SOUND'Label

Can songs say more about the world than a 3-minute newsflash? Can genuine, remote sounds from distant worlds ever reach a wider audience? After 12 years of hosting shows for public station Radio France, Elodie Maillot created Sound'ailleurs to answer such tricky questions. So yes, crazy dreams can come true!

The Sound'ailleurs story goes like this. After an interview with famous Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand, Elodie was asked to contact an old voodoo funk group she just had met in Benin-West Africa for a radio show. European stars admired Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou and were eager to meet them. The veteran group had played with the great architect of Afro-beat Fela Kuti, but never had a chance to travel out of Africa. Through a lot of efforts – including few voodoo needles – the young savvy pop stars were finally able to record alongside their legendary african elders in a vintage analog studio in Paris. This singular achievement, which no one had thought possible, marked the birth of Sound'ailleurs, smack in the middle of a magical parisian electro funk voodoo experiment. Connecting international talents from far corners of the world became the raison d'etre of this independent label. Translated from French, Sound'ailleurs litterally means sounds form other worlds or they are from elsewhere.

With a vision of adventure and enthusiasm, Sound'ailleurs's mission is to connect the dots in the constellation of great music around the world, stimulating cross-pollination or simply supporting great but chronically overlooked music.

Believing in music we love and crossing borders, both physically and artistically, enables us to make sure our artists' stories are told in universal languages that speak louder than words: music and art.

Sound'ailleurs is licensed by Universal Jazz and Strut/K7.

Stay tuned, Sound'ailleurs will look forward to connect Europe, Mali, Brazil, Colombia, and new musical universes.