World music
Album Review: Maga Bo – Amor (É Revolução) : turntable-ready Afro-Brazilian energy.
There’s more to Maga Bo than sought after DJ, re-mixer, engineer and album maker. He is a true global beat innovator, a sonic explorer, not just absorbing sounds in the studio but constantly on the move, travelling to and living with the music, people and rhythms that intrigue him. His de-camping from Seattle to now …
New Track: Haitian rhythms/Techno intensity -Chouk Bwa & The Angstromers preview ‘Agwetaroyo’ from new EP
It was around this time a couple of years ago that the pairing of Chouk Bwa’s potent Vodou rhythms and The Angstromers’ electronic beat reductions first rumbled sound systems far and wide. Their album ‘Vodou Ale’ stepped out way beyond any Haitian roots meets Belgian minimalism tag, this was more than fusion it was a …
Premiere: Dave Manington releases new video for collaborative track with Lara Eidi, the bewitching ’Fones’
Celebrated Composer and Bassist Dave Manington is someone we’ve featured before on Backseat Mafia, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere the video for his new track ’Fones’, a collaboration with our very own Athens – London based jazz and folk singer Lara Eidi. Using words by the revered Greek poet Constantine P Cavafys, …
Album Review: Congotronics International – Where’s The One? : Indispensable document from the Congolese/leftfield indie supergroup, live and locomotive.
Collective, supergroup, ensemble…whatever way you look at it Congotronics International were a big big band. Nineteen musicians, five guitarists, three likembe players, five percussionists, two bass players, three drummers and an overflowing pool of vocal talent, they aimed for scale, scope and scintillation. Formed in 2011 from members of the pioneers of the ‘tradi-modern’ sound, …
New Track: From soon come album ‘Fleeting Future’, Akusmi releases ‘Yurikamome’– a pulsating journey through uplifting electronica.
London based composer/producer Pascal Bideau has been developing his Akusmi project for some time now both in his home studio and with Berlin based musicians Florian Juncker (trombone), Ruth Velten (saxophone) and Daniel Brandt of Brandt Brauer Frick (drums / electronic percussions). Inspired by an immersive gamelan experience during an Indonesian sabbatical then imagined through …
New Track: Noori & His Dorpa Band release debut single ‘Al Amal’, scorching ethio-soul vibes from Port Sudan.
So TikTok does have a function! Excavated from the app by those seekers of the undiscovered at Ostinato Records, Noori & His Dorpa Band bring the power and passion of Beja culture direct from their home base on the Sudanese coast. Out front, leader Noori plays a self- built, hybrid tambo-guitar, a welded wonder that …
Album Review: Satellites’ self-titled debut – re-energising Anatolian rock and looking beyond…
When you enter the deified Anatolian Rock arena you’ve got to be sure you bring something new to the show, otherwise you’ll disappear under the weight of comparison with the past greats, from Mogollar to Koray to Karaca. In recent years Babu Zula have pumped the bass bins of dub and reggae into their spiralling …
Track/Video: Sessa previews new album ‘Estrela Acesa’ with ‘Gostar do Mundo’, a shimmering slice of Brazilian pop from Tropicalia’s new frontier
You would be wrong to pass off Sessa’s music as laid back. The Sao Paulo born singer – songwriter has already demanded much more than casual attention with his sultry and sensual 2019 debut album ‘Grandeza’. That record introduced a musician entwined with the pulse and poetry of Brazilian music but not engulfed by the …
New Track: Akusmi previews ‘Fleeting Future’, title track from his forthcoming album of intricate minimalism and vibrant electro-acoustic conversations.
London based composer/producer Pascal Bideau aka Akusmi doesn’t do music that simply grows on you. Want proof then tune into those digi-platforms and catch his new track ‘Fleeting Future’ from his soon-come album of the same name. It’s a piece that draws you into a world of sound which flourishes as you listen, from the …
Track/Video: Istanbul’s dark electro-rock agitators Lalalar deliver ‘Alba Deme Lazim Olur’ ahead of album debut ‘‘Bi Cinnete Bakar’.
The sound of the Istanbul underground is juddering ever nearer to your listening posts in the shape of electro-alt-rock agitators Lalalar. With a name that approximates (semi-ironically) ‘The Wise Guys’, this trio has the in-built swagger, edge and beat power to tear up any template of new wave Anatolian psyche that you might cosy up …