We love Ceci! I first caught her live band playing a powerful set at the Day of the Dead festival in L.A.’s Hollywood Forever cemetery (!!) last year. It felt wrong to have that much fun on a burial ground. But I accept the Angeleno logic with its mix of sun, noir, and Mexicanidad; I did not step on any graves; and most importantly, Ceci rocked the crowd of thousands, flanked by her female-majority band. (more…)
Over the past few years I’ve been impressed by the cross-pollinations between Footwork and other genres. With it’s growing popularity there have been endless re-appropriations of the sound –from the more subdued tracks by Machinedrum to the sub-bass pressure of Africa-Hitech. The frantic Chicago sound has rekindled global interest in the oft-forgotten 150+ bpm space. The most interesting occurrence is how the sound has caught the ears of OG producers.
On April 7th, stalwarts of the West London Broken Beat scene, IG Culture and Alex Phountzi, released their debut EP as NameBrandSound. The duo’s EP, “Nowaday’s Pressure†fuses Footwork, Jungle, Soul, and Dancehall to create a release that seamlessly bridges generations and geographies. (more…)
Keeping with my contemporary Africa-Caribbean crossover obsession… [insert new genre name here? AfroBASS!? MOOMBAtlantic?] I thought I would point to a couple of the latest and very exciting developments in Caribbean and African artist collaboration… this time mostly centered on Jamaica: (more…)
