M&G reviewers have be at it again. Here are the latest CD choices
Alborosie: Escape from Babylon to the Kingdom of Zion (VP Records)
Alborosie is reggae’s answer to the Eminem phenomenon (white boys excelling at black cultural pursuits). Born Alberto D’Ascola in Italy, the Sicilian has a new CD, Escape from Babylon to the Kingdom of Zion. On the first track, Kingston, Alborosie sings in a chanting style about his adopted “rude boy town”, its grit and grime.
In Steppin Out he begins the song by chanting, “Old School is the real school, there’s no other school”; rather appropriate as the song is a remake of an old Steel Pulse tune.
In Kingdom of Zion Alborosie free-flows over an echoey dub “riddim” that is made alive by horns. Irusalem is a slower, more meditative song, allowing you to take in every syllable. On the evidence of this album it’s difficult to believe the 33-year-old Alborosie started listening to reggae music only in the early 1990s. — Percy Zvomuya
Mulatu Astake: Mulatu Steps Ahead (Kurse Music)
A few weeks ago a Jo’burg audience was treated to what I am told was a mesmerising evening of Ethiopian jazz from the maestro Mulatu Astatke as part of the Arts Alive Festival. Astatke’s popularity has been rising since the acclaimed Ethiopiques reissue series and the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers brought him into the international spotlight.
Astatke’s relationship with Strut Records began with its Inspiration Information series, in which musicians were teamed up in studio with one of their heroes. The aim was to create an album together.
The subsequent release by Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, Inspiration Information 3, was so popular the label decided to release a new studio album by Astatke, Mulatu Steps Ahead. Working with Boston’s Either/Orchestra, members of the Heliocentrics and a host of Ethiopian musicians, Astatke has crafted a fine addition to his discography.
Mulatu’s Mood has a great West African highlife feel to it, incorporating the kora into the mix and featuring some superb work on trumpet by Byron Wallen. Assosa is an adaptation of traditional northwestern Ethiopian music and I Faram Gami I Faram is a reworking of one of his older compositions. Ethio Blues and Green Africa are other highlights worth mentioning. Lloyd Gedye
Villagers: Becoming a Jackal (Just Music)
Growing up in Dun Laoghaire, a southeast seaside Dublin suburb, Conor J O’Brien wrote his first song at the age of 12. Now in his 20s, he has formed the band Villagers to showcase his songs, which have drawn comparisons with the work of Bright Eyes and Robert Wyatt. His debut album, Becoming a Jackal, offers 11 songs and was nominated for the 2010 Mercury prize, an annual music award for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland, ultimately won by electro-indie band The XX. “A large part of it is concerned with growing up; gaining and losing friends.
These things change a person and I suppose this is my way of making sure I don’t become a bitter old mess,” says O’Brien about his debut album. The album’s lead single and title track is a fantastic little pop song that eases itself into your head, until you can’t let it go. Home is reminiscent of Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff, and The Pact (I’ll Be Your Fever) has a Roy Orbisonesque quality. But the album’s highlight has to be Pieces, a gorgeous little soul song that features O’Brien howling for all he is worth. — LG
Keke Wyatt: Who Knew (Sheer Sound)
Keke Wyatt sings the kind of R&B the radio used to play in the late 1980s to early 1990s that you would record and play when your heart was broken or happy, but never in between. Riddled with slow jams and mid-tempo beats, Wyatt’s fourth album plays it too safe and does little to grab you in this age of auto-tune.
Though I’m not a fan of robot-sounding vocals, I would have preferred to hear Wyatt experiment a little. After releasing her certified gold debut album in 2001, Wyatt stabbed her husband and manager in a domestic dispute. Though she was acquitted of second-degree assault in 2002, Wyatt is still widely remembered for that episode. Sadly, even after all that time, the stabbing stands out more than the album. — Karabo Keepile