Brian Shimkovitz (AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA)

AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA: Brian Shimkovitz trained in ethnomusicology (a science that studies the traditional music of the non-European world) and specialized in African music, becoming a real expert and promoter in the field. After some time in Ghana researching the local hip-hop movement, this Berlin-based American collected lots of African cassette music in countries such as Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Senegal. His work as a disc jockey came out of the success of his blog, Awesome Tapes from Africa (http://www.awesometapes.com/), where he digitizes and shares this vast collection of music on the net, with fantastic reviews of great historic and social value. His latest move was to set up a record label of the same name, which now has two of its own artistes.