Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Rokia Traore - Tchamantche (Lateralnote/ Planet Company)

Posted: 13 Apr 2009 06:01 AM PDT

Malian singer Rokia Traore was one of the big highlights from Womadelaide last month. Whilst just solo and acoustic, playing to a media contingent on the first day, her music was pure and innocent, gentle acoustic folk, deeply heartfelt, intensely personal. A few days later we saw her with her band, a huge bombast with everything from slap bass to afrobeat and her strutting around stage absolutely magnetic in front of the powerhouse. And now we get to see another side to her. The question has to be asked though, how many sides does this intensely talented lady have? Tchamantche exists somewhere in between the two aforementioned worlds, where not just acoustic and electric meet, but also some great production and mixing. This is very much a contemporary album, multi-tracked vocals whispering out of each speaker, yet also strange low key experimental sounds adding atmosphere to her at times sparse tunes. The album is dedicated to the great Mali bluesman Ali Farka Toure, and you can hear his influence in her acoustic guitar playing, but she’s moved well beyond her influences, incorporating beat-boxing, harp and perhaps strangest of all she covers Gershwin’s The Man I Love. She also rarely takes the easy option, on the opening cut the majestic Dounia the beat comes in midway, sparse and jazzy with bass but really it’s her voice, changing the pitch and enveloping the stereo field that takes it to the next level. In fact the way these tunes develop, the way she kicks it up a notch occasionally really defies conventional wisdom, resisting the urge to use the kit, instead altering the pitch of her voice, or dropping things away. It’s fascinating music, with lush highly articulated textures, fascinating arrangements, yet also a rare emotional honesty.

Bob Baker Fish

Various Artists - Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos (Strut/Inertia)

Posted: 13 Apr 2009 08:28 AM PDT

You don’t call something ‘definitive’ unless you’re feeling particularly cocky, though one listen to this 2cd set and you’ll understand Strut’s confidence. A collection of Nigerian funk from the 70’s (and early 80’s), this compilation when it was originally released in 2001 sent crate diggers into a dribbling frenzy, unearthing a hitherto barely known vibrant scene. Of course Fela Kuti appears here twice, with his early band Africa 70, so too does percussionist Tony Allen fronting his African Messengers after he split with Kuti, otherwise the only other real ‘name’ is King Sunny Ade. Whilst many of the others are a little more obscure, it appears that they don’t know this, and if anything are more crazy and inventive than those who went on to make a name for themselves internationally. Of course the formula is pretty similar, traditional percussion meeting some funky assed bass grooves, yet some of the jams are truly out of this world, entering psych rock, blues or even almost disco influences. Some of the sounds, possibly questionably recorded originally sound amazing now, such as the killer guitar solo on Monomono Tire’s Loma Da Nigbehin, sounding like a buzz saw played down a telephone line. And that’s not even mentioning that it just appears unexpectedly out of nowhere three quarters of the way through the track. It doesn’t get much cooler than this. Or interesting. Contextually it’s amazing to hear what was happening around Fela as he was refining Afrobeat, and the diversity of music is truly unexpected. The only person who sounds like Fela here is Fela There’s a certain raw power to the music, particularly tunes like Ofo The Black Company’s Allah Wakbarr, a dirty urgent funky as hell stomp of fuzz and aggression that is the highlight of what is one of the most incredible, inventive and funky collection of music you will ever hear.

Bob Baker Fish