Ok-Oyot System

Extra Golden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thrill Jockey
• ASIN: B000F3AJFS
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,642 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

`Extra Golden is an international collaboration between members of two bands: Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari of the Nairobi, Kenya based benga band Orchestra Extra Solar Africa, and Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff of the Washington D.C. based rock bands Weird War and Golden. The musicians met as a result of Ian's doctoral research on Kenyan music. Since 2000, Otieno had been assisting Ian in documenting benga, a guitar-heavy kind of dance music (similar to Congolese rumba) that ha been popular in Kenya since the 1960s. Otieno comes from Gwasi district in western Kenya. His rural home is in the middle of an area that has been a hotbed of musical activity for the specific type of benga played by the Luo people, a community based around the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya's Nyanza Province.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great sound!!, May 29, 2009

By 

Juan Carlos R. Laguardia "Stat Grad Student" (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ok-Oyot System (Audio CD)

I like this band. I like even more this album. This is the last album that features all the original band members, and they honor their fallen percussionist quite nicely with this. I recommend to people looking for new music.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A successful fusion of Kenyan Benga and classic rock, July 15, 2009

By 

Nobody important - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ok-Oyot System (Audio CD)

I have eclectic tastes, and at a conceptual level, I am interested any time I hear about a musician or group trying to fuse disparate musical styles. Unfortunately, when most people try to fuse American styles with music from other cultures, more often than not, the results are just kitsch. There is nothing kitsch about this strong album blending the sounds of Kenyan Benga music and classic rock. Some tracks are closer to Benga, and some are closer to classic rock, but they all blend styles. In fact, the title track sounds almost Cuban, and reminiscent of Marc Ribot y los Cubanos Postizos. The important thing, though, is that the album maintains a consistent groove, never too fast, and never too slow, built around strong but not flashy guitar work. Fans of Toubab Krewe, Tinariwen, Nigerian juju music (like King Sunny Ade), the Ry Cooder/Ali Farka Toure album, etc., will find much to enjoy here, as will any fan of classic rock with open ears.

In fact, albums like this should not be surprising. Rock is based on blues, which is directly descended from African folk music. That explains why Ali Farka Toure sounded so much like John Lee Hooker without any conscious influence. That is why we hear such a strong blues thread in the music of Boubacar Traore. As American music has spread its influence around the world, African musicians have incorporated it into their own, and one cannot listen to juju music without hearing strong American influences. So, perhaps this type of project was inevitable. Hopefully, future American-African collaborations will be as successful. Previously, the best of those collaborations have been acoustic, like those of Bob Brozman, but hopefully groups like Extra Golden will convince other musicians that rock and African music can be blended effectively.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, GREAT album!, May 25, 2008

By 

D. Simpson "tmbh36" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ok-Oyot System (Audio CD)

This is one unique album, for sure. The first time I heard it, I thought it was great. Then I bought it and it quickly became one of my favorite CDs ever. It's elbowed its way onto my 'desert island' list. When it's on, you find yourself transported to a warm + dark African night, hanging out at the bar with a few friends and a bunch of friendly locals while the band plays in the dim light of a bunch of lanterns. It's that good. It is SO good. I wish there were 5 more albums just like it, and if there are I hope I find them. The chillness of this album is comparable to that of Kind of Blue and the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas album. It's the kind of album that just makes you relax and enjoy every second of the music. I'm telling you, this album is freaking awesome. The African-sounding songs are interspersed with more down-tempo, laid-back rock stuff that is reminiscent of Flight of the Conchords. I recommend this album feverishly! You will love it!