Radioclit Afro electro
Radioclit wordt steeds bekender, zowel als remixers/DJs (met hun populaire Secousse club nachten in Londen en Parijs) en als tweederde deel van de vaak geprezen Afro-elektronische band The Very Best. Voor deze compilatie hebben ze zelf hun favoriete tracks uitgekozen uit het grote aanbod van populaire elektronische dance, die over het hele Afrikaanse continent werd geproduceerd, van Angola tot Zuid-Afrika, van Ivoorkust tot Sierra Leone. Etienne Tron, de Franse helft van het duo, naast zijn Zweedse kompaan Johan Hugo, vertelt ons het verhaal van Club Secousse en hoe de Radioclit sound werd geboren...
"We launched our club night Secousse in 2008 with a simple challenge in mind: to bring people together and promote worldwide ghetto culture. It felt like nightlife was getting more and more segregated everywhere we went, with less and less connections between the Afro scene, the gay scene, the hipsters... Mainstream music culture was becoming an oppressive and stagnant machine, dance music was stuck and our interest in hip hop was quickly fading out. We were thirsty for exotic sounds, and started exploring as many local ghetto scenes as we could. The discoveries were endless: Native American Indian Pow Wow music, Brazilian funk, Syrian Dabke, Funana from Cabo Verde, Congolese Soukous, Coupe Decale out of Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone's Bubu music, Kuduro from Angola, UK's grime, dubstep and funky house scene, DJs and producers from South Africa's Durban and Pretoria, Columbian Afro-cumbia scene, Soca and Merengue from the Caribbean islands, Chicago's Juke, Houston's Screwed and Chopped music, Baltimore club beat, Tsonga Disco and Shangaan tribal sounds ... Our DJ sets became a picture of that insane neverending trip, jumping from one continent to another, one era to the next, bringing together superstars and unknown talents from the past, present and future in a glorious and chaotic way. We felt very much part of a new generation of kids jumping on that global culture bandwagon, iPods running on shuffle mode all day every day.
All the tracks on this compilation have won their title of 'Secousse club anthem' by getting played again and again in London, Paris, New York, Stockholm, São Paulo, Moscow and everywhere else we travelled to. They never failed to get people moving. They represent everything we love about ghetto culture: the ability to create something with nothing, the energy, the positivity... who said it was all about crime, drugs and violence???"
"The Sound Of Club Secousse" track-by-track (beschrijving door Etienne/Radioclit)
1. Bab Lee 'Sous les cocotiers' (Ivory Coast)
One of the biggest instrumental anthems of the whole Coupé Décalé movement, this track has been rinsed in bars clubs and house parties all over West Africa for the last few years.
2. Batida feat. Bras Firmino 'Nufeko Disole' (Portugal/ Angola)
A great new band based in Lisbon and blending influences from all Portuguese-speaking African countries like Angola and Cape Verde.
3. The Very Best feat. Mo Laudi 'Angonde' (Remix) (Malawi / South Africa / Sweden)
Since this compilation is all about what we play at Secousse, it felt logical to feature one of Radioclit's own productions, featuring Malawi's biggest export since the beginning of times, Esau Mwamwaya, and his South African hypeman Mo Laudi.
4. Janka Nabay 'To Ma Ya' (Sierra Leone)
The original creator of bubu music in the nineties. A living legend in Sierra Leone now exiled in NYC who is enjoying a big career revival after struggling for a decade working in a chicken shop in the Philadelphia suburbs. This song was recorded in the middle of a civil war. Ghetto music at its best.
5. Lutchiana 'Eki Bis' (Congo)
Congolese soukous music of the purest kind, from the nineties. Who is this guy? Where is he now? Who knows.
6. Luky Gomes 'Zézé e Toto' (Remix) (Angola)
A good example of a solid kuduro track from a few years ago, when the sound was a bit more musical and less crazy hardcore than these days.
7. Magic System 'Petit Pompier' (Ivory Coast)
Straight from Ivory Coast, the giants of Coupe Decale, famous all over the world for their first hit 'Premier Gaou' and tons of others after. They can fill up stadiums and are always number one in the charts in France. This little-known track is from a few years ago and was never properly released as a single, but when played in a club it always devastates the dancefloor.
8. DJ Serpent Noir 'La Go Attoto' (Ivory Coast)
Anaconda DJ Serpent Noir : he looks like a snake, on the mic he spits like a snake, and on the decks he's a king... a massively underrated ghetto talent.
9. Puto Prata 'Zuata Zuata' (Angola)
Classic tune from one of the biggest names of the infamous kuduro scene from Luanda, Angola.
10. Jusa Dementor 'African Air Horn Dance' (Zimbabwe)
A new talent out of Zimbabwe who is making waves in England these days. Taking that big UK funky sound and spicing it up with afro-tribal vibes.
11. DJ Vielo, DJ Anielson And Patcho Debenq 'Decale Mon Afrique' (Cabo Verde / France)
Inspired by Angolan kuduro, a track created by three of the most in-demand DJs in the French Afro-club scene
12. Naty Kid 'Sereia' (Cabo Verde)
This is a great example of funana, an insane traditional party music out of Capo Verde that heavily features accordions on top of uptempo beats. It sounds like small village riot music for older generations... definitely one of the most bonkers song we've ever heard.
13. Ize 'Tronku Di Mundo' (Cabo Verde / France)
A new talent from the French / Cape Verde scene, with a track that draws from Angolan kuduro and Cape Verde's funana.
14. Tshetsha Boys feat. Vuyelwa 'Mosemana Wa Dikgomo' (South Africa)
More traditional tsonga disco or shangaan disco is represented on the compilation by the great Thomas Chauke, who pretty much invented and ruled the genre for decades. This is the sound of the new school, now refered to as shangaan electro. Look at the recent compilation on Honest Jons.
15. Kaysha feat. Anofela & Top One Frisson 'On est ensemble' (Congo)
Kaysha has a big following in the zouk scene, and is especially popular with the ladies for his syrupy love tracks. Once in a while, however, he gets busy with creating monstrous afro-rave anthems like this one.
16. Thomas Chauke 'Xipereta' (South Africa)
A Grammy Award winner and true giant of South African music, Thomas Chauke has made records involving all his family members since the eighties, and has released around 30 records, most of which have gone platinum. A true pioneer of that shangaan disco sound, sometimes also know as ‘tsonga'.
17. Skeat 'Dumelang' (Botswana)
An up-and-coming artist from South Africa who just released his first album on Akwaaba Music. This was the underground hit that got him signed.
