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A heavily syncopated journey deep into drum oriented dance floors.
Waer returns with a new mix! A really strong, undeniably dope selection of beat-driven instrumentals, a bit of West African mysticism/religion/belief, and if this is not his best mix yet, it is certainly his most effective. You can preview/download the mix here, but head over to Culture System for a link heavy tracklist and more info.
For those wondering why we’ve got the ‘esoteric luv’ category over there in the tag cloud, listen to this. Timeblind goes in again with this new deep-as-the-marineris-trench-dubstep-what-you-call-it mix. Timeblind is definitely never ever normal, here he sits us down again and patiently shows us what is going on in his mind, in the form of an mp3 file. Who knew?
For those of us who spent a lot of time in the internets Google (the octopus inside) is an interesting subject. Many of us suspect there are a lot of secrets to be found out.
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There is a lot going on here – a world shrinking and expanding, traditional Yoruba ceremonial drums and chants being laced with spacious/spacey (digital?) synth-pads, you can feel the continents drifting closer and apart as the sounds unfold, combine, and mingle, the relationship between Africa and Europe in the 21st century.
I started listening to Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel around 2004. They, Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, struck me as complex, disciplined, sophisticated musicians. In the video below from sometime late last year, Moritz answers questions, explains his/their history, economic philosophy, work ethic, etc., at length as the audience and the interviewer sip Red Bull and doze off, and vibe to the music. It’s great to hear/see him talk, but you have to brave the aggressive marketing overkill for Red Bull. I would like to read or watch an extensive interview with him conducted in a different environment, but this one is alright for now, I guess –it’s relaxed, and he appears to be comfortable.
As I listened to Moritz’s German accent, I thought about one of Rupture’s point in an interview with Plan B magazine – “the internet contributes to the spread of English-language hegemony.” I also thought about my African/Sierra Leonean accent, which is not very strong but it’s there –a constant reminder that I am speaking other peoples’ language rather than my own. What if the interview was done in German and translated or transcribed for English and other speakers? That would be too much trouble, an unnecessary struggle, right? Red Bull Music Academy is an annual international affair hosted in cities around the world, features guest lecturers and participants, and almost everyone who spoke, had some form of accent (including British.)
Adding a little zest and balance to that sublime track/post over at mudd up! There’s never enough Balla to go round. I’m not sure what this song is really about. It is a praise song for someone named Moussa Konate (who was a driver? an apprentice? I’ll have to consult my aunt or one of my cousins) but this doesn’t sound like a traditional praise song. This music was designed to blaze dance floors. What was Conakry nightlife like in 1968 or ’71? What about Lagos? or Freetown? I have a bunch of 7 and 12 inches serving as windows, looking into the past and discovering a part of your parents that they’ve abandon a long time ago. Maybe abandon is a strong word. Either way, expect more of these in the future.
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The Chief Commander of Juju Music Ebenezer Obey is also a praise-singer, combining the rich cultural and spiritual musical traditions of Yoruba people from the Ogun State in South-Western Nigeria with the excitement of Lagos highlife and Christian themes to create melodious, dance floor music and praise songs for the wealthy, famous and the powerful. Listen for the talking drums, which you can also hear these days in NYC underground/subway drummers.
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