Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Contonou –
‘Vol 3 - The Skeletal Essences Of Afro Funk’ (Analog Africa)
CD/LP
29 April 2013
As the title suggests, this is the
third volume of tracks to be released by Analog Africa since 2008 when founder,
Samy Ben Redjeb, stumbled across around 500 Poly-Rythmo tracks on a trip to
Benin three years earlier. Benin is
situated on the West African coats and is bordered by Niger, Nigeria, Togo and
Burkina Faso, and has a reputation for having a lively and original musical
background comprising of influences from native folk, soul and rumba mixed with
American rock and French cabaret! Quite
a combination and one that you would expect to be destined for obscurity, or,
sound fantastic. Fortunately, it’s the
later.
Recorded between 1969 and 1983, the
sound quality is nothing short of remarkable bearing in mind that many were
recorded on reel-to-reel or even at night-time, and, would be hard to replicate
even with todays state-of-the-art equipment.
From the opening ‘Ne Rien Voir, Dire, Entendre’, the rhythm is instant
and immediately instils reaction in your body, your feet will tap and your hips
may even sway. With a slightly
psychedelic keyboard and a funky guitar sound, this is great stuff.
There are fourteen tracks included
here, every one as good as the last. The
James Brown styled ‘Houton Kan Do Go Me’ has a brilliant ‘funky drummer’ beat
and accompanying guitar. It even has a
few occasional JB grunts. ‘A O O Ida’
even throws in a few dubs at the beginning before breaking into a pure Voodoo
Funk groove.
At almost seven and a half minutes
‘Ecoutes Ma Melodie’ has some great horn sections again over a slightly Doors
sounding keyboard, and is another toe tapper.
Judging by the sound of ‘Ai Gabani’ it’s probably one of the oldest
tracks on here. It’s clearly a mono
recording and slightly crude sounding in parts, but the essence of Poly-Rythmo
is definitely there.
This is a wonderful collection of
songs that have are issued here for the first time outside of Africa. Thoroughly entertaining and an exciting
prospect as to what more may come from the hoards of vinyl and tapes recovered
by Redjeb.
8/10
Published on Louder Than War 30/04/13 - http://louderthanwar.com/orchestre-poly-rythmo-de-contonou-vol-3-the-skeletal-essences-of-afro-funk-album-review/
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