Manafonistas

With ‚Cabbage Alley‘ (The Meters‘ first record for Reprise) the band began to smooth out it’s sound, moving away form the more down-and-dirty approach of it’s earlier releases. This trend continues with the superb 1974 release Rejuvenation. They sound a bit more commercial but boast far stronger and catchier songs and as such, this album is probably the most accessible Meters album and arguably the best one to get as a first purchase. Moving away from their early albums, every track now features vocals (from Art Neville’s brother Cyril), are often punctuated by the inclusion of horns and feature more backing vocals.

The album kicks-off with the fantastic ‚People Say‘, an irresistably funky guitar riff that builds up as drums, bass, horns, piano and finally vocals are thrown into the mix. Featuring a great singalong chorus, the track doesn’t throw in any solos but rather just lets the groove keep going right through to the outro. A funk classic.

They then switch tone for the second track ‚Love is for me‘. A slower smoother ballad with some wistfully soulful singing from Cyril: „Love is for me. You ought to be. Right in my loving arms“. A good ballad, but improved greatly by the addition of some female gospel-sounding backing vocals during the chorus and horns in the second-half of the song. A nice break for the outro of sung „love is for me’s“ by the choir. A great evening song.

The theme of love is continued into the third track ‚Just Kissed my Baby‘. Again, a great riff with some beautifully understated funk drumming by Ziggy and again punctuated with a little horn. A couple of nice guitar/bass riff/fills help to build up the groove again. Before a few sung „just kissed my baby’s“ kicks in after about 3 minutes. Again, some nice little understated fills allow the groove to keep simmering throughout as Ziggy’s drums subtely heat up for the outro.

‚What’cha say‘ is another great track. A few slow, sad-sounding guitar-notes start the track before some ultra-funky drumming kicks in for a break. The verses are not the most memorable, but they are relatively short before returning to the original break. The chorus is also one of the best on the album, a series of shout-and-repeat „hey hey hey, what’cha says“ It kicks in in the second-half of the track and keeps going to the end complete with superb funk-drumming.

A nice bass riff and the words „Here come da jungle man“ lead into the main song, really a series of syncopated funk riffs it’s a nice little slower, understated tune that gives a change of tempo before..

Track 7, ‚Hey Pocky Away‘, along with ‚People Say‘ the best song on the album, and released as a single (the two singles are bonus tracks). It’s also been covered by the Grateful Dead. A classic drum riff backed-up with piano instantly give this tune away when it comes on in a playlist. It’s a superb mid-tempo funk anthem with a great sing-along chorus, the horns blast out some nice notes to bang the song home and good vocals. Always puts me in a great mood:

„Lying back groovin‘, riding in your car. Don’t make no difference, where you are. Feel good music. In your soul. Makes your body, wanna rock ’n‘ roll „.

From this positive upbeat number there’s a nice contrast to the sadder, extended funk-jam of ‚Ain’t no use‘. Clocking in at over 11 minutes this is easily the longest track of the album and gives a chance for the band to show-off what they do best; playing tightly as a group and building grooves.

It opens with a couple of sung verses about wanting to be set free, but the singer knows he „wouldn’t last a day“. A couple of guitar tracks allow the groove to be maintained whilst Leo solos over the top between verses. Some sung words after the second verse as Leo solos more before the music quietens down, announcing the beginning of the jam at almost 4:30. This is where they get a chance to really show their playing as there are no solos in the previous tracks. The group-playing is great, starting with piano before kicking into guitar. Ziggy continues to provide a funk-drumming 101 class, and understated piano chords keep the groove going throughout and the individual musicians never ruin the groove with over-the-top flashy playing.

Finally, Africa. Talking about going „back to the motherland“ it’s a nice groovy tune, again with great drumming and understated riffs and some subtle organ helping to build the groove. The bass is a bit more prominent here, and although there are no really flashy riffs, that’s not really what The Meters are about. The groove does sound instantly classic and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see it sampled in a rap song.

Overall then“ Some great grooves, a smooth sound and good vocals. The material is pretty much excellent throughout and does contain a couple of true funk classics.  The opening immediately sucks you in and the playing never lets up. The drumming is excellent, riffs classic and the guys play as a group, never losing sight of the fact that funk is about the groove. As a result they don’t try and overwhelm you with their flash but play as a group all the way through. A fantstic introduction to The Meters and a great album from a band that deserves much more widespread recognition.

Stephan Thelen sandte mir das Album VORTEX seiner Band SONAR gerade noch rechtzeitig, nun sind alle manafonististischen „Alben des Monats“ versammelt. Die Nacht beginnt, nach dem Krimi, wie immer, mit zwei Stunden randvoll mit neuen Produktionen. Die üblichen Verdächtigen können immer noch in ihren Bann ziehen, und laden durchweg zum Lauschen, der Gegenwelt des flüchtigen Reinhörens.

Sehen Sie sich das Foto an: Nils Okland und Sigbjorn Apeland setzen über zur Insel Lysøen, um den Spirit des einst berühmtesten Geigers ihres Landes, Ole Bull, zu beschwören. Die „Hardingfele“, wie Oklands Hauptinstrument heisst, gibt den Ton an in der dritten Stunde, der Nahaufnahme der Klanghorizonte, zwischen Freitagnacht und Samstagmorgen im Deutschlandfunk.

„Pools of sorrow, waves of joy, are drifting through my opened mind“, schrieb John Lennon einst, und diese Zeile könnte sich morgen im Äther herumtreiben. In den beiden Zeitreisen zum Ende der Nacht, erinnere ich an den jüngst von uns gegangenen Pianisten Misha Alperin, und um eines seiner radikalsten Alben herum spiele ich Musik, die sich luftig zwischen Trancesession und Grenzgängerei bewegt, neben Klassikern gibt es ein wieder aufgetauchtes Album aus dem französischen „Chanson-Underground“ der frühen 70er Jahre, und, vielleicht, einen Song aus Gregs Jukebox.

In der Stunde nach dem ersten Hahnensschrei schliessen und öffnen sich gleich mehrere Kreise (das passiert schon vorher permanent – Vorsicht: Dejavu! – man denke an Steve Tibbetts‘ Begegnung mit der Hardanger Fiedel) – Jon Hassell begegnet seinem jugendlichen Ich anno 1978 in New York und erinnert sich an Italo Calvinos Buch „Die unsichtbaren Städte“.

– Kommen Sie oft hierher?

– Wahrscheinlich  öfter als ich sollte. Und Sie?

– Nur für Händel. Wenn sie mit Beethoven anfangen, verliere ich das Interesse.

– Sehr vernünftig.

„Inspired by nascent hip-hop, Fela Kuti and the trance-like rhythmic rituals of Haitian voodoo, Talking Heads’ 1980 LP Remain in Light – and its lead single „Once in a Lifetime“ – served as a gateway into African music for many of us. It thus makes perfect sense for the Benin-born singer Angélique Kidjo to further “Africanise” the album.

Kidjo, who has always said that she is as much influenced by James Brown and Otis Redding as she is by African musicians, tonight refashions Talking Heads as a frenetic Afrobeat orchestra. Where David Byrne was nervy and neurotic, Kidjo is forthright and regal, lingering on some of Byrne’s seemingly random lyrics; where Talking Heads’ punk-funk was jerky and machine-like, Kidjo’s band add syncopated horn blasts, spangly high-life guitar and some astonishing rhythms, with kit drummer Yayo Serka (from Chile) and hand percussionist Magatte Sow (from Senegal) turning the beats inside out.

By the second song – where Kidjo transforms Crosseyed and Painless into a jittery slice of horn-heavy Afrobeat – much of the audience were rocking so hard in their seats that you wonder why the gig hadn’t been scheduled in a standup venue. Soon the entire audience were on their feet, as Kidjo wandered into the audience and interspersed the Talking Heads album with other songs – her feminist anthem Cauri, her praise song Afirika and Miriam Makeba’s Pata Pata.

By the finale – a 15-minute take on Kidjo’s song Tumba – she’s joined on stage by an African djembe player, two Punjabi dhol drummers, and around 50 audience members, all dancing manically. For the encore, she strays from Remain in Light once more for a thrilling Afro-Cuban version of Talking Heads’ Burning Down the House. Cultural appropriation has never sounded this good.“

(John Lewis, The Guardian)

Question is: is it that good? With all due respect (I mean, Tony Allen on drums, master of the Afro Beat), with no doubts of being impressed by the re-shaping, the inventiveness of the arrangements, the passion involved, everything, I would always prefer the original version, and I dare to say, it‘s not a matter of nostalgia, or recurring to „the real thing“. Arguing what the „real thing“ is, might lead to funny conversations here.

(M. E.)