Tunes Consumed: the Poutine Silver Platter

It is to my own dismay that I hadn’t heard of the Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra until today, with the release of their third LP, Love International. The group has been chillin’ on the block since 2001 and their tale is one that Sunday afternoon movies are made of: a punk rock youth gets sick of the punk scene, meets up with best friend, creates afro beat in the heart of NYC. The band releases a DIY self-produced & released debut (punk roots, remember), which is pretty well-received, blossoms to include eight full-time members and becomes mainstays at New York’s infamous venue for the avant-garde, the Knitting Factory.

Fast forward six years, with tours that took the band to over 15 different countries, and, shit, do you have a force to reckon with.

To help describe the music, it probably would help to give some background. The band name itself, Kokolo, was derived from a Spanish-Harlem slang term that was used to describe hardcore followers of afro music. As band leader Ray Lugo explains, “my aim was to fuse the socio-political awareness of punk and the confidence of hip-hop with the sophistication of afro-beat, funk, Latin music and beyond - in order to create something unique based on my own experiences”.

This amalgamation reminds me a lot of Montreal’s Afrodizz or perhaps Antibalas or the sweet world music that one often hears walking the streets of Toronto or Montreal in the summertime. It is progressive in the mixtures of genre, but still paying respect to all the great lords of funk & soul of the past. On top of it all, it isn’t meant to be mere fluff neither.

As their press release states, Lugo has crafted a whole ideology to fuel the band that draws upon humanist philosophy and punk rock ethos. “Billions of people today are manipulated via empty political slogans and organized religion, [and] only through changing how we educate future generations can we begin to move the human experience towards a universal spirit of brotherhood…the eradication of fear.” This is reinforced through the band’s actions on-the-side: their consistent participation in a variety of projects and benefit concerts for causes ranging from the environment, to the Darfur Crisis, youth empowerment groups, and urban development organizations. “It’s not about ego or rock-star clichés…it’s about the luxury that is to be alive and have the opportunity of bringing a positive message to people.”

These aspirations seep into the music through the politically charged lyrics but, even so, the overall sound is always upbeat & definitely brings the funk. And so, while I was pretty disappointed with Tyler’s Budos Band choice yesterday (despite their Transformers referencing), my thirst for a frigging great summer funk album has, as of this moment, been quenched.

The Love International table of contents:
1. Our Own Thing
2. Vote Black President (Yeah Yeah)
3. Love International
4. The Way Up
5. Congo Bongo
6. The Magnificent Seven
7. While I Got Me Microphone
8. Sabroso
9. Let Compassion Be Your Fashion
10. Nueva York

funk buffet:
Kokolo - Our Own Thing.
Kokolo - While I Got the Microphone.
Kokolo - Sabroso.

If you are in Montreal, you’ll be able to catch the band’s live show on September 29th at the Sala Rossa. Their CD, just released as of early July, can be purchased from Freestyle Records or from Amazon. For more info, visit their elegant site over at kokoloonline.com.