The Pirate Popular Soundclash has commandeered the Príncipe Perfeito, moored on Lisbon’s Tagus, for an all-night Red Bull Music Academy Radio broadcast starting at 6pm tonight and finishing at 3am. But with more than 20 acts mooring up to take part, who will rule the airwaves?
Last year's 10-hour marathon broadcast from the Palacio de Santa Catarina took one of Lisbon's best-loved street parties in a whole new direction. This year they intend to sail right over the edge...
With Ginga Beat crew Violet, DJ Mpula and Rui Miguel Abreu at the helm, the Príncipe Perfeito will provide the backdrop to sets from 20 acts. We manned the mainbrace to find out a little bit more about our hosts.
RUI MIGUEL ABREU:
Ahoy there! Introduce yourself to redbull.com
Hi! My name is Rui Miguel Abreu, but everyone knows me by my initials – RMA. Been writing about music for a long time, I am a devoted music collector who likes to throw barbecues and, of course, like LL Cool J, I can't live without my radio. Discovering the newest threads on music's constantly renewed fabric is one of my reasons of being.
What can we expect from your slot on the radio?
Well, the beauty of radio is that we can never know exactly what to expect, but I intend to have fun, to celebrate music's diversity and to feel at least a little bit like those pioneers from Radio Caroline.
Are there any key new tunes you’re particularly excited about?
Flying Lotus has been getting massive airplay on my iPod. And Kyle Hall. And Soul Jazz's krautrock compilation... and...
Let me stop you there. If you were to stow away on a pirate ship with only one disc, what would you take?
Hum, difficult question! Maybe Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. That way I would ensure that the message being broadcasted would uplift the airwaves and the listeners themselves.
DJ MPULA:
Ahoy there! Introduce yourself to redbull.com
Xeueh! We are a creative bubble that promotes and produces traditional and urban Afro or Afro-influenced music. Check us on Fazuma.com and listen to our own music on myspace.com/batida, watch our documentary about Luanda "É Dreda Ser Angolano" soon on Vimeo and our radio programmes on National Radio, RDP Africa and on Soundcloud too, and you will get it better than any words.
What can we expect from your slot on the radio?
A DJ + MC set with lots of Reggae and Afro stuff. We will be mainly focused on making people dance and bring positivity as we will close the broadcast. We will also play some new tracks for the first time.
Are there any key new tunes you’re particularly excited about?
Lots. To name three.... "Kassumuna" by Game Walla, "Ninguém nos Sungurra" by Conjunto Ngonguenha and Kitamanda by Roulet remixed by J-Wow. Specially excited on one remix we will play for the first time in our slot.
If you were to stow away on a pirate ship with only one disc, what would you take?
My full hard disc. Or a PC so I could make new tracks with pirate samples.
VIOLET:
Ahoy there! Introduce yourself to redbull.com
Hi! My name is Inês; I am also known as Violet and I co-host RBMARADIO’s Ginga Beat with Rui Miguel Abreu and DJ Mpula. I also make some music and rap in a duo under the name A.M.O.R. and have been a participant at RBMA Barcelona 2008.
What can we expect from your slot on the radio?
Expect lots of energy; a true passion for heartfelt, real music; unexpected interviewing skills and hopefully some good jokes!
Are there any key new tunes you’re particularly excited about?
My particular focus at Ginga Beat has been Portuguese music. Lots of people have been making amazing tunes, including ex-RBMA participants Octa Push (check out Dubshh) and Photonz (be sure to listen to their Anthony "Shake" Shakir RMXs) and people like Gala Drop, Aquaparque, Motown Junkie, Tiago or Rodrigo Cotrim have also been delivering relevant music. There's so many it's really unfair to pick only some people/tunes!
If you were to stow away on a pirate ship with only one disc, what would you take?
Hum... Pirate Ship? One disc? The perfect soundtrack would have to be "Pet Sounds" by The Beach Boys, because it's a solid, coherent and beautiful piece of work and includes my fave song of all times, God Only Knows.
If you're in Lisbon, you can enjoy the music at Adamastor (the original soundsystem constructed by Academy sub-bass activists back in 2004) and São Pedro de Alcântara (a brand-new Funktion One), or tune in at a one-off pirate frequency, 99.0 FM. Non-Lisboners can direct their browsers to the live stream from 6pm to 3am or catch some of the night’s highlight at various special transmissions on Antena 3.
Ginga Beat
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