Cyberiname

Sabakoe - So so da gwe (from Internet 2002)

Not really getting the concept of this kaseko band calling their album Internet. Generally I'm a lot more drawn towards other forms of music from Suriname, and tend to skip most heavy-jazz influenced genres out there but these guys are great. All of their album covers are as weird as this one too. It's not a bubbling club remix, but it sure is a nice warm weather tune.

Suriname In Ebony

Buku, a huge archive of books, articles, photographs, and paintings that relate to the history of Suriname has made it impossible for me to get anything done lately. The above is a 1967 issue of Ebony about the racial diversity of the country that remains even after half the population moved to the Netherlands soon after 1975.

"Why come here for a story?" queried the sixth 'Black Dutchman' I met.
"Isn't Suriname a multiracial country?" I asked. Don't all of the people live together in harmony?" "Yes."

"Wouldn't you call that unique in a world torn by racial strife?"
"Perhaps so," mused the man who takes his way of life for granted.
Forty-five of the next 50 people I interviewed agreed that they live in a peaceful coexistence under a flag made up of five stars representing the five races of mankind; that in Suriname, East meets West and the twain is an elliptical orbit on the flag joining the stars together. The dissenting five are not so sure. With the coming election, Surinam's racial paradise is threatened by a power struggle between the two dominant groups: the Creoles, mixed blood (no matter how dark) descendants of African slaves who head that bauxite-rich nation, and Hindustanis, the east Indian descendants of contract laborers who have passed the Creoles economically, are catching up with them educationally and overtaking them numerically.

Read the full article here.

(Found via Afro-Europe)

Banned In The Dutch Antilles

Ai Sa Si - Ik wil Een Poesje Zien

I wonder if Luke and co. were expecting this when they were busy exercising their right to misogyny. That an Afro-Surinamese group might chant their needs in Dutch too. I found it sort of funny that this had such a similar melody to 2 Live Crew, curious and confused and able to use Google translator the results told me it was indeed the same lyrics too. But no 808s in sight, this is done by the same kawina group that did the original version of Faluma. Of all the weird covers and songs lost in translation I've collected (and there are a lot of them), this one might take the cake.

"Waka Waka"

Boima's WFMU post about the detective work involved in retracing the steps of a mystery tune we were both recently hunting down went up today, detailing the journey of a Cameroonian military song lost in translation throughout the world. I was introduced to it through a Bubbling remix of a Dominican Merengue pop hit, him a Darkar rap song. We found traces of what we were referring to as "Waka Waka" in The Netherlands, Suriname, D.R., Rwanda, Liberia, France, Senegal, taking many forms but always retaining the same sweet melody. Youtube videos were piling up, but the origin was unknown to us until Boima solved the case which ended up stemming from a rather humorous 1980s military band in Cameroon. Wasn't my guess as to it's roots but hey, it's globetrotting abilities were alarming so really are we surprised?

Aléké

Unknown Suriname Aléké Band - ? #1
Unknown Suriname Aléké Band - ? #2

Aléké is a musical meeting between the Creoles of the Dutch Antilles and the runaways of the West Indies. During the gold rush of the 19th century, people from neighboring islands and coastal Suriname and French Giana traveled south to find work, areas occupied by those descended from fugitive slaves (Maroons to some, not so P.C. to others) where gold was found. Thus the existing Creole forms of song and dance such as Winti and Kawina (coastal-Surinamese music with links to Dutch military marching bands) blended with the music of the inland settlements which was known to be very well preserved from it's African roots. The new form of music became very popular among the Creole and Ndyuka people, eventually spreading throughout the country and into neighboring French Giana in the 1960s. These two tracks actually have nothing to do with the record cover above (which is the first commercially released Aléké recording from 1980), but are fantastic recordings that should give you a good idea of what Aléké is. I apologize for the lack of information concerning the musicians being nameless, not my intentions. For further reading and where I've pulled my sources from, read Kenneth Billby's Aleke: New Music and New Identites in the Guianas, available as a PDF.

Free Your Slaves And Your Ass Will Follow

Tambu plays a large part in the roots of much of the music of the Dutch Antilles as mentioned by the likes of DJ Moortje and can't be ignored by those of us who love movement of the hips. Much like Batuko in Cape Verde and other dances done by displaced Africans, it was forbidden by European Slave traders due to it's "risque" nature, labeled as heathen and remained in secrecy for hundreds of years. The story of cultures condemned due to ass shaking can be told a number of ways (more on the 200+ year old history of Juke/Jit later) but since we've been talking about Bubbling a lot this video seemed totally appropriate. My collection of this stuff is small but growing, Grupo Zojojo being the top dogs so far. I recommend spending time on Youtube checking out some of the performances, which are more than worth watching.

Weird The Club Up

Unknown DJ - Bubbling Battle Loop Mix

Bubbling battle tracks can be a scary swamp to trudge through, and you will step in plenty of shit along the way. Cramming 10 songs into 5 minutes while pulling them up and down like taffy is no easy task. The hardest part is making them not sound ridiculously corny, and tracks are often full of lame sound effects, muscle flexing, and sometimes even fucking South Park samples (I have a great track that's ruined by just that). A bad taste similar to the one Breakcore always leaves in my mouth. Yet sometimes, it all falls into the right place. This is one of those miniature DJ mixes that makes my obsession worth it and I can forget about all the incredibly dated turntable masturbation that I've put me ears through. A perfect battle track and like the best, an incredibly weird one too. Tiny guitars and a ghost organ lead into DJ Class' Tear The Club Up(!!!) and we are happy. From what I can tell, Baltimore Club isn't so rare in these parts and as strange a phenomenon as Bubbling is to begin with I'm not even surprised. There might be some kid in Suriname baking up some Juke for all I know (I can dream can't I? I mean they fuck with Paul Johnson). It's all one big mutated diaspora due to Dutch Slavery that has it's roots planted in Turkish raves, Jamaican cartoon chase footwork competitions, and the Mad Decent Website.

Edit: The DJ says his name at the end but I can't make it out very well. Maybe you can.

Blowin Bubbels

Reflex DJ - Kassav Bubbeling Remix

Bit more DJ friendly version of Zouk La Ce Sel Medicament Nou Ni for the Antilles crowd.

New Weird Suriname

The Sukru Masters - Ai Sa Si (DJ Fasta R'Dam to Paramaribo Kawina/Bubbling remix) 2009

Combine the rabid patterns of West Africa in the form of Caribbean Drumz via The Netherlands with Afro-Surinamese folk music blah blah blah blah blah. Kawina is a song and dance formed after the Dutch abolished slavery in 1863 which has been kept alive by both the descendants of slaves and DJs within the diaspora of the Antilles. It is related to the Winti religion, in which "Wintis" or demigods are summoned by special rhythms. These Wintis can possess performers during ceremonies, but are a healing force, not an evil one like a Duppy. I'm curious what spirits the Bubbling remixes arouse? These aren't part of the goofy Moortje school, but usually mash-ups of Caribbean drum along tracks with popular male vocal groups. I don't imagine you would hear this kind of stuff at a party in The Netherlands, it's not ravey enough and doesn't mix as well with uppers. Probably a lot more likely to hear this in the actual Antilles, and at national pride festivals within the diaspora. There are some super bizarre Chutney versions of this stuff too, but that and Kaseko are a different story. If you have any remixes I don't have, your gonna email them to me right away.

For more listening, I've been compiling a collection of Suriname related music and videos in the form of a Youtube playlist. It's mostly stuff closely related to Suriname, not so much Bubbling via The Hague. Kawina dance ceremonies, Kaseko old and new, Chutney, Antillean Rap, Autotuned Ragga, Suriname Zouk, ect.

Antillean Throwback Heat

DJ Prako - Lagaz Lekkerding (Kaseko remix) (from Mix-it-Up 2006)

This guys mixtapes are loaded with goodness. Everything from Chutney Reggaeton to Kawina Bubbling remixes and any other weird hybrid you could imagine. Just the kind of stuff I've been looking for. My focus lately has been on Suriname, Curacao and the rest of the Dutch Antilles lately. This track is a bit of both, a Kaseko re-edit fast forwarded a few years and with some Soca underneath. Grab some of the free mixes off Prako's site in the discography section.

Drums of Death

DJ Chuckie - Caribbean Drumz (from Bubbling Beats vol 4 2004)

I'm still not sure what the hell Bubbling House is, but so far this is pretty much the definition for me. Not in a sense of popularity where stuff like this is played, but as kind of a backbone. Something I could see being played in Suriname, Curacao, and the rest of the Papiamento speaking islands, even if this was made in Amsterdam. The reason for my confusion is all the mixed messages I've been getting, everything from sped up Dancehall and Reggaeton to the Cha Cha Slide, it's a lot to process! If your into DJ Master D's Mad Drumz track, you'll be into this for sure. A lot of Chuckies music is way too ravey for me, but he's been working with Lil Jon recently so maybe he'll bring Crunk back.

Song and Sound Suriname

Wilfred Caïro Winti Ens - Pikin de njan f'a goron (from Suriname OST 1960)

Great soundtrack to the documentary Suriname by Netherlands filmmaker Herman van der Horst from 1960. Shit has been making me so happy walking around town in the snow not givin a fuck that I'm freezing because of this straight fire.

After I found this banging shit I stumbled upon this great Suriname music blog, which includes info on this album along with some other fantastic music.