Thanks to their tour-support of Amy Winehouse and studio sessions together with Ornette Coleman and The Roots, the musicians of Antibalas should be on their very best way of taking over the world. In the fourteen years of their existence, the orchestra of twelve from the surroundings of Daptone has turned into a real Afro-beat-institution and is presenting themselves in their habitual sense of community. On their fourth album, the diverse dozen once again manage the mammoth task to make so many different musicians become a coherent patchwork – and they do so in an impressive unanimity. Founder and saxophonist Martin Perna tries to summarize it this way: “Our parts may be played on melodic instruments, but they’re part of this huge interlocking net that holds up the music”, which can be understood when listening to the the lively standout-track »The Ratcatcher« or the sugary chords of »Ìbéji«, which seem to come directly from a magical forest. All in all, »Antibalas« is pervaded with magical melodies from the soul of the 60s and the feverish heat of African percussion. Still, it manages to not get entrapped in ethno-Jazz or other sickening styles of that sort. Instead, they walk to the crossroad of NuYorican-Funk meeting Highlife and reclaim the atmosphere of Brooklyn’s open spaces during the summer holidays in the form of six tracks and vibrating speakers. The only shame is that Antibalas still stick too much to tried and tested concepts and that the performances of vocalist Amayos remain to be filled with influences of the legendary Fela Kuti.
Antibalas
