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Artist
Kasai Allstars
12+ albums
congoafricanafricaWorld Musicafrobeat
about
Kasai Allstars is a collective revolving around 25 musicians, all based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The collective was formed by members of the following five bands: Lusombe Madimba, Tandjolo, Dibua Dietu, Basokin, and Masanka Sankayi. Its members originate from five different ethnic groups: the Luba, the Songye, the Lulua, the Tetela and the Luntu. Some of these groups have endured conflicting relationships over the centuries, they each have their own culture, their own language and their own musical traditions, which were always thought to be incompatible until these musicians decided to pool their resources and form a "superband". Kasai Allstars' music is powerful and sophisticated, driving and raw. It blends acoustic instruments with electric guitars, distortion-laden thumb pianos (with DIY amplification) and soulful vocals. Compared to Konono N°1 (whose minimal and effective sound has been massively adopted by the international electronica, world music and alternative rock scenes), Kasai Allstars use a broader array of instruments & textures, and wilder, more complex polyrhythms. They often sound like some kind of retro-futurist primeval rock band ("This is rock sucked back to the continent of its birth to be granted a glorious resurrection", wrote UK magazine The Word.) They draw their songs from festive and ritual music played in the bush before being banned by the Europeans, who considered the highly erotic dances and the pagan trance ceremonies
top songs
albums
Beware The Fetish
In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic
Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound
In the 7th Moon, the Cheif Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic
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Congotronics 2
Around Félicité
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It's A Crammed, Crammed World
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Kasai Allstars
in the 7th moon, the chief turned into a swimming fish and ate the head of his enemy by magic (Congotronics 3)
Beware The Fetish (Congotronics 5)
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Congotronics 2 - Buzz'n'rumble from the Urb'n'jungle
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Félicité (Remixes)