Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown and The Black Madonna among diverse draws at Dubai’s four-day RBMA Weekender

Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown and The Black Madonna are among the top draws at Dubai’s first RBMA Weekender.

In total, more than 30 trendsetting musical names will perform over four days at venues across the emirate, as part of the mammoth festival concept, taking place April 12-15.

Also booked to headline are Danny Krivit, Moodymann, DeWalta & Shannon, Jessy Lanza, Axel Boman, Kode9, András, DJ Earl and many more.

An extension of the annual Red Bull Music Academy platform, aimed primarily at artists and industry types, the Weekender invites the public to the party at a total of seven distinct live concepts.

The weekend is likely to peak and crest on Friday night (April 15), when US hip-hop names Sweatshirt and Brown headline a large outdoor gig at D3 (Dubai Design District).

The Friday night bill will also host the regional debut of Afro-Nuyorican alternative hip-hop talent Princess Nokia, iconoclastic Canadian beatmaker Jessy Lanza, Dubai-based Tunisian producer Aeli, and the live premiere of UAE electronic-alternative act Muhaisnah Four’s debut album.

For beat connoisseurs, Thursday, April 13 is the big night, with three distinct club nights on offer. At Media One wave-maker The Black Madonna – recently named Mixmag’s DJ of the year – headlines at On42 alongside outspoken techno/house selector Moodymann. Local support comes from Analog Room’s Siamak Amidi and Shemroon.

On the same night Swedish house name Axel Boman headlines one of two nights the Steigenberger Hotel, alongside a “live” show from techno duo DeWalta & Shannon, who promise a modular set-up which “highlights their mastery of fat, rolling basslines and stripped-back soundscapes”.

Harder beats will be found at another venue in the same Business Bay hotel, with a bass-centric mix from dubstep pioneer Kode9 and his Hyperdub Records affiliate Ikonika, as well as funk and hip-hop flavours from Chicagoan DJ Earl.

After that epic evening, party people can roll straight to the beach on Friday (April 14) morning to centre themselves with an early morning meditation session, taking place on Kite Beach from 6am with tunes from “spiritual house” guru Pierre Ravan and wordless, experimental aural looper Julianna Barwick.

The weekend closes with a deeper dose of groove on Saturday April 15, with sets from NYC veteran Danny Krivit, Australian abstract producer András and nu-jazz crate digger Volcov, all spinning at The Tap House at Palm Jumeirah’s Club Vista Mare. Nu-disco and world beats will also come from Dubai dream team Megadon Betamax and James Locksmith.

Earlier, things kicks off in more cerebral form on Wednesday April 12 with Kuwaiti multimedia artist Zahed Sultan presenting his Hiwar project. Originally developed during a two-week residency at the Heart of Sharjah initiative, as well as a live performance the evening will host the world premiere of a film documenting the work’s genesis in the UAE. Inspired by the nostalgia surrounding the Gulf’s traditional pearl-fishing music, Hiwar showcases a different side of Sultan’s personality to the Resonance concept he presented at NYU Abu Dhabi in September.

As well as the parties and gigs, the Weekender will also welcome lectures, exhibitions and more events celebrating the region’s creative communities.

Tickets are set to go on sale from Sunday. See platinumlist.ae for full details and tickets for individual events.

In other music news...

House music purveyors Audio Tonic have moved home for a second time in less than a year. Known as the Middle East's longest-running club night, the Audio Tonic brand enjoyed ten interrupted seasons at Dubai's 360°, before moving on to the W Dubai's Wet Deck in October. Following a quiet winter, the night has re-launched at Dubai's Media One Hotel, hosted weekly "By Day" parties every Friday from 2pm at The Dek on 8, as well as a monthly "By Night" edition at On42 on the first Friday of each month.

Alternative Arabic act Apo & The Apostles have signed a major a label deal. The quintet, who hail from Bethlehem-Jerusalem, mix indie, folk and electronic influences with regional flavours, as captured on their new single Bandora Blues, the first released by Universal Music Mena, drawn from forthcoming EP Ya Zalamez.

It follows debut Baji Wenek, which was featured on last year’s showcase compilation Now — The Best of Indie Arabia Vol. 1.

rgarratt@thenational.ae

Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars

Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.

Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.

After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.

Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.

It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.