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CD Review
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Nashville City Paper, CD Review >>
Zimbabwean vocalist Oliver Mtukudzi’s Tsimba itsoka (Heads Up) offers passionate, fiercely sung tunes addressing such issues as pedophilia (“Ungade’ We”), the price of fame (“Mbiri Hurimbo”), and the psychological toil of hatred (“Hapana kuti Mbijana”), squalor (“Kuipdeza”) and self-deception (“Njuga”). Floating over arrangements featuring electric and acoustic guitars augmented by electric keyboards and bass, plus congas supplying one rhythm and standard drums another, Mtukudzi’s strong, firm voice and confident delivery keep things from ever getting too hectic. In fact the music is sometimes almost too relaxed, a surprise given that past Mtukudzi releases have often been torrid affairs. This one’s not so much passive as settled and reflective, with Mtukudzi ensuring that the messages in his music aren’t overwhelmed by percussive might, even on a groove-centered work like “Nzunguimwe.”
By Ron Wynn
08/15/07 >> go there
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