Just A Band
If you haven't had the chance to listen to the 18-track Nairobi-Berlin collaborative dance-dubstep-hip-hop album BLNRB: Welcome To The Madhouse, do so now. It's Kenyan dance/pop/hip-hop/electronica as you probably haven't heard it before, and for something initiated by the Goethe Institut in Nairobi it's remarkably progressive.
The artists involved may have dubbed the Nairobi townhouse they all shared during the making of the album the "madhouse", but that belies the evident care and attention that went into making each track work. That's not to say they're all brilliant, but each definitely has something interesting to offer and some really stand out.
The same can be said for the videos; the first two, released a few weeks ago, exhibited a level of care similar to that brought to the music itself, and the latest two suggest music fans might be in for a treat over the next few of months if the intention is to release videos for all 18 tracks.
The very latest (above) was written and directed by the self-taught Kenyan director/animator Mũchiri Bobb of Studio Ang. There's a good chance this is the first time many will be hearing this guy's name, but what a way to announce yourself to the world!
Shot for the brooding track Kibera Benga (Kichwateli), by one of the most creative and internationally-attuned outfits to have emerged from Kenya's music scene in the last decade, the super-nerdy multi-genre-multi-disciplinary band/art collective Just A Band, Berlin breakbeat duo Modeselektor and Nairobi art group Maasai Mbili, the video is an "Afro-Sci-fi music-mentary" that looks like a metaphor for the way we are now all plugged into the same images of global anxiety while at the same time being ourselves subjects of scrutiny of the all-seeing ubiquitous cameras.
The other video, shot by Kenyan-German photographer and filmmaker Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann (check out some of her photographic work at drinkthirstyfish), is admittedly less dramatic, but the quick cuts perfectly match the propulsive rock beat of the track Room For Me, another Just A Band contribution, this time with Lisa Oduor Noah and dubstep-grime-electronica trio Jahcoozi. And the track itself is a tad more interesting than Kibera Benga.
More please!
Listen out for tracks from BLNRB: Welcome To The Madhouse on This Is Africa hit radio.
The album is available at Out | Here, Amazon and iTunes.
