I make no bones about my love for Damon Albarn. I’ve been a Blur fan since I was a kid and since then I’ve followed his work through each of his exciting projects – from Gorillaz, to his operas and on through his concept albums and his record label. He’s a busy man and in the last few years he’s been one of the most interesting musical talents around. DRC Music has been one such project, and also his most recent (unless you list Rocketjuice And The Moon, but let’s not complicate things, he works hard – we get it)!
Recorded over the course of five days, DRC Music has seen Albarn travel with a group of producers to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and together with local musicians they’ve pieced together an entire album fashioned from the recordings of the trip. Entitled Kinshasa One Two; the album brings together the voices of a number of Congolese singers, their various esoteric instruments and the talents of a number of high-name producers and combines them to make a fresh sounding album full of texture, feeling and rhythm.
The track above is the album opener and it features musician’s Tout Puissant Mukalo, Nelly Liyemge and Mr. Albarn himself. Once the neat pop groove of this song cuts in it becomes instantly captivating and it’s difficult not to shake you’re head along to the sweet sound of this track. To learn more about this excellent project point your browser in the direction of the DRC Music blog, and pick up a copy of the album here. All proceeds go towards Oxfam’s efforts in the Congo.
Philip
