Aphrodesia – Precious Commodity
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11//9/09
Big band Afro-funk from SF, but with its heart in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Powerhouse female vocals and horns, bass and percussion – and also gnarly guitar; I guess that about covers it! Excellent musicianship and serious funk.
No FCCs detected. I like 3, 4 and 10 best.
1. 1:19 **chimes – almost like gamelon – then a midtempo highlife funk riddim gradually comes in.
2. 4:43 ***galloping highlife funk, complex rhythm, lots of bass and horns. Jazzy female vocals.
3. 6:01 ****female afro-jazz vocal intro, uptempo makossa groove, vocals in an African language and English, about orishas. Sweet. Some kind of crazy distorted guitar solo in second half – gnarly!
4. 5:06 ****downtempo SUPER funky strut, pretty vocal harmonies and grunty electronics (as well as funky guitars).
5. 4:18 ***midtempo, lilting South Afro-Caribbean groove with funny pidgin lyrics.
6. 5:46 **bass and claps intro, relaxed midtempo syncopated sway
7. 8:13 **grunty bass and horns, slow, pretty lyrics in an African language. Very mellow, rather sad sounding.
8. 4:27 ***upbeat and a bit uptempo, highly syncopated and danceable. African lyrics, a bit of odd harmonies.
9. 3:43 **downtempo, builds syncopated groove out of odd elements, interesting. Instrumental, super-cool sax solo.
10. 6:11 ****slow SUPERFUNK, highly syncopated, African lyrics.
11. 1:46 **swingy hand percussion, bass, chimes. It actually seems like it should lead into track 1. Fades to a few hand claps.