Week of May 6: This week, Mdou Moctar’s desert blues, Hiatus Kaiyote’s psychedelic soul, and Kamasi Washington’s spiritual jazz. Plus new releases from Nubiyan Twist, Ra Ra Riot, and Madlib.
Mdou Moctar’s Desert Blues Gets Angry
Guitarist Mdou Moctar comes from a long lineage of Tuareg electric guitarists – in his case, he began his career playing weddings in Niger, but he has since become a globetrotting ambassador of a particularly fiery brand of so-called “desert blues.” His new album is called Funeral for Justice, and it calls out France (the colonial rulers of Niger and much of the Tuareg’s traditional lands) and other Western powers for their mistreatment of the land and people of West Africa. Much of the album is amps-to-11 sheets of sound, but on this track, “Takoba,” Moctar returns to the more traditional rhythms and riffs that have made this style so popular. The song title refers to the traditional sword of the Tuaregs, and is a statement of ethnic pride from a singular figure on the global music scene.
Hiatus Kaiyote Looks Skyward In New Single
The Australian psych-soul group Hiatus Kaiyote has just put out a single called “Telescope,” a track from their upcoming album Love Heart Cheat Code. In it, singer Nai Palm namechecks Einstein in a woozy swirl of multitracked vocals, over a skittering beat and celestial synthesizers. At one point, the lyrics quote from The Temptations’ “My Girl” and Sun Ra’s “Space Is The Place” in headspinning succession. It’s a little disorienting, a little trippy, and totally engaging.
Kamasi Washington Is Still Thinking Big
Sax player Kamasi Washington has reached a level of popularity that few “jazz” artists have attained, initially as a result of his work with the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper (I still get a kick out of writing those words) Kendrick Lamar, and then building on that with the success of his mammoth 3-CD set The Epic. His new album is Fearless Movement, another sprawling opus that incorporates an alternately celestial or ferocious brand of spiritual jazz, progressive R&B, electronics, and funk. Guests include P-Funk legend George Clinton, rapper-turned-flute-guru Andre 3000, bass virtuoso Thundercat and many more. “Prologue” is the sound of Washington setting out his stall, with a relentless groove that’s probably too fast to dance to, and a series of questing, emotive solos.
Nubiyan Twist Gets The Nile Rodgers Treatment
The London Afro-jazz band Nubiyan Twist has just released its new album, Find Your Flame. This track, called “Lights Out,” is a collaboration with the guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers, whose signature disco sound is obvious enough that anyone who ever heard Chic would probably be able to guess he was involved, even without being told. That characteristic rhythm underlies the band’s own distinctive interplay of horns and voices - until, in the final minute, the band suddenly whisks us away from the discos of 1970s New York to the Shrine in 1970s Lagos, Nigeria, home of the great bandleader Fela Kuti.
Madlib Collaborates With Black Thought And Your Old Droog
One of the great producers in hip hop, Madlib has always had a knack for grand productions that sound like they could’ve been swiped from a film score. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking Madvillainy record that he did with the late MF Doom, but Madlib is looking forward as well, and has just released a new single called “Reekyod.” The song has that big, cinematic sound, and features Black Thought, the rapper from The Roots, as well as the Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn rapper Your Old Droog. The title refers to the two of them: Black Thought, born Tariq Trotter, is the “reek” and Your Old Droog is the “yod” part. Together they’ve put together a song that feels like a passing of a torch: Black Thought’s verse has the feeling of an elder who has arrived at a place where he’s comfortable, and Droog’s is full of the urgency and braggadocio of someone who is still climbing.
Ra Ra Riot’s Overdue Return
It’s been five years since the indie-pop band Ra Ra Riot last released new music. Now they’ve returned with a song called “The Wish,” co-written with Rostam Batmanglij (formerly of Vampire Weekend and now known mostly as a producer, though he does have a solo career as well). A lot of the band’s music has been bubbly and synth-heavy, but this new track keeps to a slow simmer and bathes singer Wes Miles’s vocals in softly-spun harmonies. The acoustic guitar sounds betray the songwriters’ interest in folk music, but the song’s bridge also adds a neat dose of Latin swing.