(2023) Orchestra Gold - Medicine  


Review:
The Oakland, CA-based Orchestra Gold combine afrobeat with psych rock, reggae, and more on their third album Medicine. Singing in the Bambara language, the band delivers unique soundscapes over the course of these eight tracks. The seven-piece fuse a sixties garage/psych rock sound onto the afrobeat formula with mixed results. Opener “Keleya” twinkles to start, adding fuzz guitar to the groove, before distorted vocals and squeaking brass add to the ever-increasing layers of chaotic sound before a pumped-up rock finale seals the deal on a successful outing. The less frantic, slower blues-rock base of “Koniya” is awash in solos and echoey vocals while “Barra Nyuma” loads up the reggae influence and expertly deploys baritone and tenor sax. Less successful is “Bobofoli”, which never picks up the energy and dulls along the way. Sometimes this combination of styles wears out its welcome quickly (“Segou Heat”) but when things sync up it can be glorious. Such is the case on “Gende”, a triumphant song about family and the clear standout track on the album. Hand drums and a direct afrobeat style begin the effort with the band building and spinning around each other until a mid-song funky shift into a get-down party jam with blaring horns and dance-laden beats dominate to close; a stunner. The following “Dia Ye Banna” goes for a more laid-back, early Santana space groove before also shifting styles, only less successfully. The album-closing “Tequila Jam” is inspired by The Champs famous tune but develops an engaging life of its own with great bass work and horn solos.  A unique excursion, Orchestra GOLD’s Medicine combines styles, cultures, and genres, while both struggling through and celebrating life. — glidemagazine


   


Track List:
01 - Keleya
02 - Koniya
03 - Baara Nyuma
04 - Bobofoli
05 - Gende
06 - Dia ye Banna
07 - Segou Heat
08 - Tequila Jam


Media Report:
Genre: psychedelic rock, world
Country: Oakland, California, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


Note: If you like the music, support the artist