Kasai Allstars

Originating in Kinshasa within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kasai Allstars unites performers drawn from five separate ensembles—Luscombe Madimba, Tandjolo, Dibua Dietu, Basokin, and Masanka Sankayi—some of whom had already contributed to the 2006 anthology Congotronics 2: Buzz'n'Rumble in the Urb'n'Jungle. Belgian producer Vincent Kenis prompted these musicians to coalesce into a supergroup, which introduced itself with the 2008 release In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic, the third volume in Crammed Discs’ Congotronics series. Their approach fuses ancestral rhythms, indigenous instruments, and dance traditions with electric guitars and distorted thumb pianos, generating an intense synthesis of historical and contemporary forces. Partnerships and reinterpretations involving assorted indie rock and electronic figures broadened their reach, while the 2010 anthology Tradi-Mods vs. Rockers assembled reworkings by Animal Collective, Deerhoof, and Juana Molina of pieces by both Kasai Allstars and their Congotronics colleagues Konono No 1, prompting a joint 2011 tour that placed Allstars members onstage with those contributors at multiple festivals. After several years the collective resurfaced with the 2014 double-length set Beware the Fetish, whose twelve tracks surpass one hundred minutes and were produced, recorded, and mixed by Vincent Kenis. In 2017 the group appeared in Alain Gomis’s drama Félicité, for which they supplied most of the score apart from Arvo Pärt selections performed by Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste; Crammed Discs subsequently issued Around Félicité, pairing the film music with remixes by Daedelus, Clap! Clap!, Africaine 808, and additional artists. The 2021 album Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound further enriched their electric and acoustic palette with intricate electronic beat programming.