16, 17 & 18/05 London v Salvador

01 May, 2013

16/05
LIVE MUSIC 7pm – 11pm – The The Heatwave + Lady Chann + OQuadro + Natty + Os Nelsons
@ Roundhouse London, (Roundhouse Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH)
+info: http://www.roundhouse.org.uk £6

17/05
LIVE MUSIC 12.30pm – 4pm The Heatwave + Lady Chann +QQuadro + Natty + Os Nelsons)
@ The Great Escape ( Komedia, 44-47 Gardner Street, BN1 1UN, Brighton)
+info: www.mamacolive.com/thegreatescape

18/05
LIVE MUSIC 7pm – 9pm (OQuadro + Os Nelsons)
@ Muevete ( Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate W11 3JQ)
+info: http://www.movimientos.org.uk/ FREE B4 8pm / £6 b4 10pm

Bass Culture Clash: Salvador vs London is a unique live music showcase pitching some of the hottest acts from the London bass scene against their counterparts from Salvador, Brazil’s bass capital in the state of Bahia. The bands will hit the UK following ground-breaking Bass Culture Clash performances together in Bahia, with festival shows in Salvador’s iconic Pelourinho neighbourhood.
As Brazil prepares for the spotlight as host of the FIFA World Cup (2014) and Olympics and Paralympics (2016) this project champions international cross-cultural exchange via the dancefloor, and will be a portal into the beating heart of Bahia.

London’s formidable dancehall soundsystem The Heatwave will be bringing their “bashment raving scandal” featuring the UK’s number one dancehall queen – MC Lady Chann. Natty will be twisting roots and recruiting hearts with his deep spirit melodies. OQuadro step up with old-school hip hop, Salvador style. And Os Nelsons unleash the connect between Bahia beats and global ghettotech. With influences ranging from Vybz Kartel, Marley and Devlin to Jackson do Pandeiro, Racionais MCs and Buraka Som Sistema, watch out, this battle is wide open.

Bass music is a crucial cultural force shaping the sounds of London and Salvador – two of the world’s most dynamic music cities. Salvador is the oldest city in Brazil and capital of Bahia, the state with the strongest African cultural presence in the country. Channelling that deep heritage, and connecting to new currents, Bahia has long been the source of pivotal shifts in Brazilian music. Samba itself originated there, it’s where Bossa Nova dreams began and where the hugely influential Tropicália movement erupted. Today, as ever, cultural collisions are manifest in new urban mash-ups of ancient roots, local pop and global sounds – hip hop with ijexá, digital pagode, Bahian dub –Bahia’s music scene is a rich and diverse mix of the ancient, syncretic and futuristic. Having long been a national heartland for dub and reggae music, right now Salvador is Brazil’s bass capital.

Bass culture is in London’s DNA. Reggae, brought over with the Jamaican diaspora who migrated to the UK from the 1950s onward, presented a clarion call to all those Jamaicans who felt themselves living in a system which did not care for them or their culture. By the 1970s reggae’s message of unity and rebellion resonated with a wider audience as the music challenged racism and generated new visions of culture and identity in the city. Decades ago it filtered through punk, rock and pop and became an emblematic London soundtrack. Today reggae music’s ability to evolve and influence other genres is stronger than ever and London is home to the next generation of bass culture sounds, with new forms like Dubstep, Grime and Bass music all dominating the dancefloor and pushing new boundaries.