Crammed Discs

Ekiti Sound is a pioneer and his new album for Crammed Discs is ‘Abeg No Vex’ – it’s creativity and vision are exceptional

Ekiti Sound is at the fore of a new wave of electronic music originating from Nigeria by way of London – his new album Abeg No Vex for Crammed Discs is a hugely impressive marker. Having featured on World Treasures Music before, it is a joy to hear and see more of this artistry in both  film and music. As you can hear, Ekiti Sound is startling, modern, essential and captivating, being an expertly curated blend of Afrobeat and electronics – citing hip hop, grime, 4×4, bass and more.

The main musician/producer/vocalist is Leke, aka CHiF. He is forever honing his skills with a variety of artists and has had previous successful productions and projects as a sound designer in the Nollywood industry. This immensely eclectic and cutting edge album speaks to today’s  Afropunkers and the global diaspora worldwide.

Abeg No Vex is out on April 26th. Some copies were seen on Record Store Day in the UK. Hear more of the artist and support via Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

‘It Comes’ LP is Nova Materia’s electronic desert music debut on Crammed Discs

Nova Materia release a debut album of ‘electronic desert music’ for the ever trusty Crammed Discs.

The duo of Caroline Chaspoul from France and Eduardo Henriquez from Chile formed three years ago, born out of the ashes of alternative rock group, Panico. The duo’s It Comes LP builds on sounds and influences gathered during a 2010 trek by the band across northern Chile.

Caroline says: “We definitely wanted to get rid of the conventional way of performing music and didn’t want to use conventional instruments. The idea was to integrate geography to the core of the composition process.” On using stones found on the trip as instruments, Eduardo says: “They bring harmonics you wouldn’t think of when using conventional instruments. Also they are chaotic and unpredictable.”

The duo’s performances are described as “primal and futuristic”. Their sound has developed from their 2015 debut Aparece en sueños, where the duo evolved their industrial and coldwave tendencies with krautrock, shoegaze, and funk. BPitch Control’s Chlóe is cited as a direct influence on their music and the duo worked with Chlóe again to produce two eccentric techno/house tracks, such as ON/AV found on the new album.

The album is out now and they are performing at The Waiting Room in London on November 13th.

International Women’s Day special: new music round up

Les Amazones d’Afrique drop their Republique Amazone LP on March 10th and the album is a future classic. This all female collective of West African artists (below) are campaigning for gender equality through their music. Their members are Angélique Kidjo (global superstar and UNICEF ambassador), Kandia Kouyaté (Mali’s greatest living griotte), Mamani Keita (former singer in Salif Keita’s band), Mariam Doumbia (of Amadou and Mariam), Mariam Koné (up and coming singer), Massan Coulibaly (Malian singer), Mouneissa Tandina (one of Mali’s rare female drummers), Nneka (young Nigerian hip hop artist), Pamela Badjogo (jazz singer) and Rokia Koné (up and coming Malian singer).

The LP on Realworld is funky, blues tinged, dubwise and tinged with African rhythms and electronic witchery. Their messages are sung in English, French and Mandingo and cover themes from domestic violence, land rights and FGM. The band also raise money for the Panzi Foundation, which has treated approximately 86,000 girls and women with gynecological injuries in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Emel (above) released her sophomore LP at the end of last month. Don’t let it pass you by. The singer rose to prominence during the Arab Spring when her recording Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free) became a viral anthem. Emel displays an exceptionally wide vocal range and there are a diverse array of acoustic and electronic influences present – the Tunisian cites influence from James Blake to Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam. The LP on Partisan Records was recorded over seven countries and two continents.

Yasmine Hamdan (right) will release her Al Jamilat LP at the end of the month.

She combines Western pop and folk influences with her unique take on Arabic music and politics and culture in the Middle East. Also involved are UK Producers Luke Smith (Foals, Depeche Mode) and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Carl Barat).

It’s released on Crammed Discs on March 31st.

Finally, Juana Molina’s Halo LP is not out until May, but it seems a suitable time to mention this incredible forthcoming release. It’s the seventh album by this artist (pictured below) and was recorded in her home studio near Buenos Aires and in Sonic Ranch Studio in Texas.

More coverage of some (hopefully all) all of these artists will appear soon on World Treasures Music.

Listen to some tracks by these artists on this WTM International Women’s Day mix (full tracklist available on mix page, click on the box):

Acid Arab to drop Musique de France for Crammed Discs

acid-arabHere’s a sneak preview of Acid Arab’s new LP released next month. The duo have been wowing festivals all summer with their heady mix of Western electronic music and Eastern sounds and vocals.

Formed in 2012 by Parisian DJs Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho, Acid Arab have become a fully-fledged musical entity by teaming up with Pierrot Casanova, Nicolas Borne and – for studio and live activities – with Algerian keyboard player Kenzi Bourras.

For Musique de France, Acid Arab have worked with a number of guests, including Syrian musician Rizan Said, whose sound is well known via his work with Omar Souleyman. There’s vocals and saz playing by Istanbul’s Cem Yildiz (who wrote the famous song Kime ne for his band Insanlar), and vocals by Yemenite sister trio A-WA (who released Habibi Galbi, remixed by Acid Arab). There are also collaborations with Paris-based luminaries of Franco-Arabic music, such as rocker Rachid Taha, raï fusion pioneer Sofiane Saidi, as well as gnawa musician/singer Jawad El Garrouge.

Acid Arab’s Musique de France is out in CD, LP and digital formats on Crammed Discs on October 7th.