Based in Montreal, the Moonshine collective is extending its influence internationally thanks to a partnership with Noir Fever, young label founded by the British AlunaGeorge, who can be heard in the chorus of the bittersweet Pain & Pleasure (rhythm from the Portuguese Vanyfox), at the start of this mixtape of six unreleased songs. It’s very short, but representative of the extent of the musical influences of the members of the collective: with Sikoyo, Pierre Kwenders revisits Congolese rumba with almost deep house orchestrations, signed Branko and Uproot Andy; the cadence gains muscle on the suave Bless You (from Sango and Banga), before MC Andy S, revelation of the last Francos of Montreal, comes to steal the show on the powerful Banzelo to Babian unprecedented encounter between Ivory Coast rap and the rhythm of batida, a genre originating from Lisbon’s underground scene and developed under the musical influence of its African diaspora – another brilliant representative of this scene, the DJ, composer and singer NegoO, stands out with Pilha.
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