Visiting the Dark Side...A Review of Brownout presents Brown Sabbath (Ubiquity Records)

(photo by focalchrome)

 This is the highly publicized Black Sabbath tribute from members of Brownout and Grupo Fantasma. I have seen both of those bands several times and have been continually amazed by their tight live shows with swingin' horns and rippin' grooves. Intrigued further, I decided to gain access into their world and tried to find out what makes them so sick. 

I was told to meet them in some late night Texas heat (I took a left at the longhorn, vultures circling). When I arrived on the scene there was a wicked feeling that came over me. The entire area was reeking of witches' herbs and I was told to sit tight and wait for a Brownout rep. I could see the flickering night sky and lots of smoke from fires burning just yonder. Guitarist Beto Martinez met me and he seemed different than usual. I had never noticed his fangs before! I assured him that I was ready for whatever initiation awaited me. He led me into the Brownout camp and I felt the chills as we walked past a boiling pit of something. Beto explained that they were cooking up a concoction of goat blood, wax and the boiled remains of record industry do-wrongers. "That splatter vinyl Brown Sabbath 10" you have? It is made from this stuff." Wow. I took warning.

 As we passed a line-up of virgins awaiting initiation from bassist Goyo, I could make out some voodoo rhythms. As we got nearer, I could see the trance that percussionists Sweet Lou and John Speice were in, playing batás, congas and drumkit to awake the evil spirits. Speice in particular was scary with his burning eyes and his beard totally on fire. These dudes looked like serious mad men! And I spotted a black-cloaked figure over on the side. On closer inspection it was none other than Adrian Quesada, mixing the Brown Sabbath music by torchlight! This whole scene was giving me the heebie-jeebies. Trumpeter Gil told me, "This is how we get ourselves ready for all the shows we do. We have to sacrifice animals and sometimes people too so that we can get the vibe right. In fact, just last night we nearly sacrificed our trombonist Speedy until he stepped forward and blew a tremendous solo. It was that action only that allowed himself to be saved from slaughter." I heard evil laughs all around. As the band moved toward me I got the feeling that I should escape. I took off running, trying to get off this evil ranch. I sped past zombified cattle and petrified cacti. The only time I even dared to look back I saw Beto with a bat head hanging in his mouth and vowed from that day on I would never, ever inquire about a band's pre-gig rituals ever again. 

And the album? Fucking great, a sonic dream come true. If you are a child of heavy music like I am then you may find excitement in Sabbath tunes played with batá and funk horns. "Iron Man" in particular is given epic treatment here. "Hand of Doom" thrills like a good horror flick, pushing you into madness. "Planet Caravan" is a smoky trip. The best part about this awesome concept is that it remains very Sabbathy, not some gimmicky funk bullshit trying to force someone else's music into what it is not. The guitars are still heavy (Beto said he started playing guitar because he wanted to be in a metal band: this is the closest he's come.) This is very clearly a work of appreciation, not novelty. And perhaps making it lifestyle might be the ticket to better understanding the black (or brown) arts. And why is there not vocals on every song? Probably because both singers got their organs ripped out and eaten backstage on the last tour. I am glad I got to see this monster project before the true darkness prevails on all of us. The LP, the 10" and the live show are all evil. Do it. Do it. Do it...

Brownout website here
Ubiquity Records here

Author: Andujar

Cyclic Defrost

Here's a cool zine out of Australia that reviewed our compilation, "Afrobeat Revival", released in March on the World Music Network label, as part of the "Rough Guides" series.

I recommend checking out the zine here. This review is dated May 1, 2009 and is from issue #22.

From the zine:

This collection demonstrates that Nigerian icon Fela Kuti’s legacy is alive and well, the music he developed, an intensely political mixture of funk, hi life and African percussion with these trance inducing elongated instrumental parts, and call and response vocals still resonates in these difficult political times. Kuti’s drummer Tony Allen starts proceedings with his cheeky Crazy Afrobeat, taking a jazz funk angle that owes as much to Kuti as Herbie Hancock, given further weight due to the sleazy little instructions he murmurs occasionally as if Afrobeat is a hot new dance the kids will love. Move over Lambada, do “the Afrobreat,” instructs Allen. It’s a classic. Antibalas have been a long standing representative of the New York Afrobeat scene and their music is deep and funky with thick low horns and urgent tinkering percussion. Their 10 minute plus Government Magic whilst overtly owing much to Fela is also one of the highlights of this collection. Canadians Mr Something Something team up with Nigerian Afrobeat poet Ikwunga with one of the cleverest and overtly political songs on the album, whilst Massachusetts instrumental band The Superpowers highlight the funk aspects of early 70’s Fela, and it’s pretty food for white-boys. Almost without exception every track on this compilation is gold, though that’s what you get when you’re influenced by a musical deity. So special mention should go to the son of god, Seun Kuti who’s album Many Things is the most inspiring music I’ve heard this year, an angry slab of urgent Afrobeat that feels as raw and vital as any of his fathers work. Think Africa from said album, with Fela’s legendary backing band Egypt 80 attempts to highlight some of the social inequalities Africa is currently and possibly has always experienced. It’s intelligent aggressive and will no doubt make you go out and track down the album. Whilst the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree for Seun, Afrobeat has evolved and moved in new and curious directions and these artists are at the forefront and it’s an exciting time. This collection also comes with a complete bonus cd by the New York based Kokolo who integrated latin, reggae, Brazilian and dub influences into their unique take on Afrobeat.

author of the review: Bob Baker Fish

contact the zine: info@cyclicdefrost.com

Thanks to the folks at the fine publication, Cylclic Defrost!

Review: "Don't Play Us Cheap" soundtrack

Author: Becky Coleman



Written, composed and produced by Melvin Van Peebles; performed by original Broadway cast, including Esther Rolle of “Good Times” fame and former Ikette Joshie Jo Armstead.

An outrageous musical designed to pop off the party poopers, “Don’t Play Us Cheap” sends me with its glorious and grotesque blend of absurdity and earthiness, certainty and turmoil, sacred and profane.

Packed with laughs, straight talk and odd plot twists, the story is brought to life by its soundtrack, a singular medley of jazz, vaudeville, work songs, gospel, r&b, blues, showtunes and soul that can be enjoyed on its own but will only be enhanced by watching the movie. The songs are punctuated liberally with the performers calling and responding to each other — whooping up that loose, late-night party feeling.

The plot: Friends gather in a Harlem apartment, many of them transplants from the rural South, for a party on a Saturday night, and two devils (one destined for the bottom of your shoe) scheme to ruin their fun, but the good people are not having it because “when black folks throw a party, they don't play.” In an especially satisfying moment, a fiend tries to break the host’s records, but the platters, they just won’t shatter.

Like the shindig it portrays, the production offers escape, sweet and fleeting, from hard times. Has anyone tried to exploit your hospitality or spoil your hard-to-come-by good times? This story has a message for those fart-whippers: Good fun is foolproof, and love has the potential to win over haters. Have you ever been one of the party poopers yourself? Maybe you were confused, looking for love.

It’s not all sweetness. The celebration of joy is tangled up with the cacophony of moral contradiction that is the stuff of real life ... the pain that sharpens the pleasure ... the harshness that drives us to seek asylum in creativity and whimsy at best, and — at worst — hallucination, illusion, and delusion. However, the story masterfully navigates reality and fantasy with a disarming sense of humor.

“WELL, IF THE LORD CAN’T TAKE A LITTLE JOKE, HEAVEN’S NOT SUCH A WONDERFUL PLACE, ANYHOW.”
— Miss Maybell (Esther Rolle), the party’s host

Auteur Melvin Van Peebles wrote this multimedia “comedy musical,” as a book, then as a Broadway stage production, then he rounded up the cast for a movie (shot in dazzling, candy color and full of cinematic flourishes, many of which Spike Lee has copped). The 1973 movie is available on DVD now, and the 1972 soundtrack — if you cannot track down the original double-record Stax release — is paired on a CD set with Mr. Van Peebles’ visionary “Sweet Sweet Back’s Badasssss Song” score.

Review: Novalima "Coba Coba"

Author: Pablo Yglesias
Contact: djbongohead@comcast.net



Cumbancha is an innovative world music label that treats each release as high art, featuring cutting edge artists making interesting music that combines roots with modern sensibilities, presented in quality packaging, with full liner notes (often bi-lingual), captivating visuals, and great sound quality. Novalima’s “Coba Coba”, their latest release, is a sexy, muscular percussion-driven romp that mixes classic Afro-Peruvian music and themes with modern dancefloor touches and elements of other African Diaspora music, like Cuban, reggae, cumbia, salsa, hip-hop, DJ culture, house, and dub. The cover art,
designed by Tim O’Malley, is a really great mix of imagery – the musician is sitting atop the traditional Afro-Peruvian ‘cajón’ or box (a percussion instrument with origins in Cuba, and used by modern flamenco artists as well) – but instead of the traditional resonating hole, the cajon sports a boomin' sound system speaker, a signifier for DJ/hip-hop/Jamaican/dance culture. The percussionist's hand
position almost makes him look like a DJ at the turntables. This image is simple, subtle, and deep. It’s the perfect metaphor for this album’s unique fusion of flavors, sort of an ancient/future sound clash if you will. — DJ Bongohead

Thanks Pablo, aka DJ Bongohead for the review. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Novalima in the future.
Check the Bongohead blog here...highly recommended!
And to hear samples from the album, check Novalima's Myspace page here.

Reviews: Tony Allen, Quantic Soul Orchestra

here's a coupla reviews i wrote awhile back that were intended for "The Valley Advocate" but published here instead...

Tony AllenAfro Disco Beat (Vampisoul 2007)
Nigerian-born afro-jazz pioneer Tony Allen is a drummer, composer, bandleader, and, along with Fela Kuti (for whom he was musical director for most of the 1970s), the co-creator of that hypnotic and militant groove we call afrobeat. After hooking up with Fela and associates, as well as King Sunny Ade among others, Allen made a major comeback late in the 90s with the incredible dub-drenched Black Voices album on Comet Records, before going on to work with many progressive projects to forward music into the 21st Century. Tony currently beats the drums with British supergroup The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. But here with Afro Disco Beat we have the first four albums Tony recorded under his own leadership, the first of which featured Fela’s Afrika ‘70 band (Fela produced and played on these sides). Originally released in Nigeria, the first three records contained a song per side that allowed a lot of space for Tony’s drum breakdowns. Fela played some mean sax and keys on these tunes, while Candido Obajimi sings about injustice in Lagos. The fourth album (No Discrimination) is independent from Fela yet returns Candido and baritone sax man Lekan Animashaun. It is also my favorite of the bunch, with shorter songs (a whopping four cuts on this album!), funky four-limbed skin-bashing, and a slightly less militant feel. “Road Safety,” with some heavy bari blowing, teaches a tale not just of notoriously maniacal Lagos car traffic but also of life’s journeys everywhere in the world. These remastered albums are given the finest package I’ve seen to date from Spain’s Vampisoul label, with a gorgeous retro sleeve and a hefty booklet that brings to light many unheard stories. It would be hard to imagine afrobeat, afro-house, broken beat, and increasingly more contemporary hip-hop and jazz without Tony Allen’s original drum patterns. This is as good a place as any to tune yourself in to a major influence on contemporary groove music.





Check www.vampisoul.com or myspace.com/vampisoul for all Vampisoul products.



Quantic Soul OrchestraTropidelico (TruThoughts 2007)
Will “Quantic” Holland, while still in his mid 20’s, is already one of the great producers of funk music. The UK-born multi-instrumentalist is currently based in Cali, Colombia so an increasing Latin feel to his music is understandable. Jet-setting from UK to Cali, USA to Turkey, Ethiopia to Puerto Rico, Ghana to Panama, it’s no surprise to hear such a natural diversity in his work: from the opening Eastern-influenced title cut featuring legendary Peruvian pianist Alfedo Linares and England’s champion funky drummer Malcom Catto, to the tricky rap/descarga * throwdown by one of NYC’s greatest MCs, J-Live, on “She Said What?”. The supremely groovy “Lead Us To The End” teams Catto and Noelle Scaggs’ soul vocals with Holland’s JB’s style guitar and a nice marimba solo. The cumbia of “Los Olvidados” features gorgeous sax/flute/trumpet from veteran salsa bandleader Roberto Roena’s sidemen. The album also gives us thub-piano-driven instrumental soul, nu-blues featuring a smooth Panamanian vocalist singing in English and hard and dusty analog r&b. Perhaps the album’s tastiest cut is “Melodious Wayfarer” in which Linares nails it with a killer montuno * groove and feel-good vibes all around. And with album design by Western Mass. homeboy DJ Bongohead, you can’t go wrong on this spirited jam. Quantic turns up golden yet again.
Check www.tru-thoughts.co.uk for all Truthoughts products or purchase from www.dustygroove.com or www.etchshop.co.uk.
* a descarga, literally a ‘discharge’ (as in of electricity), is a term that is loosely defined as a Latin ‘jam session’ where the instruments take solos; a montuno is a section in Latin music much like a repetitive ‘vamp’ or rhythmic figure, played by the piano.


 Andujar is a longtime WMUA (91.1 F.M.) deejay where he hosts the show "Clandestino" every Monday, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. He appreciates funk, jazz, salsa and roots reggae, as well as baseball, fine beer, and the Latin American move towards socialism. He contributes to the diversity of opinion in the streets of Greenfield, MA.