Mixanthrope

30/12/2021

"On Va Gagner !" • L'Afrique En Chansons Du Ballon Rond

🚨 NOUVEAU MIX ! 🚨

Footichistes & mélomanes féru.e.s de musiques africaines, voilà votre voeu de nouvelle année déjà exaucé : un mix de compétition de 15 chansons réunissant vos deux passions ! ⚽️😍🎧 Alors que le coup d’envoi de la 33ème édition de la Coupe d’Afrique des Nations s’apprête à être sifflé au Cameroun le 9 Janvier 2022, voici en guise de préparation mentalo-musicale un petit palmarès perso de chansons d’Afrique francophone consacrées au football de ces 50 dernières années.

Connaissiez-vous les airs qui ont fait vibré les vestiaires et les tribunes des matchs des Étalons du Burkina, des Léopards congolais, des Panthères du Gabon, des Eléphants de la Côte d’Ivoire, des Menas (Antilopes) du Niger ? Plongez dans un univers haut en émotions footbalistiques au rythme du Séga, du Mbalax, du Ndombolo, du Makossa, de la Rumba, du Soukous… et bien plus encore ! 🕺💃⚽️🏃‍♂️

(Setlist tout en bas) Footichistes & mélomanes férus de musiques africaines, voilà votre voeu de nouvelle année déjà exaucé : un mix de compétition de 15 chansons réunissant vos deux passions ! Alors

22/09/2021

African Hip - Hop(s), Vol. 3 • Bouncy Beats

🚨 NEW MIX ALERT! 🚨 Just dropped the third volume of my African Hip-Hop mix series, putting forward 35 songs from 20 countries which stray from both the "classic 90's old school" nostalgia and the seemingly never-ending trap craze.

While some may find in this (re)localized hip-hop some traces of its original African-American DNA, it remains clear to the ears that the MCs and producers showcased here infuse their very own narratives, flows & rhythms into their tracks.

Make room for Kenyan Gengetone, Moroccan Rap, Rap-Mbalax from Senegal and bouncy Ethiopian bumps! 😎🔥🎧

This third volume attempts to paint a broad picture of contemporary African hip-hop by putting forward 35 songs from 20 countries which stray from both the "classic 90's old school" nostalgia and the

12/08/2021

Ah La La L'Argent !, Vol. 3 • $oucis Monétaires En Afrique Francophone

Ka-ching! 💸🎼 Nouveau mix et déjà un troisième (!) volume pour les chansons traitant des tracas d'argent en Afrique Francophone !

On y retrouve des mélodies infectieuses portant des textes mêlant humour et misère et peignant le portrait d'avares et d'ambitieux, d'amants fauchés et de dirigeants corrompus !
1 heure de musique contenant des témoignages de 10 pays, des îles ou du continent, pour des chansons d'aujourd'hui et d'antan sur le thème du satané argent ! 💰😈

($etlist en bas) Ah la la, ce satané argent qui — en Afrique francophone comme ailleurs — nous obsède, turlupine et tourmente ! "Monsieur l'Argent, où es-tu ?", désespère la légende congolaise Bopol

03/07/2021

Island Time Radio: Mix 34 with Mixanthrope

Brand new mix made for the amazing "Island Time Radio" show (& recently streamed on Sphere Radio)!!!

This mix focuses on contemporary music made & sung by women on the African continent - especially from the Sahel! - whose powerful voices are too seldom heard. It features many hidden gems found clicking away during sleepless lockdown nights on YouTube, one of my favourite digital digging grounds. 🌐 🎶 🔥

Enjoy! 😎

For our latest Island Time episode, we introduce French-born & Berlin-based Boris Paillard a.k.a. @djmixanthrope, who has been shaking up dancefloors from Canada to Ghana since 2015 with african, afro

13/05/2021

Afropop Worldwide | DJ Mixanthrope Zooms In on Seychelles

Big up to Afropop Worldwide for their nice write-up on my latest Seychelles mix! 🙏🎼✨

"With his ear to the internet, picking up tunes from far afield, Mixanthrope returns with a new feature-length mix of tunes from the archipelago nation of Seychelles.
(...)
Mixanthrope’s mix presents tunes that don’t get much distribution outside of the islands, so it’s a cool opportunity to fill in your mental musical map for a place often left off on maps of any kind.
(...)
Expect drippy, cheesy synths, rootsy guitar, and beautifully sung harmonies.
(...)
It’s a great mix with a lot of musical variety."

With his ear to the internet, picking up tunes from far afield, DJ Mixanthrope returns with a new feature-length mix of tunes from the archipelago nation of Seychelles. Deep in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, the culture is a mix of African, Arab, French and British influences, with g...

28/04/2021

Zooming In, Vol. 2 · Seychelles

🚨 NEW THEMATIC MIX ALERT! 🚨
"Zooming In, Vol. 2 · Seychelles" 🇸🇨🏝️🎶

I'm excited to share the second volume of my "Zooming In" series which has been an intense labor of love during these past lockdown-heavy months. It focuses on the lesser-known wealth of music found on the Seychelles archipelago. 🇸🇨🏝️

Rummaging through all possible digital archives - from chaotic YouTube channels run by nostalgic islanders to the impeccable vaults of Filoumoris - I sifted though thousands of songs, hundreds of albums and dozens of mixes in order to pick out my personal stand-out tracks.

While I strived to paint a broad picture of the last six decades of Seychelles music, I did intentionally steer clear from reggae - although clearly a local favourite! - since I didn't come upon anything particularly distinctive or exciting to my humble ears.

During the process, I fell in love with Seychellois Creole (Seselwa), I felt deeply moved by certain "chansons", danced to many rollicking Segas and discovered the earthly powers of Moutya. It was an inspiring journey, and I hope you will find a song or two that will accompany you for a while too!

Mersi & bonswar!
Boris/ Mixanthrope (African Beats & Pieces)

“Zooming In” is a mix series focusing on African countries that the world seldom hears from and listens to. The selection is mostly composed of songs that haven’t been commercially released and float

25/02/2021

"Vous en vivez ?" · La Vie de Musicien en Afrique & Antilles Francophones

🚨 NEW THEMATIC MIX ALERT! 🚨
""Vous en vivez ?" · La Vie de Musicien en Afrique & Antilles Francophones" 💰🎶

Music "feeds the world" as Beninese songster Gnonnas Pedro brilliantly puts it, but does the world feed its musicians back? Plagued by widespread piracy, the vanishing of small & mid-sized music venues and crumb-like streaming revenues, musicians from french-speaking areas of Africa & the West Indies depend just like anywhere else on state support and sponsors — brands and patrons — to make a living from their talent. And this even before the pandemic hit, which made home-sent musicians’ lives even more precarious, at the mercy of crumbling infrastructures supposed to remunerate them.

This mix assembles songs from musicians who sing/speak — mostly in French but also in Guadeloupean creole or lingala — about the many hardships of a musician’s life: Ivoirian Zouglou, Congolese Rumba, Kompa/Kadans from French Antilles. Let’s listen in and skip the usual irritating inquiry: "But do you manage to make a living from your art?" ("Mais alors, vous en vivez ?"), since the answer is clear anyway: probably not, which is why music-lovers have their part to play to ensure they get their fair due.

🎶 🎶 🎶

La musique "nourrit le monde" nous assure le troubadour béninois Gnonnas Pedro, mais le monde nourrit-il les musicien.nes ? Face au piratage de masse, au déclin du live et aux miettes du streaming, les musicien.nes africain.es et antillais.es dépendent comme ailleurs des subsides étatiques et des sponsors — marques et mécènes — pour tirer profit de leurs talents. Et cela avant même une pandémie qui a renvoyé tout le monde chez soi et précarisé davantage des artistes subissant le poids de structures défaillantes.

Cette sélection de chansons dresse un portrait de la dure vie de musicien, racontée en chanson par des musicien.nes francophones d’Afrique et des Antilles (Zouglou ivoirien, Rumba congolaise, Kompa/Kadans antillaise). Mais alors... « vivent-ils de leur art ? » Arrêtons de leur demander, c'est entre autres à nous mélomanes avec nos deniers de nous en assurer !

(Set-list détaillée ci-dessous) La musique "nourrit le monde" nous assure le Béninois Gnonnas Pedro, mais le monde nourrit-il les musicien.nes ? Face au piratage de masse, au déclin du live et aux mi

30/12/2020

🎶 💙 Special Quarantine Mix for the wonderful Monarch Berlin, the birthplace of African Beats & Pieces! 💙 🎶

Jetzt online: Monarch Quarantine Podcast 011 von Mixanthrope who is also known as "The Father of African Beats & Pieces"

https://soundcloud.com/kottimonarch/monarch-quarantine-podcast-011-mixanthrope

"As winter settles in and the walls seem to edge closer, music soothes the curfewed soul and provides salutary escapism through the fourth wall. Here are 25 barely edited and hand-picked songs, 98% of them from the African continent.

After working for Akwaaba Music in Ghana, French-born & Berlin-based Boris Paillard a.k.a. Mixanthrope has been curating the event series "African Beats & Pieces" in Monarch since 2017, inviting passionate DJs and underground live acts to explore specific musical themes." - Mixanthrope

21/12/2020

Sweet But Sour · When African Pop Gets Political

🚨 NOUVEAU MIX THÉMATIQUE ! 🚨

"Douce Mais Amère · Quand La Pop Africaine Se Politise" ✊🎶

Ouaip, 2020 fut évidemment une année sombre. Non seulement une pandémie mondiale a cadenassé la planète, mais des musiciens furent à nouveau harcelés, arrêtés et assassinés pour avoir osé mettre les puissants face à la vérité.

De nombreuses stars africaines de la pop sont concernées: le chanteur engagé devenu politicien ougandais Bobi Wine (ici en couverture) fut maintes fois persécuté et emprisonné, le chanteur et militant rwandais Kizito Mihigo mourut mystérieusement dans une cellule de police, la légende de R.D.C. Tshala Muana passa une nuit en prison pour une chanson supposément insultante envers le président, le chanteur éthiopien Hachalu Hundessa fut assassiné pour ses prises de positions engagées… pour n’en nommer que quelques uns.

Ce mix s’efforce de présenter un large éventail de chansons se trouvant à l’intersection de la pop et de la politique, résultant de mois de quêtes autant dans les labyrinthes YouTubesques que dans les articles journalistiques et thèses académiques sur le sujet.

Pendant une heure, ce mix s’attarde autant sur les chansons de protestation que sur les chansons de louanges aux leaders, totalisant 20 titres issus de 15 pays. Allant de l’étrange jusqu’à l’extraordinaire, sonnant doux et amer à la fois, ces hymnes autotunés sont preuve des talents de ces artistes pop contemporains qui rentrent dans l’arène politique pour y lever le poing… ou encaisser le chèque d’un politicien.

Vous trouverez une setlist timecodée et plus d’informations (en anglais) sur le mix sur Soundcloud.

Ecoutez fort, partagez vite! ✊🎶
Mixanthrope (African Beats & Pieces)

“Musicians have a genuine connection with the people and that is what scares the elites.” — Pilato, Zambian activist and artist. African musicians have long played political roles, either praising or

16/12/2020

Sweet But Sour · When African Pop Gets Political

🚨 NEW THEMATIC MIX ALERT! 🚨
"Sweet But Sour · When African Pop Gets Political" ✊ 🎶

Yep, 2020 was obviously a horrendous year. Not only was there a global pandemic, musicians have once again been harrassed, arrested and murdered for speaking truth to power. African popstars were among them: Ugandan popstar turned politician Bobi Wine (here on the cover) was repeatedly harrassed and jailed, Rwandan activist and singer Kizito Mihigo died in a police cell, R.D.C. singer Tshala Muana was detained, Ethiopian Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa was murdered... to name only a few.

The result of searching through YouTube labyrinths, journalism articles and academic papers, this mix aims at showing a broad spectrum of songs at the intersection of pop and politics.

The hour-long selection features both cringe-inducing praise songs and catchy protest songs, totalling more than 20 tracks from 15 countries. Ranging from odd to awesome, sounding often sweet but sour at the same time, these autotuned anthems showcase the talents of pop artists who step up in the political arena to take a strong stance… or a paycheck from a politician. You will find a timecoded setlist & more background info in the mix's description on Soundcloud.

Check it out, crank it up, share it away!
✊ 🎶 ✊ 🎶 ✊ 🎶

“Musicians have a genuine connection with the people and that is what scares the elites.” — Pilato, Zambian activist and artist. African musicians have long played political roles, either praising or

24/11/2020

Breaking The Fourth Wall · Lockdown Lullabies

🚨 New Mix Alert! 🚨
"Breaking The Fourth Wall · Lockdown Lullabies" 🎶♥️

As winter settles in and screens seem to edge closer to our skins, music soothes the curfewed soul and provides a salutary escapism through the fourth wall. Here are 25 barely edited and hand-picked songs, 98% of them from the African continent.

Enjoy on your domestic dancefloors!
Musical greetings,
Boris/Mixanthrope (African Beats & Pieces)

Ps: Big up to music-loving fellow DJs Jimmy Trash ("Vandredi San") and Morgan Greenstreet ("Live Television") for turning me on to some of these gems! 👌

As winter settles in and the walls seem to edge closer, music soothes the curfewed soul and provides a salutary escapism through the fourth wall. Here are 25 barely edited and hand-picked songs, 98% o

01/10/2020

"World Music" Sucks

🚨 New Mix Alert! 🚨
"World music" sucks! 🌍🎶♥️

As most Global North music labels pick what they deem worthy of releasing or re-issuing for their niche market with the arrogance of gatekeepers, musicians continue to create and perform locally for those around them, sometimes to connect solely… with those around them! There is indeed a world of music beyond branded content and ad-articles disguised as music journalism reporting on the latest exotic trends. One can easily skip these useless middle-men and listen to what music-makers have to say for themselves.

Here is a collection of amazing under-the-radar music from 15 different African countries. Some of them shine in all their compressed auto-tuned glory and most only live within faulty mp3 files full of digital glitches due to shoddy conversions from YouTube.

This is just a tiny taste of the yummiest audio pie the Internet has to offer. It lays all within one's reach, a couple of curious clicks away. Better start exploring now, before they vanish into the digital ether!

*** The cover image is highly offensive but has been purposefully chosen to underline the statement “‘World Music’ Sucks“ because it so succinctly depicts too many white people‘s perception of African people. Please read the mix's description for more context about the image's use. ***

As the world evolves, so must language. Outdated, lazy and offensive, the term “World Music” can now retire. Since the mid-eighties, it has fulfilled its post-colonial mission: facilitating the sale o

27/06/2020

Afropop Worldwide | DJ Mixanthrope Returns With An All-Equatorial Guinea Mix

Thanks to Afropop Worldwide for the write-up about my latest mix, which has been reposted in Réseau ZoneFranche's newsletter! 🙏🎶🔥

"Dig in deep with a country that's often overlooked: Equatorial Guinea. Our good friend DJ Mixanthrope dug deep for an hour of straight bangers.
(...)
Equatorial Guinea is known for having an oil boom and all of the downsides that come with that—a concentration of wealth at the top and an oppressive government with a tight grip on media outlets in the country. Culture is underfunded and little of it reaches us here in the U.S., which is why we're all the more grateful for this rollicking hour-long mix from DJ Mixanthrope."

The longer I work at Afropop, I feel my mental map of the world becoming increasingly detailed. Like until a few weeks ago, when I thought about Botswana, I thought about elephants—now I think about heavy metal.

22/06/2020

Unheard Of, Vol. 1 · Equatorial Guinea

Dear African music lovers,

First and foremost, I'd like to add my — even small — voice to the choir of rightfully angry, frustrated and inspiring people who have taken the necessary "Black Lives Matter" statement to the streets since the horrific murder of George Floyd. Now is a time to not only listen and learn about state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism but also demand and engage oneself for concrete change.

As a white man passionate about African music, I still have a long way to go to educate myself about marginalized and targeted communities so that my platform African Beats & Pieces can amplify the songs, sounds and stories of African and Afro-diasporic music-makers who rarely get a seat at the table. Music has long proven its power to bridge gaps between worlds that never have an opportunity to connect, bringing understanding and respect where there was once only ignorance and contempt. This is one of the good places to start.

In the spirit of listening and learning, I'm releasing the inaugural mix of “Unheard Of”, a mix series focusing on African countries that the world seldom hears from and listens to. The selection is mostly composed of songs that haven’t been commercially released and float around in precarious and ephemeral online libraries.

This first hip-deep dive focuses on Equatorial Guinea. Even without the support of an authoritarian government led by a four-decade long dictator, the diverse community of Equatorial Guinean musicians has never ceased to create and impress. This mix attempts to shed a light on their lesser known songbook. 🇬🇶🎶🕺

Hope you enjoy, please share if you do!
Boris/Mixanthrope (African Beats & Pieces)

“Unheard Of” is a mix series focusing on African countries that the world seldom hears from and listens to. The selection is mostly composed of songs that haven’t been commercially released and float