Review: Tropical Beats Party – Pedro Coquenão aka Batida @ Village Underground (London, 19th March 2015)
Following to the letter the Convergence Festival’s spirit, Batida brought to Village Underground an all-embracing show: a magic box containing music, dance, and images, and a taste of Angolan culture.
If you have ever asked yourself the existential question “what is world music?” then Pedro Coquenão, the mind behind the Batida project, is the answer. Pedro is a Lisbon based musician and producer of Angolan origin. He decided to recover and enhance the flavors of his African roots to make them more appetizing for a Western audience. The resulting stage show at Village Underground during the seventh night of Convergence Festival was one of the most exciting gigs of recent times.
Batida is a pure and heart-felt tribute to the southern African sound calledkuduro, but is also a sincere praise to the music style’s parents, such assemba, soca and zouk. As well as its outstanding dancing drive, tempting fast-paced 4/4 beats, insistent percussion and ubiquitous electro embellishments Batida offers something more that is hard to take away from the live performance: an increased musical awareness. But, believe it or not, that’s indeed one of the remarkable aims of the project: to put Angola on the musical map.
Before each song Pedro Coquenão commited himself to introducing, explaining and expounding on a short story behind it; where the rhythms come from, who inspired them and what the lyrics are about. That’s how the audience learnt that “Pobre e Rico” was inspired by the first Angolan movie produced back in 1970s, and “Bazuka” recalls the tragic events of the Civil War. To change the mood and inflame the crowning moment of the gig, the band gave away dozens of whistles to recreate the Carnival of Luanda atmosphere and celebrate the fun-filled “Alegria”.
In little more than an hour Batida had introduced its fans to Angolan pop culture, its rich underground artistic scenes and the wide range of musical expression that still pulses in the country. In doing so Pedro asked for help from some interesting artists and traveling companions. The vocal expression of the Guinea Bissau born A. F. Diaphra, the sinuous moves of Andre Cabral and the eclectic sound of the Lisboan Catarina Limão effectively supported on the Village Undergound’s stage.
To limit the idea of Batida to a music ensemble would be to underestimate it. The project embraces a broad-spectrum of disciplines from dance to graphics, passing through movies and words in such a way as to interpret the Angolan soul. In this way, Batida’s shows go far beyond music. They rapidly turn into a groovy, shaken cocktail of notes, dances and images, a glorious amalgam of intertwined arts and disciplines.
Inevitably, the sensations and the reactions instilled by their performance are heterogeneous and indiscriminate. But one thing is certain: Batida is one of the few projects around able to enrich you. They allow your legs and feet to move, and your mind to wander.
Here are Radio Mukambo‘s top 22 albums of 2022: ethiogrooves, Afro-Caribbean beats, creole sounds, Mali rock & global bass bring you to Afro-Brazilian beats, afrobeat and reggae/hip-hop in the top 3. Close your eyes and let this music journey bring you to the sounds of Caribbean beaches, African metropoles, Brazilian…
This week Radio Mukambo takes you to Melbourne, Australia, for a delicious dose of ethiogrooves meets afrobeat. On Good Evening Black Buddha, Black Jesus eXperience fuses the heritage of Mulatu Astatke and Fela Kuti with hiphop and contemporary multiculturalism around Ethiopian/Australian singer Enushu Taye and MC Mista Monk. We also…
On the isle of Crete, the ancient practice of dipping your bread in different sauces and dips is called “papara”. True to its music-as-sauce philosophy, Brussels-based groove formation M.CHUZI invites you to dip your ears into the sonic sauces that are on offer in the versatile menu of their debut,…
Every month, we bring you a collection of the best world music-related videos. That’s our way to give value to too often overlooked, rich and diverse artistic expressions. Listen with your eyes! Watch the full playlist: TweetSharePin0 Shares
Download this exclusive FREE Rhythm Passport album TODAY! Preview of the album: This Album is no longer available however if you want to receive exclusive access to a free album like this each month just sign up to our monthly newsletter by filling in the form below: Track List:…
This show is dedicated to the Angolan Independence Day, commemorated on the 11th of November of 1975, dedicated as well to its people and marvellous country. The show kicks off with Bonga and its wonderful voice, music’s extracted from his debut albums, Angola 72 and Angola 74, then we travel…
This show is a trip through world music and global beats searching for the Oneness in humanity, regardless of all geographical, political, economic and all kinds of divisions, and identifications we might all have, in these times of uncertainties we search for Unity. The unity that music brings to us……
Ten years of making radio and 500 podcasts, that’s what Mukambo is celebrating this week. So we have a special program talking you through the very vest albums of those ten years. Get ready for a trans-Atlantic trip going from Africa over Latin America to Europe, and a pan-African ride…
This week, Radio Mukambo takes you from Germany to Africa with Zik Zak, cd of the week by the German production duo Ancient Astronauts featuring upcoming vocalists and rappers from across Africa and the diaspora. We listen to plenty of new releases & remixes from Brazil, London, Afro-Colombia, Angola, Brussels &…
Batida is back with a collection of remastered tracks, unreleased mixes and lost versions on Um, a title with a double meaning as it’s both number 1 in Portuguese as “hmm”, an Angolan sound to start many words in Umbundo language, the main language spoken in Huambo, the city where…
Here’s a brand new episode of our Rhythm Passport On Air podcast in collaboration with SOAS Radio. This month, we reached Pedro Coquenão, also known as Batida, by phone in Lisbon, and we had an intense and interesting chat about several topics. From his recent participation in Africa Express: The…
If you have attended any of the previous Africa Express shows, you know they never disappoint your thirst for music. For hours and hours, they stun you with a deluge of quality acts and unexpected collaborations, not only featuring the exceptional artistry of the musicians involved but also their welcoming…
The group Konono No.1 and Angola-born, Lisbon-raised, artist Batida, have teamed up and released Konono No.1 meets Batida, an album that is both thought-provoking and also an enjoyable listen. The songs are engaging medleys of electronic instrumentation, along with sounds such as the thumb piano, that we assume that the Congolese listeners would already…
![Album Review: Konono No.1 meets Batida [Crammed Discs, March 2016]](https://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cram261_cover_lores-620x620.jpg)
There are no comments
Add yours