V/A Anthology Of Contemporary Music From Africa Continent (CD Album – Unexplained Sounds Group)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, abstract, dark-ambient, minimal-electro, industrial.
Background/Info: Italian label Unexplained Sounds Group has already taken us away on different ‘cultural’ trips to let us discover distant and unknown underground scenes. It’s now time for the African continent. The album features 10 artists and 14 tracks from this continent.
Artists: FRKTL, Abdellah M. Hassak, Ahmed Salleh, Victor Gama, Eryck Abecassis, Healer Oran, Mehdi Halib, In_o, Nur, 1§ÅdØrÅ dµ§+m1+(∑) jµnk, AMET.
Content: I honestly didn’t know what to expect, except some typical African rhythms and ritual passages. You’ll hear it on a few cuts, but globally speaking this compilation sounds pretty familiar. If the Western culture has been influenced by African music (think of the rhythms) I here get the impression it’s also the other way around.
From pure dark-ambient passages to industrial sound treatments to total experimentation to electro-minimalism to sound collages, this ‘anthology’ is really surprising.
+ + + : This compilation truly is a real discovery. It’s not every day I discover a compilation on, which I don’t know even one single artist. But it also is a cultural exchange and a way to discover there’s a real crossover between cultures. The Western music and its modern technology have also infiltrated the African continent. I personally enjoyed the dark industrial-ambient style of Abdellah M. Hassak, the mysterious sphere created by Ahmed Salleh and the pretty minimal composition by Eryck Abecassis.
– – – : I’m not that into the ultra experimental/abstract approach of a few artists who are maybe too much inspired by Western experiments.
Conclusion: Unexplained Sounds Group has probably conceived one of the most original industrial/experimental/ambient underground compilations in history. This new issue is absolutely worthy of examination.
Best bands: Abdellah M. Hassak, Eryck Abecassis, Ahmed Salleh.
Rate: (7).
Label: www.facebook.com/unexplainedsoundsgroup
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