Rhythm & Booze An online music webzine created by music lovers for music lovers.

2 February, 2012

Suen Kuti & Egypt 80-Rise

Filed under: afro-beat,funk,Recorded Reviews,reggae,world music — Tags: rise, suen kuti & egypt 80 — willmunn @ 19:59

Around Christmas, here at Rhythm & Booze CDs seem to fall through the floorboards only to be discovered a month or so after the silly season is done and dusted.

One such single that got a little neglected under the heavy workload (of the day job) was the stunning single, Rise by one of current kings (and son of the legendary Fela Kuti) of Afro-beat Suen Kuti and his band Egypt 80, having rediscovered the single I thought I ought to write a few words in retrospective appraisal.

For those of you who’ve never heard the gloriously funky sounds of Suen Kuti & Egypt this serves as a stunning introduction to the man and the band, imagine if you will, infectious African percussion colliding with political (Marley like) near-reggae, funky horns and a biting yet irristibly contagious vocal that’ll have you on your feet dancing in defiance whilst shaking your fist in unsion to the tight grooves.

Rise is backed by a couple of remixes including an intoxicating remake by US DJ and Rapper Swizz Beatz, who strips the track down to glitchy beats and vocals, enhancing the impact of the delicious backing vocal harmonies further.

If you need further encouragement or convincing to checkout Suen Kuti & Egypt 80, checkout the band’s brilliant and exhilirating performance on last years Later With Jools Holland show to capture the band in full flow or trust me and take a punt on one of the fnkiest and stirring bands on the planet.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

www.myspace.com/seunkuti

 

4 December, 2011

Various Artists-London Songs To Define The City

Filed under: compilation,folk,indie,pop,R&B / Soul,Recorded Reviews,reggae,rock — Tags: london, Time Out — willmunn @ 17:03

Time Out Magazine have come together with Universal Music to create a compilation that helps define the essence of our fine capitol, the CD comes with a handy 24 page musical history map pointing out all of the important historical sites that have helped create the musical world of London, helping to explain why it is still the most vibrant and important city here in the UK.

The twenty track affair kicks off with the effervescent Roxy Music with Do The Strands, a brilliant, attention grabbing opening salvo that’ll have you singing along and grooving to those funky horns before the end of the tracks duration. From there Time Out offer up a number of stone cold classics from The Kinks masterpiece, Waterloo Sunset to sax friendly Baker Street onto the evergreen summer anthem Itchycoo Park via Ralph McTell’s classic folk ode Streets Of London and Bowie’s early oddity The London Boys.

Time Out keep the mix fresh and interesting to modern music fans by throwing in a laidback slice of jazzy pop with London Skies by Jamie Cullum, nu-soul classic Warwick Avenue by Duffy and a perhaps more off the beaten track pick from Pulp in the shape of Bar Italia (Common People would haveot sure these  perhaps been more obvious).

And then just for good measure a few more obscure yet no less welcoming picks are lobbed into the varied yet intriguing mix, Piccadilly by Squeeze, the late great folk songstress Kirsty MacColl with Soho Square, Bert Jansch & John Renbourn with Soho and Caetano Veloso with London, London.

Now I’m not a hundred percent convinced that the tracks that have been picked really define London, in fact you’d probably need a massive box set to help define the city, however this is a wonderfully varied and at times eclectic attempt and it’s very hard to criticise a compilation that features both Chelsea Girls by Simple Minds and A Rainy Night In Soho by The Pogues.

London, Songs To Define A City is one of those collections that really does have something for everyone, it’s varied, fun and contains genuine sing-a-long classics, if you like music you’ll love London.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 8

 

12 January, 2011

Easy Star All-Stars-Dubber Side Of The Moon

Filed under: dance,reggae — Tags: dub, dubstep, Easy Star All Stars — willmunn @ 18:16

A little known fact about me, is that back years before I became a reviewer, even before I embraced rock n roll, I had a major flirtation with reggae, in fact when I first started discovering music for myself it was through the long forgotten Sunshine Show with the Man Ezeke on Radio One. I went through a year or two devouring anything and everything with a reggae beat and unbeknown to me I also embraced the sound of dub through the likes of Lee Scratch Perry among others. 

A couple of years ago I first encountered the live spectacle of the Easy Star All-Stars and they helped re-ignite that long lost love, I found myself lapping up their clever reinventions of the back catalogues of Radiohead, The Beatles and Pink Floyd, in fact after witnessing their set I sought out each of albums and spent many an hour consuming their wonderful beats and sounds. So you can imagine my excitement when last year Dubber Side Of the Moon dropped through my letterbox.
Dubber Side Of The Moon takes The Easy Star All-Stars debut album, the critically acclaimed Dub Side of The Moon (originally released in 2003) and hands over the reins and remix duties to the biggest names in dub to tinker and redevelop the already compelling Floyd remakes. 
I’m not really well versed in dub or dubstep for that matter so it’s a little difficult for me to put into words what this album is like but if you’ve heard the original Dub Side Of The Moon imagine a cut and paste job with deeper throbbing bass, imagine a reggae Pink Floyd heading for the sweatiest dance club floors in the world and you’re in the right direction of this album. 
The album has a number of different variations of dub, from the wonderful horn assisted opener of Speak To Me/Breathe (In The Air) by Dubmatix to Dreadzone’s impressive mix of Us And Them andt The Alchemist’s bass heavy mix of Money via the odd slightly off kilter mix of Any Colour You Like by Kalbata, a mix that takes in a combination of jazz, techno and dub. Elsewhere The Mad Professor delivers a wonderfully wobbly take on Money, whilst J Viewz adds a little bit of drum and bass to a rhodes piano to create a delightfully inventive take of On The Run.
If you liked the original of Dub Side Of The Moon or perhaps want to hear a new take on Floyd’s classic Dark Side you should find a great deal to enjoy on Dubber, personally I’ve been listening to it non-stop since October and I’m still enjoying these engaging mixes and tweaks.
Rhythm & Booze Rating 9

« Newer Posts

Powered by WordPress