Tightening up the loose ends
David M. Madden | salt lake, utah United States | 06/22/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"NOMO's previous effort, the brilliant New Tones, relishes in a swaggering "live" shuffle of acoustic percussion, tape-bleed, shimmying horns and lugubrious tempos. This time around, the band tightens up those loose ends, harnessing the rhythms into edited sequences, boosting the tempos, injecting more Funk into the mix and largely eschews the Balinese gamelan-like feel in favor of electric mbiras. Compare and contrast aside, how is it? The prominent horn section is still spot-on and a bit more mature, showcasing virtuosity across the disc, but the draw of this band, that which gives their music a unique, compelling and immediately gratifying personality, has always been the organic, raw nature - the occasional stray note and all. Perhaps these are live jams translated in the studio, but the dancier (more East African than Carl Craig), more mechanical nature is something fans will need to acclimate to. Not worse, not better: just different. Let it stew for a bit."