[youtube id=”pn0_s9gJ6CI”] Red Bull Music Academy and Los Angeles label Awesome Tapes From Africa are releasing the documentary Ata Kat: Time Bomb. Ata Kat is a musician from Ghana who made a tape of eclectic pop music in 1993 called Obaa Sima and then disappeared. Brian Shimkovitz, the founder of Awesome Tapes, searched for Ata Kat during an eight-year period that took him to Germany, Toronto and then Ghana. Shimkovitz had been playing Obaa Sima at parties and would always receive an overwhelming response from the crowd. Ata Kat had recorded the tape in his bedroom with second-hand equipment and never released any more music because it was not a financial success and he needed to make money. Ata Kat: Time Bomb tells the story of how Obaa Sima was created and looks into the life of its creator. Shimkovitz told Noisey,

“I just feel like people don’t get a sense of what life can be like in developing countries. People make a lot of assumptions, and also people who listen to African music aren’t too in touch with Africans in Africa! The main touchstone for me and everything that I do, is thinking about my friends in these places. That guides the decisions I make and how I run [Awesome Tapes from Africa].”

Next week the Red Bull Music Academy Festival Los Angeles will begin on October 6th and end on October 29th.

Red Bull Music Academy’s Festival usually takes place in New York but this is the first year it will happen in Los Angeles. The festival is noted for its progressive acknowledgment of pop music most recently for a specially commissioned piece by Solange at the Guggenheim Museum, a tribute to disco legend Patrick Adams and a piano bar show for Atlanta rappers Gucci Mane and Zaytoven. The Academy will celebrate the music of Los Angeles with a month-long program of events from conversations with creative trailblazers to concerts and club nights showcasing the sound of the city.

The festival will feature the world premieres of a technicolor new direction from St. Vincent, one of music’s brightest voices; the world’s largest synth orchestra by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, with help from 100 powerful car sound systems and their owners; and a new audio-visual show from shapeshifting producer Arca in collaboration with TaranAllen.

Electro and hip-hop innovators Uncle Jam’s Army that includes Egyptian Lover and Arabian Prince will perform after a conversation with Ice-T.

Dâm-Funk will record the October edition of his monthly radio show Glydezone live in front of a studio audience.

The Studio Science series will host conversations with mixing and mastering expert Benjamin Tierney who is known for his work on albums from Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington and J.Dilla. Legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, who famously worked on Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Prince’s Purple Rain will be there along with Sylvia Masey who wrote the book Recording Unhinged.

Red Bull Radio will feature LA-focused programming for the month of October.

Tickets go on sale August 22nd. To find out more details about the event sign up for #RBMALA newsletter and buy tickets from la.redbullmusicacademy.com.

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Red Bull Music Academy presents Revolutions On Air: The Golden Era Of New York Radio 1980-1988. This 17-minute documentary is about the way underground music took over New York Radio in the ’80’s and influenced pop music around the world. MC Lyte narrates and there are appearances from DJ Spinna, Boyd Jarvis, DJ Red Alert, Marley Marl, Stretch Armstrong, Tony Humphries and Merlin Bobb and they talk about how they and other key figures like Frankie Crocker made New York City radio a reflection of the city’s street and club life.

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Red Bull Music Academy talks to Man Parrish and John Carter of the Freeze Force about the creation of their classic “Boogie Down Bronx.” The segment is a part of Red Bull’s beat:repeat NYC series where they interview the creative producers behind various tunes that defined the era.