By Holger Lund on July 31, 2019
By Holger Lund on 31 July 2019 in
STORIES
Colonialism isn’t over, it’s just less visible. As a curator of the label Global Pop First Wave, Holger Lund sees himself entangled in neo-colonial paradoxes. An essay about the westernization of pop music and why its decolonization is inevitable.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged colonialism, Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Music Business |
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 Dominik Irtenkauf on August 11, 2017
By Dominik Irtenkauf on 11 August 2017 in
STORIES
Die botswanische Death Metal-Band Overthrust tourte 2016 durch Deutschland. Sie trafen auf offene Ohren, aber auch geschlossene Weltbilder. War es der Kunst-Kontext des Theaters, der den Exotismus-Faktor offenbarte?
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Belonging, Exotica, New Geographies, Othering |
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
BLOG
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 BLOG | Tagged Exotica, FOKN Bois, Hybridity, music video, Parody, Seismographic Sounds |
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 colonialism, Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Othering, Parody, Sampling |
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 Exotica, Nationalism, 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, DIY, Ethics, Exotica, New Geographies |
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 dance, Exotica, place, Seismographic Sounds, Seismographic Sounds Photo Series |
By Ben Verghese on January 25, 2016
By Ben Verghese on 25 January 2016 in
BLOG
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 BLOG | Tagged 7. Norient Musikfilm Festival, DIY, Exotica, Seismographic Sounds, Utopia |
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 August 15, 2015
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 15 August 2015 in
BLOG
When Mainstream Pop Sounds get manipulated with cheap audio software, cut-up in bits and pieces, pimped with audio effects, we get exited – at least at times. Is this music dramatizing the decline of good taste at the hands of modernity? A Round-Up.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Conceptual Art, Exotica, Nostalgia, Parody, Post Digital, Sampling, youth culture |
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 Frederick Moehn on July 19, 2013
By Frederick Moehn on 19 July 2013 in
STORIES
«Lusotronic» festival in May 2013 brought portuguese electronic music to Berlins multicultural neighborhood Kreuzberg – an occasion for a deep ethnomusicological insight in postcolonial cultural spaces.
Posted in STORIES, XFEATURED | Tagged colonialism, dance, Exotica |
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 Christoph Fellmann on July 20, 2011
By Christoph Fellmann on 20 July 2011 in
STORIES
Auf dem Internet ist seit kurzem eine Sammlung mit über 10’000 Musik- und Comedynummern von 1901 bis 1925 frei zugänglich. Sie erlaubt einen neuen Blick auf die Anfänge der amerikanischen Popkultur.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged archive, Exotica, Migration, Music Business, Technology |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on May 11, 2011
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 11 May 2011 in
BLOG
Da Cruz, das Duo der Bern-Brasilianerin Mariana Da Cruz und des Berner Produzenten Ane Hebeisen, pendeln auf ihrem Album zwischen Club-Musik und Hör-CD. Dieses Wochenende tritt das Duo in Bern und Zürich auf.
Posted in BLOG | Tagged Exotica, Hybridity, Music Production, New Geographies, Sonic Traces: From Switzerland |
By Selina Nowak on March 25, 2011
By Selina Nowak on 25 March 2011 in
STORIES
Björk hat ein neues Projekt am Start – mit Omar Souleyman, dem Dabké Sänger aus der syrischen Provinz Hasake. Labelbesitzer Mark Gergis erzählt, wer er ist, dieser Omar Souleyman.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Othering |
By Ane Hebeisen on March 13, 2011
By Ane Hebeisen on 13 March 2011 in
STORIES
Björk, Thom Yorke oder Herbie Hancock sind flammende Verehrer der afrikanischen Gruppe Konono No. 1, die ihre Berühmtheit einer technischen Unzulänglichkeit in ihrem Instrumentenpark verdankt.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged dance, Exotica, Music Business, place |
By Stefan Franzen on March 9, 2011
By Stefan Franzen on 9 March 2011 in
STORIES
Mit der aktuellen Afrofunk-Welle trifft auch die Musik aus dem Ghana der 1970er wieder ans europäische Ohr. Im Land selbst kümmern die alten Helden jedoch fast niemanden – dort regiert der Hiplife.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Folklore, Music Business, Out of the Absurdity of Life, place |
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 Desire, Ethnomusicology, Exotica, Experiment, Hybridity, New Geographies |
By Stefanie Alisch on January 18, 2011
By Stefanie Alisch on 18 January 2011 in
STORIES
2/5 BZ, DVJ MyTube YouSpace, BerBat Söksal – the Istanbul based multi-media artist Serhat Köksal has been evolving a slew of aliases over the past 28 years.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged 3. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Activism, Capitalism, Exotica, Protest |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on June 3, 2010
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 3 June 2010 in
VIDEO
Ein paar Gedanken zu den Afrika-Sounds und -Bildern des Londoner Kollektivs Radioclit und dem malawischen Sänger Easu Mwamawaya
Posted in VIDEO | Tagged 1. Norient Musikfilm Festival, Appropriation, Exotica |
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on August 9, 2009
By Thomas Burkhalter (Norient) on 9 August 2009 in
STORIES
Die 6. Austragung des Musikfestivals «Alpentöne» 2009 in Altdorf war ein voller Erfolg.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Exotica, Nation, Sonic Traces: From Switzerland, Tradition |
By Gregory Scruggs on May 14, 2008
By Gregory Scruggs on 14 May 2008 in
STORIES
With their CD «Proibidão C.V.: Forbidden Gang Funk from Rio de Janeiro» the US-American Label Sublime Frequencies aims to portrait a moment in time in Brazil. Gregory Scruggs however criticises them as uniformed explorers.
Posted in STORIES | Tagged Appropriation, Ethics, Exotica, Power |
