meakusma pres.: masma dream world + aylu

masma dream world (nyc)

listening to devi mambouka, the artist known as masma dream world, is bearing witness to a personal journey through hell and back. the experimental project led by mambouka, masma dream world turned heads with her 2020 debut Play at Night, a record that established the multi-instrumentalist as a singular voice, combining field recordings, throttling bass, skittering electronics and traditional Gabonese rhythms for an awe inspiring, transportative sound.

‍previous single “please come to me” is an aural ritual, an invocation to the mother of the universe and a communion with the unseen world. the track was highlighted at the fader, paste magazine, and the new york times.

with roots in gabon and singapore, mambouka is a child of the world. she recalls rainforest rituals and the presence of ghosts and spirits throughout her childhood in gabon before immigrating to the bronx. here, instead of forests, she lost herself in record stores and began a spiritual, educational journey, dJing and immersing herself in nyc’s nightlife. a former catholic school student, she studied religions of all kinds but found her guides in magic, maternal hindu ancestors, the black madonna and kali, the hindu goddess of creation and destruction, and the mother of the forgotten ones.

https://www.masmadreamworld.com/

aylu (argentina)

ailín grad (aka aylu) designs audio spaces from buenos aires, releasing solo music and collaborating with video, dance and performance contemporary artists as her main practice. ailin grad takes ordinary objects and instruments and pieces them together in electro-acoustic systems: gears, geometries, woodwinds and designs of a fuzzy and unexpected space.

‍she has been releasing music for more than ten years independently and via orange milk, sun ark, mana records and soon via other people, nicolas jaar's record label. she has performed in buenos aires most important venues: teatro colon's experimentation centre, lip, cck, usina del arte, ccgsm, c3, and internationally in fundación telefónica perú, holo (ny), tate modern (london), kraak festival (brussels).

+ mandy pixel (entr’act)

photos of masma dream world - by mike gustafson