GIG REVIEW: JAIN at Melkweg, Amsterdam
JAIN had such a groove, and she was just alone with her laptop. I'm always a big fan of independent singers who combine loop stations or technology to enhance their show. The fact is though, this girl makes the music herself and it's so obvious! I loved the show. I took my best Dutchy Viv and we grooved along all night. JAIN has a real innocence about her, (well she's just 25), but she has lived in different countries all over the world for example Dubai, Congo, Peru and you can hear these influences in her beatsy and touch of world-music flair. Her music is up-beat and fun, but rhythmic and clever. She combines her voice with layering and electronic programming sounds which is a modern-day twist. She reminds me a bit of a younger Camille, or at least a pea who comes from a similar pod. And she is so incredibly sweet and loves to involve the audience to help her with her looping. She was even giggling at some point because of the audience member who she recorded for the loop.
All in all, great first show for JAIN and can't wait to see how she progresses as an artist.
Check out more JAIN:
Official website: http://www.jain-music.com/en/
Check out this live version below of JAIN performing "Makeba" - Victoires de la musique 2017
REVIEW: Bowers and Wilkins P5 Series 2 on-ear headphones
Sadly, my last pair of on-ear headphones Marshall Major White were falling apart (the ear muff was breaking at the seam and falling off), which was (and is) the only reason why I decided to buy a new headphones. I've been through a bunch of Sennheisers, then a pair of WESC, then more recently the Marshall, which lasted me a good 3 years, and I even used these for recording and also mixing.
I generally wanted to escape from the hype (because hype doesn't mean quality), so I wasn't leaning towards Dr. Dre's Beats or Bose (I actually returned the noise-cancelling over-ear headphones because I didn't like the sound). One day randomly while at MediaMarkt, I went over to the headphones section and grabbed a pair of Bowers and Wilkins because they looked so sleek. As I put them on, my ears melted from the comfort. This alone was enough for me to buy these and give them a try. The price point was a little high for simple 'on-ear headphones' for daily commuting use, but I gave myself permission to indulge a little this time (since I got the Marshalls for only 50 euros during a black Friday sale). I also saw my friend's boyfriend had the same headphones so having at least one person in my 'trusty' good-taste network with these headphones it was enough for me to go ahead.
My first impressions on the sound was not as great as the first look and feel impression, but that changed when I discovered that on my phone that the default Music Quality Streaming settings on Spotify was not set to Extreme (320 kbits/s), therefore setting it to Automatic (Recommended) means that it could be low quality depending on what Spotify decides to choose for you. I had previously chosen this in the settings but after I reset my phone and downloaded the Spotify app again I forgot to check.
After a bit of time I think I will get used to the sound, and I think it comes down to what you've been using before. When I compare the Marshall and Bowers and Wilkins I can hear the quality and richness of B&W is much higher, but somehow I was still used to the Marshall sound, because it masks all of the 'bad' frequencies so you hear a more muffled and comfortable sound where nothing sticks out.
A handy addition to the headphones is the choice of using the headphones with the extra mobile phone buttons or without. For recording music with a mobile phone, I prefer to use the cord without so it doesn't record with the headphones, and not a lot of casual listening headphones have this option, which is annoying to me. It is easy to take the headphone off and switch the cable.
Overall, an amazingly sleek, good-looking, comfortable and high-end on-ear headphones. High-end also means high price-point too.
149,- EUR at MediaMarkt
Check out the official Bowers Wilkins website for more information:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.eu/Headphones/Wired-Headphones/Wired-Headphones/P5-Series-2.html
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GIG REVIEW: Sabar Challenge Afterparty at Sociëteit SEXYLAND
After going to see Dele Sosimi a couple weeks ago and not being too inspired, I went to the afterparty of the Sabar Challenge Festival 2017 (dance style from Senegal) with Bianca, Gaëlle and Gwen on invitation from our percussion teacher, Martin.
Now, THIS was more like it! African bands and dancing!
First up was a band called Nusodia, a West-African percussion and dance group, based on the traditions of Burkina Faso. As a coincidence, the guy who Bianca and I bought our djembe from (and his girlfriend) were both in the band!
They had many different percussion instruments including djembe and the dancers were playing this wooden 'salad bowl'-shape with beads on the outside and each time they threw the bowl and spun it around it would make a sound. But more than the percussion, their unique sound comes from the melodic instruments called 'balafon' (xylophone) and the 'ngoni' (African harp).
Other performances that evening were Sysmo (percussion group using a unique system with more than 100 hand signals), Taneber dancing and Ussu & The New Balansa.
More about Nusodia:
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GIG REVIEW: Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis
Since starting a world percussion course at CREA in February, I tried to find some concerts that would have a touchpoint to African artists and/or African percussion. It's quite a broad spectrum, so the search didn't take too long before I found a concert of Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis in Amsterdam. He is one of the most active of the original Afrobeat scene, founded by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He played keyboard with Kuti for 7 years.
If you removed the vocals, the music was pretty much funk. So interesting how vocals can make such a unique spin on it. The band was amazing, along with the solos from the trombonist and tenor saxophonist! Dele himself was very energetic, positive and a good band leader.
The concert was a seated one, and was hard for some audience members to sit down, so they got up to dance at the back of the hall! Soon enough the vibes were running through the whole crowd and we ended up all getting up for a little dance.
One thing I did think was missing though, was more use of (West) African drums. The saxophonist sometimes played a hand percussion which was a wooden block, but I really missed some djembe or conga or bongo drums... Another was the female back-up vocalists/dancers. The trombonist and drummer doubled as the choir which sounded quite good, but just wasn't the real deal, if you know what I mean.
The Bimhuis broadcast the concert on Bimhuis Radio and can be found here on Mixcloud. If we had known earlier, Bianca and I would probably have agreed that it would have been better to have a glass of wine with the music playing in the background.
More about Dele Sosimi:
Official Website: http://www.delesosimi.org/