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Richard Russell: ”I’ve probably carried the feeling of my visit to Ethiopia into everything I’ve done since.”
Richard Russell is the boss of XL Recordings (home of Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Jack White etc.) and the producer of recent classics such as the late Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here and Bobby Womack’s The Bravest Man in the Universe (together with Damon Albarn). In 2010 Richard travelled to Harar, Ethiopia, as part of the Africa Express along with ...
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Somali music discovered/rediscovered: From Dur-Dur to Waayaha Cusub
Somalia seems to have finally turned the corner. In 2011 Al-Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu and last year Somalia’s first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in. Now Mogadishu is booming with a returning diaspora and skyrocketing house prices. What is next for Somalia? A music revival against the odds? The Somali hiphop ...
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”Ethiopia didn’t need me” – Vincent Moon on Ethiopia
“Ethiopia is an island,” Vincent Moon explains. The French filmmaker has been on the road for four years now travelling and filming music and spiritual rituals across the globe and releasing them through his Petites Planètes label. 2012 saw him spending three months in Ethiopia exploring and recording Easter in Gonder and the sounds of Merkato ...
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A man returns: An audience with Oromo legend Ali Birra
By Andreas Hansen for Addis Rumble, all rights reserved. The rumours of Ali Birra’s death have been greatly exaggerated. During his career, Ali has not only been jailed dozens of times. He has also been reported death more than once. First in the mid-70’s when the authorities in his home town of Dire Dawa ...
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Best of Addis 2012
The task of identifying the best artistic and cultural experiences in Addis in the past year turned out to be much more challenging than expected. Not because there were not a plethora of events to cherry pick from. There were, and many of them were as such interesting but also fairly safe. Only ...
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Our favourite Ethiopian albums of 2012
At Addis Rumble we do not want to lag behind in the ever-intensifying end-of-year-list race. However, we will not overcompensate with endless top 100 lists but will restrict our endeavour to a few areas not covered by dozens of other bloggers out here. We are kicking off with our favorite Ethiopian albums of 2012 and will ...
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The Fresh Harar Sound
Harar is a city full of mystery, hyenas, Rimbaud nostalgia and a deeply fascinating place. However, one thing that most faranjis who have travelled to the city have noticed is the lack of restaurants catering just slightly for Western tastebuds. When the two British producers Richard Russell and Rodaidh McDonald travelled to Harar in 2010 as part ...
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Introducing Yeshi Demelash
One of the less know sources of fascination in Ethiopia is the country’s widespread drive inn culture. There seems to be no limits to what can be done in a car in Addis. Drive inn movies, dinners and coffees are so last century. Here we are talking drive inn meetings, parties etc. So it came ...
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TEZETA: Documenting the Ethiopian-Armenian Romance
Visitors to Ethiopia can easily spend weeks or months in the country without noticing the Armenian influence on Ethiopian culture and society. However, when you start exploring the old Piassa and Arat Kilo neighborhoods of Addis Ababa you pass by some of the few remaining old Armenian houses that have not yet been demolished to ...
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‘’It’s not just about having an African backdrop’’ – Baloji interviewed
We met Baloji, the brilliant and innovative Congolese-born Belgian rapper and video producer, a few hours before his concert at this year’s Roskilde Festival. We asked Baloji about his recent performances in Kinshasa, about recording with Konono, the distinct visual side of his work and how to escape the ‘African artist’ label. Read his fascinating ...