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Talkatif, The Rolling Stone Review
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Rolling Stone, Talkatif, The Rolling Stone Review >>
RS Rating: * * *
Re-creating the gargantuan sonic universe of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the late Nigerian political activist and inventor of Afrobeat, is no easy task. Antibalas' second effort, however, showcases a keen understanding of Fela and his idiosyncratic world -- a beautiful utopia of liberal ideals and orgiastic funk cookouts that fueled body and soul in equal measure. A pity that this Brooklyn collective limits its compositions to relatively brief lengths; it's no coincidence that Fela's seminal sessions took twenty to thirty minutes to deliver their full impact. The crescendos were truly ecstatic that way, the choppy rhythms and call-and-response brass riffs assuming a hypnotic kind of power that has no parallel in popular music.
Think of Antibalas as a gentle, more palatable version of Afrobeat: not as potent as the real thing but authentic enough to make Fela smile, wherever he is.
ERNESTO LECHNER 04/25/02 >> go there
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