Customer Reviews

Liberation Afrobeat V.1

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cd is more than just wonderful retro-funk- it's an album brimming with confidence. There is little doubt that Antibalas has major talent, and their brand of Feli Kuti-esque soul/funk mixed with ska and reggae influences is perfect to groove to. There really is not much to say about this lp that the music can't explain for itself, so give this lp a good listen or 2, fall in love with its tight, funky grooves, and prepare to be amazed.

Recommended to anyone who digs Fela or Femi Kuti's brand of deep dish African funk pie. A wonderful listen.

Afrobeat is TOTALLY underrepresented in the mainstream airwaves, and that's a crying shame. I guess with very little lyrics to their music, an MTV appearance is out of the question; but that's MTV's loss. Don't miss out Antibalas.

I saw them live at the Temple Bar in LA and they blew me away. The orchestration of their big band is sublime with all the aggressiveness one would expect from those following in the footsteps of Fela Kuti. They groove and swing with incredible passion and intensity.

The song World War IV sums up the political stance of the group and you can't deny it.

This 14 piece ensemble hails from 'Brooklyn, NY* United Police States of America' - according to the back cover. The band includes members of Soul Providers and Daktaris Allstars, both of whom used to be great Desco acts. The former specialized in funk/soul as played back in '69/'70: fluent bass lines, choppy/chicken guitars, pulsating drums topped with screaming organ work. The latter focused on bringing back the Ransom days, when Fela Kuti was busy cranking out 15 minute long afrobeat tunes in Nigeria. With this album you get the best of both worlds. On the Daktaris recording I missed the organ/keyboard playing, but the horns were hard hitting. So they kept the horns and added keyboards for some enhanced groovism. The drums are funky, but also a lot more. They play a complex rythm and at the same time their repitativity draws you in until slowly you hear the tune unfold. Kind of hard to describe but there is reason why these songs are 6-8 minutes long.

Martin Antibalas plays the baritone sax and conducts the music. With song titles like 'Dirt and blood' and 'Uprising' they continue in the tradition of Fela Kuti who added a political message to his funky music.

This is funky world music people! Recommended to anyone who likes Fela Kuti's earlier work or any band on the Desco label.

This is a quality album. All the songs are top-notch. The recording quality is so-so on the album in general... some of the mixes sounds flat and are less polished than Antibalas' other albums but I have some great speakers so most people probably won't notice it.

I'd definitely recommend this album to anyone who likes afrobeat or Antibalas' music. I'd also recommend "ASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project"... there's a great uptempo live version of "Uprising" by Antibalas on it, as well as some other brilliant afrobeat acts like Tony Allen, Akoya, and Dele Sosimi. You can check it out at modiba.net

These guys not only advance Fela's legacy creatively, they blow up the party. Try it, guaranteed you'll have some very happy feet.

As described on the cd-cover, "Antibalas is a diverse cooperative of music makers in Brooklyn, dedicated to making original revolutionary afrobeat music inspired by the chief priest Fela Anikulapo-Kuti as well as other visionary artists."
Some of their songs are also published on the "Africafunk"-cds and other afrobeat-samplers.
How to define their style? Of course, sometimes they sound like Fela Kuti, a bit less Afro and a bit more Jazz. The 4 horns varying from "bigband-like" to deepest funk. 5 Congaplayers & Drummers will make you dancing & shaking. Guitars are super-funky, the organ & the bassline will blow your mind away.
Tracks 5-8 recorded live at the Jazz Café, London.
If you like JB, Matata, Mandrill, Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango, Peter King etc, you have to buy this funky, groovy masterpiece!!! If you wanna buy only one CD in 2003, go an buy this one! I'm just too happy I did so!

excelent mixer of textures sounds and influencies that make grat band, or realy, a most dramaticla expresion of the american contemporary folk music....

Listen up all you revolutionaries, are you into political outrage, protest, and civil unrest? This is the album for you. This is some heavy stuff. Not heavy like with thundering guitar riffs and sneering vocals, this is afro-beat, this is jazz, this is hardcore! Mainly instrumental, the horn beats are solid, the bass lines thump, the beat is tribe like jungle. Influences from Parliament & James Brown can be heard as well. This symbol of power should really be categorized with the likes of other revolutionaries such as MC5, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, the Minutemen, Bob Dylan, I could go on for hours.

Excellent CD, but wait until you hear them live...

I saw these guys here in Philly (Philadelphia PA) at The North Star Bar and bought bought their CD right after the show.
If your into acid jazz or straight funk your going to like this alot.
This band has that new age, old school funk, jazz vibe.
Check them out.