Loya featuring the Remanindry Family – Blakaz Antandroy (LZ Records, 2024)
Some albums do more than entertain, they transport you. Blakaz Antandroy, the collaborative album by electronic innovator Loya and the Remanindry family, is one of those rare works. Rooted in the shamanic traditions of the Antandroy people from southern Madagascar, this album invites listeners into a world where ancient wisdom meets contemporary experimentation.
As I listened to Blakaz Antandroy on a quiet evening, I couldn’t help but feel transported to a place I’d never seen but could vividly imagine; a gathering under a star-lit sky, the air filled with the hum of community, the flickering flames of a fire casting shadows on ancient faces.
The project began as a commission from the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, which tasked Loya with creating a concert inspired by Madagascar’s musical heritage. Exploring the museum’s sound archives, Loya discovered the evocative recordings of Remanindry, a revered musician and shaman. Inspired, Loya traveled to Toliara in 2019 to meet Remanindry and his family, Samba, Nindry, Isabelle, and Adeline, who form the foundation of this collaboration.
Drawing from traditional Antandroy instruments and techniques such as the lokanga (a Malagasy violin), remotsy (throat scraping), and Poa Keliky (whistle-percussion), the album captures the essence of the Antandroy’s culture. These sounds are skillfully and respectfully woven into electronic soundscapes.
At its core, Blakaz Antandroy transcends boundaries by intertwining the spiritual and the technological.
Buy Blakaz Antandroy.
Author: Madison Quinn
