Africa music reviews

To know Zap Mama is to love them. This group tackles every song with energy and enthusiasm, and their live performances are such a visual feast that you hardly know where to look at any moment. Their repertoire is so geographically diverse that I get cabin fever just listening to them.

When this album was recorded, Zap Mama was a core group of five singers, with additional guest vocals. The singers, especially Marie Daulne, have rich voices with a husky timbre. One at a time they are a delight to listen to; in harmony, they make me delirious.

The songs on this album all good, but there are a few standouts. "Brrrlak!," released as a single, is a fast tempo charmer with sophisticated rhythms. "Plekete" is an onomatopoetic road trip (literally), complete with car horns, a squeal of tires, and an ambulance siren. Three themes are presented one at a time, and the song culminates with a cleverly crafted overlay of all three. (This was the first Zap Mama song I ever heard; my then-toddler and I saw them perform it on, of all things, Sesame Street. I bought the album post-haste.) "Bottom," the only song with lyrics entirely in English, tells a story that is as understated as the film "Titanic" is over-the-top (and it's way shorter, at only one minute and twenty-nine seconds). "Din Din" shows off the group's remarkable intonation and precision. The introductory section of "Ndje Mukanie" does likewise.

Many of the songs on this album don't follow the standard popular song structure of verse-chorus-verse, and most of the time that's quite refreshing. But "Babanzele" leaves me longing for that familiar form; it's just a bit too static for something that long (seven minutes and thirty-five seconds). "Mizike" also seems a little long to me, and perhaps dated (hard to tell when you don't have a clue about the lyrics).

Lead singer and founder Marie Daulne is of both Belgian and Zairean descent, and musically, she's all over the globe. Most of what's on this album isn't in English, but that's actually an advantage; you can revel in the sounds and rhythms undistracted by the message of the songs. But even if these women were singing the contents of the phone book (and who knows? maybe they are), I'd be glued to the CD player till they were finished. I bet you will be too, when you hear Adventures in Afropea 1.

To know Zap Mama is to love them. This group tackles every song with energy and enthusiasm, and their live performances are such a visual feast that you hardly know where to look at any moment. Their repertoire is so geographically diverse that I get cabin fever just listening to them.

When this album was recorded, Zap Mama was a core group of five singers, with additional guest vocals. The singers, especially Marie Daulne, have rich voices with a husky timbre. One at a time they are a delight to listen to; in harmony, they make me delirious.

The songs on this album all good, but there are a few standouts. "Brrrlak!," released as a single, is a fast tempo charmer with sophisticated rhythms. "Plekete" is an onomatopoetic road trip (literally), complete with car horns, a squeal of tires, and an ambulance siren. Three themes are presented one at a time, and the song culminates with a cleverly crafted overlay of all three. (This was the first Zap Mama song I ever heard; my then-toddler and I saw them perform it on, of all things, Sesame Street. I bought the album post-haste.) "Bottom," the only song with lyrics entirely in English, tells a story that is as understated as the film "Titanic" is over-the-top (and it's way shorter, at only one minute and twenty-nine seconds). "Din Din" shows off the group's remarkable intonation and precision. The introductory section of "Ndje Mukanie" does likewise.

Many of the songs on this album don't follow the standard popular song structure of verse-chorus-verse, and most of the time that's quite refreshing. But "Babanzele" leaves me longing for that familiar form; it's just a bit too static for something that long (seven minutes and thirty-five seconds). "Mizike" also seems a little long to me, and perhaps dated (hard to tell when you don't have a clue about the lyrics).

Lead singer and founder Marie Daulne is of both Belgian and Zairean descent, and musically, she's all over the globe. Most of what's on this album isn't in English, but that's actually an advantage; you can revel in the sounds and rhythms undistracted by the message of the songs. But even if these women were singing the contents of the phone book (and who knows? maybe they are), I'd be glued to the CD player till they were finished. I bet you will be too, when you hear Adventures in Afropea 1.

It's finally out on CD and none too soon. If you're tired of pre-programmed, pre-kiddie, music-in-a-can, everything-sounds-alike, unoriginal-unimaginative, drum machine-coma-inducing and downright boring music, give this one a spin. It will get you off your derrier(spelling?).

"Jingo Lo Ba (Drums Of Passion)" was covered by Santana on their 1969 debut album.

Great traditional music.

Ricardo brings his music to us in a kind of reverse Afro-Cuba evolution, since he is from Congo, but does Cuban music better than most Cubans! His mastery of several languages comes through in a common theme of meltdown rythym and soulful lyrics.