By Christopher Kirkley on January 8, 2019
By Christopher Kirkley on 8 January 2019 in
BLOG
In the film «Oulaya’s Wedding», one is thrown into the middle of a traditional wedding in the Western Sahara. But is the overwhelming proximity to the filmed Sahraoui culture able to bypass exoticism, asks the director and archivist Christopher Kirkley.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 9. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Exotica, Tradition, Voyeurism |
By Maha El Nabawi on November 13, 2018
By Maha El Nabawi on 13 November 2018 in
STORIES
For musicians living and performing abroad, it can be a challenge to avoid being exoticised and framed in an aesthetic prison. The Egyptian Mohamed Abozekry has reconciled the traditional and the avant-garde.
Posted in STORIES, XFEATURED | Tagged Exotica, Tradition |
By Percy Mabandu on October 2, 2018
By Percy Mabandu on 2 October 2018 in
STORIES
Percy Mabandu takes us through a maze of hit music videos to study the genre’s fascination with performed exotica. African clichés or a re-connection with tradition and the past by nostalgic modern taste-makers?
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Othering, Seismographic Sounds, South Africa, Tradition |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on May 15, 2018
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 15 May 2018 in
STORIES
Bishi Bhattacharya and Matthew Hardern have been working together for ten years now. Composer, artist, performer, and club impresario Hardern (aka Glamorre) tells us about the hidden politics and intentions of their project.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Power, Seismographic Sounds, Transnationality |
By Kimberly DaCosta Holton on March 30, 2018
By Kimberly DaCosta Holton on 30 March 2018 in
STORIES
After the 1974 revolution in Portugal, folklore music was still alive — and even more politicized as it caused tension within the different folklore groups. Ethnomusicologist Kimberly DaCosta Holton about the culture of the «ranchos folclóricos».
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Folklore, Seismographic Sounds |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on March 17, 2018
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 17 March 2018 in
STORIES
The Lebanese-Swiss duo Praed experiments with sounds that cultural elites call trash or kitsch. Through Praed’s style, they attack cultural canons within the Arab World, and they present a fresh mix towards Europe. Here is a different take on Exotica.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Othering, Sampling, Seismographic Sounds |
By Oliver Seibt on March 6, 2018
By Oliver Seibt on 6 March 2018 in
STORIES
Ethnomusicologists used to travel to exotic islands to research local music. Today, their fieldtrips lead to scattered urban place. German scholar Oliver Seibt conducted three months of research in the Tokyo visual-kei scene, and stood out of the crowd.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Gender Roles, Seismographic Sounds |
By Gerald Van Waes on February 12, 2018
By Gerald Van Waes on 12 February 2018 in
STORIES
The history of «Exotica» is rich in amazing music, sounds, instruments, and stories. Gerald Van Waes collects these often rare and obscure sounds and writes about them on his blog psychevanhetfolk. For us he wrote a manifesto for exotica.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Music Business, Seismographic Sounds |
By Vladimir Lenhart on January 19, 2018
By Vladimir Lenhart on 19 January 2018 in
AUDIO
The Serbian musician and journalist Vladimir Lenhard, founder of the tape label Lenhart Tapes, has remixed sounds, interviews, videos, and other material from the section of «exotica» from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds.
Posted in AUDIO | Tagged Exotica, Othering, Seismographic Sounds, Seismographic Sounds Mixes |
By Xander Ferreira on December 29, 2017
By Xander Ferreira and Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 29 December 2017 in
STORIES
With his project Gazelle, Xander Ferreira aims to show the diversity of cultures in South Africa, and to translate the political strategies of African dictators to the world of pop music. Ferreira is white, which became an issue.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Appropriation, Conceptual Art, Exotica, Seismographic Sounds |
By FrankJavCee on November 30, 2017
By FrankJavCee on 30 November 2017 in
STORIES
The Internet genres vaporwave and seapunk mix slowed-down 1990s smooth jazz with house music, and cannot live without images of dolphins, palm trees and Greek marble statues. A round up.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Appropriation, Exotica, Post Digital, Seismographic Sounds |
By Johanna Hilari on October 18, 2017
By Johanna Hilari on 18 October 2017 in
VIDEO
«Somos Sur» by Ana Tijoux, featuring Shadia Mansour, is an anti-colonialist statement of autonomy. To underline this, the video clip re-contextualizes two significant folk dances, which historically are linked to both socio-political identification and struggle.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged dance, Exotica, Folklore, Seismographic Sounds |
By Hannes Liechti (Norient) on August 10, 2017
By Hannes Liechti (Norient) on 10 August 2017 in
STORIES
Aniruddha Das understands sampling as a political, yet militant instrument. In the interview he gives insight into his sampling practice and talks about musical exoticism, political meaning, and his use of distortion.
Posted in STORIES, XFEATURED | Tagged Appropriation, Diaspora, Exotica, Migration, Race, Sampling, Sampling Stories |
By Jesse Weaver Shipley on April 15, 2017
By Jesse Weaver Shipley on 15 April 2017 in
VIDEO
The song «BRKN LNGWJZ» and its video announce the FOKN Bois as critical, global, political, and absurdist hip hop voices. It marks the birth of international pidgin rap not only as a style once can dance to, but as a modernist multi-media art form.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged BRKN LNGWJZ, Coz Ov Moni, Exotica, FOKN Bois, Ghana, Hip Hop, Hustling, Jesse Weaver Shipley, M3nsa, Parody, Pidgin, Seismographic Sounds, Smoothe Da Hustler, Wanlov The Kubolor |
By Maame Adjei on April 12, 2017
By Maame Adjei and Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 12 April 2017 in
AUDIO
«It’s like a deformed anger which comes out us», says Wanlov the Kubolor, one half of the Ghanaian rap duo FOKN Bois. With his musical partner M3nsa he talks about their visions and their way of doing art in a religious context.
Posted in AUDIO | Tagged Blasphemy, Exotica, FOKN Bois, Ghana, M3nsa, Maame Adjei, religion, Seismographic Sounds, Seismographic Sounds Podcasts, Thomas Burkhalter, Wanlov The Kubolor, YouTube |
By Wendy Hsu on April 10, 2017
By Wendy Hsu on 10 April 2017 in
ACADEMIC
Taqwacore combines an alternative practice of Islam with a punk ethos, best known through the U.S. band The Kominas. Norient’s 4-part series of Wendy Hsu deals with the band’s experiences as brown-identified, South Asian Americans living in the US.
Posted in ACADEMIC | Tagged Appropriation, Belonging, Exotica, Race |
By Martin Stokes on April 7, 2017
By Martin Stokes and Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 7 April 2017 in
STORIES
What happens to Exotica when unfamiliar sounds are only few mouse-clicks away? Is listening to «foreign» music a private matter or a political activity? An email interview with scholar Martin Stokes.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Anthropology, Barbara Engh, colonialism, Cultural Colonialism, Ethnocentrism, Ethnomusicology, eurocentric, Exotica, Exoticism, Martin Stokes, Music and Politics, Neoliberalism, Orientalism, Othering, Parody, postcolonial, Sampling, satire, Seapunk, Seismographic Sounds, Vaporwave |
By Noko 440 on March 15, 2017
By Noko 440 on 15 March 2017 in
AUDIO
They love to provoke and they love to extravagate. London-based underground musician Bishi Bhattacharya and her musical partner Matthew Hardern talk about their biographies, race, and their common project «Albion Voice».
Posted in AUDIO | Tagged Albion Voice, Bishi, Bishi Bhattacharya, Exotica, Matthew Hardern, Nationalism, Night Club, Noko 440, Norman Fisher-Jones, Race, Seismographic Sounds, Seismographic Sounds Podcasts, Tradition |
By Eric Mandel on December 30, 2016
By Eric Mandel on 30 December 2016 in
BLOG
Aus der Geschichte gelernt: Der Film «A Story of Sahel Sounds» erzählt von einem Labelmacher aus den USA, der Musiker aus Afrika veröffentlicht und Touren organisiert – mit DIY- und Fairtrade-Ethos statt kultureller Ausbeutung.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 8. Norient Musikfilm Festival, A Story of Sahel Sounds, Christopher Kirkley, DIY, Exotica, Fairtrade, Les filles de Illighadad, Mali, Mamman Sani, Mdou Moctar, Race Music, Sahel, Takamba Niamey Denn |
By Dominik Irtenkauf on August 9, 2016
By Dominik Irtenkauf on 9 August 2016 in
STORIES
The death metal band Overthrust from Botswana is a central part of Africas lively metal scene. Their singer Tshomarelo Mosaka about the local scene, breaking taboos and the cathartic effect of listening to metal as watching a horror movie.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Botswana, Death, Death Metal, evil spirits, Exotica, Finland, Heavy Metal, Namibia, Obituary, Overthrust, Saxon, taboo, Zambezi river |
By Nabeel Zuberi on July 4, 2016
By Nabeel Zuberi on 4 July 2016 in
VIDEO
Bishi’s video of «Albion Voice» is reminiscent of the Sex Pistols. She subverts imagery of the national flag while she inserts herself into a pastoral old England to question white Britishness.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged Exotica, Hybridity, Migration, Nation, Seismographic Sounds, Tradition |
By Louise Gray on June 27, 2016
By Louise Gray on 27 June 2016 in
VIDEO
The music of the british artist Bishi Bhattacharya works perfect as a comment on Brexit. In her songs and artwork, she is hijacking and redefining notions of being «british» and claims a multicultural commonwealth.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged colonialism, Exotica, Race, Seismographic Sounds
By Chris Saunders on January 27, 2016
By Chris Saunders on 27 January 2016 in
BLOG
In his photo series for the Norient book and exhibition «Seismographic Sounds», photographer Chris Saunders portrays the vivid and now exploding South African music scene. With Tshetsha Boys, Nozinja, DJ Spoko, DJ Invizable and Spoek Mathambo.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 7. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Bacardi House, Chris Saunders, DJ Invizable, Exotica, Fantasma, Gazelle, Nozinja, Photo Series, Seismographic Sounds, Seismographic Sounds Photo Series, Shangaan Electro, South Africa, Spoke Mathambo, Spoko, Warp Records |
By Ben Verghese on January 25, 2016
By Ben Verghese on 25 January 2016 in
VIDEO
Present day South African artists like Nozinja and Okmalumkoolkat let time and cultures collide, and in mixing languages, slangs, dances and rituals they create new homes. Commentary on the recent music video «Allblackblackcat» by the latter.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged 7. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Afrofuturism, Ben Verghese, BoyznBucks, Chris Saunders, Counter-Culture, Dirty Paraffin, DIY, Dr SpiZee, Exotica, HipHop Pa, Hyperdub, innovation, Internet, Johannesburg, Language, LV, Mzansi, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, OkMalumKoolKat, Prophets of Da City, RSA, science fiction, Seismographic Sounds, Smiso Zwane, South Africa, Tumi Molekane, Utopia, Vanderbijlpark, Vernac, Zulu |
By Atiyyah Khan on December 10, 2015
By Atiyyah Khan on 10 December 2015 in
VIDEO
Rapper Okmalumkoolkat channels his experiences from South Africa into his music with ease. He looks inward, back into the past, and forward to an imaginary future. In his video «Allblackblackkat» he mixes a variety of dreamlike elements.
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged dance, Exotica, music video, Seismographic Sounds, youth culture |
By Julio Mendívil on October 12, 2015
By Julio Mendívil on 12 October 2015 in
STORIES
The Peru-born author performed with folkloric groups on the streets and squares of Germany to earn his living. Here, he discusses amongst others how Andean musicians changed their repertoire to meet German tastes.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Othering, Seismographic Sounds |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on September 9, 2015
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 9 September 2015 in
STORIES
Music, sounds and noises from the Arab World – The Norient Performance is out now! Collected and mixed by the Norient collective. Vinyl and digital.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Activism, Exotica, Lebanon, New Geographies, Othering, War |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on April 18, 2015
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 18 April 2015 in
BLOG
Blank Banshee creates audio-visual works full of samples and exotic images. He is often mentioned as one of the pioneers of Vaporwave. We tried to interview this desktop artist from Vancouver. And we probably failed.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Exotica, Hedonism, Post Digital, Sampling, Seismographic Sounds |
By Jacek Szczepanek on February 24, 2015
By Jacek Szczepanek on 24 February 2015 in
BLOG
First part of a short festival review about Off, a three day long feast for lovers of alternative music, that takes place every year in Katowice in Southern Poland. Our author interviews DakhaBrakha, an ethno band from the Ukraine.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Exotica, Folklore, Othering |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on January 16, 2015
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 16 January 2015 in
BLOG
Freitag, 16. und Samstag, 17. Januar am Norient Musikfilm Festival in St. Gallen und Bern: Islam Chipsy Live! Der Ägypter mit seinem radikalen Sound und einer extravaganten Spieltechnik ist einer der aufregendsten Musiker der Gegenwart.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Cairo, dance, Exotica, Migration |
By Lucia Vasella on January 15, 2015
By Lucia Vasella on 15 January 2015 in
BLOG
18. Januar 2015 am 6. Norient Musikfilm Festival. Der Hörfilm Notes via a soundscape of Bollywood des Schweizer Klangkünstlers Gilles Aubry führt hinter die Kulissen der Filmindustrie von Mumbai und tritt in die Fussstapfen von Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 6. Norient Musikfilm Festival, colonialism, Exotica, Sound |
By Theresa Beyer (Norient) on January 15, 2015
By Theresa Beyer (Norient) on 15 January 2015 in
BLOG
Im Radio hört der Musikforscher Louis Sarno einen Gesang, der ihn nicht mehr loslässt. Er folgt ihm in den zentralafrikanischen Regenwald – und bleibt für immer. Zu sehen am 15. und am 18. Januar 2015 am 6. Norient Musikfilm Festival 2015 Bern.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 6. Norient Musikfilm Festival, alienation, Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Tradition |
By Theresa Beyer (Norient) on April 11, 2014
By Theresa Beyer (Norient) on 11 April 2014 in
BLOG
Vor 20 Jahren boomte der Weltmusik-Markt: Westliche Hörerinnen und Hörer sehnten sich nach einer unverdorbenen, exotischen Musik. Doch dank des Internets gehen heute neue Musik-Welten auf. Eine Chance, die Karten neu zu mischen.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Exotica, Hybridity, New Geographies, Othering |
By Phil Battiekh on January 8, 2014
By Phil Battiekh on 8 January 2014 in
BLOG
The swiss DJ Phil Battiekh is one of the first to import Electro-Sha3by/Shaaby/ Chaabi/Sha3byton from Egypt to Europe. In his essay he reflects about its occidental perception, fictitious causalities by the medias and young narratives.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged 5. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Cairo, Exotica, Othering, Sonic Traces: From Switzerland |
By Michael Spahr (Norient) on September 14, 2013
By Michael Spahr (Norient) and Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 14 September 2013 in
AUDIO
The Imperial Tiger Orchestra from Geneva play Ethiopian music from the golden 1970s. These days the band released their new album «Wax»
Posted in AUDIO | Tagged Diaspora, Exotica, Sonic Traces: From Switzerland |
By Sandeep Bhagwati on October 7, 2011
By Sandeep Bhagwati on 7 October 2011 in
STORIES
Wer die Weltkarte der Musik betrachtet, sieht, dass die westliche Kunstmusik eine Art Esperanto ist. Ob in Shanghai oder Boston: Überall spielt man Bach und Stockhausen. Das ist schön. Ist es auch gut?
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Colonialsm, CulturalDiplomacy, Exotica, Hybridity, New Geographies, Othering |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on January 27, 2011
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 27 January 2011 in
ACADEMIC
Musiker aus Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika formulieren selbstbewusste nach-koloniale Positionen. Ihre Parodien auf Exotika und der Fokus auf Gewalt zeigen aber: Alte Abhängigkeiten haben weiterhin Bestand.
Posted in ACADEMIC | Tagged Adham Hafez, Avant-Garde, baile funk, baltimore club, beat research, Beatniks, Beirut, Cairo, Charbel Haber, Checkpoint 303, Cumbia, Cynthia Zaven, detroit ghettotech, Die Antwoord, digitalization, Diplo, DJ Rupture, Dossier Arab World, Dossier World Music 2.0, Dubsided, dubstep, Exotica, Favela Chic, Gazelle, Ghislain Poirier, glitch, Global Ghettotech, Globale Nischen, globalization, grime, Halim al-Daph, Hassan Khan, Jagwa, K'Naan, Kode 9, kuduro, kwaito, Luigi Russolo, M.I.A, Mad Decent, Mahmoud Refat, Major Lazer, Man Recordings, Mazen Kerbaj, Music 2.0, Music and Satire, Nortec, Omar Souleyman, Osman Arabi, Out of the Absurdity of Life, Outhere Records, Pastiche, Postkolonialismus, postmodern, Raed Yassin, Ramsi Lehner, reggaeton, Schlachthofbronx, Scrambled Eggs, Secousse, Shangaan, Shangaan Electro, Steve Goodman, Tam Tam Motherland, Tarek Atoui, Tashweesh, Terry Lynn, The Hardcore Continuum, Thementage2012, UK Funky, Veit Erlmann, War, Wayne Marshall, Werner Jauk, Wildlife, World Music 2.0 |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on July 16, 2010
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 16 July 2010 in
STORIES
Die tamilische Sängerin M.I.A. schockt mit ihrem neuen Gewaltvideo. Die Südafrikaner Die Antwoord locken mit Ironie 5 Millionen Besucher auf You-Tube.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Avant-Garde, baile funk, baltimore club, Cumbia, detroit ghettotech, Die Antwoord, digitalization, Diplo, DJ Rupture, Dossier World Music 2.0, dubstep, Exotica, Gazelle, Ghislain Poirier, glitch, Global Ghettotech, globalization, grime, K'Naan, kuduro, M.I.A, Major Lazer, Music 2.0, Music and Satire, Nortec, Omar Souleyman, Postkolonialismus, postmodern, Raed Yassin, reggaeton, Tam Tam Motherland, Tarek Atoui, Terry Lynn, UK Funky, War, Wildlife, World Music 2.0 |
