The Swiss Conspiracy

Specialising in Brazilian music, renowned UK-based imprint Far Out Recordings is making its 200th release (November 3, 2017) a big one, as it readies a previously unreleased album by the one and only Hermeto Pascoal and his Grupo Vice Versa. "Once described by Miles Davis as 'the most impressive musician in the world', there is good reason (beyond his Gandalf-like appearance) why he is known as 'O Bruxo' (the wizard)." As a matter of fact, "few musicians have [...]

"That's Zouk," my friend exclaimed, when I played the first track off of "Digital Zandoli Vol. 1", a stunning, dancefloor-oriented compilation of 13 disco, boogie and [yes] Zouk tracks recorded in the French West Indies of the 1980s and released by Parisian imprint Heavenly Sweetness in 2016.

Curated by Julien Achard of Digger's Digest and Nico Skliris (formerly Superfly Records), the release "reveals a broader spectrum to the otherwise poorly defined genre" ([...]

A little more than a week to go before Le Guess Who? festival raises the curtain on an awe-inspiring line up of top tier international acts in Utrecht (NL). That being said, school is already in session as Danish Grammy award winners, Roskilde Orange Stage legends and flat-our sample wizards Den Sorte Skole serve up a mind-melting one-hour mixtape just ahead of their very own festival appearance. And here's what they had to say:

"Le Guess Who is like this [...]

Blame it on the picture perfect weather, but in our honest opinion, pretty much everything about the long-standing Orchestre Les Mangelepa's live appearance at this year's Wassermusik X festival was on point, from the glorious open air location on the spacious terrace of Berlin's iconic Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW, or 'pregnant oyster' as the locals call the structure) to the leisurely performance by one of the oldest, all-time great East African big bands. [...]

Broadcasting "from a lonely rusted tower in the forest" the enigmatic OMFO (Our Man From Odessa), aka German Popov, is on a self-proclaimed mission to introduce Western audiences to what he calls "the intrinsic modernism of the Orient". A sound artist, musician, electronic music producer and researcher, he transcends musical boundaries, delivering a siren's call to new listening horizons.

Named after German Titov, the second human being to travel space after [...]

It's been a while since we last reported on the 'Swiss Tom Waits' and his band of 'Dead Brothers' and yes, they are still very much alive. As a matter of fact, Alain Croubalian and his band are currently readying a new album and just started a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to make the dead dance once again.

If you were wondering, why death, here's an excerpt from an interview with Alain Croubalian: "I first studied political science, economy and [...]

Just because you've never heard of them, doesn't mean they're not out there doing their musical thing. Though it has been 11 years since one of Brazil's most influential and commercially succesfull hiphop combos last performed live in Berlin, we'll give you that. In any case, Marcelo D2 & Samba Drive (Mauro Berman, Lourenço Monteiro and Pablo Lapidusas) have not only brought samba back into the lives of an entire generation of young Brazilians, they also [...]

It's back to the Middle East, where Tel Aviv-based imprint Fortuna Records has not so silently been making a name for itself with a host of mind-blowing reissues. Latest in their repertoire of musical excavations is "Da'asa", a compilation of rare Yemenite Israeli Funk tracks 1974-1982.

"Ranging from extremely rare to previously unreleased, these tracks are a result of a unique scene [of Yemenite immigrants to Israel] which blended funk, soul, jazz & disco [...]

We already reported on the Selda Bağcan X Boom Pam collab around the same time last year, following their spot-on performance in Berlin. Now Red Bull brought them to Istanbul, where they played a one-hour live set at Zorlu Center. Selda Bağcan joins Boom Pam after a psychedelic introductory medley about ten minutes into the video and opens with her hit song "Yaz Gazetici Yaz". Watch the full show here.

We first chanced upon Egyptian/Australian singer/songwriter Mariam Sawires at a gig in Berlin on a cold day back in April and were absolutely blown away by one, this young lady's poise and then, if not simultaneously, by her gorgeous musicality and silky vocals to go along. You can imagine our delight with her recently released debut EP "Ahnuma", which we strongly recommend you lend an ear to. 

"My life has allowed me to experience many different cultures, [...]

So, as our Jewish Monkeys prepare for their last tour stop in Reutlingen tonight, we thought, why not share a recent episode of the new, online game show #Slanguage, where people are invited to see if they can guess the meanings of a certain jargon. The show at hand features an African American couple trying to guess Yiddish words brought into play by David Light and the result is hilarious. Watch the 'Jewish Slang' episode here, see if you know the meanings [...]

Gili Yalo has a story to tell. The native to Ethiopa fled to neighbouring refugee camps in Sudan and arrived in Israel as part of 'Operation Moses', a "covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984". Now he is set to launch his solo career. His soon-to-be-released self-entitled debut album on Jaffa-based Dead Sea Recordings contains a rich blend of traditional Ethiopian elements with modern soul, funk, psychedelic and jazz [...]