eMusic Review 0
If you were being unkind, Antibalas would be merely a Fela Kuti tribute band that should be opening for the Bootleg Beatles or Bjorn Again. On the other hand, they are part of a group of musicians reacting against industry sterility, digital purity and the blandness of consensus politics by recreating music born of experimentation, miscegenation and commitment. With the exception of some prominent Latin percussion on “NESTA 75,” Martin Perna’s crew has gone beyond merely summoning Fela’s ghost to fully inhabiting it. This isn’t so much carbon copy as Photoshop afrobeat — the only detail that’s wrong is that the saxophones are in tune. But verisimilitude isn’t the point, groove is, and when the groove is as hot as it is on Talktatif, why quibble?
