The Babani Records team continues its quest to restore forgotten archives. In 1977, Malaaz, a band from Reunion Island, recorded Lélé and Malaazé in Paris with arranger Hervé Roy under the label "G.B Productions”. Helped by the magic of our sound engineer, Neil Combstock, we’ve delicately restored these two gems in collaboration with Patrick Donat, giving them an exciting second life.

“Ina Malaaz”, words from Indian Ocean’s Madagascar would mean “What’s new?”

The band couldn’t have picked a better name for the project, positioning themselves as true innovators for the time, merging different sounds of the neighbour islands.  

Malaaz was initiated by Patrick Donat, who is described as a pioneer and major contributor of the Electric Maloya scene, this fusion of island traditional music and western instrumentation in the mid 70s.  He was joined by Franck Raholison and Del Rabenja, creating this powerful band of exceptional musicians from Réunion Island and Madagascar.

Lélé is a jazzy/ soul track with a twist of Indian Ocean groove and is a fitting testament to the fusion of sounds of different worlds. 

Maalazé is a killer psychedelic soul-funk gem supporting sensational Malagasy vocals transporting you to the Indian Ocean.

Malaaz - Malaazé

A few years in the making, this EP announces an upcoming collaborative album between Mauritian artist, KAN and Dutch artist, JO BISSA. When Babani Records started its project/label, we came up with the idea of making a local artist collaborate with an overseas artist to promote the local culture, tradition and music.

KAN came up with the initial idea/concept which adds a cause behind this collaboration – to raise awareness about the ocean and pollution happening in the Mauritian sea. Enn Losean Vivab can be translated to a liveable ocean. A fusion between organic sounds, recordings and electronic music. KAN creates his own instruments and records his own samples from nature and friends.

He is a multi-disciplinary artist and activist from Mauritius island. He went on a quest of discovering music from various cultures around the world. He started crafting instruments using materials found in the environment. Garbage happens to be part of it, so he began experimenting. Turning tin cans with plastic bottles into drums or pvc pipes into flutes or didgeridoos, thus his 'Trash to Music' project started.

JO BISSA is from Amsterdam and he is the Co-founder of the label, INI Movement and part of the international duo UMOJA, who played for the last 4 years all across Europe and Africa doing shows and recording music. Jo Bissa moves through a wide range of flavours during his sets going from eclectic house to vibrant exotic rhythms, funk always in favour of the dance floor. 

Even if KAN and JO BISSA never met each other, the music speaks for itself, the ocean speaks.

Mastering: Job de La Porte
Illustration: Kim Yip Tong

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JO BISSA - Plastik

INSULA • noun • /ˌɪn.sjəˈlæ/
 Latin term meaning island.

An avatar that uses Indo-Oceanic rituals to bring different periods together as well as the rhythms of the north of the world to promote a Maloya-Afro-Futurist concept.

Through this pseudonym, Mickael Gravina takes his musical and sonic origins and uses them as an island (a starter, a nucleus) connected to the cosmos for our next release on Babani Records.

Concocted on the Red Island, we bring you the first two tracks "BONDIÉ MALOUBARY" and "KABARY", leading to his debut album "TRMBA" in December. The first one relating to a god from Madagascar and the latter to a ceremony.

INSULA, a multidisciplinary artist from Reunion Island, is interested in electronic music, or more specifically, in the "concrete music" that defines the sounds. This radically impresses itself on the listener. He comes face to face with a monster that lives by its own rules and norms, without making any concessions. Music is fascinating and it is capable of carrying within it a relationship to the world, something otherwise unspeakable.

His attempt at creating music is a kind of monster that, in truth, speaks to the globalised times we live in, a fusion of traditional and contemporary elements set to electronic and maloya music. It goes without saying that the mythology of the Indo-Oceanic, Malagasy, African, and many others nourish his creative production using a variety of instruments (Mauritians, Reunionese, Indians, Malagasy, and Creoles).

INSULA, this island where genders, races and cultures converge.

FAS A: BONDIÉ MALOUBARY
FAS B: KABARY

Producer: Mickael Gravina
Mastering: Neil Combstock

Illustration: Max Anish
Design/Layout: electrocaïne

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INSULA - BONDIÉ MALOUBARY

faixa: @shigara
master: @beepdee
arte: morgana taro

Shigara - RITU RITU

Support https://soundcloud.com/thelazyjesus and download the album: https://thelazyjesus.bandcamp.com/album/ua-tribal-vol-1

The Lazy Jesus - Duvnaya Goduna

Cairepillow

our 4th album is out now!
BUY: http://bit.ly/2ppZGMC
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Haul & Pull Up  

Blurred Vision

Read more about Qwasa Qwasa on couvrexchefs.com:
http://couvrexchefs.com/en/premiere-qwasa-qwasa-kiss-me-lowup/

C'est quoi ça?

Kiss Me

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[PREMIERE] Qwasa Qwasa - Kiss Me [Lowup]

The creators of the smashing track ‘King Kong’ released earlier this year are back with another killer song! This time Boa Kusasa come up with an instrumental beauty ‘Bheka’ that showcases their love towards percussive rhythms (in this case coming specifically from West Africa) but also contains the sound of Turkish ney flute that add another dimension to the track.

The track is released on 'Diatribes' compilation curated by University of Tropical Sound. Vinyl pre-order starts now!

@boakusasa
@unioftropicalsound

[Premiere] Boa Kusasa - Bheka (out on University of Tropical Sound)

Get your vinyl: https://bigwax.io/collections/shouka/products/irun
Download the album: https://nuri.bandcamp.com/album/irun
℗ Shouka 2020
© Shouka | Alter-K 2020

Irun

Asfer

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Nuri - Asfer

Dawayer

An unexpected seduction. An instinctive call where it is impossible to resist percussive and bewitching melodies.

Babani is the state of trance reached during a ceremony invoking ancestors’ spirits leading to a multigenerational gathering with a common denominator: The rhythms of the Indian Ocean helped by the ravane, this percussion instrument made of goat skin and which has its roots on the island of Mauritius.
Babani Records is the music label bringing together a collective of artists from around the world connected by a universal goal of fusing electronic sounds and music from the islands of the Indian Ocean.

Electronic beats and sound waves blend with traditional rhythms. It is a natural connection with the past with an eye on the future!

INSULA - BONDIÉ MALOUBARY

Babani Records

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