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New videos online: watch Bassekou play in Royal Albert hall for the BBC awards ceremony ….

This Friday was a wonderful day in Munich! We had the chance to meet Amadou et Mariam who were presenting their new album “Welcome to Mali” in Munich. Later in the eveining we linked up with Buraka Som Sistema from Lisbon europe’s hottest Kuduro act. Together with our former trainee MC Kadda we filmed the two interviews. Here’s the story:

I had visited Amadou et Mariam a couple times in Bamako years back when their first two albums came out. They had been really sweet picking me up at the studio Bogolan in a battered white Mercedes and inviting me to their place. Now their last album they did with Manu Chao has made them the internationally most successful group in Mali. The record “Dimanche a Bamako” sold more than a million copies – only in France. They also were featured on German superstar Herbert Grönemeyer’s anthem for the last world cup in Germany “Zeit das sich was dreht”. It’s quite interesting, how their sound developed from their first albums that were dominated by a rootsy and melancolic rocksound, through a salsa pop influence brought in by Manu Chao,and now further to a more electro indie style with Damon Albarn. Still the magic of the blind couple on stage remains, giving you goosebumps especially when they sing their classic songs like: Je t’aime mon amour or combattants.

Right after the concert we headed off over to the registratur Munichs first adress if you are talking about clubculture. Arriving there Buraka Som Sistema from Lisbon were already getting ready to perform. We had the chance to meet them and talk about Kuduro, Angola, Lisbon and of course Buraka Som Sistema. We found out that Lugandan youth has a drinking problem and learnt that Burkas 3rd album will be on Balkan sound ; ) and Conductor sampling our urban Africa releases we gave him last time we met. So tune into the interview and get a basic crash course of kuduro by Kalaf and the Conductor:

The next outhere release will take us to Angola. Some of the most cutting edge producers from Rio are remixing legendary songs from the 60ies, 70ies and 80ies, the golden ages of Soul Music in Angola. Beastie boys producer Mario Caldato remixes Artur Nunes, even Kuduro superstar Doc Murras adds some extra flavour to a classic track by Alvarito.

Only few records can be found from Burkina Faso in local recordstores. With Victor Démé (Chapa Blues Records) there is an album available from a Singer who is for more than 30 years on stage now. It has become a small sensation; an album which catches you with its smooth touching soulfulness. Victor Démé got his music skills from his griot family. When he was a teenager he went to the neighbouring Ivory Coast, where he worked in the tailoring of his father. In the evening he made himself a name as a singer in the Club scene of Abidjan – the place to be in Westafrica these days. When he came back to Ouagadougou in 1988, the capital of Burkina Faso, which was noticeable influenced by the ideas of socialism and 5th President Thomas Sankara. Sankara impressed through his strong humility, he sold all the expensive limousines from the former government and established the Renault 5 as the official car for his ministers. He also stood up against discrimination against women and helped developing an independent culture. His bodyguards were a unit of motorcycling women. All this got him known as Africa’s Che Guevara.

Victor Démé was benefiting from the cultural funding which were established until the assassination of Sankara 1987. When he returned to Burkina Faso he won a couple of talent shows and perfomed alongside the leading bands from Burkina Faso. Then for a long time nothing was heard from him. His comeback was tough. Performances didn’t get him the needed money, and the club owners always wanted to hear covers of Salif Keita or Mory Kanté. Though the help of the owner of a bar in Ouagadougou, who believed in him and a french journalist he released his first debutalbum.

We instantly fell in love with the album. Since it wasn’t released in Germany, we decided to do the distribution. Just recently he had a TV appearance in France and now the word is out and he’s beginning to be in high demand in europe.

Victor Deme / Afrikafestival Würzburg / Sa. 30.5. 2009

Linz is the cultural capital of Austria this year. We got an invitation to perform with our Soundsystem Daladala Soundz supporting the concert of some of the most well known Senegalese hiphop pioneers: Awadi, Baay Sooley and Alhaj from former Positive Black Soul Crew. Also with them was Awadi’s new sidekick Kirikou and the lyrical Gunman Xuman (leadsinger of Pee Froiss) who for a few years now has been the host of Natty Dread Radio in Dakar. The event was put together by Flip form the Austrian rap formation Texta. Flip has also been in Dakar several times recording with the guys. Watch out for the tracks on his Toledo rhythm next time you want to pump up your party.

Here some clips of their performance:

We meet Awadi, Xuman and the whole senegalese hiphop scene back in 2000 when Jay Rutledge put together the Compilation Africa Raps. We have stayed in contact ever since, organising concerts, or licencing tracks for our compilations. Baay Sooley even made it on the cover of African Rebel Music. Currently Xuman & Awadi are part of our upcoming CD-project that will present songs talking about migration. Watch out for it.

This saturday the on3radio festival took place in Munich. Bavaria’s new digital public radio station opened its studios for a fresh mix of urban live acts. There was loads of indie rock and german hiphop with top acts such as Santagold, TV on the Radio, and (my personal favorite!) Buraka Som Sistema, the kuduro masters from Lisbon. An exciting evening, a lot of dancing and some new connections for us …

[Show as slideshow]

Known for their bombastic live performances, Buraka had no problem to capture their audience and take them on a globalised prol-techno trip. This time they performed with their new MC Blaya (since former MC Petty left Portugal for Angola due to visa problems). Blaya is great too and rocked the crowd to their percussive kuduro beats in sexy tiger tights. Burka’s anthem ‘Sound of Kuduro’, which came out of a trip to Angola (famous especially de to a guest appearance of global ghetto princess M.I.A. & kuduro heavy-weight Puto Prata) even got the audience into pogo dancing. The performance reached its peak when DJ Lil’John started to mix in the first chords of ‘killing in the name of’ from Rage against the machine.

here’s the clip:

Late at night the Munich based german answer to Buraka, Schlachthof Bronx entered the stage giving the crowd a mad ghetto tech reality check. Armed with 2 towels and only self produced material they were heating up the atmosphere. Besides their heavily kuduro influenced tracks ‘Quata’ and ‘Kunana’ they played a remix of ‘la lenta’ from Cuban reggaeton duo Madera Limpia.

check out the video!

Just back in the office from the Rokia Traoré concert in Munich. All that is left to say is: she did it again. We decided to do her album a couple months back here on out here records, because it was just not coming out in Germany. Imagine an artist like Rokia Traore not released in Germany. The concert in Munich presented her new album Tchamantché to a german audience.

I had met Rokia years back in Mali, while doing a radio program on the Malian music scene; meeting HipHop headz like Tata Pound, Issa Bagayogo or guitar legend Djelimady Tounkara. Young Rokia was leading a protest campaign those days to fight piracy bringing together young artists and just presented her second album ‚Wanita’. Even those days her modern ideas on music, intellectual property, tradition clashed with what people had been used to in Mali. She had created a new kind of imaginary traditional acoustic malian music consisting of different regional styles and instruments. All the influences were combined by her in a new unheard manner. Some conservative people just didn’t get it, and attacked her for not respecting the laws of tradition. Today, she is more selfconfident, and has moved on from having to proove being an African musician, to expanding the conceptions of how African music can sound. Journalists wanted to meet up with her in Mali to write stories on her new album. She refused. She does not want to be seen as the black exotic African, but as an artist to be judged by the music recorded.

Her new live show in Munich was closer to a rock concert than to a usual world music show. She and her excellent band mix a rock energy with bamana lyrics, french chanson, indie singer songwriting. Her audience is taken from an Afrobeat jamsession to poetic songs played solo with only an acoustic guitar. It is great to see an African artist that takes risks, opens new doors and gets the audience thinking about what African music might sound like in the future.

Do you like Afrobeat, then don’t miss Seun Kuti and his new album Many things. Last time in Lagos setting up our Lagos stori plenti compilation with Bantu, we met Seun Kuti in Fela’s old house. Seun is a great fun guy, with a good vibe and a whole lot of energy. We also met another great guy Dede Mabiaku who was a kind of father and mentor for Seun and the famous Egypt 80 band. Both would not be playing together today if it was not for him. Dede used to open the stage for Fela in the last years before his death.

Azadus & Bantu & Modenine & Dede - Odolayé

A week later we went into the studio to record the freestyle ‚Odolaye’. We got a couple great guys from the new generation on Lagos music scene to join in: Kora Award winner Bantu, Lagos Nr 1 Hiphop star Modenine and the amazing king of melody Azadus. The song can be found on ‚Lagos stori plenti’ which we released 2006 on out | here records.