Genre-blending around the globe with the Crammed Discs all-stars

Taking the listener on a strange and very pleasurable journey through alternative, electronica and non-Western sounds, this 20-track compilation presents the state of Crammed's roster around 2006, and its wide spectrum of music. From Konono No1/Congotronics to Bebel Gilberto by way of Kocani Orkestar, Cibelle, Tunng vs Taraf de Haidouks, Tuxedomoon and many more, these are all artists who float through the walls which (unfortunately still) stand firmly erect between genres and continents.

Based in Europe but with eyes and ears always pointing to the four corners of the globe, Crammed is recognized as one of the most exciting, adventurous and boundary-breaking independent labels around. It has always kept reinventing itself, and has been coming up with new forms of fusion, mixing elements of world music, indie rock and electronics ever since its inception in the early '80s, often anticipating the musical movements which bloomed during the next two-and-a-half decades.

Compiled and sequenced by Crammed founder Marc Hollander, "this is not a 'world music' album... it's an album of open-minded music, made by people who happen to come from 15 different countries and sing in 10 different languages..."

Floating Through Walls

We at Crammed have this strange phobia about being trapped in a box, pinned down, categorized, forbidden to cross boundaries... about belonging only to one place, one culture, one genre... or simply about getting bored by churning out the same stuff over and over again... in other words, we're irrepressibly eclectic, and have been indulging in the delights of genre-b(l)ending... Too bad for the musical churches who won't recognize us as their obedient disciples... we like it like that... and we can't be doing everything wrong, as Crammed appears to be considered around the world as one of the most interesting & adventurous independent labels, en toute modestie... The label has kept reinventing itself, and has been coming up with new blends, freely mixing elements of world music, alternative rock & pop, jazz and electronica ever since its inception in the early '80s...

In retrospect, Crammed seems to have often been a trailblazer in many ways... although "trailblazing" isn't an occupation per se (not since the Wild West anyway), just a by-product... something that can happen when you simply keep looking for freshness, beauty, surprises, playfulness, thrills... Having said that, b(l)ending isn't necessarily a good thing in itself: hybrids can be ugly, awkward or boring... but also truly magical: when accidents occur, when a quasi-alchemical process is at work, the whole becomes much more than the sum of its parts... for that, you need inspiration, luck, musicality, grace... OK, let's calm down: we're only a label, and (although we do play our part), it's down to the artists...

So, who floats through the walls? Phantoms and ghosts are known to do that... and so are most of the artists featured in this album... their music percolates through those walls which (still) stand firmly erect between genres...

Some of these artists are deliberately playing with categories, sometimes even laughing at them... maybe because they want to escape from pigeonhole hell, and don't understand why they need to be handcuffed to the same record bin for the rest of their life... or maybe because they recognize that, in the 21st century, most of us don't really have one single identity, one single culture: most of us have/belong to one -or more- nationality, language, religion, family, profession, social class, age groupe, gender... and what one's "identity" really is, is the particular intersection of all these elements... as opposed to the affirmation of one element against all the others, that delusional and increasingly popular posture which makes people entrench themselves in monolithic, artificial "identities" and "communities", and eventually leads to confrontation... multiple affiliation is really what we should be proud of, what makes our life rich and interesting...

When artists adopt this attitude, they intuitively create their own mix, invent their own musical identity by drawing from the various aspects of their personal history, from the whirlpool of influences we're all immersed in... For some other artists who appear here, wandering across borders has been a more accidental process: Konono became sonic mutants when they amplified and distorted their instruments, Tartit abolished some of the distance between the Sahara and the Mississipi delta when they adopted the electric guitar... as for the Gypsies, they've always been at once keepers of tradition and innovators, absorbing and transforming all styles of music they encountered along the way.

This is not a "world music" album... it's an album of open-minded music, made by people who happen to come from 15 different countries and sing in 10 different languages.

TRACK LISTING

01. Apollo Nove Traz Um Alivio
02. Tartit Tabai Tarat
03. Wise In Time Nine
04. Taraf de Haidouks A Stork Crosses The Danube
05. DJ Dolores De Dar Do
06. Cibelle feat. Devendra Banhart London, London
07. Zuco 103 feat. Dani Macaco Duele Le Le
08. Kocani Orkestar vs Senor Coconut Usti, Usti Baba
09. Hugo La Collection
10. Sussan Deyhim/Bill Laswell The Candle and the Moth
11. Tuxedomoon A Home Away
12. Celso Fonseca Origem da Felicidade
13. Tunng vs Taraf de Haidouks Homecoming
14. Kasai Allstars Tshileja
15. Snooze It's More Expensive for This
16. Flat Earth Society Psychoscout
17. Think Of One Disciplinador
18. Mahala Rai Banda Morceau d'Amour/Spoitoresa Remix
19. Konono No1 TP Couleur Cafe
20. Bebel Gilberto Ceu Distante (DJ Spinna Remix)