{"id":2236,"date":"2015-06-05T18:59:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T17:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eyeplug.net\/magazine\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2011-06-15T18:50:54","modified_gmt":"2011-06-15T18:50:54","slug":"african-head-charge-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98voodoo-of-the-godsent%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/african-head-charge-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98voodoo-of-the-godsent%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"African Head Charge \u2013 \u2018Voodoo of the Godsent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

(album, On-U-Sound)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first African Head Charge studio work since 2005\u2019s Vision of a Psychedelic Africa<\/em>, Voodoo of the Godsent <\/em>is described by the label as being \u2018the culmination of thirty years of endeavour.\u2019 Given the outstanding music made by the team of master percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and legendary producer Adrian Sherwood during this period, it\u2019s debatable whether this represents their best work \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t really matter, as the album is essentially the continuation of a process that has seen both creative powerhouses expanding and transforming the landscape of contemporary reggae into new and exciting shapes.<\/p>\n

Like much of Bonjo-I\u2019s work, Voodoo of the Godsent <\/em>is an album that exists outside of conventional time and geographical space. By evoking primal rhythms and enhancing them with cutting edge studio wizardry, African Head Charge have tapped into a dynamic that simultaneously seethes with futures and pasts. Certainly, both percussionist and producer have become increasingly deft with experience, as is evidenced by the gently rolling \u2018Badman Plain\u2019 and opening track \u2018In \u201cI\u201d Head\u2019, which gently fizzes with technology set upon a mythic bedrock of compelling tribalisms. This is an album that floats into the consciousness, the suitably liquid \u2018The Best Way\u2019 being one of several examples of the way in which disparate elements are combined to create music that is both radical and relaxing.<\/p>\n

Although much of the disc stalks a technological jungle, exploring new sonic territories and clearing new ground, by utilising the Voice of Thunder, \u2018Take Heed … Smoke Up Your Collyweed\u2019, brings us back to On-U-Sound\u2019s early Far-I infused origins, while still succeeding to be progressive by dint of an epic, ambient drifting texture that is by degree primal and mesmeric. \u2018Stoned Age Man\u2019 is another accomplished conflation of ancient and modern, evoking a pre-dawn twilight, equally suffused by birdcall and digital naturalism.<\/p>\n

A key aspect of Voodoo of the Godsent<\/em>\u2019s timelessness is the way that traditional language is set atop skittering techno rhythms, as in \u2018African Bredda\u2019. Similarly, \u2018Mysterious Happenings\u2019 access a primal dreamscape of old words and new sounds to produce a form of righteous futurism that is also evident in \u2018This, That, and The Other.\u2019 This is an album that should be felt <\/em>as much as it is heard, creating new strains of roots music such as the compelling \u2018Undulating\u2019, an evocation of altered states wherein modern man encounters the wisdom of the ancients.<\/p>\n

Equally hypnotic is \u2018Timpanya\u2019 a languid and haunting evocation that draws the listener into a concentric web of unhurried vocals and polyrhythms. Penultimate track, \u2018Dobbyn Joins The Head Charge\u2019 provides a brief excursion into nyabinghi melancholy, before \u2018God Willing\u2019 rolls in as a parting broadcast from the digital dreamworld, creating a limboid miasma as the earthbeat pauses.<\/p>\n

Voodoo of the Godesnt <\/em>is a welcome return for both African Head Charge and On-U-Sound \u2013 check it out, then go mine the back catalogue. Check out the label\u2019s download store HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(album, On-U-Sound) The first African Head Charge studio work since 2005\u2019s Vision of a Psychedelic Africa, Voodoo of the Godsent is described by the label as being \u2018the culmination of thirty years of endeavour.\u2019 Given the outstanding music made by the team of master percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and legendary producer Adrian Sherwood during this …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,89],"tags":[361,358,360,121,359],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-reggae","tag-adrian-sherwood","tag-african-head-charge","tag-bonjo-i","tag-eyeplug","tag-voodoo-of-the-godsent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=2236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}