Delhi
2 Dublin: Delhi 2 Dublin (self-released)
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"We
didn't set out to write fusion music," Delhi 2 Dublin explains
in the liner notes to their 2007 self-titled album, "We
just set out to have a good time!" And a good time it is,
with a preference for mixing Irish fiddle
with Bhangra beats and vocals. Imagine a Bhangra remix
of the Afro-Celts, and you'll have a close idea. A great
fresh addition to the growing genre of cross-cultural dance
music.
Sidestepper: The
Buena Vibra Sound System (Palm Pictures)
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Forget
the price of gas -- you're going to need to cruise with
this album. Sidestepper's fantasticly energetic music is
what needs to be blasting
from car windows
all
summer
long,
spilling a Latin dance party into the hot streets. Remixes
often go overboard in their attempts to remodel (or,
depending on who's opining, destroy) the original tune.
But Columbian crew Sidestepper does it right,
giving us 11 tracks (nine of them previously unreleased)
of hot Latin sounds mixed with ragga-style toasting and
booty-shaking
beats. Crank
it up, roll down the windows, and boogie like Bogota!
Various
Artists: Big Blue Ball (Real World)
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Eager
curiosity may be the best description of my feelings upon
learning that Peter Gabriel had assembled into a new album
a number of sessions taped in his Real World studios over
the course
of 18 years.
The CD features the likes of Francis Bebey, Natacha
Atlas, Jah Wobble, Justin Adams, Marta Sebestyen, Hossam
Ramzy, Sevara Nazarkhan, and the late Hukwe Zawose, all
great artists. Now, having listened to it, I wonder if
maybe 18 years gave it not so much the taste of fine aged
wine
as a past-date loaf of bread.
Bookmarked
by the bland pop of "Whole Thing" and "Big
Blue Ball,"
the album does hit
a few interesting points, particularly with Zawose's
unique vocals in "Forest" and the unusual Malagasy
rap of Rossy
on "Jijy," paired with heavy programming and
Jah Wobble bass lines. But alas, the whole album is over-produced
(with the exception of "Rivers" featuring the
marvelous vocals of Sebestyen), like the Afro-Celts run
amok. A
little more acoustic/vocal prominence (and less Gabriel)
could
have made this a remarkable album rather than a mediocre,
mouldy mess. For a constructed-from-various-studio-tapes
album done right, skip this big blue blob and get Onno
Krijn's Don't
Be A Stranger: One.
A
Fula's Call: Mark Lotz Meets Omar Ka-Lingu (Lop
Lop)
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Fantastic
Fulani Fusion. From the banks of the Niger River, Senegaliese
griot Omar Ka somehow found his way to the Netherlands,
where he recorded
this rollicking collection of 14 songs with German flautist
Mark Alban Lotz, French guitarist Raphael Vanoli, and Iranian
percussionist Afra Mussawisade. A hint of jazz infuses
the music, as well as a touch of Indian tabla -- consider
those the wings of a group whose musical roots are clearly
in Africa. A stellar example of acoustic global fusion
from artists at the top of their game.
DeLeon: DeLeon (JDub)
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Everything
old is new again, they say. But "15th Century Spanish indie
rock"? That billing for Brooklyn-based DeLeon is as accurate
as it is odd. Singing in English and Ladino -- the traditional
tongue of Sephardic Jews -- Daniel Saks
and bandmates bring rock and pop influences to the mix
and create of traditional folk tunes something
familiar yet just exotic enough to make you perk up your
ears like a puzzled pup. And before you know it, you're
hearing niggun at the club and it all sounds normal. Why
not?
Police
in Dub: DubXanne (Echo Beach)
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The
global influence of The Police may not rival that of, say,
James Brown or The Beatles, but their early pop blend of
ska and reggae beats with Sting's message-driven songs
was a revelation to many. I've got a soft spot, particularly
for their earlier, edgier work. This compilation of reggae
reinterpretations of Police songs is somewhat uneven, with
cheezy duds like "Can't Stand Losing Dub" brushing shoulders
with the dreamy "The Bed's Too Big Without Dub."
The
album includes covers of some more obscure Police tunes,
such as "Once Upon a Daydream" and "Someone
to Talk To", but most are the ones you'll know from
the radio: "Message
in a Bottle," "Walking on the Moon," "Spirits
in a Material World." Remarkable to me is how even
melodies and bass lines that are part of my very blood
sound diluted, even
simplistic when the punky spirit of the original is replaced
with rather uninspired, ordinary reggae beats.
Police
in Dub aren't going to find a regular place on my playlist;
they're better suited to elevators. But I'm grateful
for the prompt to pull out my Police albums
for another listen of the original.
©2008
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media |
