Femi vs. KCRW Soundclash: The Review

“Femi vs. KCRW Soundclash” is a strange, yet extremely engaging album. In order to understand this album as it is, you must look at its details. The songs here are remixed versions of tracks by Afrobeat forerunner, Femi Kuti (son of Fela Kuti). What KCRW, the Santa Monica based public radio station, does with the songs is hand them over to a few of their key DJs and lets them re-imagine the songs. The music does not suffer from this; rather it grows in a different direction. By the end of it, you realize that these are no longer the songs that Femi wrote; they have become a brainchild of the respective DJ.

The original tracks are works of masterful arranging. They are beautifully passionate songs that speak of politics and culture. They are jazzy, polyrhythmic, funky, and possess a power impossible to ignore. However, with its transformation by the KCRW DJs, the songs lose some of their immediate impact; that does not mean that it is bad, merely a different experience. Each DJ puts their own twist on their song and of course, some come out more effective than others (more notably “Eh Oh” and “Tell Me”). “Femi vs. KCRW Soundclash,” played alongside the original Femi tracks, is one of the most interesting things I have listened to recently.  It is a testament to how different the same song can be when put into different peoples hands, and how the same song can all of a sudden mean more than what it was intended to.

This album is available through an offer with KCRW. You support their radio station, and they give you this collection of songs:

1. “One Two (Garth Trinidad’s Fiyah Dubb)”
2. “Tell Me (Jeremy Sole’s Musaics remix feat. Ticklah)”
3. “Eh Oh (remixed by Liza Richardson & Jake Davies)”
4. “Do You Know (Raul Campos rmx)”
5. “You Better Ask Yourself (remix by Jason Bentley feat Static Revenger)”

There was a limited number of these made, which is a shame because I would highly recommend people to buy this, along with the Femi originals.

You should get yours before they’re all gone!