|
|
|
|
|
FEATURE
ALBUMS
PAST
MONTHS
All
reviews by Cal Koat
Check out other Album Reviews
 
  
May
2005 Reviews
 The
Blind Boys Of Alabama - Atom
Bomb (Real
World) - Jubilee
got its start in the 1930’s
when black vocal quartets
began to spring up on
college campuses around the
southern United States, and,
The Blind Boys have kept the
spirit of jubilee fresh and
alive for sixty-six years
running .Atom
Bomb, the latest release by
The Blind Boys of Alabama is
‘da bomb’ indeed. Sadly,
it’s the last album to
feature the wailing tenor of
George Scott who’s ‘gone up
to the spirit in the sky’,
passing away in his sleep at
age, 75 in March of 2005.
But the disc is a fitting
tribute to George and offers
their most pioneering,
praise-worthy exploration of
jubilee gospel to date.Atom
Bomb features musical
contributions from
guitarist, David Hidalgo of
Los Lobos, blues harp
master, Charlie Musselwhite
and it even melds gospel and
rap with The Gift Of Gab
from Blackalicious blessing
the mic on one outstanding
track. But the boys truly
shine when their
time-honored harmonies are
given free reign. Conviction
never comes into question
from word one, when the
album opens with the almost
acapella, 'Jesus Hits Like
The Atom Bomb'. Those who
choose to duck and cover
will miss out on the rapture
of one of the Blind Boys'
best recordings to date.
 Gokh-Bi
System - Mission
Of Music ( A
Round World )
- For
20 years or more, North
American hip hop has been
finding its way into Africa
on radio, cassettes and
television. Motivated by the
cultural power of this
music, African youth have
adopted and adapted the
urban vibe to their own
struggles, ironically giving
hip hop renewed legitimacy
as the North American scene
is swallowed up by
materialism. While
the world waits for rap’s
‘next big thing’ to come
from the inner city
tenements of Detroit or New
York, it may well come
straight from Lagos, Cape
Town or Dakar. Gokh-Bi
System grew up in Guinaw
Rails, one of the poorest
neighborhoods in Dakar,
Senegal. On their new EP
they broach issues of
poverty, inequality and
injustice with a mix of rap,
funk, soul and traditional
sounds, representing a
modern day griot music. Gokh-Bi
literally means
‘Neighborhood’, a nod to the
bands’ roots on the other
side of the tracks in Guinaw
Rails. Their personal
‘mission of music’ states
that, “We were all born to
be good, but some of us
forget their mission and
others forget that they
forgot. We all need to
remind each other.”
GBS
have taken the stage in
support of some notable
performers like Angelique
Kidjo, Damian Marley,
Michael Franti,Toots
and The Maytals and many
more. Though their debut EP
from A Round World may be
only 6 tracks, listeners can
be assured of more killer
and less filler. Find your
copy at
www.cdbaby.com/gokhbisystem
.jpg) Transglobal
Underground - Impossible
Broadcasting (Triloka) - The
grand-daddies who pioneered
global fusion, Trans Global
Underground have
just launched their
sixth album called
‘Impossible Broadcasting’.
It takes the premise of a
radio station from an
unknown country beaming out
music that’s equally accessible and impossible
to pinpoint.
But, impossible
possibilities are exactly
what you can expect from a
band who has been plying
these waters for so many
years.Their
cross-pollination concepts
go way beyond putting say, a
reggae drop beat to a
Bulgarian folk melody.
Transglobal have evolved to
the point where they are
capable of creating entirely
new forms of cultural
expression based
on extrapolation ... like
good science fiction
writers. Impossible
Broadcasting could be the
soundtrack to a near-future
experience where the melding
and mash ups of global
musics gives birth to
something new, beautiful and
universal. Take a ride on
the album's fourth track
Yellow and Black Taxi Cab or
ponder the conversation on
track six between The
Sikhman And The Rasta and
enjoy the sound
of globalization with one
foot firmly in future.
March
2005 Reviews
Worldbeat
Chart Toppers
Brazilian Girls - Brazilian
Girls ( Verve
Forecast ) - Everything
you've heard is true.
Brazilian Girls are hot
and sexy. We are talking
about the band,
right? Actually, this
quartet owes more to New
York's experimental
underground than to the
beaches of Rio but the
music can transport you
to any number of exotic
locales. The feminine
mystique is dished up
sultry and steaming by
the only girl in
Brazilian Girls, Sabina
Scuibba. This siren coos
and whispers sweet
nothings in German,
French, Italian, Spanish
and English.The band
carries on an equally
cross-cultural
conversation, weaving
dreamy new jazz textures
with electronic
flourishes, bossa, Latin
and cabaret rhythms.
Sweetest of all, despite
the ear candy, there's a
slightly unhinged
edginess to the
presentation that once
again alludes to their
downtown NYC spawning
ground. Each track
struts with catwalk
confidence, spotlighting
its own distinct and
delicious design. On
this highly recommended
debut, Brazilian Girls
reveal what's haute
couture in global music.
Tego Calderon - El
Abayarde
( Jiggeri
Records )
-
With his signature ‘fro
and oversized
sunglasses, Tego
Calderon is winning over
a new generation of
Puerto Ricans who are
growing tired of salsa’s
sappy corazones and the
gangsta clichés of rap
en espanol.His rapid
fire rhymes actually
have much in common with
the original salseros of
the 60s and 70s who used
to sing about everyday
life. Tego confesses,
“These guys were my
idols. They made salsa
that was powerful and
from the streets. It
said something real.”
But, it’s
his attitude more than
Tego’s sound that
reflects his old school
salsa heroes. He’s one
of the leaders of Puerto
Rico’s reggaeton
revolution; a mix of
digital dancehall beats,
hip hop and Latin
rhythms like Bomba. His
debut disc is called El
Abayarde … the name of a
pesky little fire ant, a
nickname Tego’s
grandmother gave him
because of his biting
lyrics. But, Tego tries
to balance the weight of
his lyrics with some
good-natured fun. “It
can’t always be about
the struggle,” he says.
“Sometimes people just
want to party and not
think about their
problems.”
Abdel Wright - TBA
( Interscope )
- Any
conscious song writer
from Jamaica must
eventually face
comparison to the great
Robert Nesta Marley.
But, while Abdel Wright
may be just the latest
to be cast in Marley’s
shadow, his greatest
musical inspiration was
another late legend.
Abdel grew up in the SOS
Children’s Home, an
orphanage in Barrett
Town near Montego Bay.
Johnny Cash lived just
down the road and every
Christmas he would
invite the SOS kids to
his estate for a
concert. When Abdel
openly remarked how much
he wished he could play
guitar and harmonica
like The Man In Black,
one of the other kids
said, “Hey man, shut up!
You’ll never do that!”
Abdel remembers it as
“the most degrading
thing anyone could say
to him because the only
thing in the world he
respected at that time
was music.” One
Christmas, the
superintendent of the
orphanage surprised
Abdel by giving him an
old guitar that was
hanging in the office.
Abdel raced to his room
with the present and
nobody saw him for three
days after that! His
love affair with the
guitar continues today.
A demo of some of
Abdel’s songs made its
way into the hands of
Dave Stewart from The
Eurythmics who in turn,
passed it on to
Bono. The two rock stars
asked Abdel to perform
with them at a charity
concert in South Africa
and … a boyhood dream of
a career in music was
one step closer to being
realized for Abdel
Wright. His debut
Interscope album is
still forthcoming but
judging from Quicksand,
the first single, the
pre-release buzz is
warranted.
 Xavier
Rudd - Solace (Salt
X. Records ) -
When you split your time
between Australia’s
Victoria Province and
Victoria, BC you’re
bound to rack up the
frequent flyer points.
Xavier Rudd lives the
globetrotting life,
taking his solo act
across the Pacific Ocean
and around the planet.
But, that doesn’t mean
he packs light. This
one-man-band takes the
stage behind a battery
of didgeridoos (yidake
is the proper aboriginal
name), six and twelve
string guitars, a
Weissenborn lap slide,
djembe, and
harmonicas which he uses
to create the sweet
acoustic textures of his
socially-conscious
songs.The
organic soundscapes on
Solace, his new
release underline his
down to earth love of
nature and respect for
humanity.
The stage is a solitary
space for Xavier Rudd,
leaving him free to
communicate heart and
soul with his
fans, opening a
very personal dialogue
with his audience each
time he performs. In a
jaded world,
people respond to this
kind of naked honesty
which may explain why
his concerts are turning
into sellout shows.
With his bushy blond
surfer hair and emotive
delivery, music critics
struggling to capture
the essence of his music
have likened Xavier
Rudd to “Kurt Cobain on
Prozac, spreading an
essential contemporary
spirituality”.
 Grada - Endeavour (Compass
Records)
- At
Celt In A Twist, we've been reeling
since the day Grada's The Landing
Step came in across the transom so I
was mystified when Endeavour
followed so quickly on its heels.
This Dublin 5-piece produced by
Lunasa's Trevor Hutchinson oozes
with youthful vitality and
traditional elegance. The songs on
The Landing Step (especially Tread
Softly) demand repeated listens as
the entire album demands a patient
exploration.I wasn't quite prepared
to abandon it's charms for yet
another release. Too much, too soon!
As it turns out, Endeavour precedes
The Landing Step by a couple of
years (in the liner's group shots,
the members appear to be wee
suckling babes). Musically, the disc
lacks some of the glisten of The
Landing Step but it's rich in
adventure and discovery as the title
reference to Captain Cook's vessel
suggests. It always feels a little
odd to go back in time after such a
brief but impactful introduction but
Endeavour stands on its own merits
as an excellent starting point for a
musical relationship I hope will
last many albums more.
 The
Electrics - Old,
New, Borrowed & Green (Independent)
- Ah,
it's refreshing to see an album
title reflective of its ingredients!
No allusions or metaphor here, the
new release from
these Scot CeltPunks lives
up to its billing. These dyed
in the Shetland wool choppers have a
real knack for making new anthems
sound as if they've already had
decades of single malt soaked into
their grooves. Original sing-alongs
like At All, At All, At All sit
comfortable and wobbly next to some
truly old and green classics like
Wild Rover. But one of my favorites
on the disc comes from the
'borrowed' category. In the '80's a
great American band called The
Hooters wrote a classic piece of pop
with an insidious lyric about
beaming Evangelical television
signals hither and yon called
'Satellite'. As The Electrics'
bassist, Sam Horner explains, the UK
didn't get these kind of signals
until many years later and now they
can't get away from them, so the
song has even more relevance across
the pond today.Oh ya, they're deep
thinkers these Electrics but they
sure know how to rawk. Like the
album title itself, the first 10
seconds of this disc gives you a
pretty good indication of what joys
are in store.
 Altan - Local
Ground (Narada)
- Celtic
music has covered a lot of ground in
the last decade. As with the Celts
themselves, this music is nomadic,
embracing change and picking up
influences from the distant places
and peoples it has in turn,
inspired. Maybe it is this inherent
transience that's resulted in
Celtic's ability to evoke a sense of
longing for a place called
home.After 20 years together as a
band and spreading the sweet allure
of Celtic melody from Donegal to
Tokyo to Seattle, Altan give due
props to their roots in the Emerald
Isle with their 10th release, Local
Ground. Hailing from Donegal in
Ireland's Northwest region, Altan
have long nurtured the venerable
fiddle tradition of their homeland
and its strong ties to Gaelic
culture and language. Singer Mairead
Ni Mhaonaigh (Mah-raid Nih Winnie)
and her husband Dermot Byrne, the
accordionist for the group even own
a pub there, fostering Donegal's
heritage of storytelling and music
making. The seasoned interplay
between Altan's gifted musicians and
Mariread's exquisite, lilting voice
continue to raise the bar for Irish
traditional recordings with Local
Ground. As one reviewer put it so
succinctly, "Altan can seemingly do
no wrong."
 The
Tiller's Folly - A Fine Kettle Of
Fish (Raincoast Records) -
The catch of the day is A Fine
Kettle Of Fish. This new DVD and CD
package by The Tiller’s Folly
captures the group’s most requested
songs performed live at the historic
Gulf Of Georgia Cannery in Steveston.
Crafting the colourful stories of
British Columbia’s past into
contemporary Celtic tunes, The
Tiller’s bring forgotten chapters of
west coast maritime history back to
life. Hey,
everyone knows fishermen have some
great stories to tell!
Appropriately, The Tillers chose the
historic Gulf Of Georgia Cannery for a
backdrop as they share some their
fascinating stories in a one of a kind
performance of rollicking,
contemporary Celtic music. The
acoustics and ambience of the old
cannery are exceptional and the
package includes a CD of all the
tracks for when you want to go
portable. Also included are some great
bonus materials which serve as a great
introduction to this west coast
original band: insightful interviews
(including a
world.beats exclusive with
bassist Laurence Knight). Order your
copy at
www.afinekettleoffish.ca.
|
|
|
|
