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Think Of One

Think Of One (150x150)


Think Of One see themselves as musical explorers. They love nothing more than travelling to distant countries to record with Moroccan, Inuit, Congolese or Brazilian musicians: they generally make extended stays to work with local artists, live with them, try to learn some of their musical language, and end up exchanging and melting musical ideas into new forms, in which the basic Think Of One ingredients are moulded and blended in with extra-European elements. T.O.O. are among those rare bands who really put the idea of transculturalism into practice. UK magazine fRoots may have described them as "dyed in the wool musical magpies", the results of each of their collaborations is always more than the sum of its parts, a new musical object, original and always extremely joyful and festive.

As for these basic "T.O.O. ingredients", well, let's hear again what fRoots has to say: "A mix of kicking brass, punky energy, funky basslines, jazz experimentation and rhythms & vocals from just about everywhere… Strong Eastern European gypsy influences… jazz, reggae, a touch of Latin and African… Like Manu Chao, they have their own distinctive sound, but are able to create music built around openness and collaboration".

After having released no less than 7 albums (under 4 different aliases) in 5 years on their own tiny label — managing along the way to garner a devoted international fan base, and to earn a BBC Award for World Music (in the "Boundary Crossing" category)— and having toured in Europe, Japan and Brazil, Think Of One have now joined forces with Crammed to start a collaboration which promises to be very fruitful, both on the level of creative exchanges and in terms of exposing the band's music and message to a wider audience.




Flanders Arts Institute

Expertise centre for performing arts, music and visual arts.