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June 2008

Barcelona, Spain

Sonar looks to Africa for inspiration

Western electronic music is in risk of dying a slow, desperate death, buried in its own culture. The

scene is looking for some inspiration. The sounds of the synthesiser, as diverse and significant as

they are, seem to be limited and new technologies, mainly home-made, continually need to be

added. Listeners and revellers today need something more than the samples of past TV shows

and video games. We need new sounds. But what do you do when those new ideas and new

technologies are all coming from the same place? What do you do when those ideas are all

culturally infused with the same history and the ideas end up not being all that diverse? You look

to Africa and the developing world.

Organisers of Sonar, an annual festival of digital media and electronic music held in Barcelona

last week recognises this desire and for the first time in their 15 year history invited African artists

directly to hold the stage on their own in a kind of tip of the hat to their growing influence in the

sounds now permeating our dance floors and MP3 players.

As a festival constantly looking for the new, the fresh and the happening, it seems Africa is the

chosen origin for the inspiration that electronic music is looking for. Javier Blnquez, journalist

and music critic, and one of the organisers of Sonar believes there are significant reasons for

African sounds finding their way onto European dance floors. Cultural roots and untapped culture

are slamming into new technologies. As music producers in developing countries wash up

against the shores of technological innovation from their apparent drifting in underdevelopment,

we are being introduced to a wealth of sounds, ideas and new ways to boogie. As the technology

for these musicians becomes cheaper and easier to access, it is enabling them to create things

they could never have done before, says Blnquez. And not only that, other parallel technologies

they have growing access to, such as the internet, introduces them to an audience they would

never have had otherwise. It is the technology that makes this music possible in so many ways.

Konono No.1, an outfit from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, formed by Mawangu

Mingiedi, have been making music for over 25 years through the use of a sanza or thumb piano,

and various other instruments, mainly salvaged from old car parts and junk yards plugged into an

amplifier. But only now, as the group has sufficient access to technology and exposure can they

catch up to their European peers to be recognised and heard. It was only in 2005 when they

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released their album Congotronics and since then they have influenced and played with artists

such as Bjork.

Developing nations are emerging in many such areas and the European market is finding new

sounds and in turn spurning on new musical ideas. When asked where his influences come from,

Mingiedi replies, I didn't know there was such a thing as electronic music. I don't borrow from

anyone. And that is exactly the kind of untainted, raw sound the electronic music enthusiasts are

looking for.

Take Ricardo Villalobos, a techno producer that was born in Chile but made huge success with

experiments in rhythm with congas and bongos along with thumping techno beats in the huge

dance scene in Berlin. It is unlikely that a guy born and raised solely in Berlin would have made

that connection between two sounds coming from such different places, says Heiko Hoffmann,

editor of Berlin based, Groove magazine. But techno, a genre declared dead a number of timesby music critics has borrowed heavily from such influences and is making a strong comeback. To

produce a sound like that, you need diverse roots. And the electronic music industry is finding

that producers with more eclectic roots are coming to dominate the scene as they make some of

the most interesting music made in such an unexpected way.

Sonar also invited Angola outfit, Buraka Som Sistema. They began making music together in their

teens. The members draw influences from the music of their youth and culture and fuse that with

inspiration taken from genres as diverse as techno, drum and bass, hip hop and stomping dance

music. Mix all that up with kudoro, Angolan dance music, and you have some fresh new ideas

that couldnt possibly come from Europe. Their success the group nabbed the single of the year

from Fact magazine and were finalists in MTVs New Sound of Europe competition has added

to the idea that the epicentre of music is shifting out of major Western cities such as London or

New York and producers are sitting up to take notice. Africa is coming out guns blazing and they

arent waiting for any major label or recognition to do it.

Mary Anne Hobbs, experimental music radio DJ for BBC Radio 1, who introduced dubstep a

sound that has inherited a structure similar to that used in drum and bass and UK garage - said

that the need to conform to record label expectations has largely been squashed. Community is

all you need these days support of a network. MySpace (a social networking site used by many

music producers to make their music easily accessible to a large audience) has reduced the

degree of separation to zero. And that kind of networking ability allows for all kinds of

spontaneous things to happen.

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Sonar tipped its hat to Africa and other developing nations this year in recognition to their growing

influence in all areas of electronic music. Their unique musical backgrounds and possible lack of

exposure to what is already accepted in the European scene allow for a level of essential naivety

in experimentation and sound mixing that is just not happening in Europe or the United States.

However, being from Africa obviously doesnt bring immediate success in any way, sometimes

you cant even leave your country. Congolese outfit, Konono No.1 was ultimately denied entry

into Spain and didnt perform at Sonar this year. Clearly, being unique doesnt mean access. Now

if only we could find a sound that overcomes politics.