ARTIST: Bostich + Fussible
TITLE: Bulevar 2000
LABEL: Nacional
REVIEW: Bostich and Fussible are two of the four members of the Tijuana-based band Nortec Collective, whose mash-up of Mexican popular music (like norteno) with urban club beats (like techno, hence the band name) has virtually become its own musical genre. Working as a duo, they’re more focused on songcraft and less on dancefloor impact, so what they have here is kind of a Mexican-American intelligent-dance-music project that could just as easily be filed in RPM or rock as in world. Their club-oriented sound is in effect in places (track 3, for example), but the highlights here are their collaborations with other songwriters (2 features Kylie Swenson of the band Loquat, 10 features Bryce Kushnier aka Vitamins For You). 9 is a lovely atmospheric track that’s really quite different from both Nortec and B+F’s previous work; 10 is terrific all around, one of the best new Halloween (well, El Dia De Los Muertos, to be precise) songs I’ve heard. Good stuff.
REVIEWER: Bill Lupoletti
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2 3 9 10
Click "Read More" for a review of Debo Band's debut recording, and WRIR's world music charts for the week.
ARTIST: Debo Band
TITLE: Flamingoh (Pink Bird Dawn)
LABEL: self-released
REVIEW: This 4-song EP is the debut recording of Debo Band, a large ensemble (usually 9 to 14 pieces) from Boston dedicated to performing Ethiopian music. Thanks to the tireless work of Francis Falceto and his Ethiopiques reissue series, the rest of the world has been turned on to the brilliant music of the Haile Selassie era, greatly influenced by American jazz and soul music but with North African pentatonic scales and local rhythms, all played by musicians who built their chops in the police and army parade bands. The next step is bands outside of Ethiopia taking on the genre -- Netherlands’ The Ex have done so brilliantly, right here in Richmond Rattlemouth has about an hour’s worth of Ethio material in its catalog, and Debo Band is another in that mode. Led by Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by singer Bruck Tesfaye (who absolutely kills track 2, from the repertoire of legendary singer Mahmoud Ahmed), Debo Band romps through these four live recordings, leaving me eagerly awaiting their live performance and a first full-length recording. This is one of the best debuts of 2010, simply superb.
REVIEWER: Bill Lupoletti
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1 2 3 4
New & Recommended At WRIR
Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves, Ghana & Togo 1972-1978 | (various artists) | Analog Africa
Antibalas | Who Is This America? | Ropeadope
Apples, The | Kings | Freestyle
Arby, Khaira | Timbuktu Tarab | Clermont Music
Bostich + Fussible | Bulevar 2000 | Nacional
Budos Band, The | III | Daptone
Debo Band | Flamingoh (Pink Bird Dawn) | self-released
Desert Blues, The Rough Guide To | (various artists) | World Music Network
Gastelum, Cochemea | The Electric Sound Of Johnny Arrow | Mowo
Matorralman | Guateque Estelar | Nacional
Misiani, D.O. & Shirati Jazz | The King Of History: Classic 1970s Benga Beats From Kenya | Sterns
Orchestre National De Barbes | Rendez-vous Barbes | Le Chant Du Monde
Roots Of OK Jazz: Congo Classics 1955-1956 | (various artists) | Crammed Discs
Septeto Nacional | Sin Rumba No Hay Son | World Village
Soriano, Joan | El Duque De La Bachata | iASO
CMJ New World Top Ten
1 DEBO BAND | Flamingoh (Pink Bird Dawn) | self-released
2 BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE | Bulevar 2000 | Nacional
3 ANTIBALAS | Who Is This America? | Ropeadope
4 ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE BARBES | Rendes-Vous Barbes | Le Chant Du Monde
5 THE APPLES | Kings | Freestyle
6 MATORRALMAN | Guateque Estelar | Nacional
7 JOAN SORIANO | El Duque De La Bachata | iASO
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves (Ghana And Togo 1972-78) | Analog Africa
9 BUDOS BAND | The Budos Band III | Daptone
10 MOHAMMED ALIDU AND THE BIZUNG FAMILY | Land Of Fire | Black Eye Watching
No comments:
Post a Comment