30 January – 1 February 2015
We're hugely excited to present a three-day residency from the mighty Konono No. 1! Playing on scrap metal percussion and spiky metal thumb pianos, pounding out exuberant and rhythmic beats that are distorted through amplifiers made from old car parts, they create a sound as immediate as it is unclassifiable. Futuristic and primeval, body-shaking and immersive, these should be a very special few days indeed.
“They don't call this trance music for nothing. Played loud, like it's meant to be, it will take you to another sphere. Heavily amplified bass, tenor and treble likembes throb and weave in and out of each other; traditional and found drums and percussion deliver irresistible visceral grooves; and the amplification's sonic distortions frequently give the music the character of cutting edge Western electronica. This is dance/trance music you can with equal pleasure move to, or sit down to. Truly fantastic stuff” – All About Jazz
“Try as you might, you cannot do it justice. This music comes from somewhere unknown and offers hope that there are worlds of music out there, unexplored and waiting to be discovered.” - BBC
Expect extraordinary, radical grooves from this cult Congolese dance outfit. Playing on scrap metal percussion and spiky metal thumb pianos, they pound out exuberant and rhythmic beats that are distorted through amplifiers made from old car parts. Their repertoire draws largely on Congolese trance music, but they've had to incorporate the originally unwanted distortions of their sound system. This has driven them towards a unique sound that resonates with the aesthetics of the most experimental forms of rock and electronic music. The result is both futuristic and primeval. Electronica and avant-rock aficionados have all been equally amazed by this otherworldly dance music, which has driven the international press to come up with some surprising comparisons (from Can and Krautrock to Jimi Hendrix, Lee Perry and proto-techno!).
“Every so often there comes a record of such unlikeliness, of such overpowering rhythmic intensity and such majestic indifference to global musical trends that you're knocked sideways. This is one of them.” – The Daily Telegraph
“As you try to sift through the dense crosstalk of beats, your ears are beguiled ever deeper into Konono’s rhythmic threshing machine.” – THE WIRE
