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 (Yoruba/Inertia)
Afro-beat with a progressive house makeover
Big things ahead in 2008: first the cosmic disco revival (which, with three excellent new compilations coming out this month, seems to already be in full swing), then the Afro-beat revival. The tastemakers at Strut have already made a preliminary strike on the latter with their excellent Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump compilation, and now Yoruba records presents Passage, a collection of Afro-inspired house cuts. Anyone familiar with the output of label head Osunlade will know what Passage is all about: silky smooth, four-to-the-floor house with sparsely added African elements to distinguish it from the undifferentiated mass of ‘progressive’ house out there. It’s not a million miles from what Bob Sinclar has done with his patchy Africanism compilations, although, unlike the Africanism series, Passage doesn’t feel the need to trumpet its tribal influences. Although such restraint is admirable from a political perspective (Osunlade, being a Yoruba descendant, has a genuine right to the gifts of his cultural heritage, while Sinclar, as a white Frenchman, should know better than to plunder what isn’t his), it makes for a samey listening experience: aside from a few memorable cuts such as Afefe Iku’s Mirror Dance, the bizarrely-named Woman In Toilet by It, and compilation opener M.U.S.I.C. by Atjazz, the fare on here is pretty indistinguishable, and so smoothly mixed that it’s near impossible to tell when one track starts and another stops. Deep house fans, will, of course, love this aspect, but those looking for a more rewarding introduction to Afro-beat will want to skip this modern reinvention and go back to the originals.
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CHAD PARKHILL
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