Black Atlantica Edits
In other transatlantic news, Berlin-based Man Recordings founder, DJ and producer Daniel Haaksman returns with a superb dancefloor-friendly exploration of the Afro-Latin diaspora for BBE Music. Haaksman has long made a name for himself as a transcontinental curator of global, tropical and future bass tunes – ever since his seminal "Rio Baile Funk Favela Booty Beats" compilation in 2004 – steadily cultivating aural dialogues between Europe, South America and Africa.
For his "Black Atlantica Edits", Daniel Haaksman hosts a diverse cast of international artists the likes of Cameroon's Francis Bebey, Angola's DJ Havaiana, Zimbabwe's Master Chivero, Guinea-Bissau's Super Mama Djombo, Ghana's CK Mann & Carousel 7, South Africa's Soul Brothers, Brazil's Pinduca and Bonde do Rolê as well as Bamako's Kaba Blon, resulting in ten remarkable and rhythm-centric edits set to create a stir on the global circuit. Yet there's more to this release than meets the eye or, in this case, the ear:
"The album’s title refers to Paul Gilroy's 1993 book 'The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness'. [...] Daniel Haaksman picked up on Gilroy's idea of the Black Atlantic as a transnational cultural realm when putting together his musical deconstructions and reworks for his “Black Atlantica Edits." By intentionally adding an 'a' to the 'Atlantic' he further indicates the existence of a "wider Black Atlantic space" of non-English-, -Portuguese-, -Spanish- or -French-speaking cultures and creative countercultures.
Ideologically, this selection ventures beyond the dialectic minefield of cultural appropriation to find common emancipatory ground in a shared transnational realm of hybrid cultures. Take the album opener, for instance, a famous poem by Afro-Peruvian choreographer, composer and activist Victoria Santa Cruz, proudly proclaiming her 'blackness', to which Haaksman simply adds a beautiful bass-line and ominous chords, before upping the tempo.
Daniel Haaksman's "Black Atlantica Edits" are more than just another batch of electronic reworks. Instead, they point to the power of dialogue and music, when it comes to transcending and overcoming borders. That being said, this release could not have come at a better time.
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