Novas Frequências Festival: 15 years of pushing boundaries

Founded in 2011 Novas Frequências, in Rio de Janeiro, is an international festival that promotes experimental music and sound art, with a keen eye on the relationship between sound and the local ecosystem. In fact, its curator, Chico Dub, does not limit the festival to just “experimental music”, he would use the description “music trying to create new languages”.

Over the years, it has occupied a variety of venues, from the usual concert halls and art institutions, to the unusual, such as churches, beaches, and waterfalls. It is far more than a traditional festival, as it encompasses performances, installations, raves, site-specific projects, lectures, workshops, courses, artistic residencies, and sound walks.

Between December 3rd and 7th the festival celebrates 15 years of activity with the main programme in Rio, and then spreads its wings to São Paulo between December 8th and 13th (not technically for the first time – I once went to an afternoon of NF events many years ago in a pokey venue on the Rua Augusta and was blown away by a Hype Williams show). It offers a programme of 28 acts, mixing (relatively) renowned names and emerging voices from the contemporary scene both in Brazil and abroad. 

Highlights this year include ambient and electro-acoustic composers Kara-Lis Coverdale, Sarah Davachi, and Concepción Huerta. The North American noise practitioners, Wolf Eyes, a collaboration between Test & Deafkids, reviewed and exalted in these pages, Japan’s Birushanah, and the Brazilian band Papangu bring their proggy heaviness and experimentation to new territories. Metá Metá present their always exciting fusion of ancestral energy and contemporary invention. There’s plenty of electronica with the Lebanese-Swiss duo Praed playing psychedelic Arab techno; the Bolivian-American siblings Los Thuthanaka, fresh from their rave Pitchfork review, merge Andean pulses and thick digital ephemera; and Ugandan artist Faizal Mostrixx brings his radical Afro-futurist vision of contemporary club music. 

The programme also features a sound installation by Craca and a photography exhibition by Ivi Maiga Bugrimenko and Ivan Nishitani documenting the independent party scenes of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

For me, Nova Frequências is one of the most important voices in Brazil’s festival circuit, always offering a superbly curated selection of new and unheard artists. Miraculously, it takes place without any form of funding or sponsorship – I mean which brand nowadays, in this age of algorithms, has the courage to support this kind of marginal music? The entire operation is made possible due to the support of partner institutions hosting the festival and the collaboration of participating artists, who play for smaller fees just to support the event. So, if you’re in the area, go to an event, be surprised at what you will hear, and ensure the continuity and vitality of this project. Have a listen to the playlist below for a taste of what the festival offers.

Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.

Share: