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The African and Asian alternative database - experimental, sound art, noise and alternative electronic music from underrated continents.

Hello, this page is under perpetual construction. The aim of the database is to let people know that alternative electronic, sound art, electroacoustic, experimental and noise music also exist in Asia and Africa, I hope it can help artists, labels, media and curators to connect and help each others. Once per month I also present an hour (sometimes more) of African, Asian and Latin American sound art, experimental, electronica, post-punk, noise and avant-garde music hosted by Colaboradio/Freie Radios Berlin Brandenburg. Some of my writings (an essays about Asia and/or Africa and a book written with Dimitri della Faille) have been published in the past few years, more info here. Syrphe is also a magazine. And a label (see the releases page and Bandcamp).

If you want to support all these activities, please, feel free to contribute with a donation on the Bandcamp page for example (many releases are available for a fee you can decide) as running this database as well as writing reviews and news takes a lot of time and dedication, thank you !

Some territories are not listed (Russia, Akrotiri and Dhekelia) for some reasons you may understand, and I don't list any Japanese artists here as the list would be too big, nevertheless, I'm now slowly adding venues, organisers, schools, art centres, and so on.

If you feel some things should be added, changed, sorted in another way, missing or broken links, if you see any mistakes, feel free to contact me.

Not all territories or non-recognised countries are listed here, for a full list please check these links of active autonomist and cecessionist movements, this one of United Nations list of non-self-governing territories and this one of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.

Regarding the artists, labels, etc., it work like this : [Name] [Links] [Genres] [Year they started if I find it]. If some artists don't live in their native country, a comment is added. means this is a female artist or a project that includes at least one woman ; means that the person is transgender female or that the project includes one ; means non-binary. Many lists including female composers and musicians only or mostly  focus on the West, hence this list here could be a good resource, hopefully.

Regarding genres, in some case, I found several black or death metal band that released several dark ambient records, they are then listed here. Some forms of hip hop are not far from electronica/electro or even industrial, I then decided to list those which have some connections to those alternative music styles but not all, such as with some metal bands or rock, grindcore, etc.: the limit between noise or electronic is not always so clear (and that's good so !). But I'm not planning to collect all techno, trance, dance, rap, hip hop, kwaito, shangaan electro, kuduro, electro chaabi, gqom, singeli (...) artists possible, that would be a too big job !

As there is no place for racism and promotion of hatred and colonialism, a few artists will never be listed here due to their political stance.

Last update 22 November 2024 (some links updated/added) ; thanks a lot to all who sent me many new links since the this page is on line ! About 3957 references and more to come !

Thanks for visiting this page and for any help, I hope you'll enjoy the project. (And thanks to all people who help(ed) me already by providing links and contacts !)

You can join our group on Facebook.

Abkhazia

Afghanistan

Audio artists

Algeria

Audio artists

Label

Magazine

Radio

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Angola

Audio artists

Armenia

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazines/Blogs

Azerbaijan

Audio artists

Label

Bahrain

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres / Studios

Bangladesh

Audio artists

Blog/Portal

Benin

Bhutan

Audio artists

Botswana

British Indian Ocean Territory

Brunei Darussalam

Audio artists

Burkina Faso

Audio artists

Burundi

Cambodia

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Cameroon

Audio artists

Canary Islands

Audio artists

Labels

Radio

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazines

Cape Verde

Audio artists

Central African Republic

Ceuta

Chad

China

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazines/Blogs

Distributors/Shops

Radio

Christmas Islands

Cocos Islands

Comoros

Congo

Congo, DR

Audio artists

Côte d'Ivoire

Label

Cyprus

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres / Studios

Cyprus (North)

Djibouti

Egypt

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres / Studios

Radio

Electronic music instruments

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

eSwatini (Swaziland)

Audio artists

Label

Ethiopia

Audio artists

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Radio

Shop

Electronic music instruments

Ghana

Audio artists

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Hong Kong

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Store

Magazine

India

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Radio

Blogs/Magazines/Groups

Electronic music instruments

Indonesia

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Forum, communities

Magazine

Electronic music instruments

International

Audio artists, magazines, labels, organisers, networks, funds

Festivals

Research centre

Radios

Iran

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazine

Communities

Electronic music instruments

Iraq

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Israel

Audio artists

Labels

Magazine

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Forum

Radio

Japan

Labels

Magazine

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Jordan

Audio artists

Kenya

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Kazakhstan

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Kuwait

Audio artist

Labels

Kyrgyzstan

Audio artist

Laos (Lao)

Audio artist

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Lebanon

Audio artists

Labels

Distributors/Shops

Radio

Forum

Magazine

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Lesotho

Audio artists

Liberia

Lybia

Macao (Macau)

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Distributors/Shops

Madagascar

Audio artists

Madeira

Audio artists

Malawi

Malaysia

Audio artists

Labels

Magazine/Blog/Communities

Distributors/Shops

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Maldives

Audio artists

Label

Mali

Audio artists

Mauritania

Audio artists

Mauritius

Audio artists

Mayotte

Melilla

Mongolia

Audio artists

Morocco

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazine/blog/group

Radio

Mozambique

Audio artists

Myanmar

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

Namibia

Audio artists

Nepal

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Niger

Audio artists

Nigeria

Audio artists

North Korea

Audio artists

Oman

Audio artists

Pakistan

Audio artists

Labels

Magazine

Palestine

Audio artists

Labels

Philippines

Audio artists

Labels

Magazine

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Radio

Community

Qatar

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Réunion

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Rwanda

Audio artists

Saint Helena

São Tomé and Príncipe

Audio artists

Saudi Arabia

Audio artists

Senegal

Audio artists

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Audio artists

Singapore

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Distributors/Shops

Magazines/Blogs/Communities

Somalia

Audio artists

Somaliland

South Africa

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Forum

South Korea

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

South Ossetia

South Sudan

Audio artists

Sri Lanka

Audio artists

Label

Venue

Community/Group

Sudan

Audio artists

Syria

Audio artists

Taiwan

Audio artists

Labels

Distributors/Shops

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazine

Tajikistan

Audio artists

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Tanzania

Audio artists

Thailand

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals

Forums/Groups

Tibet

Audio artists

Timor-Leste

Togo

Audio artists

Tunisia

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals

Türkiye (Turkey)

Audio artists

Labels

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Magazines/Blogs

Turkmenistan

Uganda

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres/Studios

United Arab Emirates

Audio artists

Label

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Uzbekistan

Audio artists

Festival

Magazine

Vietnam

Audio artists

Labels

Magazines

Parties / Events / Venues / Booking / Festivals/ Schools / Centres

Western Sahara

Yemen

Audio artists

Zambia

Audio artists

Zimbabwe

Audio artists

Some other important links related to Africa and Asia and Latin America (in a way or another) :

Essays, books, writings... :

Interviews :

Films :

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