Customer Reviews

Africanesque

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As introductions go, you could do far worse. The tracks by Ali Farka Toure and, especially, Henri Dikongue are outstanding. The Jestofunk track is some great drumming! There are only two tracks that I don't care too much for, which is far better than most CDs that I buy.

This is a huge improvement on Momo's previous compilations, which suffered from occasionally straying into anonymous muzak-lite territory. "Africanesque" offers a good selection of roots music from several different African countries, as well as a decent sampling of quality European fusion. The unifying focus is contemporary feelgood music, and the various styles employed avoid monotony. A good purchase as a starter in "African music" (that huge, unclassifiable category) for your next party, but it works just as well for the solo listener. Forget Deep Forest and the recent 1 Giant Leap: they're exercises in "world music" that reduce everything to a uniform sludge; "Africanesque" simply allows music of discrete categories to play off and complement each other.

This is a huge improvement on Momo's previous compilations, which suffered from occasionally straying into anonymous muzak-lite territory. "Africanesque" offers a good selection of roots music from several different African countries, as well as a decent sampling of quality European fusion. The unifying focus is contemporary feelgood music, and the various styles employed avoid monotony. A good purchase as a starter in "African music" (that huge, unclassifiable category) for your next party, but it works just as well for the solo listener. Forget Deep Forest and the recent 1 Giant Leap: they're exercises in "world music" that reduce everything to a uniform sludge; "Africanesque" simply allows music of discrete categories to play off and complement each other.