Aphrodesia
1 rating since posting on Monday, August 21, 2006
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Overall Rating based on 1 rating |
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I attended a lot of music festivals over the summer. My favorite discovery was Aphrodesia (www.aphrodesia.org) from San Francisco. They play Afrobeat, but unlike some American Afrobeat groups like Antibalas, Aphrodesia doesn't seem intent on mimicking the sound of Afrobeat's founding father, Fela Kuti, but rather uses that sound as an inspiration and jumping off point for its own variety of politically charged and highly danceable grooves. One distinction is that the two lead vocalists are women, whose strong and sultry voices and harmonies bring a unique character to their sound. The lyrics are very intelligent, uncompromisingly radical, but never stilted or interfering with the groove that propels the music. Frontlines, their latest release, offers rants against the Bush administration and against mindless consumer culture ("dumbing down the population is not against the law") and has remained in heavy rotation in my CD player since I bought it over a month ago. The group travels in a bus powered by recycled vegetable oil and recently completed a tour of Ghana and Nigeria, including a performance with Femi Kuti at the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos. The live shows are dynamite; the recordings stand up to repeated listening. Highly recommended. --LanSing - LanSing , posted 08/21/06 |
Aphrodesia was recommended for:
- Tribe: afrobeat
- Tribe: FELA KUTI
- Tribe: uNiveRsaL GrOoVe TheraPy
- Tribe: African Music Tribe
