Eatdubafrobeat

Yam Yam have brought together a wealth of African influences to their music - blending Afro guitar hooks, dance floor friendly breaks and percussion. From Angola to Zimbabwe, Yam Yam’s lexicon of African influences spans the mighty continent, while other musical influences are drawn from dance to electronic and post punk to dub reggae.

In a world where globalisation is a dirty word, Yam Yam make the party music of the upside. If the IMF, the multi-national corporations and the G8 boil the blood of right-thinking people, then EATDUBAFROBEAT is an invitation to those who think such institutions are part of the problem, not part of the solution, to party together.

Yam Yam bring their love and respect for the likes of TPOK Jazz, Fela Kuti and a generation of artists who are often overlooked in their own countries by a youth culture hooked on hip-hop.

This isn’t a lazy fusion of a few world music samples stuck into techno house beats - EATDUBAFROBEAT is a celebration of an older generation of Africa’s popular musicians. The upside...? A new internationalism that means that both Africa and Europe can build a culture where we can all find common ground.

Yam Yam are Rick Turner and Guy Morley. Though currently residing in Vienna and Brighton they met on the Madchester music scene of the early 90s. Guy was one of Manchester’s most esteemed DJs spinning tropical funk in influential clubs alongside Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay. He was also a resident DJ with Mr Scruff at the leading One Tree Island club. Rick Turner cut his Afro teeth as guitarist and band leader for Nigerian master drummer Thomas Odeuso. He was also the engineer behind maverick ‘World Dub' pioneers Suns Of Arqa - who influenced contemporary musicians from Adrian Sherwood’s ON-U Sound to the Orb.

Yam Yam had major success with their first single The Spectacle. Using Brazilian blocco break beats it became a club favourite, in particular Mr Scruff's brilliant remix.

Until now Yam Yam’s recording output has been mostly U.S. based. New York’s influential Codek records picked them up for a number of releases. Based in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Codek were part of the pre-Giuliani party scene hosting world clubs under their Organic Grooves banner. Yam Yam played at parties on the Hudson River and Bowery Ballroom.

Now comes Yam Yam’s first album featuring the single 'Bahama Mama' using a quirky looping vocal reminiscent of Del the Funky Homosapien’s Mr Doubleina. The album’s first track is a Congolese inspired love song Isabella’s Rhumba. It then goes via Mali to Nigeria for the Afrobeat dance anthem Banana Heater. It uses pounding 6/8 rhythms for Antelope and finishes on a Kraut Rock / Television influenced one chord rock out for the finale Aeroplane.

Yam Yam’s idea was to produce a record of diverse influences to genuinely do something new with the great African dance music of the 70s and 80s. Bands like the Bhundu Boys turned a generation of punks onto African music in the 80’s, Fela Kuti turned on a generation of Jazz Funk fans to Afrobeat.

Can Yam Yam do the same for the post-dance post-rave generation with EATDUBAFROBEAT? Make up your own mind...

EATDUBAFROBEAT by Yam Yam is released on 26th November on CD and mp3.

Written: 25th Oct, 07
Read: 2255 times

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