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23-581: Crammed Discs is run by Marc Hollander (A&R) with Hanna Gorjaczkowska (artist development, marketing, distribution & art direction) and Vincent Kenis (producer, director of the Congotronics Series ). Marc Hollander and Crammed Discs received the WOMEX award in 2004 at the World Music Expo international music trade fair, for being "one of the seminal players on the world music field". However,

46-504: A live recording of a Konono Nº1 performance on his label Terp records. The album, titled Lubuaku , was recorded live in Vera, Groningen , during the band's tour with The Ex. In 2004 Konono Nº1 began releasing albums through The Belgian label Crammed Discs . The first of these, entitled Congotronics , was produced in Kinshasa by Crammed Discs' Vincent Kenis and released to much enthusiasm from

69-538: A new live line-up of Aksak Maboul in 2015, and performed dozens of concerts around Europe. Now revolving around Hollander and Véronique Vincent, Aksak Maboul wrote, recorded and released two brand-new albums: Figures (2020) and Une aventure de VV (Songspiel) (2023). Konono No1 Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa , Democratic Republic of the Congo . They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to

92-429: A song on his 2010 album The Imagine Project . Konono Nº1 released the album Assume Crash Position in 2010, followed by Konono Nº1 Meets Batida (2016), a collaboration between Konono Nº1 and the musician Batida, also known as Pedro Coquenão. The group's full name, as seen on the banner in its music video, is L'orchestre folklorique T.P. Konono Nº1 de Mingiedi ; "T.P." (short for tout puissant , or "all powerful")

115-519: Is a Belgian musician, producer and creator of the independent record label , Crammed Discs . Hollander is the leader of the Belgian avant-rock group Aksak Maboul , which he founded in 1977 with Vincent Kenis . Aksak Maboul first released two albums, Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine (1977) and Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits (1980), went on a long hiatus, and was revived in 2015. Hollander joined Art Bears for their European tour in 1979, and

138-511: Is an homage to the band of the legendary Congolese musician Franco , which was called TP OK Jazz . Konono Nº1 originally came from the Kongo or Bacongo region that spans parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola . The group eventually headquartered themselves in the city of Kinshasa in the DRC. The group was formed in 1966 by Mingiedi Mawangu, a likembé player and truck driver. Mawangu

161-1010: Is not a sub-label per se, but a collection of releases by Congolese bands who play their own respective styles of electrified traditional music (such as Konono No1 and Kasai Allstars ). The series is curated and produced by Vincent Kenis . As for the Made To Measure composers' series, it is being discreetly revived since 2013 (after having remained inactive for 18 years), as 6 new volumes have recently come out. 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Marc Hollander Marc Hollander

184-472: The Congotronics vs Rockers project, a "superband" including ten Congolese and ten indie rock musicians (including members of Konono No1 , Deerhoof , Wildbirds & Peacedrums , Kasai Allstars , Skeletons , Juana Molina and Vincent Kenis ), who collaborated to create a common repertoire and performed at 15 major festivals and venues in ten countries. From 2008 to 2014, the following artists have joined

207-465: The Congotronics vs Rockers project, a "superband" including ten Congolese and ten indie rock musicians that included members of Deerhoof , Wildbirds & Peacedrums , Kasai Allstars , Skeletons , along with Juana Molina . This superband collaborated to create a common repertoire and performed at 15 major festivals and venues in ten countries. In July 2016, the group was in Romania , and appeared at

230-764: The Outernational Days festival in Bucharest organized by The Attic magazine and the Control Club. Konono Nº1 founder Mingiedi Mawangu stopped touring with the band around 2009, and entrusted his duties as band leader and lead likembe player to his son Augustin Mawangu Mingiedi, who further developed the sound of Konono's electric thumb piano by using various effect pedals. Mingiedi Mawangu died on April 15, 2015, aged 85. His son and successor, Augustin, died on October 16, 2017, aged 56. His own son, Makonda, inherited

253-575: The compilation album Zaire: Musiques Urbaines a Kinshasa . Since the release of this early recording, Konono Nº1 has influenced many other Congolese popular musicians and groups. Konono Nº1 first played outside of Africa in 2003 when they toured the Netherlands with Dutch band The Ex . Since this tour The Ex has regularly performed one of Konono Nº1's songs live, appearing on The Ex albums Turn (2004) and Enormous Door (2013) as "Theme From Konono." In 2004 The Ex's guitarist Terrie Hessels released

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276-441: The mbira ) with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The genre of the band's music has been characterized as difficult to classify; the group themselves have classified their music under

299-897: The Crammed Discs roster: Chicago band Allá , indie pop act Lonely Drifter Karen (from Vienna and Barcelona ), London-based Moroccan electronic artist U-cef, Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili , musician/composer/producer Mocky , Belgian band Hoquets , Belgo-Congolese rapper Baloji , Belgian-Colombian band La Chiva Gantiva , French-American artist Maïa Vidal , US bands Skeletons & Megafaun , South African/Dutch band SKIP&DIE , Belgian band Amatorski , Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan , Argentinian artist Juana Molina and Ghanaian/Swiss band OY . The label's latest signings (2016-2023) are Parisian electronic music collective Acid Arab , Portuguese singer & musician Lula Pena , young French-Welsh band Fauna Twin , French experimental pop band Aquaserge , Matias Aguayo & The Desdemonas ,

322-704: The album in 2007. They also collaborated on " Imagine " for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, The Imagine Project along with Seal , P!nk , India.Arie , Jeff Beck , Oumou Sangare and others. The song earned the Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration". Konono Nº1 were among the musical artists that Matt Groening selected to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in May 2010 in Minehead, England. That same month Crammed Discs released

345-426: The diversity of the label's output since its early days in the 1980s, its founders chose to create several sub-labels. This policy was discarded during the latter part of the 1990s, because Crammed felt that genre-blending had finally become acceptable. Crammed also had several specialized and one-artist sub-labels: Currently the only subsiding Crammed Discs imprints are Congotronics and Made To Measure. Congotronoics

368-586: The fourth volume in its Congotronics series , Assume Crash Position , produced by Vincent Kenis . Six months later the label released Tradi-Mods Vs. Rockers: Alternative Takes on Congotronics , a multi-artist album containing interpretations, covers and tributes to the music of Kasai Allstars , Konono Nº1 and other Congotronics bands, recorded by 26 indie rock and electronic musicians, including a.o. Deerhoof , Animal Collective , Andrew Bird , Juana Molina , Shackleton , Megafaun , Aksak Maboul , Mark Ernestus and others. In 2011, Konono N°1 took part in

391-632: The international press. Since then the group has achieved renown in North America, Europe, and Japan, supported by extensive touring. In 2006 the band won the Newcomer Award from the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music . Konono Nº1's album Live At Couleur Café was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. Konono Nº1 collaborated with Björk on the song " Earth Intruders " from her studio album, Volta . They also accompanied her on her promotional tour for

414-696: The label has always systematically worked with electronic music, indie pop and rock artists, and "doesn't see itself as a world music label : it just happens to enjoy working with artists from around the world, some of whom sing in languages other than English" (as stated in the label's manifesto). Crammed has been described as "one of the most boldly eclectic independent labels around" (Pitchfork), as "innovative and groundbreaking" and "visionary", a.o. for steadily avoiding to confine its roster "to one, potentially homogeneous category" and encouraging artists with plural identities to create new forms of music. In 2011, Crammed Discs celebrated its 30th anniversary by setting up

437-585: The labels of "tradi-modern" and "Congotronics". Konono Nº1 achieved international recognition around 2004, with the release of their album Congotronics through the Crammed Discs record label. Appealing to fans of rock and electronic music , they played at the Eurockéennes festival in France the following year. They collaborated with Björk for a song on her 2007 album Volta , and with Herbie Hancock for

460-426: The name Véronique Vincent & Aksak Maboul . It is the unfinished album which was meant to become the third Aksak Maboul album, and had been written and recorded by Hollander and Honeymoon Killers vocalist Vincent between 1980 and 1983. It was shelved for over 30 years, and assembled and revamped by Hollander in 2014. Following the positive reception of Ex-Futur Album , Marc Hollander and Véronique Vincent formed

483-457: The new rock band founded by the German-Chilean electronic music producer, Berlin-based Spanish experimental musician Don The Tiger , French-Chilean band Nova Materia , Lagos/London project Ekiti Sound , Ugandan/British band Nihiloxica , Californian musician Scott Gilmore , renowned producer Pascal Gabriel and his new Stubbleman project, and Palestinian techno duet Zenobia . Because of

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506-878: Was a member of The Honeymoon Killers and Cos . Hollander has also collaborated with a number of musicians, including Fred Frith and Chris Cutler . In 1980 Hollander founded Crammed Discs , which he still actively runs, while acting as the label's artistic director. With Crammed, he has discovered, launched and/or developed the careers of artists such as Bebel Gilberto , Zap Mama , Konono Nº1 , Kasai Allstars , Cibelle , Taraf de Haïdouks , Tuxedomoon , Bel Canto , Minimal Compact , Hector Zazou , Sussan Deyhim , Snooze/ Dominique Dalcan , DJ Morpheus , Suba , Zuco 103 , Celso Fonseca , Kočani Orkestar , Mahala Rai Banda , Balkan Beat Box , Shantel , Lonely Drifter Karen , Staff Benda Bilili , Maïa Vidal , SKIP&DIE , Yasmine Hamdan , Juana Molina , Acid Arab and others. In 2014, Crammed Discs released Ex-Futur Album , under

529-621: Was a member of the Zombo (or Bazombo) ethnic group, whose homeland is in Maquela do Zombo, located in Uíge Province of Angola, near the border with DR Congo . For his likembé ensemble, he adapted Zombo ritual music that was originally played by an ensemble of horns made from elephant tusks. In November 1978 the ensemble called Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe Konono Nº1 (OR “All-Powerful Likembe Orchestra Konono Nº1”) recorded one track, "Mungua-Muanga," for

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