Dele Sosimi Meets Prince Fatty & Nostalgia 77 - You No Fit Touch Am In Dub

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  • For most of his career, keyboardist Dele Sosimi existed in the shadow of the Kuti clan, serving as keyboard player and musical director for both Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 (from 1979-1986) and Femi Kuti's Positive Force (until '94). When he wasn’t working with them, he was teaching Afrobeat at London Metropolitan University, so his mastery of the sound is clear. It was only with 2002's Turbulent Times, however, that Sosimi stepped out as a bandleader in his own right, and subsequent albums have shown him to be a unique Afrobeat craftsman. When the Wah Wah 45s label tapped the likes of Ptaki and Medlar to rework last year's You No Fit Touch Am, the results showed that the indomitable drive of Afrobeat actually has lots of space in which to play. (Ditto the pair of "Too Much Information" remixes that landed on Innervisions in December.) This new remix EP taps two longtime dub obsessives, British producers Prince Fatty and Nostalgia 77, to nudge Sosimi's Afrobeat towards classic dub. In their best moments, these tracks sound like a great game of "what if?" To bump the polyrhythmic thrill of "You No Fit Touch Am (Dub)" is to hear what might have happened if King Jammy and Fela got the chance to work together. Same with "E Go Betta (Dub)," which imagines what a Remain In Light guitar tone would have sounded like trickling over Tony Allen's tree-trunk drums. "Na My Turn (Dub)" is the most mesmeric of the set. Built from a casual, slinky groove, a phased-out percussion pattern and some echoing chants, the tune hits that sweet spot between Afrobeat's extended durations and dub's illusory depths, seeming to stretch to infinity.
  • Tracklist
      A1 You No Fit Touch Am (Dub) A2 E Go Betta (Dub) A3 Sanctuary (Dub) B1 Na My Turn (Dub) B2 Dance Together (Dub) B3 I Don't Care (Dub)
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