Progress Bar: Communality and club music on 28 April
Progress Bar returns to Paradiso Noord, Tolhuistuin, on Saturday 28 April for a new instalment of its monthly club night. Representing radical equality, communality and hopefulness, Progress Bar is a growing community of artists, academics and activists who occupy clubs for a better politics. When confronted with the world today – institutional inequality, neofascism, platform capitalism, austerity and a dying planet – being happy becomes a political act. Progress Bar supports radical club cultures that believe resistance is necessary in order to change the world. Or, as a play on the famous quote by the feminist and anarchist activist Emma Goldman: If I can dance, I want to be part of your revolution.
In April, Progress Bar invites DJ sets and performances by Air Max '97, Dis Fig, Lafawndah, N-Prolenta and Yoong, as well as talks by social activist and organiser Devika Partiman, about grassroots organisation, and by the creators of NXS – a collaborative project comprising exhibitions, performances, lectures and a biannual publication – whose work explores ‘the self’ in the age of digital technology.
Air Max '97 is a producer and DJ establishing a singular presence in the current music landscape. His ‘oblique’ productions and remixes are rich with atmosphere, texture and percussive energy, winning support from the likes of Total Freedom, Mike Q, Lee Gamble, Nina Las Vegas, Ziur, M.E.S.H. and Teki Latex. Devika Partiman is a social activist and organiser. In 2017 she set up her own foundation, Stem op een Vrouw, to promote the political emancipation and representation of women in the Netherlands. She is also involved in Nederland Wordt Beter – an organisation committed to a future without racism.
Dis Fig has become one of the key artists to emerge out of the experimental club world. A member of NYC label and collective PTP fka Purple Tape Pedigree, her sound touches on a shifting landscape of club genres and bottles moody and darkly powerful selections with a generous topping of rap and R&B. Lafawndah is globetrotting singer and producer Yasmine Dubois, who has been causing ripples worldwide with her futuristic take on globaltronica. The half-Iranian, half-Egyptian musician has been honing her “ritual club music” influenced by traditional Middle Eastern singers, dancehall queens and a modernist take on grime and bass.
Multimedia artist N-Prolenta exists at the cutting edge of experimental electronic music. Having worked with the likes of serpentwithfeet, PTP, NON Worldwide and Halcyon Veil, Brandon Covington Sam-Sumana's project spans new age soundscapes, trance, soul, darkwave, lyric poem and mutated club sounds. NXS is a project by Goys&Birls and Karolien Buurman. Their collaborative work explores ‘the self’ in the age of digital technology. NXS takes the form of a cross-platform structure with exhibitions, performances, lectures and a biannual publication as its core, creating content by building a network of contributors and their visions.
Amsterdam-based producer Yoong takes influence from early trance. With a debut EP set for release soon, Yoong’s music is an embodiment of reverie, as layers of melancholy, nostalgia and even sadness are cached beneath a melody-heavy and playful surface. Attend the Facebook event page here for updates.
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