Black Noise 2084
Though rooted firmly in organic sounds and archaic rhythms, many of DJ Khalab's mind-warping productions have a futuristic feel to them. You might feel the urge to call it afro-futurism or future base or even jazz. Or how about "Black Noise 2084"? That should fit quite well.
"Black Noise 2084" is the title to Khalab's stupendous new album. Born Raffaele Constantino, a "renowned Italian radio host, producer, writer and artistic director", he decided to take on the role of DJ Khalab and "focus his attention on African music", as a devoted "beat marabout" and citizen of "planet Earth" on "an ongoing round trip journey between tribes and psyche, desert and spaceships, jungle and skyscrapers." You can read more on the transformation in a 2017 interview with Rhythm Passport.
In any case, "Black Noise 2084" has cast its enigmatic spell on us. Flanked by feature artists the likes of Gabin Dabire, Tenesha The Wordsmith, Shabaka Hutchings, Tommaso Cappellato, Tamar Collocutor, Prince Buju, Clap! Clap! and Moses Boyd, the album is relentless in occupying afro-centric realms of sound, both foreign and familiar.
"Khalab was invited to work with field recordings from the archives of the Royal Museum for Central Africa of Bruxelles. The museum’s recordings made for a post-colonial world, hold ethnographic and historical insights into the cultures of the region over the last 500 years. The Museum is far from the horrors that Belgian King, Leopold II, unleashed during his colonial reign, however it is a dark legacy that is far from absolved. ‘Black Noise 2084’ opens a portal where displaced rhythms, chants, screams and dreams collide with quaking bass, a vortex of shattering synths, jazz rains and emotional amalgamate. Empires for millennia thrived across the African continent and Empires are being willed to rise."
Stream all 10 album tracks on Bandcamp and feel free to check out the beautifully animated video to "Dense" below. Out now via On The Corner Records!
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