Sons of Kemet, Your Queen Is A Reptile

Sons of Kemet, Your Queen Is A Reptile

An London-based jazz outfit with heavy African and Carribean influences, Sons of Kemet play joyful, celebratory, emphatically danceable music built for tearing down the walls of white patriarchy. Each song is dedicated, by title, to power Black women leaders, thinkers and liberators (one of whom is bandleader Shabaka Hutchings’ great grandmother). Most of the songs are instrumental, but the vocals first two tracks make the band’s intentions clear: The music is unquestionably jubilant, but it is also pledged in service to a greater cause, and the fierceness and the power of this music is palpable even in the most festive numbers. Musically the core is avant-jazz but reggae, funk, African folk traditions, grime and modern dance music all join in the fun. Highlights: “My Queen Is Ada Eastman,” “My Queen Is Angela Davis,” “My Queen Is Albertina Sisulu”

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Richard Thompson, 13 Rivers

Richard Thompson , 13 Rivers Richard Thompson — 13 Rivers Arguably the most consistently engaging artist of the last 50 years, Richard Thompson continues to write deep, dark folk-rock songs with an acerbic wit married to a soft, calm wisdom. This new album isn’t widely divergent from his established catalogue but miraculously Thompson, who was already a guitar hero in the 1970s, still manages to grow as a guitarist and sound fresh. Working highly intricate riffs into the undergirding of each song’s frame, he also solos on every song and as usual, his virtuosity remains connected to the music, always moving the songs forward rather than grandstanding. Plus, Thompson’s one of a kind voice only deepens in resonance over time. Highlights: “Trying,” “O Cinderella,” “Bones of Gilead”

Jacob Banks, Village

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Vince Staples, FM!

Vince Staples , FM! The Long Beach rapper follows last year’s star-studded, experimental and genre-warping Big Fish Theory with more streamlined hip hop record. With only eight short songs, Staples’s approach is simple, straight and to the point, and packs an awful lot into his breathless 22 minutes. The framing sequence of radio show DJ interludes fills the record out, and it does feature a variety of guest cameos — but this time around, they’re all from the worlds of rap and R&B. The beats are highly varied in style, though mostly uptempo and staccato. Lyrically Staples focuses on a blend of black pride, commentary on the disenfranchised life in America, summertime hangouts, and also plenty of tried-and-true rap self-praise. Highlights: “Outside!,” “Run The Bands,” “FUN!”

Album Reviews by Stefan Wenger

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