Time now for the new superstar of the Italian music scene.
FOR FANS OF: Rosalía, Tarta Relena, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
La Niña certainly created a storm with her second album, Furèsta, news of which spread from Naples to every corner of Italy at rapid pace. Now it’s Slovenia’s turn to take an unforgettable journey, one where the ancient is reimagined in bold and refreshing shades of colour.
La Niña is the stage name of the supremely talented singer-songwriter Carola Moccia, who combines traditional Neapolitan musical roots and songs sung entirely in that city’s dialect with modern electronic elements, all in the service of a sound that is, at one and the same time, rich with heritage and boldly contemporary. There are complex five-part harmonies as well, along with unique instrumentation and complex polyrhythms that produce captivating performances full of energy, movement and unarguable magnetism.
Large halls sold out, critics’ album of the year in Italy, 245,000 followers on Instagram, millions of views on YouTube: for the first time in our festival’s history, top billing goes to an Italian artist. And what an artist!
‘This is an album full of (very wild) animals. ‘Furèsta’ is a word my mother would often use when I was little to describe the behaviour of our cats. It’s a word that, when I think about it, says a lot about what I’m like. For me, La Niña is the source, the first spark, the instinct that survives every transformation, an untouched corner within me that never stopped singing’
The event is organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Slovenia and the Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana
Nusantara Beat (NL/ID)
FOR FANS OF: Altın Gün, Yīn Yīn, gamelan
Missing Altın Gün? You won’t be for much longer, with the latest sensation from the Amsterdam scene booked into Kino Šiška tonight. And where those more established superstars dig for riches in Turkish psych, Nusantara Beat’s deep-dive of choice is Indonesian roots, cooking up a hugely exciting blend of hypnotic folk melodies, vintage Indo-pop, pulsating psychedelic grooves and very contemporary sonic textures.
Their rise has been swift, built upon mesmerising live shows and a string of acclaimed seven-inch singles on Bongo Joe Records. Now they’re with Glitterbeat, perhaps inevitably given that label’s love of global psych with distinction, and their eponymous debut was released last year to critical acclaim. As vocalist Megan de Klerk explains, Nusantara is an old word referring to all the islands in the Indonesian archipelago. Today it is used to express the idea of different cultures coming together and, in the band’s case, the mixing of the rhythms of the country into one sound. Despite hailing from the Netherlands (with the exception of bassist Michael Joshua, who was born in West Java), all the members of the band have Indonesian heritage. Most of the lyrics, sung in Indonesian by Megan, deal with the complexities of modern love, with a bittersweet pop sensibility perfectly in tune with Megan’s wonderfully delicate vocal style and shimmering guitar riffs modelled on the traditional gamelan orchestras.
Nusantara Beat are a totally distinctive musical collective, equally at home with contemporary popular culture and the sound of history resonating down the ages. They’re at the top of the list of must-sees for many fans of psych-folk and vintage global pop, so how cool will that make you?
Line-up: Megan de Klerk (vocals) / Jordy Sanger (guitar) / Michael Joshua Yonata (bass) / Rouzy Portier (guitar, keyboards) / Gino Groeneveld (percussion) / Sonny Groeneveld (drums)
Organisation: Druga Godba and Kino Šiška
Supported by Liveurope. The Liveurope platform brings together and supports European concert venues in their commitment to promote up-and-coming European acts, and actively boosts their touring across European stages and their introduction to new audiences. Liveurope is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
