World on The Beat, Apr 08
Welcome to World on the Beat. This column hopes to draw you towards music with the delectable flavour of another land àit may be fruity and tropical, or sometimes spicy and mystical, but almost always something you can jump, whirl, or generally get down to
Without further ado, Ndaje (The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, 24 April, 10pm-3am, £5/£7) will bounce you all the way to West Africa, where Samba and Diwan will fill you up with some upbeat afrobeat, and Zuba will provide your feet with her bassabeat. Then hop over to Mungo's HiFi (Glasgow School of Art, Friday 25 April, 10pm-3am, £tbc), where the reggae, dub and dancehall soundsystem will be fresh back from their bass deliveries to Lithuania and Poland. However, should you feel like making some beats for a change, Ian Sandlands is doing a one-off Brazilian percussion workshop in samba, maracatu, and partido alto rhythms (Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 17 April, 1pm, £3). But what of 'mystical spicyness'? Balkanarama is set to be a veritable Eastern European storm, with the heart-wrenching singing of Teo Krilic being brought over especially from Bosnia, and Black Cat, a klezmer and Balkan 10-piece ensemble that will likely set the room on fire (Studio 24, Edinburgh, 3 April, 9pm – 3am, £tbc). Beats readers may be particularly interested in Fitkin Wall, an atmospheric, electronica-enhanced harp and synthesiser duo from London, who will be supported by a klezmer-celtica duo, Tzalool, from Israel (Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, 1 April, 7.30pm, £8/£10). [Josh Coppersmith-Heaven]