Vieux Farka Toure Offers Hope on Mon Pays

With his native Mali in crisis Vieux Farka Toure responded the way he knows best; through music. “I wanted to pay homage to our musical heritage,” said Toure with regards to everything going on in his homeland His new album, Mon Pays, is a living tribute and reminder about the beauty and culture of his homeland.

With gorgeous almost classical guitar work and arrangements that are simply stunning Mon Pays is a record that will leave you breathless and filled with hope. A mixture of traditional vocal works and almost ambient guitar textures Mon Pays is a stunning reminder of how awesome Malian music can be. The instrumentals on this record are as amazing as the sunsets on the cover and as inspiring as Toure himself. Vieux Farka Toure is obviously a gifted musician and Mon Pays is a feast for your ears as his fingers construct and play works of pure genius.

Mon Pays isn't political, isn't controversial, or trying to make a statement. It's a point of reference for what can be and a love letter to the land that Vieux Farka Toure loves. It's filled with optimism, beauty, and hope. Yet, despite the intimate and personal attachment that Toure creates here this is Malian music anyone can enjoy. In a sea of struggle Mon Pays is a positive voice that can never be silenced.

Cas Haley Brings Reggae To Texas

Singer songwriter Cas Haley comes from a long line of non-Caribbean based folk who find themselves playing that most Caribbean of music...reggae. While that's not quite as unique as it was say 20 years ago it's still something that places a little doubt in your brain. "Is it going to be any good?" is the question I always end up asking myself. Because honestly, what could a guy from Paris, TX possibly know about reggae?

Haley's latest album La Si Dah isn't exactly a pure reggae album and that's probably a smart thing as it's almost impossible for a guy from Texas to even compete with pure roots rock reggae from down south. Instead La Si Dah is an almost jam-bandish take on the genre with dub influences mixed in to give the whole thing a feel of authenticity. While the record does hark back to traditional sounds and the legacy of artists who laid the groundwork for Haley, the album is still a modern interpretation of the genre. It's proof positive that the work Marley and his peers did decades ago to spread their music far and wide has worked.

Despite my misgivings and doubt, the whole thing isn't bad at all and La Si Dah comes off like a Sublime meets Marley soundclash. It's worth a listen for sure and their cover of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now," is worth the price of the disc alone. Cas Haley proves that no matter where you are, no matter how far from the Caribbean you might be the soul of reggae can be found anywhere. It's pretty cool to think that reggae has found itself deep in the heart of Texas and that Cas Haley is leading the way.

Gaudi Is In Between Times

Gaudi is an interesting artist who has spent his career expanding his horizons. He's a producer who has always been one step of the ball game and as a result over the course of his relatively short career has become a go to guy in high demand. "Why," you say? Well he's one of a handful of artists who easily blend a variety of worldly sounds into something that sounds fresh, innovative, and ahead of the curve. In Gaudi's case he's taken reggae, dub, chill out, and house music and seamlessly mixed them into something that's far beyond all of them.

His latest album, In Between Times may seem like a reggae album on first glance but it really isn't. Rather, In Between Times is a dubbed out journey into the great beyond that pushes the genre and everything along with it forward. Gaudi has created an extremely dance friendly record that's so well thought out and produced it's just about unforgettable. In Between Times is huge, it's far reaching, and crosses over genres and sounds as if it were a normal thing to do. Need an example? Just look at the guest list, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, The Orb, Jahmai, it's truly all over the place. It's the sort of record that brings to mind the old idea of a Soundsystem. It's big, massive, vast, amazing, clashes with sounds and at times reminds me of a more chilled out version of Leftfield.

Synths sit next to reggae guitar riffs, vocals wash in and out, songs soar and glide and the whole thing is wonderfully out of this world. With brilliant bassline peaks and valleys and hints of all kinds of instruments from strings to horns the whole thing takes on this vibe about being in a constant state of movement; the songs just lift you up and carry you away. Gaudi has created a post-reggae dubbed out excursion that's inescapably brilliant. Having spent some time with In Between Times I can see why Gaudi has developed such a fantastic reputation and such a crammed calendar. Gaudi may be in between times...but they are times so far ahead of the rest of humanity we may never catch up.

Carmen Souza's Kachupada

Singer Song writer and multi-instrumentalist Carmen Souza has emerged from the Cape Verde area with an interesting approach to music. Breezily mixing jazz and Cape Verdean music she's established herself as part of a new generation of artists seeking to expand their horizons beyond there homeland. Her latest album Kachupada is an intriguing prospect that I'm not too sure of.

While Souza undoubtedly is talented and I really wanted to like Kachupada because of it's jazzy overtones I'm just not sure I can. The problem lies with Carmen's vocals; they're just a little to weird for me. What do I mean by that? Well Carmen seemingly talks her way through the songs here in an almost mousy and kind of creaky voice that's just a bit unsettling. It was just a bit too much for me to deal with and it kind of ruined the breezy feel of the record.

While musically Kachupada was a nice record it was just a bit to difficult to overlook Souza's vocal presence. Sometimes it just works out that way and while I have no doubt that she's hugely talented Kachupada just was a little to unusual for me.

King's Koncepts

I think we can all admit that dubstep has gone mainstream. It's the new hip-hop. No longer underground, it's become the soundtrack of fratboys and Jersey Shore wannabees at this point. So if you're an artist within this genre and you're trying to keep it "real," you've really got to stand out. I mean, honestly, Skrillex is a nu-metal kid gone wrong and for every 50 of artists like him there's only one like King.

King is far from your usual dubstep artist and his album Koncepts is anything but a bog standard dubstep record. Where King differs from most is that he manages to take hip-hop production techniques and fuses them with dubstep flavors. The result is a sound that sounds like DJ Shadow trying to escape a prison of bassbins a mile high. King creates crisp instrumentals and tight beats and then layers that on top of minimal production that is almost reminiscent of someone like techno legend Joey Beltram. Koncepts as a result of this deadly combination is a very good and very different record.

Unlike most dubstep, Koncepts is anything but harsh; it's sparse and attacking and chooses it's approaches carefully without bashing you over the head. It's a fascinating record that given a touch of vocals here or there could be downright lethal. As it stands though Koncepts is a unique sounding record than most in the genre and it even feels different than most. Lost between worlds and stuck in the Matrix King has created an album that's almost like an audio map of his attempted escape route. It's a fun ride filled with thrills and drama and King's own unique way of bursting out from the underground.

CSC Funk Band Lights The Funkincense

CSC Funk Band's latest release Funkincense was released back on Record Store Day in April and apparently was an exclusive release. Seeing as though we're well over a month past that day whether or not this record is actually available or not could be in doubt. That being said, Funkincense is well worth hunting down as CSC have easily dodged the sophomore slump here and released a doozy of a record.

As its name might imply, Funkincense is extremely funky. Packed with extremely deep grooves, awesome horns and loaded with all kinds of subversive drug references the band plays up it's psych, rock, funk roots. This record moves and jerks and dances it's way all over the place and it all comes off as a barrage of psychedelic funk jams from the70's. It's awesome stuff that's just about impossible to not move to. The saying, "If this don't make your booty move your booty must be dead," easily applies to every song here as CSC fuses rock, psych, funk, and even jazz into a hypnotizing blend of never ending jams.

In listening to Funkincense you almost get the sense that the guys who make up the CSC Funk Band could go on forever. Songs seems to blend altogether and Funkincense is like a one hour long trip into the doors of funky perception. CSC are amazing at what they do and Funkincense is proof of that. With top notch musicianship, a desire to never stop jamming, grooves that are deep and songs that transport you Funkincense is an epic release that anyone who breathes needs in their life.

Cheick Hamala Diabate's Prudence

With world music becoming more and more mainstream and genre's like indie rock stealing ideas from it, it only seems logical that the dance music community would follow suit. And they have, from chilled out remixes to dubsteppy takes on global grooves producers worldwide have found a whole new world in which to get lost in. Cheick Hamala Diabate is just the latest artist to have his work reinterpreted by a host of electronic artists on an album. Prudence is a joyous mix of old and new that's intimate and yet dance floor friendly.

Mixing classic music from Africa and modern electronic music Prudence illustrates what can happen when traditional meets bleeding edge. This is a genre defying excursion across the continents complete with jazzy chilled vibes, big beats, tight grooves, and African influences. The record is composed of six energetic remixes of varying paces and approaches but all are a unique take on Cheick Hamala Diabate's already unusual sound. It's a fascinating and dizzying record that is constantly in a state of movement and it's energy throughout is infectious.

From funky guitars to blown out drum sounds it's all hear living in harmony with all sorts of overtones and global influences steering the way. This is an album that shows anything is possible and that modern and time-honored sounds can work together to create a new sound collage that's respectful and limitless. Prudence is the sort of record that opens peoples minds to what's out there and what's possible and one suspects that's the idea.