Comfusões takes Angolan Pop music from the golden 60s and 70s to Brazil. The songs by legendary singers like Teta Lando, Artur Nunes or Carlos Lamartine are passed on into the hands of the most exciting Braziilan producers of today.
For a long time now Angola has been cut off from the rest of the world due to the civil war raging in the country until 2002. Times have changed. Today the economy is booming and also the magic of the countries music is starting to move beyond the borders of the African continent. Kuduro being the latest craze spreading into the international club culture. Long before that in the 60s and 70s some of the most soulful tunes ever to come out of Africa had been recorded in Angola. It is the melancholy of Portuguese Fado infused with African rhythms (not unlike Cape Verdean music) that makes this music so special.
The title of this compilation is a play on words: meaning either “confusions”, or “with fusions”. The project is a confusing meeting and mingling of two cultures with a shared language (Portuguese) and a somewhat related, yet different history. It is not about conserving culture. It is about continuing a story of exchange that started long ago when the first Africans were forcibly brought to Brasil and over time helped create a vibrant music that has touched people throughout the world. Available in iTunes.
To balance out our kuduro release, Akwaaba Sem Transporte, here is a beautiful collection of Carlos Lamartine’s recordings, from the mid 1960s til 1975. He was a member of several bands, including Os Aguias Reais, and was backed up by some of Luanda’s best conjuntos: Os Merengues, African Show.
Puto Mira (Vagabanda) at DJ Kobe’s studio in Marçal
Heroy (Vagabanda) at DJ Kobe’s studio in Marçal
DJ Stan & DJ Fofo’s studio in Marçal
DJ Fofo in the studio
On our travels throughout Africa, we’ve seen plenty of home studios where coupé décalé, hiplife and now kuduro hits are made. The studios are usually tiny, the PCs tend to crash a lot (what else is new), the speakers scream and the saturated bass rumbles. And singers, rappers flock to these studios to record songs, usually for $100 or so per track depending on the DJ and the country.
In Luanda, there are plenty of kuduro DJs, but many of them, and many of the more successful ones, live in Rangel and Marçal: DJ Fofu (DJ Fofeira) & DJ Stan, Dj Kobe & DJ Hernany, DJ Prole, DJ Bobo G, DJ Buda, Killamu… the list could go on. In the photos above, you can see the largest kuduro studio we saw, DJ Kobe’s spot, which he built inside a metal shipping container. It comes equipped with AC and… a bed, for happy ending studio sessions!
DJ Fofu’s setup is more typical: blue neon light, a large mirror to give the impression that 6 people are not crammed in 2 square meters… Every single time we went to the studio, there were a handful of kudurists waiting to record. Like a doctor’s office. Doors open at 8am, and Fofu and Stan keep at it until about 10pm every day. Plus DJ gigs on the week end, which rarely end before dawn… so it’s a busy schedule for these cats. And you’ll take notice when you listen to recent kuduro tracks, a “DJ Stan” vocoder or “DJ FOFEIRA” shout is almost mandatory for any respectable kuduro album!
DJ Killamu and Mestre Ara form Guetto Produções, a fully independent studio with some of the biggest names in kuduro. This picture was taken outside the studio, at Killamu’s house in Rangel. Rangel is a municipio famous for its kudurists and DJs, kids flock from all over Luanda to record in studios like Killamu’s. Now this guy… anybody who’s listened to kuduro should know about him. He’s been around for a decade, has made beats for the biggest names in kuduro, Noite Día, Puto Prata, and now a HUGE hit by Big Nelo and Vagabanda. Killamu’s production is more minimal and a little more crossover than most, he uses more synths, and has a pretty clean sound… at least as clean as Angolan kuduro goes!
