The Best Albums Of 2021: Part 1
Th1rte3n - A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism
The first time I heard Pharaohe Monch was back in 1994 when Organized Konfusion dropped Stress. That track hit me so hard, it still gives me chills and there’s no denying that both Pharaohe and Prince Po were way ahead of their time. That was from their second album and if you go back even further to their previous incarnation as Simply II Positive it’s obvious that there was never a point when they didn’t sound totally fresh and still now, over 30 years later, Pharaohe feels just as exciting and innovative as he ever was.
Although a great live performer even with the standard DJ / MC set up, there’s no denying that Pharaohe always shines the best with a live band in tow, so the fact that this is a new band project is exciting, even with just two extra members: Daru Jones, a Grammy Award winning drummer who has played with Raekwon, Slum Village, Jamie Lidell, Jean Grae, Gloria Gaynor and Jack White to name just a few ); and guitarist Marcus Machado, winner of Rolling Stone’s ‘Next Young Gun’ contest back in 2016 who has collaborated with the likes of Anderson.Paak, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Pete Rock, and Georgia Ann Muldrow.
Anyone familiar with Pharaohe’s last 3 albums will know how effectively he can flip a rock riff to underline the measured frustration of his rhymes but with Th1rt3en he takes that to a whole new level, and both Daru and Marcus are perfect for the job, chopping up hard hitting funk and blues heavy beats and guitar that bring to mind a mixture of classic Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and early Funkadelic, leaving plenty of space for Monch to exorcise the demons of the world, using the power of his words carefully as always, clearly, concisely and poetical enough to get you right in the feels without spilling over into the semantic self gratification that many underground emcees are guilty of. There’s also a great guest spot from B Real and Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, which given that they were probably the first hip-hop crew known for raiding those classic rock bands for their beats (thanks to Muggs), makes them a perfect addition.
If you’re feeling this then you might appreciate my personal playlist of recent Hip-hop here.
Alostmen - Kologo
I first heard of Wanlov The Kubolor through his song African Gypsy, a track which perfectly encapsulates the musician’s Ghanaian and Romanian heritage and which as somebody who DJs both Balkan and West African music, sat rather nicely between those two worlds for me. He popped up again on Kobi Onyame’s criminally underrepresented ‘Gold’ album before I realised he was also half of Fokn Bois alongside M3nsa, an incredible outfit who use tongue in cheek humour to approach a number of often important subjects. Although largely a Hip-hop duo, their Afrobeats LOL EP remains one of my favourite Afro-Pop releases, even if it does feel very much like a parody.
As it turns out, this is just a small snippet of Wanlov’s output and this latest project with ‘neo griot and kologo master’ Steve Atambire is an absolute peach. Essentially it is a reworking of the ‘Teach Me’ album they put out for the Akwaaba label (shout out Benjamin) under Steve’s name but even if you know that album back to front, ‘Kologo’ is the perfect opportunity to revisit this forward focussed and boundary pushing interpretation of kologo music from the Frafra people of Northern Ghana, that takes in influences from Rap, Reggae, Malian blues and perhaps a touch of House too. Managing to sound both traditional and incredibly fresh, eschewing an overproduced and synthetic sound for something raw, honest and infinitely more potent to my mind.
Of course Wanlov has form here, he worked on the ‘1000 Can Die’ album for the legendary King Ayisoba (out on Glitterbeat and also highly recommended), perhaps the most famous proponent of kologo music, which centres around the two stringed lute like kologo, an instrument made from a calabash, although Stevo Atambire’s is made from an oil can, much the same as Guy One, another of the more recognisable kologo players here in the UK thanks to his brilliant ‘#1’ album for the Berlin based Philophon label. Alostmen is definitely in the same vein as these others, but also very much in their own lane and they prove a perfect addition to the Strut roster which includes some of my favourite bands from the UK festival scene such as Electric Jalaba, Onipa and Nubiyan Twist, as well as legends like the Sun Ra Arkestra, Pat Thomas and Mulatu Astatke.
That Handsome Devil - Your Parents Are Sellouts
Considering these guys have been around making exceptional music since 2004, I’m kind of kicking myself that this is the first time I’ve heard of them, although I’m aware of lead vocalist Godforbid from his old Hip-hop crew Alaskan Fishermen alongside Thirstin Howl III and Father Time (if you love Hip-hop but missed them at time, go back and check their stuff out too).
Despite Godforbid being at the helm, this isn’t a Hip-hop album, in fact it’s hard to say exactly what it is. At times it comes off like the funkier end of your favourite N.E.R.D. tracks, at others it’s got the smooth and smokey blues swagger of G Love & Special Sauce or maybe even Tom Waits. Steeped in irony, they plunder the sounds of lounge Music, psychedelia, funk, post punk, surf rock and more, whilst lyrically the album manages to masterfully tackle subjects such as addiction, toxic masculinity and the pitfalls of living in a capitalist society. The albums most uncomfortable moment, the skit ‘Date Rape U’ combines these last two in a breezy game 50s show style. It’s not exactly a cheery album, but as the soundtrack to the American Dream breaking down, it’s surprisingly enjoyable to listen to and I’ve had it on repeat all month.
Other albums I’ve enjoyed this month are: Alicai Harley’s blend of Jamaican dancehall and reggae with a more UK Afro Swing sound, ‘The Red Room (Yard Gyal Inna Britain)’; Binbag Wisdom ‘Crud Life’ which shows why they are such a well respected band on the festival circuit; Zion Train ‘Illuminate In Dub’, a brilliant live dub version of their previous album; Dizraeli’s The Unmaster (Remixes and Versions); Spoek Mathumbo’s ‘Hikikomori Blue’ (Spoek also appears on Dizraeli’s album); Bicep ‘Isles’; Ancient Astronauts ‘Zik Zak’; Nyck Caution ‘Anywhere But Here’; Slick Shoota ‘Function’; Nahawa Doumbia ‘Kanawa’; Arlo Parks ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’; Madlib ‘Sound Ancestors’; James Yorkston & The Second Hand Orchestra ‘The Wide, Wide River’; and Celeste ‘Not Your Muse’.
Don’t forget, if you love listening to new music my 2021 playlist is continuously growing daily. I’ll see you back here at the end of the month for 3 of my favourite February albums.
