ISSA BAGAYOGO

TASSOUMAKAN

Six Degrees/US/CD

EX-CENTRIC SOUND SYSTEM

WEST NILE FUNK

Indieland/US/CD

Two different approaches to African electronica, two brilliant results.  N’goni player Issa Bagayogo plugs spacious, minimal beats into his virtuoso acoustic effort, centering around unique, nonchalant vocals.  Brooklyn-based bassist Yossi Fine (Ex-Centric Sound System) comes from the reverse, laying down heavy grooves joined by patches of calabash and balafone in a Western twist on Carnaval rhythms.  Tassoumakan (“Voice of Fire”) takes Malian blues into the 21^st century digitalism; West Nile Funk extends Ghana’s traditional repertoire into American clubs and Jamaican dancehalls.  The sound system remains blaring for both as African folk forges ahead.