Electrónica en Abril 2022
La Casa Encendida presents the 18th edition of Electrónica en Abril, the avant-garde rhythm festival, returning after a two-year hiatus. Other latitudes, fresh voices and new beats on the electronic scene will take over La Casa Encendida from 31 March to 3 April.
This year, Electrónica en Abril is curated by Jokkoo, a Barcelona-based music collective born of the need to investigate and promote the latest cutting-edge electronic sounds of Africa and the African diaspora.
Africa is spearheading the search for new sounds, experimentation and avant-garde creativity: the festival will kick off on Thursday the 31st with MC Yallah, the undisputed queen of Ugandan rap, presenting her work in Madrid for the first time with German producer Debmaster. This is one of the most powerful projects launched by the young but already firmly established label Nyege Nyege Tapes.
Friday’s concerts will take a more rhythmic direction as we welcome Klein, an experimental artist from London who also happens to be the leading exponent of electronic R&B in the UK, and whose work approaches classical music in an abstract, intimate way. This performance is the only Spanish stop on her tour. The line-up also features prolific London artist Loraine James, now one of the most prominent figures on the international electronic scene; Parisian artist NSDOS, whose music and visuals are based on body movements; and with HHY & The Kampala Unit, the trio of synthetic percussion, kingdom-come horns and viral electronics delivering Ugandan futuristic music.
Experimentation, mutated textures and introspection will invade La Casa Encendida on Saturday night. DÆMON, vocalist and percussionist, will be accompanied by the DJ and producer Xzavier Stone to offer us a show where the sounds of the alternative diaspora, such as footwork, will be the protagonists. We’ll round out the programme with the audiovisual performances of Murcia native Beatrix Weapons —member of the Música Dispersa collective Women in Experimental— presenting her peculiar melancholic, heart-rending universe; and Angolan artist Nazar with a sample of his aggressive, mutant kuduro, where he tells the history of his family and his country with visuals supplied by filmmaker Rob Heppell. Kuduro (from the Portuguese cu duro, which literally means “hard ass”) is an Angolan dance genre that’s all the rage in his home country as well as in Portugal, where it’s often heard on the dancefloors.
Electrónica En Familia
The festival will conclude on Sunday with two family-friendly concerts to introduce our youngest listeners to electronic music. Japanese duo WaqWaq Kingdom draws connections between traditional Japanese and contemporary electronic music, between Jamaican dancehall and 8-bit techno, and between African polyrhythms and experimental music. At the second concert, Ghanaian artist Steloolive will share an improvised, interactive performance with little ones, where the sounds of analogue and digital children’s games are mapped using MIDI synthesisers to create a fun, dynamic cosmos.
For the first time, this year you can also purchase a pass to attend all concerts in the courtyard on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at a 25% discount.
La Casa Encendida is continuing its partnership with SON Estrella Galicia, a leading brewery music project that has been offering ear-opening musical experiences for over a decade, in an alliance based on shared values like the virtue of difference and the commitment to constantly support national and international talent.
