It's Time
Alma Afrobeat Ensemble

We say: A game of two halves, the second worth the fast-forward

Like reggae, Afrobeat is one of those genres which is hard to resist when experienced live, especially at world music festivals or in sweaty clubs. But, as with reggae, it succeeds by working the familiar, in the case of Afrobeat the boiling template laid down by pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti four decades ago. This band, formed in Chicago by guitarist Aaron Felder — who admits it only took off when he relocated to Barcelona a decade ago—doesn't stray much from Fela in the first half. By the midpoint you'd be prepared to shrug and dismiss this as just more familiar Afrobeat. But the remixes in the second half pull this into much more interesting territory. Here hammering percussion and bass are pulled upfront, there are aggressive raps, and cavernous echoes of dub trickery are explored.

If their originals don't sound especially original, the inventive remixers have managed to make something distinctive out of the source material. An album improved by playing it in reverse.