Over three years in the making, ZIK ZAK is an African musical odyssey, featuring some of the freshest talent from ten countries on the mother continent. Tying this remarkable range of artists together are German production team ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS, weaving the vocal talents of the African singers into their distinctive “Boom Dub” sound. Drawing on Hip Hop, Dancehall, Roots Reggae, Bass Music, Soul, Electronica and Breakbeat, the production incorporates live instruments and musical influences from all over Africa and its diaspora. 

The concept behind all these tracks is ZIK ZAK (“Zig-Zag” in English), mapping out each artist’s life of tragedy and success, of compromise and integrity, in a context of global inequality and ruthless capitalism. This album responds to the urgent need to understand the daily struggle for survival by creative artists and musicians from the global south. Each artist gives a unique voice to their rocky way through the contemporary African landscape, revealing a new perspective from a different city, country, religion, and ideology. This is ZIK ZAK.

It's easy to forget how much harder it is for artists and musicians to survive away from the relative comfort of the richer parts of the world. In Africa, employment levels are shockingly low and the welfare state non-existent, so that most artists live in a state of constant precariousness, with nothing to fall back on when the music industry fails to pay. Yet the mainstream African music industry constantly feeds us a capitalist wet dream, with fantastical images of artists living a “bling-bling” lifestyle of fast cars, swimming pools and supermodels with inflated chests. The artists featured on ZIK ZAK have all rejected this preposterous mythology, instead bringing us real messages from their everyday lives, demonstrating more talent, creativity and authenticity in a single album, than in a lifetime of over-produced, commercial music videos.

In ZIK ZAK, particular focus is on the intense and vibrant scene in Uganda, where local, mutant forms of Afrobeats and Dancehall have evolved away from the more familiar, globalized products of Nigeria and Jamaica. ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS established a base and partnership with local studio East African Records, allowing them to dig deep in the wells of talent in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Elsewhere, they established friendships and musical relationships with enlightened artists as far afield as Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Togo, Guinea and Senegal. 

The ZIK ZAK project has provided these underground African artists an opportunity to reach a new worldwide audience, building on the success of ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS. This German production duo – aka DOGU and KABANJAK - have been working together since 2001, producing and touring with some of the biggest names in the alternative music scene: The Pharcyde, Tippa Irie, Akua Naru, The Jungle Brothers, Raashan Ahmad, DJ Brace, Nickodemus, Thievery Corporation, BANTU and many more. They are respected for their ethical and activist stance, as well as for their ground-breaking music: recently they were commissioned by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Ian Urbina to work on the soundtrack to his important environmental book: “The Outlaw Ocean”. 

For the ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS, thus new album is an important project both musically and ideologically. In their own words: “With ZIK ZAK, we want to give a platform to young talents from Africa that are too good to ignore – they must be heard internationally. Africa is our motherland too, in the end. Civilization comes from Africa and that´s where rhythm comes from. After too many years of slavery and exploitation of the African countries, it is time to shine light on the great talent of Mother Africa.”

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Ancient Astronauts present ZIK ZAK

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Run Di Place Red (Instrumental)

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Kiddah - Run Di Place Red (Instrumental)

Acid Dub Studies II

To The River

Rinse FM Podcast 

RIZ LA TEEF - 26 October 2023

Threads (Remastered 10 Year Anniversary Edition)

Wicker and Pearl (Remastered 2023)

Continuing a strong line of afro inspired works, men like Pedestrian & Jasperdrum drop another scintillating technoid excursion on 2nd Drop. Deeper, moodier with dynamically carved esoteric angles, 'Origins' moves forward from the superb Kalakuta, the afrobeat meets bass music bomb supported by Giles Peterson, Scuba, Midland, Mr Scruff and many more, from last year, to deliver a heads down destroyer. Off kilter, wonky and expertly crafted, Pedestrian & Jasperdrum's ‘Origins’ is pure class, led by a host of syncopated percussion, haunting flute lines and distorted vocal samples, this is what Fela would have sounded like if he'd teamed up with Carl Craig in 2014! 

On the flip we welcome Alix Perez, best known for his DnB production, but widely talented as shown by his Arp101 outings on the likes of Eglo. Here, Alix takes the tools to Kalakuta, transforming the original's afrocentricity into a tense, punchy roller, dominated by a bass line that literally jumps in to your ears. Toss in a stabby synth line, rifle shot drums and plenty of bass with space, this a beautifully crafted refix. 

On the artwork, we’re really happy to welcome back the supremely talented Jimmy Turrell, a well-respected designer and illustrator who has worked with everyone from Fiat and Nike to The Guardian and Dazed & Confused. Asked once again to provide something inspired by a darker aspect of Afrocentricism, he came back with a strikingly bold image that evokes the essence of the music. Check the rest of his work out here: http://www.jimmyturrell.com//


Pedestrian & Jasperdrum - Kalakuta (Alix Perez Remix) CLIP

Sneaker Social Club 051: Dead Man's Chest X King Kutlass

Hardcore darkside jungle tekno.

Trip II Insanity released Friday 6th September.

Pre-order now via Sneaker Social Club Bandcamp

https://sneakersocialclub.bandcamp.com/album/trip-ii-insanity

SNKR051A2: Dead Man's Chest X King Kutlass - We Control

Bare Beats and Dusty Ohms complete their beat tape trilogy with an absolute banger of a tape. Keeping with the concept of lawless sketchbook beats, the tape is a journey of classic boom bap to abstract lo-fi with each side perfectly complementing the other, but also the complete opposites. Hopefully this is not the last crossing of these two unique producers.

Available on cassette on bandcamp:
https://millenniumjazz.bandcamp.com/album/the-bare-dusty-beat-tape-3

MJM198: The Bare Dusty Beat Tape vol.3
Produced, arranged and mixed by Bare Beats & Dusty Ohms
Mastered by Dusty Ohms
All artwork and design by Chroma 13
Executive Producers: R. Farnham, A Crafts & D.J Lewis

Digital / Cassette

Bare Beats - Stepping feat. Jabba Tha Kut

Chill Tape  Forthcoming on Vinyl VIBEZ'93 026 - VA  - Ocean Mist EP 2025

Marine

90's retro hardcore rave track, with a big synth riff breakdown, vocal clips from Baby D 'Let Me Be Your Fantasy' and some mad rave stabs etc all over heavy breaks and a kick drum to give it that jungle techno sound.

buy- https://dj-junk.bandcamp.com/track/d-j-junk-pennies-from-heaven-138bpm

Buy-bandcamp.com

D.J. Junk 'Pennies From Heaven' 138bpm

ZIK ZAK

Upliftment Skit Feat. C Wyne Nalukalala

Basonyiwe Feat. Spyda MC

Pagliacci´s Reprise Feat. Joyce Olong

Ghetto Youth Never Give Up Feat. C Wyne Nalukalala

Pump Up The Sound Feat. Bani Fyah

Ddala Feat. Spyda MC

The Ancient Astronauts are Kabanjak and Dogu, a bulletproof production and DJ duo hailing from Cologne, Germany. The phenomenon of “ancient astronauts, “a belief that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in ancient times to mingle and trade ideas with early human civilizations”, isn’t an alien concept to these Ancient Astronauts.  The cross-pollination and mash-up of ideas, sounds, styles, and a collaborative spirit are their modus operandi.
Although, the long-time friends are quick to admit that they are not followers of the German music scene, Kabanjak notes, “for us music is and will always be an international phenomena”, and Ancient Astronauts are certainly not afraid to draw on influences from international artists and styles.
Self described as a “mash up of the distant past and far future”; these time travelers´ music is a mystic brew born out of an eclectic mix of ideas, sounds and styles. 
Already having remixed and collaborated with AM & Shawn Lee, Nickodemus, Fort Knox Five, Ladybug Mecca (Digable Planets), Zion I, The Pharcyde, Azeem, Analogik, Subatomic Sound System & Anthony B, Bajka, Vieux Farka Toure, Raashan Ahmad, Bajka, DJ Brace and Tippa Irie, the Ancient Astronauts always link up with a quality selection of sonic collaborators. 
 “At an early stage we realized that we are both big music heads so we started running parties in our hometown together”. Those parties became the catalyst for a production team that never forgot its roots. They specialize in diversity loosely glued together by a single thread. Like a good party, you don’t just listen to the music, you experience it. 
In 2001 Dogu of Ancient Astronauts started his own label Switchstance Recordings, which was developed as a way of allowing them total musical freedom. The label soon gathered momentum and built up an impressive international fan base. Switchstance Recordings is now famous in international club circles for the integrity of its production and style.

www.ancientastronauts.de


Ddala Feat. Spyda MC

Ancient Astronauts

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