ANTIBALAS
09/28/2012
Visulite Theatre (16+ (Must have ID) - Under 16 with Parent Only)
Doors Open: 8:00 - Headliner Begins: 10:15
"Rhythm is what makes a good Afrobeat record," says Gabriel Roth, Daptone Records co-founder, producer and connoisseur of all things funky. "Not just the rhythm section, but the rhythm of the horns, the rhythm of the vocals, the rhythm of the keyboards, everybody's rhythm. It's not just being about being right or wrong in your rhythm, or being good at it, but it's about feeling something the same way, swinging the same way, anticipating things the same way, and hitting things the same way - everybody hearing music the same way, and being able to turn all those instruments into one voice.
"Antibalas is the only band that can do that, right now. That's why they're still at the front of the scene, after all these years."
Fourteen years after their first gig, and five since the release of their last album, 2007's Security, Antibalas - Afrobeat's premier second-wave ensemble - are back with their fifth full-length release. Simply titled Antibalas, the album is both a blazing reaffirmation of the NYC band's collective musical strengths, and a hard-hitting continuation of their funkified excursions into what Antibalas founder and baritone saxophonist Martn Perna calls "our vault of esoteric sounds and knowledge."
"We kicked around a couple of different titles," Perna explains, "but we could all agree on Antibalas. We're always who we have been, and this is what we are and what we're about, without any frills. If you've never heard any of our albums before, this is the one to listen to."
"Musically, it's our best playing as a band," says trumpeter Jordan McLean. "We're having more fun together, we're all breathing in sync, the structures of the compositions and the overall sound are tighter, and the band is sounding better than ever."
Recorded over a two-week period at Daptone's House of Soul Studios in Brooklyn with Roth at the helm, Antibalas is the first Antibalas full-length to be released on Daptone, which - given Antibalas' deep- and long-running ties to the label - brings things kind of full-circle for the band. Antibalas has shared past and present members with several outfits in the Daptone stable (such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band and The Budos Band), while Roth was an original member of the band, and produced the first three Antibalas albums. "Making this record was like going back and playing basketball with all your high school buddies, or something," says Roth.
The "family reunion" feeling on Antibalas is further bolstered by the return of original guitarist Luke O'Malley, who contributed "Dirty Money," the album's effervescent opening track. "Luke O'Malley has an amazing sense of music," says tenor saxophonist Stuart Bogie, "and 'Dirty Money' is a perfect example of that. But he's also such a hilarious and inspiring person, who leads with just kind of a blind energy into everything he does. He's very much a reason why everyone in that room is there."
"We've woven ourselves together musically, but also personally," says Perna. "It's a community that has existed as Antibalas for 14 years now, and if you go back to when Gabe and Luke and I started making music together, it goes back to '94."
According to Perna, a little-known but tasty morsel of music trivia is the fact that TV on the Radio, The Dap-Kings and Antibalas all began in the same apartment - a decrepit old factory loft at 132 Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg. "Gabe, Tunde Adebimpe and I were all living there at the time Antibalas was getting started. The Dap-Kings were called the Soul Providers at the time; that was just getting off the ground. Tunde just finished at NYU and was doing animation stuff at the time, and we would mess around on the cassette four-track and make little songs. And then Dave Sitek moved into the loft, and he and Tunde started making music. So this little liminal space was so fertile with friendship and creative imagination, and this shared sense of struggle that was manifested in three musical groups that have made a pretty strong impact on America in different ways."
SUPERAPE
Start Time: 9:00
Super Ape is:
Stephen Barrett (programming, samplers & turntables)
Dirty Haire (drums, programming & samplers)
Christopher Holston (guitar)
Jason Michel (bass)
Flock (keyboards, percussion & programming)
“Coupling the finest rock and mellow dub electro funk spacey danceable ITEM! No. A-side is a cool and dynamic Tappuri speedy. Texture is a dance tune and Krautrock. The B-side, Dam-Funk Electro Funk No. principle leads to the future space. The ballistic Chi Shi involving synth beats and floating Kkoi.!! It is recommended to both sides!”
- Jet Set Records [Japan]
