Izvorišta 401: Lair, Maria Mazzotta, Aziza Brahim, Lagos Thugs
Three excellent new albums from 2024 are featured in this edition of Izvorišta. From Indonesia comes the psychedelic folk-rock band Lair, who released their second album "Ngélar". Italian singer Maria Mazzotta has changed her style on the album "Onde", featuring completely new instruments in accompaniment, and Aziza Brahim has recorded her best album ("Mawja") in 10 years. Additionally, there's a holdover from 2023 - the Nigerian afrobeat group Lagos Thugs and their album "Chaos".
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Lair - Ngélar (Guruguru Brain 2024.)
Musical trends always bring with them many mediocre performers, which leads to listeners distancing themselves from the trend and it gradually disappearing from the scene. This will probably also happen with the ubiquitous psychedelic folk rock that we have been bombarded with in recent years. However, as long as bands like Lair exist, there is no need to fear the disappearance of this trend. On the contrary, after listening to "Ngélar", the Indonesian band's second album, you want to listen to this kind of music every day. Lair is loud, psychedelic and authentic and skillfully blends influences from traditional Indonesian music with what can best be described as psychedelic rock. And when Monica Hapsari joins in on vocals for three songs, everything takes a completely crazy turn. "Ngélar" is an album that I've been returning to again and again over the last few weeks and is currently at the top of my list of the best releases in 2024.
Maria Mazzotta - Onde (Zero Nove Nove 2024.)
Maria Mazzotta has established herself as one of the most interesting European singers and could have further developed her career by performing only accompanied by an accordionist. However, she decided to make a major change and "Onde" was recorded with the musical accompaniment of an electric guitar and drums. The sound is now much more powerful, more intense, and anyone who was worried about how the whole thing would sound in the end had no reason to worry. Ernesto Nobili and Cristiano Della Monica have blended beautifully with Maria's otherworldly voice, and "Onde" is just another step in the career of the beloved singer and even more beloved person.
Aziza Brahim - Mawja (Glitterbeat Records 2024.)
Aziza Brahim enchanted me with her 2014 album "Soutak". This album conveyed to the world all that refugees from the Western Sahara experience who have been without their home for decades, and musically it was all excellently packaged in a blend of desert and Spanish music, as Aziza has lived in Spain for a long time. Ten years later, the singer released her fourth album entitled "Mawja"," which in my opinion is her best release since "Soutak" Not much has changed in her music - Aziza's powerful voice still carries everything, the musical accompaniment is similar, and unfortunately so are the themes. The only difference from the previous albums is that "Mawja" flows beautifully and introduces the listener to Aziza's world.
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Lagos Thugs - Chaos (Immensum Music 2023.)
"Chaos" is one of the albums from last year that I somehow skipped over, which is quite strange because it's one of the best afrobeat releases of the last few years. The Nigerian 15-piece band Lagos Thugs really got everything right on it - musically phenomenal, with bold and engaging lyrics. Fela Kuti would be proud. Each of the four songs on the album has its message, but "Innocent Blood" is something special. In it, Lagos Thugs sing about the massacre by the Nigerian army in 2020, in which at least 12 people were killed during the protests in Lekki. It was an unbelievable scandal that the Nigerian authorities tried to cover up for days, but Lagos Thugs sing openly sing about it all. 'On October 20 government massacre my people,' Lagos Thugs sing, continuing with the story of the massacre in Lekki. It all ends with a call to fight and resist, and such calls aren't exactly common in a country where the army and the government are always closely linked. However, Lagos Thugs know that music has the power to mobilize people. They learned everything from Fela, and they learned it well. Resistance, we kind of forgot that, but nothing goes without resistance.
Tracklist:
Yīn Yīn - Takahashi Timing
Lair - Tatalu
Lair - Pesta Takyat Pabrik Gula
Lair - Boa-Boa
Lair - Setan Dolbon
Maria Mazzotta - Libro D'Amore
Maria Mazzotta - Sula Nu Puei Stare (feat Bombino)
Maria Mazzotta - Viestesana
Aziza Brahim - Thajliba
Aziza Brahim - Ljaima Likbira
Aziza Brahim - Mawja
Lagos Thugs - Innocent Blood
Lagos Thugs - Kalakuta President
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