Madagascar music reviews

Jaojoby is "The King of Salegy", a 12/8 dance beat popular on Madagascar. His band includes his wife and children. I have four Jaojoby albums, and every one has better production than the one that preceded it. On this one, for the first time the bass and drums are really captured. Combined with the intensity of a (sort-of) live recording on Reunion Island, the result is a furiously propulsive album of dance music that is easily Jaojoby's best to date. The songs "Come On" and "Tsy Zanakra Mpanarivo" previously appeared on 1996's "Salegy!"album; the latter is a highlight here that blows the previous version away. "Tany Tsaratsara" starts and ends with searing metal guitar licks from Jaojoby's son Elie. Jaojoby's songwriting doesn't have as much variety as several of the other popular Malagasy musicians; the songs here are fast salegys, many with call-and-response choruses, with the occasional slow salegy thrown in. The performances on this album are so strong that you are going to have a hard time sitting still while this plays. "Malagasy" is my favorite album of 2004.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

He's proclaimed the 'King of Salegy' dance music in Madagascar and it's easy to see why: Jaojoby's mesmerizing beat starts from the first moment of the first cut and it doesn't ever let up.
If it's traditional instruments or drumming you anticipate, don't look here: Salegy blends electronic music with traditional in an unusual mode of electrified folk, and Jaojoby the band is actually a family affair with wife Claudine on vocals, son Ele on guitar, and daughters Roselaine and Eusebia signing and dancing.