Published by James November 2nd, 2006
in Album, Review and 2006.
Afrobeat is the new hotness what with re-releases of Thomas Mapfumo, a renewed focus on the work of Fela Kuti, and a blizzard of releases in the past year by neo-Afrobeat groups like Akoya and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. Now, it might be easy to lump Nomo into this wave but there is something more going on. New Tones certainly holds a sheen of Afrobeat but that glimmer quickly disappears when you get deeper into the album and pay closer attention to the arrangements. Percussive guitar lines, thumb pianos, and syncopated cowbell does not make an album Afrobeat and Nomo is, by all rights, more a Jazz act than anything and one that pulls from a wide and diverse musical palette.
Soul, Funk, R&B, Breaks, and Afrobeat are all equally represented but all are interpreted through the lens of Jazz with a strong focus on modality, soloing, and interplay between voices during bridges and choruses. The weakly titled “New Song” is representative with the faint noir leanings of the guitar work channeling the sensibilities of James Hardway as saxophone and trumpet solos work to lay the melodic structure for the bridges leading into further solos or choruses. “If You Want” maintains the same level of soloing with Piccolo and Piedra providing a percussive backdrop ala Tony Allen. Closing the album is the sweetest track, “Sarvodaya”, with its cascading organ line that buoys a saxophone solo that flutters gently, howls as it plummets and screams as it soars all the while the arrangement maintains a quiet and meditative sense of peace in those contrasts.
New Tones easily slips onto my Best of 2006 list with its sly way of bending sounds into shapes that are at once provocative and party like. Nomo would make for one hell of a house band if the energy from this recording is any indication of their passion for their music. Grab it. Play it. You won’t have any regrets.
Published by James September 19th, 2006
in Free Tracks, Album, Review and 2006.
Wale Oyejide’s sophomore effort, Africa Hot! - The Afrofuture Sessions, sees his sound drift farther from its Hip-Hop underpinnings to embrace a more diverse sound ranging from House, Electro, and Afro-Pop. In particular, the sounds of West Africa find the broadest use in expressing his message where at times his delivery approximates a raw more unpolished version of Youssou N’Dour with all the politics of Fela Kuti providing the momentum. The album, in itself, follows a path that has it move from Afrocentric Hip-Hop to tribal driven Electro, to sprawling Soul House numbers in seventy minutes making for a deeply engaging listen.
Tracks like “H.I.V.” best demonstrate Oyejide’s politics and concern for the problems that plague Africa and the world at large. He earnestly implores the listener to sit up and listen carefully that ignorance and carelessness carries the gravest of consequences and provides traction to the disease. He sings of simple mistakes leading to the deaths of children and lectures on the necessity that individuals must take control of their destiny and protect themselves in order to ensure the future. Writing about it gives the song all the appearance of being a five minute PSA and in some regards it is but Oyejide’s convictions are strong and his believe in the inherent goodness of mankind prevails making that “H.I.V.” more than a simple moment in health education.
Later in the album, as the tone begins to change, the listener is treated to some astounding dance fueled production as tracks like “Cooba” burn with a tribal drive anchored by a dirty bass line than growls and snaps. Here Oyejide stretches into many different genres mashing Cumbia rhythms with Tech House and elements of Breakbeat. “Cooba” is easily a mix ready track providing enough fire to get people moving. “Heaven” sees things slow down with some blissed out Soul House, smoldering and swaying gently as the listener is guided closer to the end of the album further proving that Oyejide is not composed of a single trick, that he possesses a deep love of music from all people. Africa Hot! easily makes My Best of 2006 list.
Free Track: Africahot! (+ Meczilla)
Website: Science Fiction Is Wale Oyejide
Myspace: Wale Oyejide
Published by James July 10th, 2006
in Album, Review and 2006.
If you have been reading this site for a while you might have realized I’m a bit of a pontificating ass that while not an expert in anything deeply wishes I played on on TV and now I’m turning my attention on Africa. Recently, there has been an upswing in the number of groups that are mining the sounds of Africa from the Seventies, with groups like Akoya, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra (also credited as simply Antibalas), Kokolo, and Afrodizz all paying homage to Afrobeat, Zimbabwean, and South African sounds by drawing upon the influence of Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, and Thomas Mapfumo. So it is with great eagerness that I snapped up the re-issue of Mapfumo’s work with Hallelujah Chicken Run Band released by Alula Records.
Take One is a compilation of the band’s hits between 1974 and 1979 and features some of the most infectious rhythms and melodies I’ve heard in a longtime. The guitar work is the most distinct aspect of the album featuring blistering passages played in a spritely staccato manner with a voicing transcribed from the scale of the mbira–Alula points out that this is the first appearance of this tuning and technique and has gone on to define the sound of much of Zimbabwe’s pop music. Combined with brain twisting time signatures, a bass line that dances just as quickly, and Mapfumo’s crisp drum work the music is timeless, intoxicating, and joyful.
In contrast to that joy is the fact that the music was, at the time, an open act of rebellion and highly political in nature. Singing in Shona as a form of protest against the then Rhodesian government, details the struggles of the poor and disenfranchised in themes of love, loss, and overarching political themes. Taurai Maduna of Kubatana writes that Mapfumo, himself, became an icon of the liberation movement because of his work during this period including still composing music while jailed. All About Jazz has an excellent write up about the birth and history of the band as well as providing some additional groups to look into.
I cannot recommend the album enough. If you have been caught up in the resurgence of African Pop than do yourself a favor and grab this album to hear the roots of the music, you will not regret it. Definitely one of the best releases this year.
