Antibalas: Antibalas
Antibalas Antibalas Daptone/Shock It’s a great sound that Antibalas pays tribute to, for they are, essentially, a Fela Kuti covers act. Oh, they write their own material, mostly. But it is a...
View ArticleTony Allen: An Autobiography of The Master Drummer of Afrobeat
Tony Allen: An Autobiography of The Master Drummer of Afrobeat Tony Allen with Michael E. Veal Duke University Press Books So, in the end, I was quite disappointed with this book – I had been pretty...
View ArticleCave: Threace
Cave Threace Drag City You know how that new Arcade Fire album was fucking absurd – particularly when it tried to be funky - well here’s the antidote. Cave’s latest, their third, as the title tells us,...
View ArticletUnE-yArDs: Nikki Nack
tUnE-yArDs Nikki Nack 4AD Merrill Garbus has been making music under the annoying moniker tUnE-yArDs for three full albums now, across a half-decade, her voice a key element – stretching out to embrace...
View ArticleIkebe Shakedown: Stone By Stone
Ikebe Shakedown Stone by Stone Ubiquity Afrobeat-informed soul-jazz instrumentals, always good stuff right? And then you think about how when people try to fill an album with them – unless it’s the...
View ArticleDrummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 7 – Tony Allen
You know when you see a really great juggler – the balls are all up in the air, the hands are simultaneously a blur and seem far too casual, you keep wondering how they’re going to make it, how will...
View ArticleAntibalas: Antibalas
Antibalas Antibalas Daptone/Shock It’s a great sound that Antibalas pays tribute to, for they are, essentially, a Fela Kuti covers act. Oh, they write their own material, mostly. But it is a...
View ArticleTony Allen: An Autobiography of The Master Drummer of Afrobeat
Tony Allen: An Autobiography of The Master Drummer of Afrobeat Tony Allen with Michael E. Veal Duke University Press Books So, in the end, I was quite disappointed with this book – I had been pretty...
View ArticleCave: Threace
Cave Threace Drag City You know how that new Arcade Fire album was fucking absurd – particularly when it tried to be funky - well here’s the antidote. Cave’s latest, their third, as the title tells us,...
View ArticletUnE-yArDs: Nikki Nack
tUnE-yArDs Nikki Nack 4AD Merrill Garbus has been making music under the annoying moniker tUnE-yArDs for three full albums now, across a half-decade, her voice a key element – stretching out to embrace...
View ArticleIkebe Shakedown: Stone By Stone
Ikebe Shakedown Stone by Stone Ubiquity Afrobeat-informed soul-jazz instrumentals, always good stuff right? And then you think about how when people try to fill an album with them – unless it’s the...
View ArticleDrummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 7 – Tony Allen
You know when you see a really great juggler – the balls are all up in the air, the hands are simultaneously a blur and seem far too casual, you keep wondering how they’re going to make it, how will...
View ArticleStubs: #194 – Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Wellington, 2010
I think maybe this was the most disappointing show I’ve been to based on expectation – shit I was looking forward to it. Antibalas as they’re now called – it used to be Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra –...
View ArticleTony Allen: A Tribute To Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers (ep)
Tony Allen A Tribute To Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers (ep) Blue Note Records Originally released as a 10” EP – two tracks per side – this tribute to Art Blakey by Tony Allen is full of magic;...
View ArticleAntibalas: Where The Gods Are In Peace
Antibalas Where The Gods Are In Peace Daptone The first new Antibalas album in five years is a rebuild – in many ways. The long-running American tribute to Afrobeat orchestra has shed several key...
View ArticleAngelique Kidjo: Remain In Light
Angelique Kidjo Remain in Light KRAVENWORKS Angelique Kidjo is African Music Royalty – even if she’s suffered some claims of (somehow) not being “Authentic”. Hers is a fine body of work, moving and...
View ArticleEbo Taylor: Yen Ara
Ebo Taylor Yen Ara Mr. Bongo Ebo Taylor, “Mr Highlife” – the Ghanian bandleader, composer, guitarist and singer now in his 80s – might have just made the best album of his career; certainly a...
View ArticleSweetman Podcast # 209: Lucien Johnson
Welcome to episode 209 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys . Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple)...
View ArticleEbo Taylor: Palaver
Ebo Taylor Palaver BBE Music Ebo Taylor – living legend of African highlife music is still in rude health at 83 – at least as far as 2018’s Yen Ara let us know; a career highlight. And now we have...
View ArticleR.I.P. Tony Allen
Reports are coming in that Tony Allen has died. He was just shy of his 80th birthday and had remained very active in music across the last decade; in fact he was super prolific – with a diverse range...
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