Last tuesday we had our Rebel Up show at BRUZZ radio. We did our 1st ever live video show with special guest Murat Ertel of Turkish psychedelic band BaBa ZuLa, interviewing him about life in lockdown times and their new live album ‘Hayvan Gibi‘.
Look at the video show or listen to the show on Mixcloud below, with full tracklisting.
Timetable: 17:00 Rebel Up SebCat 18:00 Rebel Up SebCat B2B Didi of Tropical Djipsies 19:00 Nathan Daems (Black Flower) – dj set 20:00 Le Grand Mechant Loop 21:00 Dovecake (Berlin) 22:00 Fresh Nunas (Moçambique)
This friday, a solidarity fundraiser event for Beirut in Recyclart.
6 Brussels DJ’s will donate their art to support the victims, NiXiE,Rebel Up SebCat, Deejay Kwak, Soumaya Phéline, DC Salas and Sara Dziri. Finally, to close gently, we will be guided by Mikhali, a young DJ from Beirut who has recently moved to Brussels.
Supporting the Remeil district which is located a couple of hundreds meters away from the harbour. This neighbourhood is the home of several major hospitals, several schools, studios of artists, a park for whom – prior to the events – the residents were fighting to save this rare green area of the town. The complicated political and economical situation makes it still hard to transfer funds to Lebanon and to identify associations clearly offering the guarantees that are required.
With the help of the team at Belgium for Lebanon – België voor Libanon – La Belgique pour le Liban, you can give your donation in confidence. This is a genuine civic work between Lebanese on location as well as the large diaspora network of the Lebanese diaspora living all around the globe.
Another way to contribute is to listen and buy Lebanese artists’ albums, via Bandcamp links (we put the link below), a great way of supporting them and discovering an outstanding music scene.
for Listen Festival we compiled this 3 hour globe-trotting genre-crossing Rebel Up playlist with sounds from every corner of the earth. The perfect way to satisfy your summer wanderlust in these odd times. Listen! to it here 👉 lstn.be/RebelUpSummer
This mixtape was made by Rebel Up SebCat for Celeste Mariposa‘s radio show Radio Balanço in Lisboa (Vodafone FM) during the April lockdown, as the Festa Afro Tuga party on 10 April in Recyclart got cancelled due to the obvious. The mix is mostly filled with music from the past & present of the Afro Portuguese PALOP scene but not exclusively, with tunes from other African countries and the wider African diaspora included as well, from semba to afrohouse, kuduro, funana and more. Tracklisting can be found in the mixtape comments.
The image used is of the Hand of Timba monument at the Pidjiguiti docks in Porto de Bissau, Guiné-Bissau. The Pidjiguiti massacre was a dock worker strike that took place on 3 August 1959 in which the Portuguese colonial authorities killed about 50 people and put the blame on revolutionary party PAIGC (Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde). 3 August is now a public day of remembrance in Guinea-Bissau. Near the docks, a large black fist known as the Hand of Timba was erected as a memorial to those killed.
The current political situation in Guiné-Bissau far from good, with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo having taken power via a military coup earlier this year just before the COVID-19 crisis. Soldiers loyal to Embalo took control of national radio and public television buildings, and several public buildings including the government palace and the Palace of Justice to impose their power and ushering a new era of censorship and political oppression.
This month of July we have a 3,5 hours long Nightshop show, 9 albums of the month and new songs, with a big focus on music from Africa. Starting with songs of the day; COVID-19 kologo music from Ghana (Ayuune Sule), and jazz from International Anthem label (by Anteloper and Angel Bat Dawid). Our albums of the month start with desert songwriting by Ak’Chamel (Akuphone), the early tsapiky cassette years by Damily (Bongo Joe), Bandé-Gamboa project between Guiné-Bissau & Cabo Verdian musicians (Heavenly Sweetness) and new ethiofunk by Mulatu Astakte & Black Jesus Experience (Agogo Records). It gets more percussive and electronic with albums by Malawi ritual drumming group Doctor Kanuska Group (1000Hz), Ugandan heavy electro tribalism by Nihiloxica (Crammed Discs), Portuguese percussive dub band HHY & the Macumbas (Nyege Tapes), deep Congolese futurism by Bantou Mentale (Glitterbeat) and a Dutch-Sierre Leone EP by producer Ramses3000 (Intercept) and Nigerian female rapper Aunty Razor (Blanc Manioc). tune in!
Free The System!’ is the new single EP by the band Dandana, to be released on Friday 19 June on Rebel Up Records. Including an ancestral afrofuturist remix by Afro-Dutch producer Philou Louzolo.
‘Free The System!’ is about the gap between the older generation and the younger generation. The old system can’t easily deal with young or new idea’s. The current global pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement clearly show us that the system needs to be changed, we have to free ourselves from it.
The videoclip premiered on Pan African Music blog (see article) check here:
and also international UK blog The Ransom Note did an article about the remix by Afro Dutch producer Philou Louzolo and the videoclip. see here >
DANDANA is a collective band of musicians from the Netherlands, Senegal and The Gambia with members Bas Ackermann, Ebou Gaye Mada, Filly Dioma, Jackson Loman, Joop de Graaf and Modou Joof. Together they chose to let go of the past and take a new musical path. Their sound pays tribute to traditional West African rhythm & grooves, with instruments from Senegal and The Gambia such as sabar, xalam and balafon with live drums, electronic drum pads and a range of vintage synthesizers. Inspired by West African psychedelic mandingue pioneers Guelewar, Ifang Bondi & Touré Kunda to the synth-driven vibes of bands like Air & Tame Impala. “Free the System” will take you on a journey through a new universe.