DakhaBrakha — Live on KEXP, 2017

A full performance by Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha recorded live in the KEXP studio in Seattle on 23 April 2017. Born in 2004 within Kyiv’s avant-garde Dakh theatre, the group defines its music as “ethno-chaos”: it reinvents traditional Ukrainian polyphonic singing by blending it with world percussion, cello and trance-like textures. Crowned with their characteristic tall astrakhan hats, the four musicians run through four songs — “Vesna,” “Carpathian Rap,” “Monakh” and “Baby” — moving between spellbinding vocal harmonies, hypnotic rhythms and theatrical breaks. The capture, with KEXP’s signature visual restraint, highlights the power of the voices and the instrumental inventiveness of a band that has become one of Ukraine’s major cultural ambassadors. A filmed live concert ideal for discovering the richness of contemporary world music, this session attests to DakhaBrakha’s ability to turn a centuries-old heritage into a resolutely modern and universal stage experience, and stands as one of the most striking live captures in the KEXP archive.