Fascinated by the complex rhythms of West African Mbalax dance music, Berlin’s techno legend Mark Ernestus (Basic Channel, Maurizio) travelled to Senegal, where he met a few of the most important protagonists of the scene. What started for Ernestus with YouTube clips and tape cassettes, led to a musical collaboration with them, followed by a Griot clan of Sabar drummers and an illustrious crowd of guests including numerous well-known Senegalese musicians. The result is a synthesis of techno and Mbalax: Marimba synthesisers, repetitive drum beats and complex rhythms. And, at the centre, a chanteuse Mbene Diatta Seck singing in Wolof, Senegal’s most popular language, accompanied by six musicians and a dancer.
Neue Heimat