DOWNLOAD: The Indigenous Futurisms Mixtape

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Welcome to the sounds of the Indigenous future: a hyperpresent now, melding the worlds within and beyond what we can hear, see and imagine. In collaboration with Kimiwan Zine’s new issue, we are proud to bring you the Indigenous Futurisms mixtape.

The creation story is a spaceship. That’s the space ndn motto. The creation story can also be a song; so we can sing our way to the stars. In Amiri Baraka’s Afrofuturist tale “Rhythm Travel,” songs can be used to travel through time.

With an understanding of the power of music, we collect sounds and rhythms here for the futurist ear.

The beats are powerful and transcendent. Whether you are traveling back in time to talk to ancestors or warp speeding forward to herd space sheep in the outer galaxies, this is the mix to take you there. It is the soundtrack for a liberated future drawn deeply from our collective pasts. In creating this playlist and indeed in all our futurist imaginings, we are deeply indebted to the Afrofuturists and the traditions they come from. All systems go; full speed ahead to the future.

The Indigenous Futurisms mixtape is a journey through the intertwined Afro-Indigenist histories of colonized life on our current planet, that reaches for decolonial worlds beyond the beyond. From 2oolman and Flying Lotus to King Britt and John Mohawk, Sun Ra and Savage Family to Princess Nokia and DJ Shub, from Boogey the Beat to Erykah Badu, Shabazz Palaces to Silver Jackson, Autechre to A Tribe Called Red, Darkstar to Ryan Dennison, through many other voices in between—this is a recombinant constellation of ideas and energies, sounds and forces. Dreams of new destinations out.

Where the supposed 'finality' of Star Trek's frontier meets the remixed linguistic flip of Navajo Star Wars, and where the sounds of comet landings and galactic space dust meet the 6th World encoded in Indigenous exploration of night-lit skies and interplanetary, opaque spaces, our people have always been moving. As we move, we discover where we've been, where we're going, and how far we've been travelling. The long continuum of our existence and resistance, our survival and survivance, is the work of expanding the now: where we "acknowledge the truth of history, the urgency of the present moment, the open horizon of the future".

Time to "clear some space out, so we can space out...".

The Indigenous Futurisms mixtape was conceived and compiled by @spacendn and @culturite—who mixed it on the holodeck of RPM's coastal spaceship.

DOWNLOAD: The Indigenous Futurisms Mixtape

Indigenous Futurisms Mixtape - Track List

NASA x John Mohawk - “War, Peace, Natives” x 2oolman - “Lost in America” Flying Lotus - “Coronus, the Terminator” The AfroFuturist Affair - “#BQF NonLocality Zine Soundtape” Xquisite Ghost - “Firefall” King Britt - “My Tribe Exudes Love” x Elizabeth LaPensée x Sun Ra Legends & Lyrics - “Speak to Me of Justice” Teeqwa - “Wooden Teeth” NASA x Peter Morin “Time Traveller” Moor Mother Goddess - “Parable” Princess Nokia “Young Girls” Impossible Nothing - “Destroy” DJ Shub - “If You Want the Raw” 2oolman X TINC - “T.I.Kay” Erykah Badu - “The Healer” Joy KMT - “Origins” King Britt - “Moonbathing” Ryan Dennison - “Iina Baa Chanah Hasin” Boogey the Beat - “Above Me” x Leanne Simpson “Airplanemode” Darkstar - “Timeaway (Nguzunguzu Remix)” Kelela - “Do It Again” Silver Jackson - “From Another World (feat. Cat of THEESatisfaction)” Shabazz Palaces - “Forerunner Foray” Princess Nokia - “Biohazard Butterfly” Shane Keepness - “Resurgence” Notuv - “Ame” x Navajo Star Wars Autechre - “Overand” x Jason Edward Lewis - “The Future Imaginary” A Tribe Called Red - “PBC (Feat. Sheldon Sundon)” Sun Ra - “Journey to Saturn”

KIMIWAN ZINE: INDIGENOUS FUTURISMS

Kimiwan's latest Issue 8, Indigenous Futurisms, launches on November 22nd. Guest edited by Elizabeth LaPensée, with cover art by Wendy Red Star, the issue features an interstellar list of contributors:

Amanda Strong Ambelin Kwaymullina Archer Pechawis Barry Ace Bear Witness Bunky Echo-Hawk Chris Morin Dana Claxton Elizabeth LaPensée Fox Anthony Spears Grace L. Dillon Henry Heavy Shield Jason Edward Lewis Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Leonard Getinthecar Lindsey Catherine Cornum Mary Longman Métis in Space peter morin Kevin Ei-Ichi deForest Renee Nejo Skawennati Steven Paul Judd Wendy Red Star

Zines are available via subscription at kimiwan.bigcartel.com. Follow Kimiwan on Twitter and Tumblr and support independent, Indigenous media, music, and artists throughout the galaxy.

 

6 Arrows Media Launches #6AMSessions with Live-Streamed Concert from Six Nations

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Indigenous media is on the rise in NDN Country and 6 Arrows Media is the latest out of the gate. Their new music series, the #6AMSessions, launched on November 1st with a live concert straight outta Six Nations.

UPDATE: If you missed the November 1st broadcast, watch the complete 6am Sessions show now on 6ArrowsMedia.com

6 Arrows Media is the new joint venture from acclaimed Indigenous musicians Derek Miller and Marty Ballentyne, who have joined forces with multimedia production house Thru the RedDoor to launch a "multimedia production hub" for NDN Country and beyond.

For Miller and Ballentyne, 6 Arrows is all about representing ourselves, supporting each other and building community:

“We’re eager to share what we’ve been working on. 6AM will be able to take those artists who live next door and give them every tool they need to be successful. We have the technology, we have the industry experience, and we have the vision. It is our hope that this company is there to give artists the boost that people like Marty and I didn’t have when we began. For us, this is a way of giving back."

Helped out by a few fun promo clips by the likes of their friends Adam Beach, Leonard Sumner, Missy Knott, and a Chllly Chase eating a worm (!), 6 Arrows launched their first online experiment on November 1st, the #6AMSessions, a free concert featuring incredible Indigenous artists performing at their Ohseweken studio on Six Nations—and livestreamed through 6arrowsmedia.com.

The concert was hosted by Derek Miller and featured a powerhouse lineup of (admittedly Haudenosaunee-centric) performers, including: Brendt Diabo, Logan Staats (of Ghost Town Orchestra), Ras Haile X, Chllly Chase, Cheri Maracle, Rebecca Miller, Behold the Shadows, Jeff Doreen, The Ollivanders, the 6AM Jazz Band and, of course, Derek Miller and his band The Lindas. Pretty damn impressive for the first show of the series.

Derek Miller and the Lindas

Rocking his trademark Reservoir Dogs attire, Miller kept the proceedings flowing by introducing each artist, chatting with them in between sets, and generally lending the show a casual, yet intimate feel. The sound quality was tight, the vibe was right, and the performances were killer.

A live studio audience enjoyed the show up close and personal but, for the rest of us, the livestream was a great way for viewers from around the world to catch the show, and the #6amsessions hashtag was a fun way to chat while the concert was beamed to our devices, phones and living rooms.

Livestreaming music is nothing new on the interwebs, but it doesn't happen nearly enough in Indian Country. Saturday's show was the perfect post-Halloween antidote to the saccharine aftertaste of total sugar overload from the night before. And a welcome addition to the growing Indigenous music and media landscape.

6 Arrows is clearly on to a good thing here. We're excited to see where it goes next. And Like Derek Miller said:

Although all of the artists rocked it on Saturday, for us, Logan Staats was the highlight of the night. His raw and impassioned vocal delivery and prodigious songrwriting talent stole the show.

Check out his performance of "What You Love" from the 6 Arrows promo video below. This guy is going places.

For more info and to watch an archive of the broadcast, visit: 6arrowsmedia.com