Odds & Ends 113
Singer and rappers with balls literal (but for how long) and metaphorical (ditto)
Kasai Allstars: Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound
The more things change—guitarist/programmer Mopero Mupemba has become the clear bandleader, while one Bijou is a sweet addition to the vocal lineup—the more it’s a case of “if you liked the last one you’ll like this one,” unless you liked the last one for Arvo Pärt (“The Large Bird, the Woman and the Baby”, “Like a Dry Leaf on a Tree”, “Kasai Munene”)
PC Music dude takes the most annoying bygone rave subgenres and makes them sillier, and while it’s not like the reason I didn’t care about trance in the ’90s was that it lacked silliness, the cheap thrills come fast, with MC Boing spitting lines like “banging it banging it banging the piano” and “we are driving in a car car car car car” like a Chipmunk on E (“Car Song”, “Piano Song”, “All Night”)
America’s favorite Afrorocker’s fretboard dexterity is unimpeachable, and he and his band are more than capable of delivering the driving grooves that blooze fans expect; if some of us nerds want more, that’s no reason to deny the pleasures here (“Chismiten”, “Afrique Victime”, “Taliat”)
Brockhampton: Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine Plus Pack
Their fashionable too-muchness includes lots of fun cameos (Danny Brown the strongest) and the core members building to moments of genuine catharsis, not all of which are undermined by bad rock music (“Don’t Shoot Up the Party”, “Buzzcut”, “The Light”)
LSDXOXO: Dedicated 2 Disrespect EP
While one might question whether Berlin expat techno is a sufficiently disrespectful vehicle over which to deliver refrains like “the devil fuck me good”, this bounces plenty, and his vocals are at least as good as Lil Nas X’s were two years ago (“Sick Bitch”, “The Devil”)
London-based band fronted by one KOG (Kweku of Ghana) parties up half a dozen Afropop traditions, including a credible ersatz Mtukudzi, though the funk is a little thin except when literally Tony Allen shows up (“Chicken No Dey Fly”, “Gbomo”, “Play”)
L’Orange & Namir Blade: Imaginary Everything
One of hip hop’s more thoughtful soundscapers gives another promising bullpen rapper a bit too much album to show ’em what he got, but Namir has good rhyme strings and nerdy references and lived things to say about being poor (“Corner Store Scandal”, “Point to Point”, “Nihilism”)
Russian-born DJ makes techno persistently cool both in the Fonz sense and the “somehow we messed up climate change so badly the world went Snowpiercer” sense, with whispers and drums machines hinting that transcendence already happened and you missed out (“Drama C”, “Awake”)
Ka: A Martyr’s Reward
I wish he liked drums more, but his low-key vocal-fried integrity makes me wonder if, just maybe, something was lost when street rap was colonized by sociopaths (“I Need All That”, “Everybody Up”)
SHINee: Don't Call Me
Despite tragedy and taking two years off for conscription, K-pop’s elder statesboys sound much the same as ever: best on the fast ones, credible on the slower ones, and not quite as exciting as the top tier girl groups (“Don’t Call Me”, “I Really Want You”, “Code”)
Afrika Mamas: Ilanga: The Sun
Imagine a Ladysmith-style a cappella group that’s all women, each with strong, distinctive voices that years of singing together have allowed them to weave into a vocal blend as smooth and rich as any in the world; now imagine them covering “Imagine” (“Tshelamina”, “Wangishiyelani”)
Rod Wave: SoulFly
Emotive if derivative sing-rapper is in permanent mourning from track one, deftly using Auto-Tune to stylize his feelings without distancing himself from them or from the gun in his drawers; I hope he makes it to a ripe old age with his balls intact (“SoulFly”, “Street Runner”, “How the Game Go”)