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Sample Track 1:
"Alice in Voodooland" from West Nile Funk
Sample Track 2:
"Wadjo" from West Nile Funk
Sample Track 3:
"Ebae [Tel Aviv / Ghana]" from West Nile Funk
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West Nile Funk
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Layer 2
Electric Voodooland CD Review

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All Music Guide, Electric Voodooland CD Review >>

It's a pretty rare band that can produce music equally suited to close listening, or dancing, or blissed-out, trancey contemplation. This Afro-Israeli ensemble accomplishes just such an unlikely feat with its debut album, which brilliantly combines elements of traditional West African music, dubwise reggae, funk, and techno. Rarely does a tune fit snugly into any one identifiable musical genre — "LeLe" sounds kind of like a tribal chant with a reggae bass line; "Latest" combines slightly ethereal, multi-tracked voices with a house beat and kalimba obbligato; and "Roots Detective" takes a heavy funk groove and weds it to faint choral backing vocals and North African-sounding ululations. The individual tracks do start to blur together somewhat by the end of the album, but not in a bad way; if the mood is pretty consistent, it's a pretty consistently good mood. High points include the very pretty (and incongruously funky) "Lullaby" and the equally pretty but very reggae-fied "Agbae." Particularly recommended to fans of African Head Charge. — Rick Anderson 01/01/01 >> go there
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