elements
16 Sir Richard Bishop – Blood Stained Sands X Tunnidge – Face Melt
17 Sijano Vodjani – Dedication X King Midas Sound – Earth a kill ya
Sonic Liberation Front
Made this for ultra cool international / art / architecture / concept / urbanism / fashion / music / design organization Platoon: United rhythms towards a borderless future: African House and European Acid, Hungarian Folk and Korean Pop, Cumbia Electro and Arabic Techno, Avant Jazz and Street Bass – international beats for dance floors and head space – against prejudice and xenophobia. DOWNLOAD: mediafire
Ocora Africa repost part 1
A few out of print treasures from Ocora (RIP), probably the best global music label ever in terms of selection, recording quality, documentation and general dependable professionalism (The French perhaps always were the colonialists who paid the most attention to the cultures of those they conquered and continue to exploit, with Napoleon’s encyclopedia of Egypt still being the most comprehensive hundreds of years later), were first uploaded on my old blog a long time ago, and now have been revived by the kind soul who runs SEANCE (a place where you will find much more amazing gems). I will also be re-upping many things from Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America, etc. in the days to come.
NGOMA Soundsystem Vol. 1
Dj Zhao: Edits, Mixing and Selection (Berlin)
Werner Puntigam: Trombones (recorded in Linz, Austria)
Marcel: Percussion (recorded in Berlin)
A hybrid musical entity made of dj and live instrumentation consisting of 2, 3, 4, or 5 members, NGOMA Soundsystem fuses Ancestral Rhythms, Acoustic Textures, and Urban Bass Pressure. Drawing from both the wealth of sonic traditions from Africa and beyond as well as up-to-the-minute street sounds worldwide, NGOMA Soundsystem exists in the tension between electronic composition and live improvisation, creating unique “Ancient-Futurist” musical experiences for both concert hall and club, often at once mind expanding and dance-floor smashing.
this recording is a 1 hour studio edit of the 3 hour live performance at Fusion Festival:
PIA Official Mix
In the era of branded lifestyle packaging, still sometimes something happens which makes us question our ideas of who makes/listens to what, what that means, where the lines are drawn, how this informs the construction of social identity, whose values are projected by which aesthetic, and which “genres” are assigned to what class and ethnic group. I think the release of this documentary film may be one of those times, and i hope this mix which goes with it is one of those things, demonstrating the connectedness between Rock and Roll and its African roots, between power chords and dance beats, between decades past and today, between defiant youth in London and defiant youth in Zimbabwe – and that the same rhythmic blood and spirit of revolt runs in all of our veins.
these 75 minutes include exclusive mashups and re-edits, and go from Punk to heavily Africanized Rebel Rock to Post-Punk, Dance-Punk, Political Dub, Punk Step, 60s Afro-Garage Techno, Bass Music and beyond, features remixes of Congotronics and a couple of tunes not from the motherland, but surely in keeping with the Afro-Punk spirit.
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before you listen and download: how much is this product worth to you? if possible, please make a donation.
SINGLE TRACK DOWNLOAD: sendspace or mediafire
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01 [South Africa] National Wake – Black Punk Rockers
02 [South Africa] National Wake – Mercenaries
03 [South Africa] KOOS – Is Jy N Moegoe
04 [South Africa] National Wake – Dreams In My Head
05 [Zimbabwe] Chikwata 263 – Dudumduri
06 [South Africa] Dread Warriors – Xighangu Xamina
07 [South Africa] National Wake – Tchindi (live]
08 [UK] Andy Moor – From E to F + Pinch – Warlord
09 [South Africa] Kalahari Surfers – Don’t Dance (Live) + Bass Boy – Stamp
10 [DR Congo] Docteur Nico & African Fiesta – Save Me
11 [Mozambique] 340ML – Shotgun (Zhao Fix)
12 [Zimbabwe] Evicted – Mapurisa (Remix) –
13 [Zimbabwe] Chikwata 263 – In the Jungle
14 [South Africa] National Wake feat. Warrick Sony – Bolina (Kalahari Mix) + Cyrus – Manhatten Blues
15 [UK] Andy Moor – Ella Speed + Unknown
16 [DR Congo] Kasai Allstars – The Incident At Mbuji-Mayi (Bass Clef Remix)
17 [DR Congo] Kasai Allstars – Mukuba Special (Shackleton Remix)
18 [France / UK] DJ Rupture & Andy Moor – Broken Minded
19 [South Africa] Powerage – Waiting For the War
20 [South Africa] Powerage – Freedom + FilthyBeatz – Bounced
21 [Angola] Acromaniacos – unknown
22 [South Africa] KOOS – Ek Is My Dilemma
23 [South Africa] Fuzigish – Burn the Fucking House Down
24 [South Africa] Wild Youth – All Messed Up
25 [South Africa] Wild Youth – Wot About Me
26 [Tanzania] Jagwa Sound System – Watu na Maisha Yao
27 [South Africa] A-Cads – Down The Road
28 [South Africa] The Dynamics – Garlic Baloney
thanks to the following blogs for support!!!
Guardian Music, Afropop, OkayAfrica, Tropical Bass, Rhythm & Roots, Future Legends, Have Plenty, WonderMaa, Dynamic Africa
ICAS Suite: Africa Is the Future / Spieltrieb
MONARCH 21.00 Uhr / SATURDAY 10.9.2011 / 7 €
Berlin Music Week, Club Transmediale/ICAS Suite and Les Siestes Electroniques presents: AFRICA IS THE FUTURE
DJ Zhao (CN/US, Ngoma Soundsystem) http://soundcloud.com/djzhao
Secousse Sound System (FR, Etienne Tron & Mo DJ, DJ) http://soundcloud.com/secousse
Jess & Crabbe (FR, Mental Groove, DJ) http://www.mentalgroove.ch/press/bazzerk/
this is the way it went down:
and after that dj Zhao will be doing a set from 2AM – 3:30 at this:
SPIELTRIEB
Kultmucke und Klangkost stürmen den Brunnen70, um euch mit den heißesten Klängen zu versorgen.
Saturday at 10:00pm – 10:00am
Brunnenstraße 70, 13355 Berlin
Eintritt 10 € | viele Specials | Alles kann – nichts muss! 😉
Brunnenstraße 70, 13355 Berlin
Eintritt 10 € | viele Specials | Alles kann – nichts muss! 😉
__Silent Pressure
__DJ Zhao
__A Skitzo
__Beatshock (Balkantronika)
__DJ Zhao
__A Skitzo
__Beatshock (Balkantronika)
FUSION 3: house of Eshu
In Yoruba spiritual traditions (contemporary Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria) as well as its descendant Afro-diasporic faiths like Vodou, Santeria/Lukumi and Candomble, Eshu is the divine messenger between Gods and Man, the gatekeeper, protector of travelers, guardian of the Crossroads, offering choices and reveals possibilities. Often identified by the number three, and the colours red & black, Eshu represents the balance of nature, Day and night, creation and destruction, old age and youth. Yet more than conduit between this and other worlds, Eshu is also a spirit of Chaos and a devious trickster, playing games and serving up mischief with the ultimate aim of waking people up and teaching them lessons.
OR: STREAM: MIXCLOUD // 1 TRACK DL: MEDIAFIRE //SEPARATE TRACKS DL: MEDIAFIRE
So, in the spirit of Eshu, FUSION 3 represents the balance between traditional and modern, “east” and “west”, listening and dancing. This mashup album stands at the crossroads between the musical worlds of Yoruba talking steel drums, Cuban piano, Indonesian Gamelan, Cameroon Mbira (thumb piano), Black Panther poetry, South African Jazz, etc., and the House and Techno club sounds of today.
I think it will play a few tricks on minds which insist on seeing the world in discontinuously separate compartments.
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01 [Nigeria/Germany] Etubom Rex Williams – Uwa Idem Mi <> Maurizio – M1
02 [Pan-Africa/USA] Guem & Zaka – L’Abeille <> Oasis – One
03 [Indonesia/Cuba] Django Mango – the wisdom of the fool <> Fast Vision Soul – Babatunde
04 [Burundi/South Africa] Chant d’enfant accompagne d’un arc musical umuduri <> Spikiri feat. Hugh Masekela – Spiyanko Bonus Beats
05 [Nigeria/UK] Wahabi Arowoshila – Gbogbo Musulumi Ododo (Fuji) <> Hector and Bryant – Tension
06 [Cameroon/Germany] Frances Bebey – Africa Sanza <> Basti Grub – oma vovo
07 [Cameroon/UK] Frances Bebey – Bameda <> AudioFly – Sweeter Than
08 [Indonesia/Germany] Sambasunda – Sumimaula <> Liapin – BlackMamba
09 [USA/Italy] Sarah Webster Fabio – Glimpses / Nigger Sweat <> Double Dash – Mas
10 [Nigeria/UK] Madam Mujidat Ogunfalu & Her Waka Group – Ololo Nise Awo Won Ni <> Chris Wood and Frank Leicher – Into the Jungle
11 [South Africa/USA] Ricky Rimbiandarison – Imamohamana Dry (The Wake Up Drum) <> Cpen – African Jack
12 [Ghana/USA] Charles Kofi Amankwaa Mann – Funky Hi-Life <> Yonurican – Lucha Machete (Ricardo Miranda Drum Mix)
13 [Mali] Oumou Sangare – Yala (Zhao Fix)
14 [Ghana/Netherlands] Guy Warren – BUILSA <> Gregor Salto – Classic Beat
15 [USA/Nigeria] Sarah Webster Fabio – Boss Soul <> Osunlade – Native Tongue
16 [Mali/Sweden] Ahmed Fofana – Balani <> Jamtech Foundation – Too Fast (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)
17 [Ethiopia/Germany] Bole 2 Harlem – Home <> Booka Shade – Hide and Seek In Geishas Garden
NGOMA SOUND 