Published by James April 9th, 2007
in Album, Review and 2007.
Fanfare Ciocarlia are new to me and I’m left scratching my head wonder why in the hell I have not heard of this band before. They are billed as a Romanian Gypsy Brass Band but their music has wider roots that tap into many different cultures from Turkey, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and even hint at elements of Bollywood and pop standards from the US. To date they have released five albums all of which make use of blistering horn lines and tricky rhythms. Queens and Kings is no exception.
This is one of those albums that explodes in the opening notes, giving you little time to catch your breath or gather your wits as the band kicks up the dust and begins to spin you about. It is a beautiful album filled with an energy that is at once aggressive yet filled with joy and a pleasure of being alive. “Sandala” features some of the tightest brass playing I have ever heard with a tuba line that nimble dances about light as a feather. “Ibrahim” follows in suit matching staccato rhythms to a husky yet strangely enchanting vocals of Esma Redzepova but cool things down a little on “Ma Maren Ma” eventually turning that into a slow burning number with “Nakelavishe” where Redzepova makes a moving reprise.
To give you a little taste of their energy here’s a video from this year’s tour, shot in Berlin.
Since picking up this album the wife and I have been unable to put it down, giving it a spin nearly every day, just getting drunk on its intoxicating melodies and rhythms. You can find out more about the band on their page over at Asphalt Tango or over at Wikipedia which has a nice write up about the band and their music. Easily makes my Best of 2007 list. Very highly recommended.
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 October 17th, 2006
in Album, Review and 2006.
Let me lead this post off by saying that if Ubiquity Records were a girl I’d be sending her flowers and poetry that professed my undying love and unassailable adoration for her everyday. Really, when has a label so consistently pummeled the market with so many excellent and can’t miss releases? Seriously, try and answer that. Anyways, the latest to hit my desk is Radio Citizen’s Berlin Serengeti, a pastiche of Soul Jazz, Hip Hop, Grooves, and Afro-Cuban breaks. It follows the trend–like Loka, James Hardway, and Quantic–of constructing songs that emulate live sessions and seeing as I am a sucker for anything that remotely approximates modal Jazz with a dash of Afro-Cuban rhythms I’m all over this release.
The opening track, “The Hop” is a bit of an anomaly as it introduces the album cloaked in Downtempo breaks: compressed drum patterns, a growling organ pacing about, light vocals from Bajaka give it a human element. It is a solid track but is deceptive as the remaining album slips into a moody and atmospheric Jazz breaks like the slippery “Mondlicht” which floats on patters of crash cymbals, soft reed and organ chords, and a bass line that slides down the arrangement. Tracks like that make Berlin Serengeti perfect for listening when you are trying to shake the effects of slumber, whether it is pulling you in or you are pushing it away the music is a perfect companion for the contemplative, quiet, and solitary moments.
Bajaka is a welcome addition as her smooth voice is reminiscent of an Eartha Kitt as she swallows her vowels with a splash of scotch and lime, warm yet slightly tart. She pairs well with the crackling breaks on “Everything” and the rubbery Dub and Bossa leaning “El Cielo” where the production seems to be channeling both Thievery Corporation and Tosca at once. For pacing, her five appearances are sprinkled throughout the entirety of the album as welcome islands to survey the album’s scope.
As we slip deeper into Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere you can do no better than slipping on your headphones and shuffling through the leaves in the late evening to “Berlin Serengeti”. Check out Radio Citizen at Myspace, grab the 3hive freebie, or read more about the group over that Ubiquity’s website, and, as always, eMusic has the album.
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 May 18th, 2006
in Album, Review and 2006.
Loka’s Fire Shepherds is about texture, mood, and atmosphere. Playing alternately like the backing track for dense Jazz-Fusion album and a Seventies action flick, bongo’s, organ, and buzzing double bass never sounded so good. Over at Ninja Tune Loka is billed as creating “a music which at times sounds like Miles Davis jamming with Carl Craig and the Kronos Quartet” and that is an apt description with equal parts of Bitches Brew, More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art, and Night Prayers providing a swirling mass of psyche-groove.
“Freda Mae” is what Naked City would sound like if they scored porn. Horns and reeds grind and moan like a blue whale getting it on with a box car while the bas line slinks around like the pizza delivery guy with no pants. It is sleazy, slightly greasy, very decadent in a pay by the hour sort of way, but so very good. Not everything here is as wrapped up in sensual skank as the opening track, “Safe Self Tester” is a lush and sonorous number filled with rich orchestra back drop of thick cellos and trilling flutes that blanket a driving bass line.
Loka create what could be best described as Program Music as each song is written to push the listener to conjure images on their own that fit the thematic mood of the moment. “Airfling” is a dreamy piece that rolls and surges on a tightly locked rhythm section with gentle breezes of muted brass floating in from the distance like a far off bird calling out. The focus is less on resolving chords and providing a fully realized theme as it is about evoking the feeling of a certain place and time.
Fire Shepherds is a great album if you are looking for music that does not demand your undivided attention to parse meaning. If you are in the market to let you mind wander and to have a collection of songs that can seep into your surroundings than you can do no better than Loka’s effort. Highly recommended. You can grab it either at eMusic or from Ninja Tune.
