CD review - Nneka, Concrete Jungle (2009)

Nneka Egbuna has her feet in at least two different worlds. She grew up in Africa, with her Nigerian father and German mother. Later, she went to school in Hamburg to study anthropology. She's been performing in Europe and Africa for several years and she's attracted the attention of performers like Lenny Kravitz and Lauryn Hill. Even though most of these songs seem to come from her first two albums, Concrete Jungle will be her first release in the US. It's not due to hit the stores until February 2010, but I got an early release copy. Catch her during her tour dates in November (New York, Philadelphia [World Cafe Live] and California), score her digital EP (available in early November), or wait for Concrete Jungle in February -- Nneka is well worth the listen.

Her music has a host of touchstones: lots of Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, some afrobeat, reggae, and classic R&B. This varies from song to song, but even within a song, there can be a lot of stylistic crossover goodness.

The top track is Africans, which is aimed at her Nigerian and other African compatriots, telling them to move beyond their colonial past. The message is delivered in a positive tone, with sweet soulful singing and beautiful music. It starts out with a Hendrixy guitar lick (think Little Wing) and vocals with a hint of Nina Simone. Then a reggae beat and bassline drop in to propel the song forward. The echoed vocals sound full, showing some fine production decisions. It's conscious, but it's also a great dance number.

A close second for best track is Focus, which is an excellent example of her crossover sensibility. Kicking off with an alt-rock groove and a dirty funk bass, that intro slides into a simpler beat and rap vocal. The chorus pulls that alt-rock intro back in. Later, she even throws in some toasting style rap. As with most of Nneka's songs, the lyrics are key:

Is it the drugs? Is it the men?
Is it the money? Is it the fame?
Don't need all this to find myself
Have met my shadow a thousand times
I know how it feels to be untrue to oneself
Say, would you hold back the things
That urged you to speak your mind?
Living in the bondage, in if-clauses for the rest of your life
You want to lie in system's custody, your soul stripped for free
Living in the bondage, in if-clauses for the rest of your life
You want to lie in system's custody, your soul stripped for free
Will you sell your soul for free?

Her delivery on this shows some great lyrical flow and it's all on a positive tip.

Kangpe, featuring Wesley Williams, kicks off with a heavy drum and bass vibe with one foot in techno. The other foot is somewhere between an African groove, Indian scales, and a reggae beat...it's a busy foot. The verse is almost spoken, with cool fills between the lines. Nneka does more singing during the chorus. The chord changes may be simple on this dance song, but the crossover complexity makes it a joy to listen to. The bridge offers some Jamaican DJ style. This should be a club single.

I'll pair this one with some of my friend John's chipotle mead: spicy, sweet, and strong.

CD review - Steven Wilson, Insurgentes (2008)

Steven Wilson is the founder and lead guitarist of the progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree. He's also been an influential producer, working with bands like the prog-metal Opeth. His work on either side of the recording gear has such a consistent aural approach, it's no real surprise that Insurgentes sounds a lot like a Porcupine Tree project. Still, the album shows a wider range than that. The songs run the gamut from dreamy to intense guitar rock in a psychedelic vein. Despite this range, it all flows together very well tonally.

Insurgentes has been released in a multitude of versions, based on what the package includes. So, some have an extra disc of outtakes, some came with a DVD-A (with various mixes and some video), and the deluxe edition includes a hardcover book. There's even a vinyl edition. So, if you're interested in this, it's worth figuring out how much of this good thing you want.

The first single from the album is Harmony Korine. It starts with an echoed, flanged guitar playing a repeated picking pattern. Then, the bass comes in like a typical Porcupine Tree song. A slide guitar wafts over the top, giving it a dreamy/trippy start. The vocals have a mix that's similar to the guitar sound. If it were a little slower, it would be a bit like Pink Floyd's Us and Them. The chorus picks up the tempo and adds a lot of energy, which drops back down when returning to the verse. This is a good choice as a single; it captures some of the album's feel as a whole.

What Harmony Korine is missing, is the harder edge of songs like No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun. That song starts out with an edgy, syncopated bass line and slashes of guitar riff. The guitar is distorted, angry, and dangerous in contrast to the jazzy feel of the bass and drums. Sonic layers slowly accrue, with guitar covering the bass line and the second guitar building into a screaming wail of electric, distorted thrash. It just keeps getting bigger and deeper. Then, suddenly at 3:50, it strips back to bass and drums as the vocals come in for a tinge of MC 900 Ft. Jesus. Still, A couple of verses in, it rocks out again with shouted lyrics. Near the end, it collapses into a slightly atonal piano riff, but the Gothic thrash makes one final appearance. This song has such cool complexity, that I've listened to it several times in a row.

The rest of the album dips in and out of soundtrack oriented music, with a patina of Gothic noise. There are plenty of sounds reminiscent of Massive Attack and Joy Division scattered throughout as well.

Listening to the second disc of "outtakes", most of these would not have been sorely missed. The doleful tension of The 78 or the Alan Parsons Project sound of Collecting Space would have worked on the main album, but they weren't really necessary.

This is a great album for fans of Porcupine Tree or prog rock in general. Pour an Odell Double Pilsner while you listen; the body and assertive hops will fit well with Insurgentes.

Concert review - Apostle of Hustle, Gogol Bordello

23 October 2009 (Aggie Theater, Ft. Collins CO)
The Aggie had a full crowd for this show. I've wanted to see Gogol Bordello perform for quite a while now. I was not alone. This was almost as packed as the Michael Franti show.

Apostle of Hustle

Apostle of Hustle was an odd choice as an opening act. They couldn't be much more different from Gogol Bordello in temperament, stage presence, or musical style. The vibe was laid back easy rock, with some cool syncopation: think the Police with a more indie rock flavor. Online, they appear to be a three or four piece, but this show was just guitar (Andrew Whiteman) and drums (Dean Stone). Occasionally, Whiteman played some keys, too. Andrew Whiteman has also performed with Canada's Broken Social Scene.

The sound was thin and weak, missing a bass player. Stone did some cool percussion looping that filled out the sound a little bit, but it wasn't enough to compensate. The best song of the set was Eazy Speaks, which had a nice guitar riff and lyrics that contrasted sharply with the pretty groove.

Gogol Bordello

As expected, Gogol Bordello delivered an incredible show. They hit the stage running and kept that pace for the whole night. At times, they'd rush to the front of the stage like they were ready to dive into the crowd or assault the mike. The frantic movement and high energy electrified the crowd. We all knew the songs and sang along. The setlist was mostly split between songs from Gypsy Punks and Super Taranta!

The set started off with Ultimate, with some great interplay between the violin and the accordion. When the song kicked into overdrive, the crowd went wild and danced with abandon. By the time they got to Not a Crime, we were all chanting along. The songs just flowed into one another, with almost no talking.

Frontman Eugene Hütz was in great form, with his Zappa-like appearance and expressive face. Violinist Sergey Ryabtsev looked like a friendly uncle, but played like a demon. The rest of the band also played superbly, taking the familiar songs to a higher level. The set ended with Think Locally, Fuck Globally. We were wrung out but Gogol Bordello came back out for their encore almost immediately. They kicked off with Alcohol and also covered Mala Vida by Mano Negra.

Walking out into the cool night, with my ears ringing, I only hoped it wouldn't be another 3 years before Gogol Bordello comes again. Pair them with some grappa and leave the bottle on the table...

More pictures at my Flickr.

Concert review - Mumiy Troll, Future of the Left, Trail of Dead

20 October 2009 (Bluebird Theater, Denver CO) Evidently, when Denver's Bluebird Theater says showtime is 8pm, they don't mean that the doors open at 8pm or that the real showtime is 8:30. No, the first band will be rocking out at 8pm sharpish. As a result. I missed Mumiy Troll's first couple of songs, which was a disappointment. Still, it was a full evening of music.

Mumiy Troll

I've reviewed Mumiy Troll's Comrade Ambassador, I've interviewed front man Ilya Lagutenko, and I've been listening to their new English EP, Paradise Ahead. So, I had high expectations for this show.

As I mentioned, I missed the start of the show. This was frustrating and annoying, but there wasn't any time to dwell on this, because the set was underway. The boys rocked the house, putting on a great show. The audience was packed with expatriate Russians who were hyped to catch the band and sing along.

With sweat flying, Ilya's face was incredibly expressive. YouTube videos give a sense that he's a great showman, but seeing him live was much more impressive. He worked the crowd, building things up. The other guys were very focused on attacking the songs, but guitarist Yuri Tsaler did sing a bit and showed that he could also lead a song.

They played some familiar songs from Comrade Ambassador as well as some older material. These were not "cover the album" arrangements -- there were some great jams. They ended their short set with Sleep Rock'n'Roll, which is normally a thoughtful groove.



This version started out sleeping, but woke up with a vengeance. The arrangement was split into a progression of sections, starting out reflective and laid back. Yuri played a David Gilmour inspired lead here that fit perfectly. Then, as it built into a relentless rock thrash, Ilya added a punchy rhythm guitar and the band followed suit. Drummer Oleg Pungin played rapid fire machine gun shots on the kick drum. It was a great end for the set, I just wanted more.

Hopefully, Mumiy Troll will be back as a headliner next time.

Future of the Left

Next up was Future of the Left, a 3 piece noise punk band from Wales. Their performance was pretty raw in contrast to their online music, which is much cleaner and focused. In either case, their sound is dense and driving. The key feature was the highly distorted bass that took on the role of rhythm guitar. The drums were simple and heavy. The guitar (or sometimes keyboard) usually contributed accenting shards of noise. Although, on one song, the keys reminded me of Peter Gabriel's Games Without Frontiers.


Future of the Left put on a fairly good show. Bass player Kelson Mathias affected a spastic rhythmic motion that conveyed tension and fit the punk aesthetic. The shouted lyrics were hard to understand, scraping a passing grade from the John Lydon school of vocals. The patter between songs was a little more interesting, with great offhand lines like, "It's a shame when anyone who isn't Margaret Thatcher dies."

At the end of their set, Kelson jumped down and jammed in the mosh pit. Then he handed off his bass to someone in the audience to go off exploring in the crowd. So, the show was good, but the music was too raw and abrasive for me.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

I wasn't very familiar with Trail of Dead before this show. I had always though they were some kind of hard rock band. Reading up now, they've been described as "art rock", but I'd call it progressive rock. Sometimes, they dose their songs with a bit of psychedelia, but it's a focused buzz. This show convinced me I need give them a closer listen. I'll be following up with a review of their latest CD.


The most unique aspect of their show was the elastic organization of roles. Sometimes, a drummer switched to guitar or lead vocals. They had two drummers, each with a separate kit, which gave them room to trade off roles without wasting a lot of time. Often, the drums played in unison, but they still diverged enough to keep things interesting. The effect was almost orchestral, where complexity was revealed through the dual drum parts. This was heady music, with a lot going on.

Many of their songs relied on sonic shifts to keep the audience engaged: a harder rock song might break into a more spacey reverie (1:50) or a thoughtful moodiness would erupt into waves of sound. It was quite reminiscent of My Morning Jacket or the Flaming Lips; though, when they rocked out, there was more of a Jane's Addiction vibe.

The encore included both new and old songs. They started with one of the new songs, then played To Russia, My Homeland, and wrapped up with their first song from back in 1995. As the song thrashed into its final spasms, one of the drum kits was upended and, individually, they drifted off the stage, leaving the remainder to drag things out. At one point, Kelson from FotL came out and contributed to the final mayhem. Ears ringing, it was time to head home.

This show would keep the bar busy, with a host of orders: vodka shots, with a lager chaser, then maybe a touch of absinthe for the Trail.

More pictures on my Flickr.