portable: african ambient live at funkhaus
Francisco Espregueira
With African Ambient Live at Funkhaus, Portable opens a new window into Alan Abrahams’ ever-evolving world, releasing the recording via Circus Company. Long known for moving fluidly between techno, house, pop and experimental electronics, the South African–born, Paris-based artist shifts focus here to a fully live, ambient-led performance captured in Berlin’s iconic Funkhaus. Built from eight flowing parts, the set strips away club mechanics in favor of slow-building textures, deep bass currents and spatial sound design, all performed without a computer. It’s a bold pivot that still feels completely in line with Abrahams’ restless creative history.
Digging into old hard drives from his early 2000s period sparked the direction, reconnecting him with textural ideas that predate much of his dancefloor work. Those sounds took new shape through live improvisation, combining samplers, synths, slide guitar and percussion into a dense but meditative whole. Abrahams frames the project as “African Ambient,” not in a literal or folkloric sense, but as an abstract, diasporic expression shaped by memory, bass weight and sonic pressure. Released by Circus Company, African Ambient Live at Funkhaus feels immersive and physical. Less a concert document than a slow-moving environment you step inside and let unfold. Available digitally.
“Successive waves, alternating moments of calm and tension, close to a form of meditation, or why not like a sound shower or a powerful massage that, despite the pain it may cause, ultimately manages to transform you, relieve you and liberate you.”