DOGMA is one of Amsterdam’s finest DIY party collectives and our partner for the Strange Sounds night phases. Their dedication to emerging local DJs and inclusive dancefloors is what makes them so loveable. At their events DJs can play the liminal, off-kilter records they rarely get to pack. To get you in the mood for the DOGMA x Strange Sounds Nights Stages we’ve invited residents and friends to pick some quintessential tracks that fit their vision. Check it out below!

Laïkó music – or “song of the people” – emerged in 1930s Greece steeped in a folk tradition stretching back centuries. Characterized by coupling Mediterranean influences with Greek vocals, it quickly became the engine room of Greece’s musical culture drove it to some unexpected places.

Loving electronic music in every sense is mad miran aka Miran Belhanafi, the newest addition to our SSFB family. While she’s gearing herself up for her SSFB debut coming June, here’s a proper introduction to this multifaceted newcomer in the form of a playlist filled with obscure and overlooked gems from far-out corners of the sonic underground.

In the middle of the Niger, near a town called Abalak, lies the tiny desert village Illighadad. A few houses and a school surround a well, nestled amongst the bushy landscape of the Sahara. Its Tuareg community lives a quiet existence, guided by the seasons. Traditionally the men work and occasionally travel to trade. The women are in charge of the home and the animals. While they herd goats, they sing to pass the time. At night, they perform tende, a convivial cacophony of drumming and female voices that underscore the village’s celebrations. This is the place where, a decade or so ago, a young girl named Fatou Seide Ghali picked up a battered old guitar and taught herself to play.

My understanding of why so many of Italo covers exist, besides the immediate benefit of a recognizable song, is that a certain amount of DJ’s records needed to be “SIAE stamped”, meaning produced and pressed in Italy. The local (and often highly prolific) Italian producers would make cover versions of popular songs at the time. This practice also saved the Italian distributors considerable time and money on importing records from outside Italy.

Here are seven of the more remarkable but perhaps less-known offerings (either good or bad).

In anticipation for his release on Effecient Space, Australian producer and psychologist Andy Rantzen selected and spoke about 5 dub albums that helped him define his sound back in the day.

It is said that frustration, anger and despair often lead to interesting and expressive music and art. If one looks to the case of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the late 70s and 80s, one might conclude this is right. Economic decline, unemployment, rampant inflation and rising tensions certainly proved to be a fertile ground for experiments and exciting new directions in music.

King Tubby was a Mister Fix-it before he became the world’s most acclaimed dub engineer. He fixed televisions, toasters, hairdryers and radios. Because he was so skilled in repairing electronics, he could also wind filter coils, design EQs, build large amplifiers for sound systems and create his own mixing desk. In the seventies, dub reggae was the result of Jamaica’s revolt in sound engineering. The groundbreaking musical style was driven by the rebellion against the normality of things. Dub reggae put Jamaica on the world map for its music and historical approach to sound production; the small island making a big impact on the use of studio technology.

Every now and then, Vladimir Ivkovic shows us around in his library and shares some of his finds. Enjoy the selection, but please be quiet.

The Sahara desert, the biggest sand desert on our planet, stretches all the way from the Atlantic Ocean along the Western part of Africa to the Red Sea by the shores of East Africa. As deserted as she might seem when staring at the light colored patch on Google Maps, for centuries her dunes have been and still are home to countless of tribes; soil that has proven to be solid ground for conflict but even more so fertile for music. It is this unique mixture of traditional customs, the heartache of a region, and shredding guitar riffs that gives Desert Blues the allure it has now. With bands like Tinariwen and Imarhan taking the Western world by storm, it seems only fair to take a closer look at this mysteriously familiar sound.