Echokamer #4: Arab beats & two Dutch choirs

Rough Americana, Boeuf Majeur, The Average Voices

4 Jun 2013

Echokamer #4 sees a mix of musical styles. Mutamassik and Morgan Craft a.k.a. Rough Americana will contribute low-slung bits and beats with experimental guitar, and The Average Voices and Boeuf Majeur, Amsterdam choirs under the direction of Tristan Knelange, will perform two important European works from the 1920s. Free for members. Dinner at 19:00, music at 20:30.

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Boeuf Majeur at Echokamer #4 - Erik Diekstra

After returning from the trenches of WWI, Ernst Toch settled in Weimar to create a number of stunningly modernist works, among which the world's first spoken chorus piece, Geographical Fugue. The Average Voices choir will perform what has affectionately been called 'Weimar Rap', translated into English under the watchful eyes of John Cage and Henry Cowell.

Boeuf Majeur, a young choir from Amsterdam, will perform Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir, the only unaccompanied choral work by the Swiss composer. Written in the 1920s, it wasn't until 1963 and after heavy persuasion that Martin released the piece, which he considered a 'matter between God and myself', to the public. The two choirs, which are both under the direction of Tristan Knelange, will also perform a number of short pieces together.

Rough Americana is a duo consisting of DJ/producer Mutamassik; who mixes afro-beat, breakbeats and hip-hop to an 'Arabified swamp music'; and experimental guitarist Morgan Craft. Their project Rough Americana started out as a reaction to post 9/11 politics in America. Having moved their studio from Brooklyn to the Italian countryside, the duo now merges Craft's Afro American/Viking roots with Mutamassik's Italianized Egyptian roots. Their mission: to “wake people the fuck up”.

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Location: Mediamatic Fabriek, VOC-kade 10, Oostenburg Amsterdam. Entrance with a valid Club Mediamatic membership (€5,- for 4 weeks). Dinner at 19:00, music at 20:30.