BCUC — South African trance at the Atabal

Music · World music · Atabal

Indigenous funk, politically charged hip-hop and punk energy: the South Africans of Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness resemble nothing that usually passes through the Basque coast.

BCUC come from Soweto and play music that refuses just about every category. Percussion, bass, collective voices, tracks stretching to fifteen or twenty minutes: this is trance music, political and physical, and it makes far more sense standing up than on record.

An evening like no other

This is precisely the kind of programming that justifies having a contemporary music venue on the edge of Biarritz. You do not go knowing the repertoire, you go to discover — and the Atabal’s standing format is the only one that suits this kind of set.

The local tip

Do not try to listen to the album first: BCUC are a live band, and recordings convey little of what ninety minutes of percussion does in a room. Come unprepared — it is the right approach.

Music that makes sense standing, not seated.

The editorial team
ici Biarritz