Masked musician Ozferti invites us to watch East Africa from the stars in an epic PAM Club mostly composed of unreleased productions.
Beat adventurer, time traveler, or masked guitarist, there is no shortage of metaphorical descriptions to describe Florian Doucet aka Ozferti, known for his electronic explorations around Sudanese music and the Horn of Africa. This former member of the Afro-Colombian band La Chiva Gantiva and Afro-Portuguese Terrakota decided in 2016 to go solo, concretizing his love for Ethiopian music on the Addis Aboumbap EP, a first glimpse of his hybrid style between bass music, hip-hop and traditional music, with a rarely equaled strength. Ozferti then develops a purely imaginary afro-futurist concept that is science fiction, where machines serve as a receptacle for the songs and instruments of the elders. An atypical and post-modern music that resounds from the fictitious desert of Nubia Nova, a creative refuge in the shelter of a futuristic city where sin is king. By thought, it is from the Solarius Gamma galaxy -title of his latest album- that Ozferti secretly shapes a hypnotic universe, whether it is sonic or graphic. Partly produced and recorded in Addis Ababa, this unique opus gravitates around the voices of Ethénèsh Wassié, Ayou Nagesh, Mékidès Nigatu or Miki Mac, set to a singular beat dressed with masengo, bass or percussions handled by other local guests. The artist installs a sci-fi atmosphere and invites the listener to contemplate his electronic landscapes where inflated synths and rhythmic rides contrast with traditional sounds, like this mix he offers us today and his latest release. On the exceptional TIGRIGNA XPRMNT, he experiments around the music of the same name that can be heard in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and at the same time consolidates his own style, respecting the original tracks.
“I designed the mix in two parts, the first more traditional in terms of the rhythms used, punctuated by edits and remixes of popular Sudanese songs like “Amshy Shoof”, by the late Abu Obaida who passed away last week. There are also Ethiopian “Gurage” tracks (rhythmic patterns from the south / southwest of Ethiopia) that sound a bit like a kind of dynamic twist/disco. There are also ESKESTA tracks in electronic mode. The ESKESTA is the traditional dance of the shoulders in Ethiopia, I added my touch by trying to preserve the groove of origin. After a small interlude I go on with productions a little more modern; break, bass music, or more afroclub, which refer more to the UK scene and Afrobeats that inspire me in my work as a producer. All the tracks used in this mix are new for PAM, made during the confinements, a kind of musical therapy for me in fact. Basically this mix is a trip between Khartoum in Sudan and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, following the Nile in a huge spaceship. I wanted to use rather dated and popular tracks, because in a world that goes faster and faster, it’s also good to do this archive work and dig into what was done a few decades ago. Good listening to all of you.”
Tracklist:
1. Umar Ali Faarah (Soudan) – ??? (OZFERTI old tape remix)
2. Abu Obaida and his Tambour (Soudan) – Amshy Shoof (OZFERTI old tape remix)
3. Ashenafi Zeberga (Ethiopie) – Segele (OZFERTI gurage club remix)
4. Ozferti and the sons of DIRE DAWA (Ethiopie/France) – Space Gurage
5. Khojali Osman (Soudan) – ??? (OZFERTI old dancehall remix)
6. Samira Dunia (Soudan) – Galbi La Tawha Tani (OZFERTI old sudani rock remix)
7. Ozferti – Munanye (France)
8. Ozferti – Wello (France)
9. Ozferti – SOLARIUS GAMMA interlude
10. Ozferti feat. Endris HAdié, Eténesh Wassié and Dur Dur Band (Ethiopie / Somalie /France) – Funky Horn (Of Africa)
11. Yshak Banjaw (Ethiopie / Erythrée) – Fikrehoy Temereki (OZFERTI 2 step remix)
12. Azmara song (Ethiopie) – Shilela (OZFERTI Bass club remix)
13. Ethiocolor (Ethiopie) – Otai Man (OZFERTI Afrohouse remix)
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