Cibelle's massive installation for Melissa Shoes

Cibelle has been asked by Melissa, the well-known Brazilian shoe brand, to collaborate on a special limited edition shoe called Sapato Azul ("Blue Shoe"), after Cibelle's song from her last album "Las Venus Resort Palace Hotel".
Cibelle has shot a wild video and prepared a huge installation for the Melissa art gallery in São Paulo, to be launched on October 19th in São Paulo!

The installation will give life to some of the imaginary "Products For A Better Life" created by Cibelle's doppelganger Sonja Khalecallon, in the parallel universe of the Las Venus Resort Palace Hotel… 
 
(as scifi novelist Bruce Sterling recently wrote on the WIRED blog: "When you’re a diva like Cibelle, and you’ve got a scifi nutcase apocalyptic diva as your avatar, man, that sure fertilizes your eccentricity. It’s like Bowie doing Ziggy Stardust.").

Here's a shot from the video (to be viewed here soon):

"BENDA BILILI", the feature film about STAFF BENDA BILILI, out in cinemas now!

In France and several European countries!

After the amazing success encountered at the Cannes Film Festival, the film "BENDA BILILI", by Renaud Barret & Florent de la Tullaye, is officially released in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and soon in Belgium and Greece.

So far, the media's response is fantastic!  

UK and Germany will release the film in Spring 2011, when Staff Benda Bilili will be back on tour in Europe.

Staff Benda Bilili are catching a bit of rest with their families back in Kinshasa, and are getting ready for an extensive tour of Japan starting September 25th!

More news on these exciting events soon!

Pitchfork announces: MEGAFAUN does LOMAX at DUKE

Americana-folk warriors MEGAFAUN, have been chosen to curate, perform, and record songs/interpretations of Alan Lomax's classic recordings "Songs of the South" at Duke University this September.

Invited guests feature Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and jazz big band Fight the Big Bull, more details are posted here on Pitchfork.

MEGAFAUN are currently supporting their new mini-album Heretofore.

They wrap up their European tour with three dates in the Netherlands and two in England: Concert details here !

Their appearance at Green Man (including a duet with Tallest Man On Earth, which can be seen here ) is rumoured to have been one of the highlights of the festival.

Congotronics Vinyl Box Set has arrived !

This strictly limited edition contains 7 vinyls (incl. the new Konono) and downloads of all Congotronics albums





We have decided to create this extravagant Congotronics package, containing vinyl versions of the albums by all the Congolese artists featured so far in the Congotronics series.

The box set includes 6 vinyl LPs, 1 vinyl 7", a re-usable Congotronics USB pen drive with videos & mp3s and a book. It is available exclusively from the Crammed store.

More details on the contents of the box:

- Konono No 1: "Congotronics" (1x vinyl LP)

- "Congotronics 2 /Buzz'n'Rumble From The Urb'n'Jungle" feat. five different Kinshasa bands: Sobanza Mimanisa, Kisanzi Kongo, Basokin, Masanka Sankayi and Kasai Allstars (1x vinyl LP)

- Kasai Allstars: "In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic" (1x vinyl LP)

- Staff Benda Bilili : "Très Très Fort" (1x vinyl LP)

- The brand-new Konono No 1: "Assume Crash Position" (2x vinyl LP)

- a Congotronics book with exclusive photos from Kinshasa, Congo.

- a customized, re-usable 2Gb USB pen drive containing 9 videos, and mp3s (in 320 kbps) of all 5 albums.

- a 7" with 2 exclusive tracks:
 "Coupe-Jarret" by Kasai Allstars + Akron/Family
 "Bana Mbende" by Kasai Allstars

Each vinyl LP (180 gr) comes in an original sleeve, and an inner sleeve of a different colour, reproducing the Congotronics fabric which will be on the box (with a design resembling that of the fabrics used for dresses & robes in the Congo, based on the Congotronics logo).

This is a strictly limited pressing, orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis.

Pre-order + more details here

Shantel rocks Montreux, delights Prince & Quincy Jones!

Exciting news from our man on the spot at Shantel's recent show at the Montreux Jazz Festival

Axel Krygier: a new kid on the Crammed block

The multi-talented artist is a central figure in the alternative music scene in Argentina, where he's considered as a modern-day Renaissance man:
Axel Krygier has ran the gamut from playing in rock bands, writing scores for acclaimed playwrights, and being a forerunner of the digital cumbia scene… After two acclaimed albums in his own country, "Pesebre" — out on Crammed in September — will be his first international release.

"Axel Krygier's unique sound —a mash-up of jazz, rock, electronica, cumbia, Argentinian folklore and experimental music — makes it easy to succumb to such tempting descriptions as "Atahualpa Yupanqui meets Thelonious Monk, performed by Frank Zappa and remixed by Diplo", but the brush that this composer paints with is even broader than that" (Global Rhythm, US)

ALLÀ at Pitchfork Music Festival

New MEGAFAUN Mini-Album on the way

Gather foam and Fly

The photo says it all !
In dramatic news that has sent tremors through the world of follically-enhanced American guitar music, Phil Cook from Megafaun has shaven his beard off.

In a band statement Megafaun have issued a rallying cry to fans, sales reps and PRs across the world left bemused and shaken by the band's unprecedented stylistic shift: "We can no longer be defined as "beard-folk", the statement reads. "From here on out, we will go by "folk-rock".

Pictoral evidence has emerged, which you can study for yourself above. However we call upon eye witnesses to confirm this by attending one of Megafaun's forthcoming summer shows in Europe (by which time, of course, he may have grown it back again)