Purple Pop was a one time event (at least till now, you never know) held at the OCCII in Amsterdam and was seen as an alternative to...Pinkpop the major festival which this year is headlining such acts as The Cure and Bruce Springsteen. Great stuff we all love the classics but not everyone can afford it and for those fans of sub- and counter-culture they could "pick up their hearts and dance until the early hours at Purple Pop." (Pinkpop finishes at 01.00 sharp wtf?!).

Purple Pop took place on May 28, 2010 in Amsterdam. The festival was an iniciative from the producers who also organized the “Anti-Lowlands Festival" a year before, which was very successful and sold-out as a lot of people got the "anti" statement...but then a lot didn’t.

"We did Purple Pop deliberately the same weekend as Pinkpop. Were not per se anti-Pinkpop but want to offer resistance to the big commercial festivals and to give a fun place to indie bands who, like the big acts, deserve attention and showcase. The independent music scene in Amsterdam is quite small. Everyone has had enough of so little selection of authentic sub-cultural music. As with Anti-Lowlands, Purplepop is a network of like-minded people." Yes...Go Purple Pop!

The festival started early with veggie dinner at the MKZ restaurant behind the OCCII were acoustic bands where playing. Highlights went to the Suicidal Birds acoustic set of guitar and contrabass. Line up for the evening on the main stage was all awesome bands Apneu, Red the Planeeet, Pattern Cut-off and The Stutters.

Dans l´cul Danku! is a 3 day Festival held at the Sub071 Multipleks squat in Leiden, now on its second edition. Unfortunately Noise Problems couldnt attend but to celebrate and spread the good word we posted last year gigs from Theme of Laura and Les Louise Mitchels that we managed to record amidst all the DIY madness.

In their own speak Dans l´cul fest "is a DIY (do it yourself) and non benefit fest. The only purpose of this fest is to share and meet together in happiness with concerts, infostands, workshops, eat & cafe and whatever. All money done are only to cover general costs as electricity water, food, drinks, materials and cover a maximum gazcosts for the participants (bands, people giving workshops)..."

There were good vibes and good music, good food and good movies!!! It was awesome and indeed happiness was ever present. For the this years edition line-up check out the new site. Theme of Laura is screaming emo-punk from Strasbourg. Les Louise Mitchels are free-rock jazz-punk from Paris. Oh la la! Dans l´cul danku!!!

And I don't care about what the prying eyes can see, i'll keep on walking without pants in the middle of this school of fish that never stop screaming; keep on dancing to not die in a life where death has more place than the laughter of fools. I'll not cry anymore and my hatred torn of my veins, thrown to the sheep, i prefer to live too much until a soon death, rather than die slowly on my shit. One more or less, you can tell about me what you want, soppy, silly, crazy, in the twisted right way or not, I would stay at attention under the banner of fools, flag I will burn before to run into the storm."

Dans l´cul Danku! is a 3 day Festival held at the Sub071 Multipleks squat in Leiden, now on its second edition. Unfortunately Noise Problems couldnt attend but to celebrate and spread the good word we posted last year gigs from Theme of Laura and Les Louise Mitchels that we managed to record amidst all the DIY madness.

In their own speak Dans l´cul fest "is a DIY (do it yourself) and non benefit fest. The only purpose of this fest is to share and meet together in happiness with concerts, infostands, workshops, eat & cafe and whatever. All money done are only to cover general costs as electricity water, food, drinks, materials and cover a maximum gazcosts for the participants (bands, people giving workshops)..."

There were good vibes and good music, good food and good movies!!! It was awesome and indeed happiness was ever present. For the this years edition line-up check out the new site. Theme of Laura is screaming emo-punk from Strasbourg. Les Louise Mitchels are free-rock jazz-punk from Paris. Oh la la! Dans l´cul danku!!!

And I don't care about what the prying eyes can see, i'll keep on walking without pants in the middle of this school of fish that never stop screaming; keep on dancing to not die in a life where death has more place than the laughter of fools. I'll not cry anymore and my hatred torn of my veins, thrown to the sheep, i prefer to live too much until a soon death, rather than die slowly on my shit. One more or less, you can tell about me what you want, soppy, silly, crazy, in the twisted right way or not, I would stay at attention under the banner of fools, flag I will burn before to run into the storm."

"THORRABLOT" The Icelandic Viking Midwinter Festival in celebration of the end of the dark cold winter days and the arrival of light where excessive eating, drinking and dancing till dawn is a good thing. Lets celebrate this event with music by none other than Ragga Gisla and Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson.

FESTI 40 is a music and Culture festival in Fada N'Gourma Burkina Faso happening this year December 16th to the 18th . This festival brings together some of the best traditional musicians in West Africa (Mali, Benin, Ivory-Cost) to a small and poor town in east Burkina Faso for a 3 days of an amazing festival. Every night there are 5 to 6 performances, during the day they have different round tables and discussions. 

One day in the festival is dedicated to women. During that day the round table debates are about the position and empowerment of women in this society. The night is dedicated to women performers. Some well know women performers in recent years were - Awe Deme, Habidou Sawadogo, Khira Arby and others. 

This is a unique event which takes place in one of the poorest regions in the world where most of the conveniences we take for granted do not exist. With minimal resources this organization has created an unforgettable event.

Our part in the production of the festival 

I am the leader of an international group of volunteers who take care of the technical side of the festival, including amplified sound, lighting, and -- perhaps most importantly -- documentation. We transport some equipment from our home continents, while renting other pieces on-site when possible..

THE MUSIC and MUSICIANS

Every year, our trip to FESTI 40 presents an exciting opportunity to organize recording sessions for local artists, and we use our recording equipment to produce albums to which the artists own the rights and benefit from.

One recent example is the amazing blind guitar player Solo Dja Kabako. We recorded him in his house after the festival and pressed CDs for him. He owns the master and all the rights, and with this CD we were able to organize a 3-show tour of Europe. 

You can sample the music on the Free Music Archive -http://freemusicarchive.org/music/FESTU/

This CD is also available as a thank you gift to FESTI 40 donors, and if the project is successful, we will press at least two new albums which will benefit more artists from the festival.

a little more

Below is a link in our label hopscotch records site where you can watch some more videos  from the festival and get an idea about how unique it is. 

http://hopscotchrecords.com/web/african_project/index.html

Where the money goes to ?

1. Renting equipment – last year there was no light system, which was very sad. On top of that the sound system available was horrible (the speakers and the amps -- we bring the mics and everything else).

2. Production of  CDs and DVDs - this money goes to cover printing and pressing costs.   The more money raised the more CDs and DVDs we can make. These CD's go directly to the artists . 

I truly hope this could work, it will be unbelievable to be able to bring this kind of support to this festival and to these musicians.

Thank you everybody, from everybody involved in this festival and the people of Fada N'Gourma deeply appreciate your support.