I can't escape the pull of NOMO's hypnotic new Ghost Rock and have been listening non-stop for days. One of the best tracks is called "Rings," which would have made a fine album title as well considering it's all harmonic cycles and endlessly expanding circles on the pool of rhythm. In fact, "Rings" could just as well be a name for their genre itself, since Ghost Rock will carve out for NOMO a new niche in the wide category of afrobeat - a place all their own that can no longer be called a revival - which needs its own name. Ghost Rock is afrobeat 2.0, and never slacks compositionally, delivering beautifully crafted hornwork when it could easily lean on its glorious, exotic distorted and pitch-fucked thumb pianos for appeal. So it's got the tunes you need, and keeps the track times at modest lengths. The result: it's not fatiguing in the way that Konono No. 1, who use a similar effect of over-amping traditional African instrumentation, or even the most classic Fela Kuti and Tony Allen cuts can draw you in with seductive grooves but exhaust after the 10-minute mark. Because there is nothing quite like it, Ghost Rock will be an indispensable album for a lot of people.
NOMO - "Nova" [Ghost Rock]
NOMO - "Rings" [Ghost Rock]
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Listen to Ghost Rock, and then throw these cherries on the sundae.
Battles - "Prismism" [Mirrored]
Bobby McFerrin - "Dervishes" [Beyond Words]
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