Africa Express presents Maison des Jeunes
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Reviews (5)
The guardian
d. 4. Oct. 2019
By
By
Ammar Kalia
d. 4. Oct. 2019
"Amid our penchant for curated archive compilations of far-flung genres, here is the living, breathing testament to a music that is very much still alive and being championed by those who have spent their lives perfecting its craft. Long may it continue in all its world-spanning complexity".
Afropop worldwide
d. 1. Nov. 2019
By
By
Banning Eyre
d. 1. Nov. 2019
"Thomas's Kwashibu Area Band has been busy touring ever since their self-titled 2015 album brought this all-but-forgotten highlife star roaring back to life in Ghana following a long stay in Canada. On their second release, Obiaa!, which means "Everybody," Thomas cries and croons like a 20-year old backed by a superb, brass-rich ensemble under the direction of Kwame Yeboah, a star in his own right these days. This set of nine songs nods to Fela's Afrobeat at times. Drummer Kwesi Boateng has clearly wood-shedded Tony Allen's signature shuffle, at once relaxed and animated as on the wistful opening track, "Onfa Nkosi Hwee" ... "Yamona" gallops along in a style Thomas calls "Afro-disco" ... There are also moments of the gentle palm wine guitar sound that preceded highlife, notably on "Odo Ankasa" ... Elsewhere, we mostly get straight-up highlife, beautifully recorded and expertly rendered by a band that has only grown tighter and smoother after a few years on tour in Africa and Europe".
Songlines
2019 December
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By
Martin Sinnock
2019 December
"Top of the world" - "Now in his 70s Pat Thomas has experienced a resurgence of interest in recent years and since 2015 has been successfully touring. During his long career he has performed classic dance band highlife, soul, reggae and disco highlife. The Kwashibu Area Band (Kwashibu is a district in Accra) play a beautifully relaxed rolling highlife style and their own fluid version of Afrobeat. It's very much old-school guitar band highlife with a horn section and pumping Farfisa keyboard ... Pat Thomas shows no sign of faltering - particularly on a remake of his hit 'Yamona' - and the band excel instrumentally on the punchy Afrobeat track 'Bubu'. This excellent new release pairs up nicely with the previous album and a retrospective double CD, Coming Home, released by Strut in 2015 and 2016 respectively".
Record collector
497 (2019 October)
By
By
Alun Hamnett
497 (2019 October)
"There are unstoppable upbeat tracks in the shape of "Yamona" and "Bubu" - both of which feature frenetic organ and glorious horn arrangements - but it's the more contemplative tracks that cut the deepest, and Obiaa! excels in delivering highlife that is both heartfelt and danceable. As soulful as it is sunkissed, Obiaa! sparkles with emotion, energy and groove".
Mojo
2019 November
By
By
David Hutcheon
2019 November
"Ghana's highlife king - still living the high life after all these years ... Though these days there's a degree of wear and tear in the "Golden Voice of Africa" (a title awarded to Thomas som 41 years ago), there's no sign of the highlife veteran slowing down ... While Thomas makes singing sound effortless, the ear is drawn to the arrangements - there's no chance this was tossed together. Whether on up-tempo warnings against arrogance (Onfa Nkosi Hwee) where the horns lead, the sooth Obinim, where it's keyboards and guitar that stand out, or the do-over on his 1980 disco hit Yamona, this is a labour of love from all concerned. The only real gripe is that it should have come out in May to catch the summer".