{"id":42917,"date":"2016-10-19T11:39:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T10:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/pam-revient-aujourdhui-sur-lhistoire-de-no-format-ce-label-passe-maitre-dans-lart-de-ciseler-des-bijoux-musicaux\/"},"modified":"2020-05-04T23:42:48","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T22:42:48","slug":"pam-revient-aujourdhui-sur-lhistoire-de-no-format-ce-label-passe-maitre-dans-lart-de-ciseler-des-bijoux-musicaux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/pam-revient-aujourdhui-sur-lhistoire-de-no-format-ce-label-passe-maitre-dans-lart-de-ciseler-des-bijoux-musicaux\/","title":{"rendered":"Label focus: N\u00d8 F\u00d8RMAT!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"logo-no-format-rogne\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A few months after the Parisian Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Ch\u00e2telet hosted the N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat festival, PAM looks into the history of the French label, that has produced so many musical gems until now. The African continent has long been honored on the roster, since the beginning of this uncategorizable project. Throwback to the label’s origins, through the voice of his founder, Laurent Bizot.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The label, founded in 2004, quietly imposed its style one would describe as soft and quiet, but with the same and patient ambition: promote and defend genre-defying and free projects\u2026 obviously labelled “N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat”.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Listen to our special playlist\u00a0N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat!<\/h3>\n

\"Spotify_Icon_CMYK_Green\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\"Deezer\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\"Youtube\"<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n

As a legal expert for Universal Jazz, Laurent Bizot could witness how the marketing tool was everyday more integrated into the music label’s strategy, and how it impacted the creation process in itself : there would be no room for risks because the aim was to sell records. How ? By formatting the music. But everyone knows that this can kill music. This is when he started to think about setting a tiny label inside Universal, with little budget but a great artistic freedom. He then launches his first projects, but the restructuring in the company forced him to leave and set up N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat as an independent label, still distributed by Universal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Birth of a label<\/strong><\/p>\n

The label came to life in 2004, and was made of three babies: three unclassifiable albums, amongst them an amazing musical party that gathered Cameroonian Richard Bona, Congoese Lokua Kanza and French G\u00e9rald Toto.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"toto\"“Toto Bonua Lokua”: the trio’s name sounds great, and not only for the title of the album. The record was recorded in three days at Studio Kalm, a room full of instruments, that looked more like a children playground where a bunch of malicious kids had locked themselves in. Their complicity was at the center of this record, both playful and beautiful, where three voices were offering each their version of sweetness.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I loved Bobby McFerrin’s <\/span>Circle Songs<\/span><\/i>“, tells Laurent Bizot, an album where a capella vocals come on top on each others as layers\u2026 It was the reference for the album <\/span>Toto Bonua Lokua<\/span><\/i>, but the idea was to do a capella stuff, with no pre-composed songs, something pretty much improvised\u2026 a recreation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

A recreation that is too rarely heard (you should listen to the amazingly wild hidden track<\/a> that ends the records after Lisanga) ! There was no leader in the trio, but three musicians who were also singers, composers and video directors, and who brought their own melodies and made them alive through each other’s talent. And, in this very case, with Africa as a common focus (G\u00e9rald Toto is fond of West Indies culture).<\/p>\n

\n

“There was the idea of ‘creolization’, of working on the relationship between who different things. What happens when you rub them against each other? What chemical reaction do you get from it?”<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n

No Format married Africa for the first records, and has never left the continent aside.<\/span><\/p>\n

As heard on <\/span>Toto Lokua Bona<\/span><\/i> (a first try and already a masterpiece), the spirit of the encounter and the meeting will then remain the signature style of N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat. “There was this idea of ‘creolization’, of working on the relationship between who different things. What happens when you rub them against each other? What chemical reaction do you get from it?”, explains Laurent Bizot, who took on the experimental side of this adventure (to which Thibault M\u00fcllings has been contributing since 2007).<\/span><\/p>\n

Musical UFOs<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"noformata\"If you’re curious about chemistry and alchemy, hear Senegalese singer Julia Sarr seducing Patrice Larose’s flamenco guitar and discussing with Youssou N\u2019dour (on <\/span>Set Luna Djamonodji<\/span><\/i>). Hear also Malian singer Mamani Keita painting vocal colours on the walls built by the amazing Nicolas Repac on guitars (on <\/span>Djama Nyemao<\/span><\/i>). Not to forget the balafon-vibraphone duet by Lancin\u00e9 Kouyat\u00e9 et David Neerman (on <\/span>Djanfa Magni<\/span><\/i>, from their first album “Kangaba”). <\/span><\/p>\n

Not to mention rapper Roc\u00e9 or Canadian singer M\u00e9lissa Lavaux – of Haitian origin – whose dark lyrics sung in English, French or Creole beautifully blossom in her mysterious voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, N\u00f8 F\u00f8rmat has delivered unique works, and always preferred working on uncommon projects rather that releasing several albums with the same artists, as most labels do. Twelve years after, you’ve got a collection of about 30 records, whose common point is their uniqueness. And their artwork has the same visual signature conceived by J\u00e9r\u00f4me Witz.<\/span><\/p>\n