african groove - various (Putumayo) Coming Soon

The influence of Africa on contemporary clubland and electronica is total. The basic premise of vocals, instruments, bass-lines over rhythms and even elementary call and response is unthinkable without the input of black music. It's inevitable that a breed of young African singers should seek the services of the modern DJ and sound mixer to make their music more palatable for young people whose sensibility has been moulded by fashion.

The fact that most contemporary African performers limit the use of such technologies is more due to the desire to be an integral part of the process of creating rhythm rather than that of adulterating their music with stripped down snippets of the real thing. Nothing is cast in stone of course and the opening track of African Groove (Putumayo) is a superb marriage of sympathetic electronics and spacious Malian desert blues, Saye Mogo Bana lifted off Issa Bagayogo's release Timbuktu which I reviewed last year.

The album runs a gamut of countries presenting examples of varied African styles bolstered with more familiar beatbox figures. Taken individually there is some interesting stuff here like Ivory Coast diva Madeka's Mokote, infectious pop from the young lady who composed Da Le Yalleo which opens Carlos Santana's smash hit Supernatural album or Senegalese hip-hop from Positive Black Soul.

Italian guitarist/ deconstructionist The Pleb does some pretty deft cutting and pasting of the Toure Kunda a-capella classic Amadou Tilo, but by the time of the fade to track 12, South African trumpeter Ndumiso's Mofolo fat-beated Mofolo Hall, a feeling of déjà vu had already firmly entrenched itself. I have the utmost respect for Putumayo. Their releases are almost invariably excellent with an open multi-facetted democratic philosophy that targets great music for children, tropical dancers, world-beat junkies, musicians…and anyone with a sense of aesthetics.

They have a unique talent for uncovering varied music that is both accessible fun and creatively original. While I wouldn't recommend African Groove to the experienced world-beat listener it could certainly be a mind-opener for your nephew's behatted, beNiked friends at their next rave-up.July 2003