I don't always like live CDs, but there are certain artists who shine within the medium. I didn't expect Toubab Krewe to fall into that category, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that their cyclical rhythms and smooth blend of soft, improvisational kora and hard-driving guitar actually sound stronger and far more organic on this record than on their previous self-titled release. Add to that a high production value (too often missing from live recordings), and you've got yourself a stellar record.
The Sound
Toubab Krewe blends traditional and contemporary West African music (everything from traditional kora music to juju and highlife) with American rock music, especially Southern rock and surf-rock.
It's a blend that sounds weird on paper, but makes plenty of sense - rock and roll is the direct descendant of jazz and blues, which are in turn direct descendants of African music. And rock made its way back to Africa, too; American artists heavily influenced the progression of contemporary Afro-pop and related genres. So the styles aren't as disparate as they appear at first glance, and Toubab Krewe takes it upon themselves to bring it all back home, boiling both genres down into something that's both comforting and fresh.
It's a blend that sounds weird on paper, but makes plenty of sense - rock and roll is the direct descendant of jazz and blues, which are in turn direct descendants of African music. And rock made its way back to Africa, too; American artists heavily influenced the progression of contemporary Afro-pop and related genres. So the styles aren't as disparate as they appear at first glance, and Toubab Krewe takes it upon themselves to bring it all back home, boiling both genres down into something that's both comforting and fresh.
The Songs
Slipping right into things with the opener, "Autorail," a chugging, kora-driven number, Toubab Krewe sets the tone for the record - light and poppy, pleasantly repetitive and cyclical, and featuring a couple of face-melting chords and guitar wails - enough to keep it exciting without being contrived. Other highlights include the jangly and heavily back-beated "Kaira," and the dark, heavily rock-and-roll closer "Buncombe to Badala."
The Guests
My favorite moments on Live at the Orange Peel are by far the ones that feature the core band, but the featured guests are worth mentioning as well. The more notable of the guests is spoken word poet Umar Bin Hassan, who delivers thoughtful, elegant poems over the songs "Roy Forester" and "Moose." His poems are the only vocals on the album, and they're really pretty remarkable diatribes. I'm not sure how well they'll hold up after more than a few listens, though - I think it entirely depends on whether or not you enjoy spoken word poetry... many people just don't, and it is a bit of a non sequitur here.
The other guest is fiddler Rayna Gellert, from the band Uncle Earl. Though I generally like her old-time fiddling, I found her guest appearances on "Lamine's Tune" and "51 Ft. Ladder" to be somewhat distracting and irrelevant, bordering on irritating. Sometimes fusion can go too far, and I think Toubab Krewe would've done best to keep things simple in this case.
Read an interview with Toubab Krewe's Drew Heller, and hear what he has to say about 'Live at the Orange Peel' and more.
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Digital Release: January 2009
Physical Release: March 2009
The other guest is fiddler Rayna Gellert, from the band Uncle Earl. Though I generally like her old-time fiddling, I found her guest appearances on "Lamine's Tune" and "51 Ft. Ladder" to be somewhat distracting and irrelevant, bordering on irritating. Sometimes fusion can go too far, and I think Toubab Krewe would've done best to keep things simple in this case.
Read an interview with Toubab Krewe's Drew Heller, and hear what he has to say about 'Live at the Orange Peel' and more.
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Digital Release: January 2009
Physical Release: March 2009
