THE VERY BEST – WARM HEART OF AFRICA
Jazz, blues, rock, r’n’b, rap…these genres, along with most others, owe their origins to African music; the beats, the sounds and the rhythms of a continent that is the oldest (and monetarily poorest) on earth. Of the last decade we have seen a growing awareness of the rich diversity of music still coming out of Africa – Ali Farka Toure, Fema Kuti, Angélique Kidjo, Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour, Tinariwen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – to name but the better known. To this end here on Warm Heart of Africa we have the combination of the Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya who has teamed up with underground European producer duo Radioclit. This is their second outing were a variety of background tracks are laid down for Esau to sing over, along with guest appearances from MIA and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. Esau’s voice, along with his guests carries the balance of this album, but if you are going to draw from the rich tapestry that is African music i can’t work out what the beats of a European DJ duo would bring to the table and here is where Warm Heart falls down. This is Africa-lite, and if it bring more people to the above artists then i’m all for it. But otherwise it is for the uninitiated only.
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