| Umoya / Tribal Beatz Of Africa |
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| Album: | Tribal Beatz Of Africa | Collection: | World | |
| Artist: | Umoya | Added: | Nov 2006 | |
| Label: | Arc Music Inc. | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2007-01-07 | Pull Date: | 2007-03-11 | Charts: | Reggae/World |
| Week Ending: | Mar 4 | Feb 11 | Feb 4 | Jan 28 | Jan 14 |
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Sep 18, 2022: | Global Ginga Kidikoth, Marching To Moira | 4. | Mar 03, 2007: | Cincinnati Kid Yeren | |
| 2. | Nov 06, 2010: | Music Casserole Tonjo | 5. | Feb 10, 2007: | New World Disorder Tonjo | |
| 3. | Apr 03, 2008: | Sunshine ... on a Sunny Afternoon Marching To Moira (featuring Johnny Clegg) | 6. | Feb 03, 2007: | New World Disorder Marching To Moira |
| Album Review |
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| Sadie O. Reviewed 2007-01-15 | ||
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Umoya – Tribal Beatz of Africa Reviewed by Sadie O., 12/7/06 Exploration of African music by some well-known popularizers of World/African music. It’s very scholarly and carefully produced, and between that and the (IMO) obtrusive synthesized strings it lacks the spark and naturalism of home-grown African music. Lots of excellent musicianship, but I’m not sure what we’re trying to get at, here. It’s like they took World-beat Afro-pop and tried to make it into elevator music. Still, there are some very nice bits – I like tracks 9 and 13-15. Several tracks would get another star from me if they left off the synthesized strings, which just kill the vibe for me… 1. starts with a rather trance-like repeated drumbeat, adds layers of sounds (including synthesized strings, which I think detracts) and choir. Ugandan origin. 2. **Starts with bit of flute and whistles, adds uptempo drums, then bass and rather melancholy synthesized strings – although voices and other instruments are upbeat. Somewhat cinematic effect in places, nice bass groove in others. Togo/Ghana origin. 3. ***slow funky groove, based on Malian rhythm. Cool, relaxed vibe, pretty choir. Nice bit of interaction between thumb-piano sort of thing and bass. 4. **Johnny Clegg solo number in Zulu (he plays all instruments). Mellow and folky, but with a pleasant beat, and he has an impeccable grasp of Zulu singing. 5. *Pretty solo female vocals with a bit of hand percussion, annoying synthesized strings which thankfully quit early and let the drums and bass take over, which improves things exponentially. Ends with solo vocals again. 6. **guitar and mellow midtempo loping groove. Based on Shanga tradition from Mali, with rather overly sweet vocals and very nice guitars. 7. ***nice guitar intro, downtempo Zulu piece with nice deep male vocals and guitar, shouts of cowherders in background. Weird spacey synthesized bit in middle. 8. Starts with a lot of soft spinner/whistles and rainstick. Adds guitar and handclaps and those goddamned synthesized strings. Midtempo and trancey. Nice vocal bits. 9. ****midtempo loping drums and vocalized beats, based on West African rhythm. 10. **solo talking drum intro, other instruments layer in, downtempo Yoruba-based groove. Nice bells, guitar and bass – crap synth… 11. **cool midtempo Mandingo/Mali groove with terrific running bassline and lots of happy-sounding voices. 12. **random drumbeat intro, very downtempo and downbeat shuffle based on Shangaan rhythm from South Africa. Bass and drums predominate, with some vocal chorus. 13. ****oooh, big drumline intro hooks me right off – midtempo dancing march with great jazzy bass. Nice! 14. ****almost whispered male chanting, voices added, then loping midtempo Mandingo-based choral song with sweet South African guitars, cool bass and drums. 15. ****big brass band from Cape Town, Carneval vibe. Drumline marching/dancing drums and that great bass – cool. Random street celebration noises for last several seconds. | ||
| Track Listing |
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| 1. | Kidikoth | 8. | Pula | |||
| 2. | Takai | 9. | Tonjo | |||
| 3. | Yeren | 10. | Oya | |||
| 4. | Sihamba Nawe | 11. | Bamako | |||
| 5. | Kalisia | 12. | Yeleye | |||
| 6. | Kumini | 13. | Marching To Moira | |||
| 7. | Uchibidolo | 14. | Balanza | |||
| 15. | Goema | |||||