With their intricate clockwork oiled by long years of touring their native Niger, Tal National’s second album for Fat Cat picks up where 2013’s Kaani left off. The group’s distinctly Nigerian fusion of musical and cultural influences takes in Taureg desert blues, Malian guitar mastery and the percussion of the Fulani, all baked stone-hard in the Sahel. If anything, Zoy Zoy is even more uncompromising than its predecessor.
Tal National, formed in the year 2000, is a West African phenomenon. The band is from Niamey, the capital city of Niger. They’ve had several #1 songs in their home country and are constantly featured on national TV.
Niger is West Africa’s largest nation, and one of the world’s poorest. Resting between Mali and Nigeria, and not far from Ghana, it enjoys a greatly varied mix of cultures and ethnicities, all richly steeped in music. Hence it is no stranger to highlife music, kora music, afrobeat, while giving the world ‘Tuareg Blues’ and its own brand of hip hop. Now Tal National is bringing something entirely new to the table, and Niger is growing increasingly unified in their passion for what the band has to offer.
Through this joyously hypnotic, highly unique contribution to West African guitar music with lightning-fast rhythms and a rotating cast of vocalists, the history of Niger can be heard as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. Collected within the former French colony can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in Tal National’s members.
H/PRIZM
(High Priest) Antipop Consortium
Composer/Performer
HPrizm is known for "Evoking images of Sun Ra and Afrika Bambatta at once" (Jesse Sewer XL8R magazine). As the founding member of the critically acclaimed Antipop Consortium, Prizm has consistently challenged the boundaries of traditional hiphop, winning the praise of taste makers across the globe. In the course of his career, spanning nearly a decade, With over 100,000 records sold, he has shared the stages with a wide array of artists, ranging from The Roots to Radiohead ,Mos Def and others. As a composer his pieces have been installed in the Whitney Biennial (NYC) as well as the Mazzoli Gallery (ITALY).
Currently, Hprizm is touring and performing a live score for his recent collaboration with French conceptual artist Loris Greaud and Award winning film director David Lynch entitled "Snorks" while also working on his latest recorded effort entitled "Modern Shaman". True to his roots with the Antipop Consortium, Prizm has continued to bring the studio to the stage. With an intricate performance rig in tow, he draws inspiration from a culture he and his group helped to birth. "As one of the first groups to bring laptops and hardware to the stage in time where most set lists were prerecorded. I am glad to see the beatscene flourish. I feel a responsibility to push the envelope" Prizm states.
High Vibes (Data Garden DJs)
Silk City Diner
N. 5th St. at Spring Garden St.
Philadelphia Pa
Tickets $10. in advance; $12 at the door
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