Staff Benda Bilili Tour Cancelled
We have been informed that the upcoming March/April tour by Staff Benda Bilili has sadly been cancelled.Due to differences of opinion, two of the members have just left the band. Staff Benda Bilili's management and European agent felt that, under the circumstances, they couldn't guarantee that the tour would run smoothly, and have taken the decision to cancel. We will certainly keep you updated on the next developments.
Nous venons d'apprendre que la prochaine tournée de Staff Benda Bilili (qui devait se dérouler en mars/avril) vient d'être annulée. Nous en sommes désolés. En raison de divergences diverses, deux des membres du groupe ont décidé de le quitter. Le management et l'agent de Staff Benda Bilili ont dès lors estimé qu'ils ne pouvaient pas garantir le bon déroulement de la tournée prévue, et ont pris la décision d'annuler. Nous ne manquerons pas de vous tenir informés de la suite des événements.
SKIP&DIE & DakhaBrakha: 2 sensational new bands at Eurosonic-Noorderslag
Eurosonic-Noorderslag, Europe’s main showcase festival for European music, will host two fresh new acts from Crammed Discs: SKIP&DIE & DakhaBrakha.Taking stages by storm and making the dancefloor shake, SKIP&DIE has created a frenzy of media attention since their disc was released last October. They will have a number of appearances in and about the festival:
Jan 10 EUROSONIC | Huize Maas 23:45 - 00:30
Jan 12 NOORDERSLAG | Foyer Grote Zaal 02:30 - 03:15
And we are pleased to announce a new partnership with DakhaBrakha, the phenomenal Ukranian outfit which created a sensation at Womex 2012 with its own brand of what they call "ethnic chaos", i.e. traditional Ukrainian music revisited with a quasi-psychedelic folk punk attitude
Jan 11 EUROSONIC | Forum Images 00:15 - 01:00
SKIP&DIE set alight European stages
After a smashing start, the "Riots in the Jungle" release tour is making heads shake and feet step to the unmistakable sound of SKIP&DIE. Don't take our word for it: here's live footage from the recent Amsterdam Dance Event.Taking crowds by storm across Europe, the wild rhythms and stunning moves of SKIP&DIE are making waves at each concert they play.
Do not miss the excitement and energy of SKIP&DIE when they play in your city:
SKIP&DIE Fall 2012 TOUR DATES:
14/11 BE Brussels Beursschouwburg
16/11 NL Rotterdam Buma Rotterdam Beats
22/11 GB London Cargo
29/11 BE Antwerpen Trix
01/12 DK Copenhagen Global
08/12 FR Rennes Trans Musicales / Hall 4
13/12 DE Berlin Kantine Berghain
14/12 DE Hamburg Uebel & Gefahrlich
15/12 DE Munich Muffathalle
16/12 DE Cologne Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
Amatorski & Crammed join forces
Crammed Discs are delighted to welcome Amatorski, one of the most fascinating and promising bands around.Amatorski (whose name means "amateur" in Polish) were described as "the best Belgian act around at the moment" by The Guardian (UK), while French mag Les Inrockuptibles compared their "absolutely delicious atmospheric pop" to the music of Sufjan Stevens, Portishead and Sparklehorse, and raved about their recent show at the Reeperbahn Festival, "extremely classy... refined, delicate, melodic, subtle: the most beautiful concert of the evening".
More news soon!
Shaking the other side of the globe, Staff Benda Billi continue to "Make the World Shake" on their first North American tour!
Rumba-rock artists Staff Benda Bilili take their positive sounds and endless energy to cities across the continent, including an incredible show at El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles (pictured above). Click for dates...Here's a report on their spectacular New York concert:
"Afropop -and an intensely appreciative New York audience- was lucky enough to watch Staff Benda Bilili play a truly phenomenal show, decisively proving that they have richly deserved every ounce of the plaudits that they’ve received over the last several years.
Staff Benda Bilili are simply one of the best bands to come out of the DRC in years. No explanation required."
(Afropop International)
Make sure not to miss them on this exclusive tour!
Upcoming dates :
25/10/2012 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SLIMS
27/10/2012 SEATTLE, WA - TOWN HALL
28/10/2012 VANCOUVER, BC - 560 CLUB
30/10/2012 ASHEVILLE, NC - UNC ASHEVILLE / LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM
ZITA SWOON GROUP has released a stunning new video, "A Sera, A Waara", to celebrate their Fall 2012 European Tour.
"A Sera, A Waara" tells the story the difficulties of a broken heart, but offers hope through the moving energetic scenes in a baroque caravan.The group is on the road this Fall with the magic of their highly acclaimed disc "Wait For Me", the meeting of Stef Kamil Carlens and his Belgian collective Zita Swoon Group with Burkinabe vocalist Awa Démé and balafon player Mamadou Diabaté Kibié. Their sound is a mixture of raw acoustic blues, folk and the traditional Mandingo music from West-Africa. Awa Démé sings in Bambara, Stef Kamil Carlens in English and French.
"An original, thought-provoking excursion" (Uncut, UK)
"A powerful, refined and mischievous album and live show" (Vibrations, FR)
"Inventive and sparkling" (Télérama, FR)
"A shamanic experience... the great return of Stef Kamil Carlens, a modern-day hero" (Magic, FR)
"Zita Swoon Group tear up the rule book... great stuff" (New Internationalist, UK)
"This is exactly what the album is; a struggle to marry distinct elements (and not just musical ones, but social and cultural ones as well) that overwhelmingly succeeds and triumphs in doing so. 8/10" (Pop Matters, US)
“In one sentence: A concert that, despite the often serious content of the songs, burst with vitality and joy of life and confirmed that music bridges all cultural and verbal gaps.” (Knack Focus, BE)
“A concert like a sunrise.” (De Morgen, BE)
Don't miss this unique concerts series coming to a town near you:
25/10 NL Enschede Atak
31/10 NL Amsterdam Paradiso
01/11 NL Den Haag Paard Van Troye
02/11 NL Groningen Vera
03/11 NL Dordrecht Bibelot
04/11 NL Deventer Burgerweeshuis
16/11 FR Massy Paul B
17/11 BE Marche Maison de la Culture Famenne-Ardenne
18/11 BE Brussels Cinematek
But it doesn't stop there!
There are some dates already announced for 2013:
15/02 BE Strombeek CC Strombeek
16/02 BE Ath Maison Culturelle d Ath
22/02 BE Louvain-La-Neuve Ferme Du Biereau
27/02 BE Antwerpen De Roma
Maïa Vidal nominated for the UK Music Video Awards 2012 next to Lana Del Rey, Rihanna & Justice
Maïa Vidal's dreamy, mysterious video reinterpretation of her single "Follow Me", in the running for the "Best Pop Video – International" awardThe UK Music Video awards site has announced the final nominees for the "Best Pop Video – International" award, and Crammed Discs' Maïa Vidal is one of the 4 nominees for the "Best Pop Video – International" award!
This enticing video for her single "Follow Me", shot near Barcelona and directed by Joana Colomar, turns the script originally depicted in the lyrics into a dream-like parable, loosely inspired by one of the Brothers Grimm tales.
With a number of high profile international concerts and placement of her music in ads for such brands as Desigual and Ikea, Maïa is winning many ears over to her unique sound.
Maïa is still sharing the magic of her live show in Europe this fall. See the dates here.
Cumbia rockers La Chiva Gantiva's fun new video "Apretao"...
…shows them pursuing shamans, wrestlers and tennis players in search of new stage outfits.Apretao conveys the playfulness and energy of the band's celebrated album & live show. We follow bandleader Rafael Espinel as he wanders in the city and meets a bunch of strange characters, before sharing his sartorial finds with the band and launching into a final, dishevelled jam.
La Chiva Gantiva's performance at the River of Music Festival during the London Olympics was described by The Times as one of the high points of the event:
"For sheer rabble-rousing lust for life, La Chiva Gantiva took first prize. A multicultural group of mostly Colombian exiles based in Brussels, they produced a frenetic carnival-punk racket that detonated like a Molotov cocktail of rock, rap, soul and ferociously funky Latin rhythms. Whippet-thin and explosively hairy, their livewire singer Rafael Espinel electrified the sun-weary crowd with his irrepressible energy and charisma",
while Uncut (UK) wrote about their debut album "Pelao":
"It seems a fair guess that Joe Strummer would have loved La Chiva Gantiva. A joyous ramshackle racket that interweaves clattery Latin rhythms with dishevelled funk, rock and jazz elements in a similarly frenetic style to other deracinated roots-punk acts like Gogol Bordello or Manu Chao. This lively debut is awash with bone-shaking carnival punk-funk grooves",
and London mag Monocle said:
"Kaboom! Tish! There's a lot going on in this hot-blooded mess that features a UN-tastic personnel. Restless, arresting, addictive"
The French press has been just as enthusiastic:
"Une bombe incendiaire de groove latino" (Libération)
"Fusion déjantée de traditions afro-colombiennes (porro, cumbia), de funk et d'énergie rock, ce groupe bruxellois multi-ethnique (trois Colombiens, trois Européens et un Vietnamien) réveille les articulations du Vieux-Continent. Façon pogo plutôt que danse de salon" (Vibrations)
and MTV Iggy's just published an article on the band, in which they describe La Chiva Gantiva as "one of the dopest new Colombian bands around" !!!
Don't miss their upcoming shows!
STAFF BENDA BILILI : Behind the Scenes
Staff Benda Bilili Get ready to "make the world shake" by sharing with us scenes from the creation of their new album "Bouger le Monde !" WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!
Set to the new single "Osali Mabe" & filmed in Kinshasa at Ricky's house and at the historic Renapec studio, this new video gives us a look into their daily lives: rehearsals, friends, and the work involved with the creation of this new album to be released on September 3rd.
Don't miss their explosive live show near you , including their first tour in the States!
SKIP&DIE: New Crammed Artist, New Single
SKIP&DIE, the sensational new genre-blending band, formed by South African vocalist / visual artist Catarina Aimée Dahms (aka Cata.Pirata) and Dutch producer Jori Collignon (C-Mon & Kypski, Nobody Beats The Drum), have unveiled 'LOVE JIHAD', the first new track from their upcoming debut album 'Riots in the Jungle'.Entitled "Riots in the Jungle", the album was written by Cata.Pirata and Crypto.Jori
while traveling through South Africa’s Soweto, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Guguletu, collaborating along the way with some of SA’s most inspiring music-makers on the rise. The album portrays their experience of blazing sun, dusty roads, township shacks, cockroaches, riots, skulls, bones and lovebirds.
It contains songs in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Spanish and Portuguese.
Catch this energy live !
SKIP&DIE SHOWS
16/6 Festival Mundial, Tilburg
1/7 Metropolis, Rotterdam
6/7 PITCH, Amsterdam
7/7 Burgerweeshuis, Deventer
13/7 Stekkerfest, Utrecht
14/7 Dijkpop, Andijk
22/7 Milkshake, Amsterdam
28/7 Jam de la Creme, Scheveningen
"Riots in the Jungle" will be coming out in October 2012 on Crammed Discs.