EXTRA GOLDEN Thank You CD Kenya Africa for fans of Tinariwen King Sunny Ade

Description: The third release from this international group (two members are from the US and two are from Kenya) is a six-song wonder where joyous danceable anthems were crafted in the wake of political and economic upheaval in Kenya. The opening and closing tracks extend a humble thanks to all the fans who donated money to keep the band's families safe amidst Kenya's post-election violence in 2008. review Extra Golden has been playing an electric fusion of classic rock and Kenyan benga music for a few years now. Their first album, Ok-Oyot System, was an intriguing and satisfying album that had the liveliness of Nigerian juju music with a good rock edge. After a tragic death in the band, it took them some time to regroup, but regroup they have, and Thank You Very Quickly is a remarkable album that surpasses their earlier work with its seamless integration of U.S. and African sounds. The balance here is perfect, and the resulting album sounds like it would be equally at home in the collection of an American jam band fan or a world music listener. The sound is no longer even really benga or rock, and the listener can hear threads of several styles from sub-Saharan Africa as well as the desert blues of Tuareg artists like Tinariwen. The guitars here are the star, though, and while they are expressive, they never overwhelm with unnecessary pyrotechnics. The album is a paragon of taste, intelligence and groove, essential for rock fans with open ears and world music fans who detest the new-age leanings of much of the stuff that gets classified as world music fusion. If only all cross-cultural musical experiments were this good... Further listening: Tinariwen, the Ry Cooder/Ali Farka Toure album, any of Bob Brozman's cross-cultural experiments, King Sunny Ade, Tri Continental... Pitchfork review Extra Golden's third album closes with the title track, a song thanking the band's fans for donating money to keep the Kenyan members' families out of harm's way during the violent convulsion that heaved through the country after last year's contentious election. It's a buoyant song that typifies the band's seamless blend of American rock music with benga, Kenya's ebullient and propulsive dance music, but like a lot of benga songs, it packs a serious message into the lilting, doubled vocals, sung mostly in Luo, with an English verse by Ian Eagleson. "Next time, it could be you," Eagleson reminds English-speaking listeners; near the end, there's a cry of "ok-oyot!" amid some celebratory cheering, a reference to the title of their debut LP, and a phrase that roughly means "It's not easy." And nothing has been easy for this band. For a moment, set aside the fact that half the members live on one continent and the other half live on a separate one, a challenge in itself, and consider their path to this point. Original member Otieno Jagwasi died of AIDS-related illness before the first album could be released, and his brother Onyango is now in the band, dueling with Eagleson's guitar. The other original Kenyan member, drummer Onyango Wuod Omari, sings lead on "Ukimwi" an impassioned plea to wipe out the disease that killed Otieno Jagwasi and holds much of eastern and southern Africa in a terrible thrall. Three years ago, the Kenyan members needed intervention from then-Senator Barack Obama to get visas to enter the U.S., and the threat posed by last year's violence is self-explanatory. So it's a small triumph that the band even still exists. The music on Thank You Very Quickly is a triumph of a different sort. Extra Golden have conquered whatever divide there once was between rock and benga to create a distinct sound of their own that respects both traditions. They've gained so much confidence in their sound that they've even begun to expand it beyond that collision. "Fantasies of the Orient" is a hard-grooving track laced with psychedelic organ and three-against-four rhythms that recall the pop music of Kenya's neighbor to the north, Ethiopia. Eagleson and Jagwasi trade lines throughout the song, dueting in two languages while their guitars carry the multi-lingual conversation into the music, pitting distortion against clean fluidity. I'm grateful that Extra Golden have continued their partnership, not only because of the quality and uniqueness of the band's music, but also for the fact that the band is a powerful symbol for the good that can arise from an interconnected world. They're a community-building entity on multiple levels, from the way they inspired fans to reach out and help their families in a time of tremendous need, to the way they feed into notions of global community. Thank You Very Quickly is an album for everyone from four guys who've discovered a way to make our world just a bit smaller.

Price: 5.99 USD

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

End Time: 2025-01-18T20:49:16.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.25 USD