News & Updates — record reviews

Review by DJ Bongohead There’s a lot of pretenders out there when it comes to contemporary instrumental Afro-funk and Afro-Latin inspired music, but when a band knows their stuff, well, as Fela Kuti used to say, “Who no know go know,” and one thing I know: Jungle Fire is 100% legit, pura candela, mofongo funk. If the percussion section can’t turn on a dime or do tight breaks, if the brass is limp or out of tune, if the bass has no tumbao, if the players don’t know their roots or let the orishas take them, well then don’t bother...

Peace & Rhythm Crew recommends the latest album called Impredicible from the really great Peruvian band Bareto - and it is indeed "unpredictable"!! Very wide-ranging soundscontained therein! Each record they do tops their previous effort (I put a track from their Grammy-nominated previous CD Ves lo que quieres ver  on my Rough Guide to Psychedelic Cumbia  plus they did a great compendium of their last 10 years with 10 Años),  and this is their most evolved outing to date. From chicha to reggae to psychedelic folk to electronica and places in between and beyond, the band crafts indescribably beautiful original soul vibrations, meditations...

Among the many beautiful things about sound & music is that it can supplement your life's routine in so many different ways. Whether you look at (or hear or make) music as artistic expression, ritual, relaxation, protest, celebration, dance release, mathematical composition, entertainment, fashion, comedy or even as background sound, there is no wrong way to appreciate music. It fills our lives with joy or aggression, songs about love and hate, constructions of rhythm and noise, harmony or disruption. Only a high-minded snob will pooh-pooh somebody's artistic creation. (Although they are certainly out there, usually in the form of talentless...

Lima, Perú-born, L.A.-based Renaissance woman Cecilia Noël continues to push boundaries and delight fans with her original and ground-breaking take on Cuban-derived Latin dance music. On her latest release, Havana Rocks, she brings authentic, made-in-Havana instrumentation and arrangements to her own refreshing reading of classic 70s/80s rock, New Wave and pop tunes. However, unlike some Latin pop salsa romántica with English lyrics, Ms. Noël’s interpretation of how to cover gringo rock tunes differs from your Ricky Martins and J-Los in that Havana Rocks does just that: it rocks out! And way down in its soul, the record’s still resolutely Cuban...

Check out Andujar's latest record reviews round-up at the Peace & Rhythm blog. A whole lot of sonic ground gets covered. http://peaceandrhythm.blogspot.com/2014/08/pardon-my-ears-interplanetary-music.html