Songs of Praise by African Head Charge (Review)
I decided to check this group out after a flurry of discussion about them on both the “DroneOn” and “Wire” e-lists. African Head Charge is one of the many dub-centric projects that came from the On-U Sound label run by Adrian Sherwood. African Head Charge veers off from more traditional dub in the type of melodies and construction of the songs. Every song here is basically the equivalent of a high point on another reggae record. Whereas other records might come back down to Earth a bit after a particularly otherworldly piece, African Head Charge seems to specialize in the super-ethereal aspects of dub.
What does all that mean? Easy. You aren’t going to hear “No Woman, No Cry” here. The vocals are primarily samples of religious chants from all over the world. This is real dub, not wholly African or Jamaican, or any other ethnicity. It is the ritual music of a tribe that never existed. This is possible music, the sounds of a people that might have been. It makes one want to believe that in some other dimension they actually exist and are a fascinating people you could save up money to visit one day.
And damn, is it ever trippy. Warbling, acidic guitar leaks out like something from a ruptured toxic waste container. Bass is emitted, not played, and drums take on more than just rhythmic functions. The chant samples are not just mere filler, included just to take your mind off the repetition of the music. Every single one seems to have earned its place in the mix as a vital part of the overall musical construction.
From the moment I put the headphones on in the record store, I felt like I was being taken way the hell away from Virginia, America, 1999. Utterly absorbing, world-dominating, this is music that demands involvement from you, even if that ultimately means you sitting stock still and just nodding your bowed head quietly. On “Hold Some More,” you lilt with the bass vertically, the percussion sways you horizontally, while the echoed minimal guitar licks tease and tickle in a manner I can only describe as… tangy.
As seemingly “apt only for world music fans” as all these descriptions may seem, I have complete confidence that anyone into things like early Seefeel or EP-era Verve could get into this record. Indeed, “Hold Some More” actually sounds like a earthier version of “A Man Called Sun.” Full of deep bass, reverb-soaked snare, and otherworldly vocal ululations, “Healing Ceremony” is as damp and cavernous as the latter half of Seefeel’s Quique ever got.
Some may see the song titles and think this record possible of crimes of New Age tree-huggery. No, the overall level of quality is high, despite a couple of moments where the mood lightens up a bit too much for my tastes. “Hymn” and “Gospel Train” are so corny, you wonder how the same group could perform them. However, this record is hardly something for the crystal-laden owner of one too many Sounds of the Pan Flute CDs.
Written by Pearson Greer.