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Sep 14, 2011 Web Exclusive By J. Pace

This Germano-Kenyan (how often do you get to use that) collaboration took a handful of Berlin-based electronic artists to work with various established artists of the Kenyan music scene. The sibling electronic duo Gebrüder Teichmann worked with the Goethe Institute of Nairobi to put the whole thing together, inviting along Modeselektor and Jahcoozi for the ride. The mission statement: “BLNRB is about digging deep into the local Berlin and Nairobi music scenes and building a new urban sound together with some amazing talents from the next generation of African musicians.”

Glitch-happy breakbeat combo Modeselektor put in some of the best tracks, killing it with Kenyan rappers Nazizi and Abbas on “Monkeyflip,” and making heads nod on the super-chill and melodic “Kibera Banga” alongside Massai Mbilli and Just A Band.

The Teichmann brothers lean subtler than Modeselektor, but found some great results as well, such as the sly, dubstep-flavored “Dirty Laundry” with Abbas, Kimya, and Lon’ Jon, or the mellow, speaker-shaking dubtronica of “Ma Bhoom Bhoom Bhoom” with Mombasa hip-hop collective Ukoo Flani.

Jahcoozi do their part with the steady electro-dancehall of “Msoto Millions,” a perfect bass-swamp for the fellas from Ukoo Flani to swim around in, or “Room For Me,” the rocker of the collaborations (working with Just A Band here), with a solid up-tempo beat and synth stabs.

All in all, a pretty solid showing here, and a testament to the fertility of cross-cultural collaboration and simply taking artists out of their comfort zones. (www.outhere.de)

Author rating: 6/10