Monday, February 13 2012
Sibiri Samake: Dambe Foli
System Krush has done the right thing and given us tracks that are long.
Thursday, November 3 2011
Question Mark: Be Nice to the People
Question Mark is not Fela Kuti, not Victor Uwaifo, not trying to rewrite musical history, just contributing to it.
Wednesday, April 13 2011
Various Artists: Sofrito:Tropical Discotheque
Presented with a simple problem -- "How do you make people dance?" -- we find 15 ways to respond, all of them different and none of them wrong.
Tuesday, November 23 2010
‘Lost Kingdoms of Africa’: The Very Concept of ‘Kingdom’ May Have Originated In Southern Africa
The world needs to comprehend the complex, bloody history of the so-called 'Dark Continent', with all its attendant ironies and contradictions.
Wednesday, August 18 2010
Various Artists: Congo; Pont Sur le Congo / Sénégal; Echo Musical / Côte d’Ivoire; We
The time period covered on these discs should be familiar territory to aficionados of African retrospective compilations, even if some of the bands have been so underexposed outside Africa that they feel like newcomers.
Friday, January 29 2010
Various Artists: Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization of West Africa
Thirteen songs, 55 minutes, and a time frame stretching from 1960 to the end of the '70s were never going to leave us with anything more than a sketch.
Monday, November 30 2009
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: Echos Hypnotiques: From the Vaults of Albarika Store 1969-1979
The relentlessness of this music is exhilarating, the thickness of it, the groove, the band's refusal to let the listener slow down.
Friday, November 20 2009
Various Artists: Footsteps in Africa; A Nomadic Journey
A compilation of varied but smartly integrated tracks.
Friday, September 4 2009
Kimi Djabate: Karam
Kimi Djabate sings like a neighborhood storyteller who just happens to have a good voice.
Tuesday, May 19 2009
Mamane Barka: Introducing Mamane Barka
If you want a biram album then this is obviously the one to buy. It's not as if you've got much choice.
