Needles & Grooves AoTM /// Vol. 8 - February 2020 /// Ibeyi - Ash

Something arrived today! First off, minor apologies to Hermes. Despite dropping it ‘“in the porch” of a huge industrial unit it did make it to An Post and in turn to my post office today! This is one cool package! Even the lyrics are folded inside part of the sleeve! Looking forward to digging into this with you all in February!

FBAF38E1-8289-4DE9-BD9E-6E2A0E4CF009.jpegD233426D-73D1-46D0-8B61-7EFDB2A92D51.jpegD754835C-7343-41C1-8F6B-D3B505AB2887.jpeg5089D46E-58A4-463C-86AF-FB3B53AB2BEF.jpeg
 
Ibeyi - Ash

R-10929850-1506704641-5639.jpeg.jpg

I can't recall when or how I got first exposed to Ibeyi's music, but I remember that I did a mental note to check their music further when I got the chance because it sounded glorious. It was probably "River" from their self-titled :



A few months later, I stumbled onto an interview they made for french TV, where they had to comment some records the journalist picked for them, and they spoke about how their father, Angua Diaz, played for Afro-Cuban All-Stars and Buena Vista Social Club, that always played music during their childhood and how they got their big break with Richard Russell. I dived right in the next day, streaming Ash during a whole week, then also listening to their S/T as well.

I was hooked by the percussion heavy music first then the vocal harmonies. Most of Ibeyi's music stands on those two pillars : a great beat, organic and electronic at the same time, with bata and cajon drums, obvious legacy from Angua Diaz and their upbringing, and machines, mixing tradition and modernity seamlessly ; and also those vocal melodies, supported by keys, once again both traditional and synths.



The result is something unique, it can be hard to put a label on their music, and in my opinion many great modern records are similar in the way that it becomes very hard to put a label, to define as something else than it's own thing. R'n'B, soul and electro influences are apparent, but also easily forgotten when immersed into the music. It really recommend playing this record LOUD.

Of course, the lyrics and themes are as modern and important as the music in Ash. The songs acts both as a testimony of the reality of being a woman, black, they talk about family, and they also are political in nature, as it's becoming more and more apparent that our societies are deeply flawed and need fixing. The use of english, spanish, french (on the S/T) and yoruba makes also the record stands as a product of both Ibeyi's mixed origins (afro-cuban, french, venezulian among other origins from their parents) and our globalized society.

To end this review, as I'm not really at ease writing about stuff I love without having the impression to speak nonsense or banalities, Ibeyi once said in interview that the yoruba culture was all about being happy when everything goes bad around you. And that's maybe why this music speaks to me so well, it's energetic, dynamic, beautiful, and both sad and happy at the same time. In the end, it's profoundly human.

 
cul8er said:
View attachment 29276

Enjoying this! Love the gatefold with this version.
Click to expand...
gafacaode said:
Oh yeah
View attachment 29323
Click to expand...
Joe Mac said:
Something arrived today! First off, minor apologies to Hermes. Despite dropping it ‘“in the porch” of a huge industrial unit it did make it to An Post and in turn to my post office today! This is one cool package! Even the lyrics are folded inside part of the sleeve! Looking forward to digging into this with you all in February!

View attachment 29585View attachment 29587View attachment 29586View attachment 29588
Click to expand...
Skalap said:
🔥 🔥 🔥

View attachment 29987
Click to expand...

I love to see all thoses records already in good homes ! If you can follow @Skalap 's example and can find the S/T for nice price, I highly recommend double dipping, as it's as good as Ash !

Also, I love both packaging idea for those two records, playing on duality. :)
 
ChristoBee said:
Ibeyi - Ash

View attachment 29992

I can't recall when or how I got first exposed to Ibeyi's music, but I remember that I did a mental note to check their music further when I got the chance because it sounded glorious. It was probably "River" from their self-titled :



A few months later, I stumbled onto an interview they made for french TV, where they had to comment some records the journalist picked for them, and they spoke about how their father, Angua Diaz, played for Afro-Cuban All-Stars and Buena Vista Social Club, that always played music during their childhood and how they got their big break with Richard Russell. I dived right in the next day, streaming Ash during a whole week, then also listening to their S/T as well.

I was hooked by the percussion heavy music first then the vocal harmonies. Most of Ibeyi's music stands on those two pillars : a great beat, organic and electronic at the same time, with bata and cajon drums, obvious legacy from Angua Diaz and their upbringing, and machines, mixing tradition and modernity seamlessly ; and also those vocal melodies, supported by keys, once again both traditional and synths.



The result is something unique, it can be hard to put a label on their music, and in my opinion many great modern records are similar in the way that it becomes very hard to put a label, to define as something else than it's own thing. R'n'B, soul and electro influences are apparent, but also easily forgotten when immersed into the music. It really recommend playing this record LOUD.

Of course, the lyrics and themes are as modern and important as the music in Ash. The songs acts both as a testimony of the reality of being a woman, black, they talk about family, and they also are political in nature, as it's becoming more and more apparent that our societies are deeply flawed and need fixing. The use of english, spanish, french (on the S/T) and yoruba makes also the record stands as a product of both Ibeyi's mixed origins (afro-cuban, french, venezulian among other origins from their parents) and our globalized society.

To end this review, as I'm not really at ease writing about stuff I love without having the impression to speak nonsense or banalities, Ibeyi once said in interview that the yoruba culture was all about being happy when everything goes bad around you. And that's maybe why this music speaks to me so well, it's energetic, dynamic, beautiful, and both sad and happy at the same time. In the end, it's profoundly human.

Click to expand...


I'm really bad at following along with these threads during the guessing because I'm terrible at that apart of it, but your write-up has me super intrigued and I'm queuing it up now to listen to. Thank you!
 
ChristoBee said:
Thanks, hope you'll like it ! :)
Click to expand...

Listened to this a bunch yesterday and I really like it!

If you haven't listened to the Song Exploder podcast for their song Deathless, you should check it out. It's cool to hear them explain the writing process for the song and how it came together.

open.spotify.com

Ibeyi - Deathless

Listen to this episode from Song Exploder on Spotify. The band Ibeyi is made up of twin sisters Naomi Diaz, and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz. When they were only teenagers, they were signed to a record deal by Richard Russell, who had previously signed artists like Adele and Vampire Weekend to his label...
open.spotify.com open.spotify.com
 
I Like to drop back into these threads when the next months guess thread starts to pick up.

It deserves to reach top of new posts list again :)

Overall a great pick @ChristoBee well done - Whole family has enjoyed it., a beautiful record and lovely package. - The record will stay on the wall display for a while longer (always encourages more picks) N&G picks get good wall time in my household !!!

Also some great links to interviews / tunes alternative artists in this thread.

Good work people who care !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top