a modern batuque

Today's song comes from an artist named Manuel Lopes Andrade or Tcheka who comes from the Caribbean island archipelago Cape Verde. The people on his island are usually of Portuguese and African descent, and many traditions are carried over from African culture. Included in this is a musical style called the "batuque" which is a specific beat played while the members of a community sit in a circle and sing about the things happening in their town after working in the fields all day. In the past few decades this tradition has been eroding and the batuque style is losing its spot in the culture. Artists such as Tcheka are interested in reinstating this facet of their culture and thus his music features this beat. The album this song is from, Nu Monda, is an excellent progression from his debut which featured some obligatory sounding session music on it. That is gone from this album and his more traditional style cuts right through the speakers.

Tcheka - Satanaz

i love questions

Continuing my Cee-Lo thread from last post, the very same raspy sweet voiced individual is featured the on this track from an album by a fellow Dungeon Family member - Witchdoctor. I only recently found out about this album, and from what I can tell many other people are not familiar with it either. Noz lists this along with ATLiens and Soul Food as his favorite DF releases and I have to thank him for mentioning A SWAT Healin' Ritual because it was the first I heard about it. This album has a very strong and unique atmosphere, representing the South in a similar fashion to how Wu-Tang's first couple albums represented Staten Island. The power of skilled rappers, (along with excellent production), to paint a portrait of their environment so that it becomes something else, a realm based in reality but drenched in bewitching visions is what I love most about the art form. Witchdoctor does this, inhabiting landscapes of sound stained with dark sepia and sunlight conjuring verses in compelling encantations. I highly recommend this album.

Witchdoctor - 7th Floor/The Serengetti

tomorrow is takin too long

With the Gnarls Barkely album coming out so soon I have been filling in the cracks in my Cee-Lo collection...aka both his albums I didn't previously have. Anyways, I was always sure I liked his stuff I just never really gotten around to getting it for one reason or another. I have been making up for lost time in the past couple weeks though with his music taking up roughly about 50% of what I have been listening to. This song is from his first album, Cee-Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections, an album joyfully spanning all sorts of styles including but not limited to hip-hop, soul and funk. "Under Tha Influence" is an excellent exmple of how Cee-Lo brings it all together in such an irresistably fun and easy manner.

Cee-Lo - Under Tha Influence (Follow Me)

she spoke just like a baroness

My friend Patrick introduced me to this band as one he knew personally and really enjoyed but for some reason I didn't give them my whole attention until more recently. Not too well-known, (yet), Baroness plays an excellent blend of metal styles seamlessly with some almost crusty sounding vocals. This song from their first release, called appropriately First, kind of sounds like if Catharsis played Tetris while Iron Maiden blared in the background. Fantastic artwork to boot.

Baroness - Coeur

From their website:

Baroness - Rise