Karikatura is a New York band that gleefully reflects the cosmopolitan and diverse nature of the city that they call home. Mixing various Latin musical forms, reggae, klezmer, a bit of rock and roll, and whatever else tickles their fancy the band have come up with an impressive debut album, Eyes Wide. Creating politically conscious, positive striving, rhythmic music that’s as aware as it is moving is what Karikatura constantly strives to do. Far from being a caricature as their name my seemingly imply these guys are the real deal.
Eyes Wide is an impressive debut that’s bright, absolutely packed to the rafters with horns, and contains so many body shaking rhythms that it almost bounces off the turntable. I’m particularly impressed by how Karikatura fearlessly blend genre’s as if they mean nothing. Klezmer and reggae sit alongside of each other, Latin percussion mingles with jazzy rock and roll. The whole thing is a dizzying array of genre bending arrangements and ideas that sound absolutely fantastic. Be it a global consciousness or a love of New York City, Karikatura embrace it all with arms and eyes wide open and absorb it all in the hopes of making everything they do sound better.
Eyes Wide is the sound of a exploratory band bringing the world to New York and showing New York to the world. It’s a fun ride and it’s about the most un-world, world music album I’ve heard in a while. If you’ve ever wondered how to make world music cool…look no further because Karikatura are blazing the trail and leading the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment