Hey Amsterdam,
A very very special Rebel Up! Soundclash night in OCCII on Sinterklaas evening 5 december.
Rebel Up! Soundclash & OCCII present: Sahel Sounds showcase, hosted by label boss Christopher Kirkley.
Sahel Sounds
Is a more than special label of field and studio recordings of tradional and modern popular music straight from the African Sahel, headed by American musicologist Christoper Kirkley. It all started as a cultblog named *Music From Saharan Cell Phones* where local folk and pop music was collected on sim cards and USB sticks, which is the main source of hand-to-ear music distribution in the Sub Saharan region. Since then the Sahel Sounds project has unfolded as a label that has steadily been releasing unknown artistis and bands from the Sahel region with a website that goes far beyond any typical label with road trip stories, free musical uploads and background info. Christopher Kirkley will play a dj set with selections from his own label and other special finds.
http://sahelsounds.com/
http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL4ul8At5VY
special live show by Mammane Sani (NG)
*his very first European tour*
Mammane Sani Abdullaye is a legendary name amongst Niger’s avant garde. A pioneer of early West African electronic music, for over 30 years his instrumentals have filled the airwaves. The instrumental background drones of radio broadcasts and instrumental segue ways of TV intermissions borrow heavily from his repertoire. The dreamy organ instrumentals drift by sans comment, yet are known to all. Mammane first found the organ in 1974 as at the time he worked as a UN representative in Africa and bought it from a Rwandese colleague. Mammane’s composes in technique that can only be called minimal, relying on the simplicity and space. It is a remarkable manipulation of sound that uses the silence to invoke the emptiness – a metaphoric desert soundscape. Unsurprisingly, his source material is folkloric Nigerien music, and many of the compositions on this record are reproductions of ancient songs brought into the modern age. Interpreting this rich and varied history of Niger’s dance and song for the first time in contemporary musics, Mammane electrifies the nomadic drum of the tende, the polyphonic ballads of the Woddaabe, and the pastoral hymns of the Sahelian herders. Accompany this repertoire are a few compositions, such as Salamatu, the deeply personal love letter to an unrequited romance. His sound can very much be compared to the contemporary works of fellow African composers Francis Bebey and William Onyeabor, and on a western level Terry Riley and Kraftwerk are never far away.
His first and only album was recorded in 1978. Mammane stepped into the studio of the National Radio with his organ, where it was transposed and overdubbed in two takes. In coordination with the Minister of Culture, the album was released in a limited series of cassettes showcasing modern Niger music. The cassette project unfortunately did not progress as planned, and merely a handful were released. Today his cassettes are rare objects, highly sought by fine art connoisseurs and experimental music collectors in Niamey.
http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/la-musique-electronique-du-niger
The Rebel Up! dj’s will be supporting this showcase with their own personal selections of Saharan, Sahel and other African sounds.
This first European tour by Mammane Sani has been made possible by the support of Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht.
5€ in
FB event
@ OCCII
Amstelveenseweg 134
A’dam Oud-Zuid
(tram 1 or 2)
