Avalanche Kaito + Yao Bobby x Simon Grab

In the organizer's words:

Avalanche Kaito

Someone has described Avalanche Kaito as "grrriot_punk_noise". Burkinabe singer Kaito Winse, the guardian of the ancestral griot tradition, rubs shoulders with the multiform approaches of drummer and "pure dataïst" Benjamin Chaval and anarcho-guitarist Nico Gitto in an explosive combination. The project seems in many ways unique in the musical landscape, managing to combine both a seductive trance power and a wicked experimental side. The band was noticed from their first concerts in Belgium in July 2021. A real craze followed, which brought them to several European countries and to Canada during the following months, performing more than fifty times in festivals and clubs. In 2022, the band released their first EP, Dabalomuni, followed by a homonymous album, both on Glitterbeat. Also performing in several showcase festivals like MIL or ESNS, the band generates a real word-of-mouth movement. Everywhere, professionals and audiences receive them as a new sensation. In 2022, Grammy commissioned Avalanche Kaito to make a live video that was broadcast on the networks of the prestigious institution. In March 2023 KEXP released a live session shot at ESNS in January and The Wire published a feature about the band. This year, the band continued to scour the festival circuit, crossing the Channel twice (Supersonic, End of the Road...). End-of-year highlight: WOMEX. In 2024, they released their second album Talitakum via Glitterbeat and have been on tour again all around Europe and beyond.

Yao Bobby x Simon Grab

The Togolese rapper and political activist Yao Bobby collaborates with Swiss noisemaker Simon Grab. An intense sound battle between energetic rhymes fired into a dark sound world of raw electronic bass pulsations with a dubby punk attitude, produced on analog feedback electronics. A very raw and improvised form of live experimental hip hop - 'Freeform Rap and Noise'. In their unique soundworld, each bring a totally singular style & attitude to create a kind of next generation free form rap, noise & synthetic rhythm concoction coaxed out of improvisedfeedback signals and dynamic microphone control. Yao's lyrics (in his mother tongue Ewé, french and also partly in english) deal with the current injustices in Africa and the problems ofthe colonial aftermath of the west & its remaining grip on the continent. Whether you are ableto understand each lyric or not, the unstoppable flow, the versatile dynamic range, and the emotions in the frequencies (both voice and electronics) convey life-force & a sense of resistance. A raw, honest attitude and forward momentum that is unmistakeable in its intent to crush borders sonically, socially, and politically.