Yalla Miku

Look forward to a cultural melting pot of North and East African musical traditions blended with krautrock and post-punk when Swiss band Yalla Miku visit KLEIN on 10 October. Doors at 20:00 Concert at 20:30.

Yalla Miku are a five-piece collective from Geneva’s underground music scene, where post-punk, Afro-funk, dub, krautrock and psychedelic rock meet musical traditions from East Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The result is a restless, dance-driven soundscape that constantly changes shape but never loses its drive.

The band consists of Samuel Ades Tesfagergsh, Louise Knobil, Cyril Bondi, Emma Souharce and Cyril Yeterian, who between them move between krar, bass, guitar, percussion, synthesisers and electronics. All five contribute vocals, and the songs span languages including Arabic, French and Tigrinya.

On their second album, "2", Yalla Miku turn up the intensity of these musical collisions even further. Here, chaabi can suddenly tip over into psychedelic rock, post-punk become entangled in dub, and industrial rhythms emerge amid East African melodies. The album was recorded live and reflects the spontaneity and collective energy that are central to the band.

Yalla Miku can be a folk band one moment and a noisy rock band or dance orchestra the next. This is music with room for improvisation, offbeat ideas and distinctive grooves, played by five musicians who see no reason to keep genres or musical traditions apart.