Ya Tosiba & XPLO present Sufi lodge
AV Live
LOCATION
WHS Teatteri Union
ARTIST
Tatu Metsätähti, Zuzu Zakaria, Sami Sorvali, Heikki Ryynänen
Ya Tosiba is a collaboration between Finnish producer Tatu Metsätähti and Azerbaijani composer and vocalist Zuzu Zakaria. They blend expansive electronics, live instrumentation, and Caucasian folkloric poetry into a spirited sound. Their music, deeply rooted in the meykhana genre of Azerbaijani improvisational wedding music, features Zuzu's Azerbaijani vocals bringing stories to life. By chopping up live recordings into electronic beats, Ya Tosiba merges tradition and modernity. Their funky, downbeat grooves, soaring guitar riffs, bumping synth pads, and haunting vocals create a unique soundscape, combining Central Asian inspirations with European electronic music influences.
The audio-visual performance by Ya Tosiba, featuring Zuzu Zakaria and Tatu Metsätähti, takes listeners on a global journey through electronic music, live instrumentation, and Caucasian folklore poetry. Rooted in the Azerbaijani meykhana genre, known for improvisational "poetry battles," their lyrics explore themes of romance and war, sex and gender, nature and machine, politics, and society. These varied stories, some historical, reflect the tension between history's weight and tomorrow's promise.
The visual aspect reconnects with VJ culture's origins, blending visual storytelling and improvisation. XPLO video artists Heikki Ryynänen and Sami Sorvali, inspired by meykhana gatherings, engage in spontaneous dialogue.