The Rolling Stones in mono
The Rolling Stones
Keywords
Reviews (3)
The observer
d. 30. Jan. 2021
By
By
Neil Spencer
d. 30. Jan. 2021
"Fiery debut blends Ghanaian strings with stylish rap, percussion and trance rhythms: Stevo Atambire, the quartet's charismatic leader and master of the kologo, the two-stringed lute particular to the Frafra people of Ghana's north (...), plays the kologo differently, as a power instrument, and sports a mean, homemade oil-can version. This debut album, much of it recorded in tour hotel rooms by producer Wanlov the Kubolor, has Atambire chopping out trancey rhythms overlaid by strident calls, female choruses and raps by a cool roster of pals. Along the way there are traditional moments, with rattling percussion and one-string fiddle. "Teach Me" is a rowdy celebration with Nigerian guest star Villy (of Villy and the Xtreme Volumes); hot rapper Yaa Pono shows his style on "Fauziah"; and on "Do Good", another wordsmith, Medikal, preaches stylishly. Hot stuff".
RootsWorld
2021
By
By
Bruce Miller
2021
"Young Ghanaians such as rappers Medikal and Kwesi Arthur have exploded into the country's musical consciousness with car-window-shattering bass and click tracks that put their sounds in line with dominant hip hop strains ... Alostmen, a quartet centered on two-stringed lute player Stevo Atambire, are pushing music forward a bit differently; their approach is much more rooted in Ghana's past. For one, Atambire's kologo is an instrument that connects to Fra Fra tribespeople in the country's north. And certain tracks, such as the unadorned "Bayiti," driven by voice and solo kologo, are unmistakably West African, the voices repeating singular words over the melodically minimal music. Yet, Alostmen are young guys as into hip hop or reggae as anything traditional, which is why their music sounds so startling fresh. Even when they bring in guest Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, who has been recording since the early 1970s, the track that features him, "Minus Me," is hard, electric future-funk. In this way, they manage to wrap the present around specific sounds form the past".
Songlines
2021 April
By
By
Jim Hickson
2021 April
"Top of the world" - "Stevo Atambire is already a big deal in Ghana, a streetboy-turned-pop star whose local releases are full of synths and autotune. With his band Alostmen, and the help of [a] big-name producer (...), Atambire goes back to his roots. Alostmen's music marries the gritty, bluesy sound of the Frafra kologo (two-string fretless lute) from Ghana's Upper East Region with the hip cosmopolitan vibes of the capital Accra. It's all led by Atambire, who uses his mighty kologo to accompany his griot-like teachings on morality and philosophy ... Glossy production and a pile of guests could easily transform the down-to-earth kologo into a totally different monster, but it's all done with a subtlety that takes nothing away".