Caramela

If you're familiar with Ghana's DJ Katapila, then you know his sounds hit hard. Hailing from Accra's Jamestown neighbourhood, DJ Katapila was first brought to our attention by Brian Shimkovitz's Awesome Tapes From Africa imprint, who released his debut album "Trotro" in 2016 and followed that up with the "Aroo" EP in 2018, which you can read up on here. In short, DJ Katapila has been breaking ground for the past 20 something years, "blasting his unique sounds [...]

This week finds us in a strange mood, which may just be that effect the month of November has, with the year slowly but surely coming to an end, temperatures and humanity in decline and what not. But then again, we always have that thing called music to pick us up again, that instant mood-changer there to set us on the right path or quite frankly take us far far away from here. How about Argentina?  

Today, we travel to Curuzù Cuatiá, a city in the [...]

Our dear Jewish Monkeys are currently on the road in Germany and the Czech Republic, wowing the crowds with their recently released third studio album "Catastrophic Life", which sees the band venture into unfamiliar musical territory. And we dare see, they seem weirdly rejuvenated.

Shortly before the album's official release, the Jewish Monkeys unveiled the suave new music video to album track "Le Grand Bazar", an upbeat and liberating afrobeat-flavoured tune [...]

A recent release that took us by surprise? That would have to be "Calico Soul", the debut album of nomadic Berlin-based duo Farafi, whose striking combination of captivating vocals and percussive sounds were quick to enthral us. Their story is one of modern roots, travels across the globe and a love for music both heartfelt and spiritual. Darlini Singh Kaul and Joy Tyson met in Goa, in the coastal village of Arambol. There, they discovered their shared [...]

Thank G*d it's Friday! We survived another week, the world has not yet imploded and Agent Orange is still POTUS. Shabbat shalom everybody and l'chaim! Let us raise our glasses to life in all its glorious absurdity, "Catastrophic Life" that is, as our Jewish Monkeys release their triumphant third longplayer and kick off a string of live dates. After all, who better to comment on modern-day ennui than this band of sharp-tongued, middle-aged, manly manly [...]

What sounds like the distant sounds of an orchestra tuning, getting ready to play, subtly merges into the yearning lament of a trumpet, heralding a new dawn. Ethereal, poetic, sublime, abstract yet ever so melodic are the opening moments to British-Bahraini trumpet player, composer and "high priestess of psychedelic Arabic jazz" Yazz Ahmed's recently released third album "Polyhymnia". Expectations for this one are sky high, considering the overwhelming global [...]

Once you see this Lima-based DJ and producer duo perform live, as they distribute their psychoactive potion on stage wearing folkloric masks and weaving intricate electronic tapestries of traditional Latin American rhythms and sounds, you will understand why some people call them the Peruvian Daft Punk. And though we've had Dengue Dengue Dengue and their digital cumbia aesthetic on our radar for quite some time, we curiously never got around to featuring them [...]

Oh, the horror! Yes, people. Halloween is once again upon us with its ghosts, ghouls and goblins. Well, actually that would be GOBLIN, you know, the band. If you're into horror soundtracks, then Claudio Simonetti's GOBLIN is sure to ring a bell. Formed in the early '70s, following in the footsteps of bands such as Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the now legendary Italian progressive rock band became a global phenomenon [...]

Berlin-based independent record label Shika Shika for "music without borders" recently released Hamburg multi-instrumentalist/sound-artist Andi Otto's third full-length "Rwandance", a joint project with Rwandan musician and dancer Evariste Karinganire. In 2018, the two first came together while working on a dance piece by Yolanda Gutiérrez, Jens Dietrich and Dorcy Rugamba, entitled "Planet Kigali", which you can watch in full here. The performance premiered at [...]

Some four years ago, around the time we started our Greedy venture, we picked up on the wily dealings of Colombian three-piece Los Pirañas, via their second full-length "La Diversión Que Hacía Falta En Mi País". The three musical accomplices met back in high school some 25 years ago and have meanwhile made a name for themselves individually and collectively. Alias Los Pirañas, Mario Galeano (bass), Pedro Ojeda (drums, percussion) and Eblis Alvarez [...]

"How did I find myself in the back seat of your life / Why did it feel so good, when you stabbed me with that knife?" Ah, the undeniable of joys of holy matrimony, married life or hell, as some may perceive it. Tel Aviv's Jewish Monkeys take their latest single "Catastrophic Life" behind closed doors and into the realms of the subconscious.

Released last Friday, the hilarious companion music video, directed by the infamous A.T. Mann and produced by London's [...]

Japan's Minyo Crusaders are a 10-piece big band of sorts, quite unlike anything we've heard. On a mission to rework Japanese 'min'yō' folk songs into more danceable and let's say accessible arrangements, blending Japanese traditions with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian flavours, the group has been on a tear, ever since the release of their debut album "Echoes of Japan" on Mais Um back in May. 

With several European live dates ahead in November/December, [...]