Customer Reviews

NEW TONES [Vinyl]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is pure smokin' afrobeat. Just throw this disc in and party. Newtones captures the raw energy of their live shows and gives it to you in a convenient package that you can listen to whenever you want. It's my favorite cd right now.

Nomo is funky, frantic music. As such it is the perfect soundtrack for chase scenes and montages of Shaft walking down the street. Before you get offended and start to snap off an angry letter, you can't imagine what high praise that soundtrack sentence is meant to be.

The percussion wades neck deep into polyrhythms that call to mind generations of African drummers, the bass-lines rest firmly in the tradition of American funk, and everything else sticks closely to the basics of big band jazz. Nomo hit the ground already at full sprint and top quality with "Nu Tone." No build-up here, just right into things, and we hope you catch up. A deep Detroit electro-style bass line sets the pace and the horn players expend every ounce of their strength in keeping up.

The horns and other instrumentation are excellent, but it's really the rhythm section that drives New Tones. By the time the percussion and bass lines are established, it would take an assortment of miserable artists to mess up the songs presented here. Need proof? Listen to the bass line on "We Do We Go" or the absolute grime of the rhythm on "Fourth Ward." Occasionally add a funky rhythm guitar to the mix like Nomo does on "If You Want" and it becomes clear which side of the rhythm vs. melody spectrum this group butters its bread on.

Ann Arbor's Nomo creates a sound that sounds like the JB's horn section jamming with Can, with Tony Allen on loan from Fela sitting in on drums. If that sounds good to you, it's worth checking out this band. Funky polyrhythm's wound tightly together and bathed in tight, unison horn charts with snaky keyboards and guitars skittering about, creates a tasty musical stew. One can hear influences ranging from African sounds, funk, dub, to big band and free jazz incorporated into their music. NEW TONES is my first adventure with this talented group and I'll be certain to dig deeper into their catalog.

Calling this album afrobeat is a bit of a disservice. While that is one of its undeniable roots and what brought me to buy the album, as other reviewers have pointed out it has none of the pitfalls of the genre. The songs are not all interchangeable or unbearably long. A few of them are even beautiful. All of them, however, are fantastic.

And yes, it's jazzy, it's funky, and some times it even rocks. Nu Tones shows NOMO's remarkable diversity, track to track.

Add to that consistency. There's no filler here, just a fantastic album from opening notes to epic finale.

This talented group of musicians has taken Afrobeat to next level. Combining elements of Soul, Funk and Avant-garde Jazz to create the most groovin' get your booty movin' sound around. With horn passages that are catchy and memorable throughout the album. Just pop this baby in and you're good to go.

This album will never go down in the annals of history as "The Best Jazz Album" or even "The Best Afrobeat Album", it will is not groundbreaking, and few people will hear it. However this album is an absolutely rock solid album that I can listen to from beginning to end without changing a track at all. I have my favorites, as everybody does, but there are no offensively bad songs. All of the songs, including the ballad Sarvodaya, are extremely funky and grooving. It is nearly impossible to not dance when listening to this album.

My top three favorite from most to least are:
Forthward, Sarvodaya, Nu Tones

All of the soloists on this album are spot on stylistically and are quite technically superb.

Overall, this album is a great great listen.

I've been listening to jazz and world music for almost four decades, i grew up on Coltrane and Miles and all of it... This group is simply unbelievalbe. Yes, it's very painful how unknown they are. It's been many years since i've been this excited about a new group/CD on the horizon. Fantatsic stuff, just check it out!

NU TONES [Vinyl] [Single] is not what is being reviewed here, and the audio samples are not accurate.
The reviews and samples are for the full album,"New Tones",and it is a great album.
This 12" single, I'm sorry to say, is not very good.
The remix "Nu Tones (Matthew Dear Remix)" is especially boring.
You can find it on youtube, check it out yourself before you buy the vinyl.

This album is simply amazing. Nomo delivers a group of funky instrumental tracks unlike anything else. You have to hear it to believe it.

This jazzy afrobeat is easily one of the year's best albums. And unlike most afrobeat, the songs don't extend to 15 minutes so you never get bored. This is just a great listen from start to finish, whether it's in your headphones, on your computer at work or in your car. And they're also great live. Nomo is so overlooked, it's actually painful. I'm in pain right now. I have to go.