Antibalas
(Ropeadope)
In all the talk about how Brooklyn bands are shaking up American music culture, Antibalas gets bypassed. Maybe that's because the collective's American Soul Stew of Afrobeat, jazz, funk, salsa, dub and avant-garde is seen as fundamentally deliriously ecstatic, propulsively polyrhythmic, horn-bellowing live music. But Antibalas members also helped inspire and create FELA!, the smash Broadway musical that is bringing Afrobeat to mainstream America.
That's pretty profound when you stop to think about it and Ropeadope, the label that originally released Antibalas' breakthrough Who Is This America? in 2004, has. The special edition reissue of America? showcases how Antibalas can construct long songs, building forward in rhythmic complexity as bass, guitar, horn solos, drums and slamming super-heavy organ intertwine and drive forward. Lyrics can be political (the title song, the feminist "Sister"), but take a backseat to the heated instrumental workouts. Newly added track "Money Talks" flows ominously from groaning and chattering horns and chilling discordant piano into an explosivity. Antibalas has quietly but loudly helped change American arts.
DOWNLOAD: "Pay Back Africa," "Money Talks" STEVEN ROSEN
