.Best Band

Albino!

In the early Sixties when Fela Kuti created Afrobeat — a deeply
rhythmic, horn-dressed blend of funk, jazz, and African highlife
— he may not have imagined what it would one day become. Even at
his peak as a pop star, he was more concerned with serving as a voice
for Nigeria’s poor, making him an enemy of the state and a subject of
frequent harassment. But his powerful, propulsive music has persevered
through the decades and at the hands of countless imitators. Berkeley
Afrobeat ensemble Albino! took more than a few cues from Kuti, all the
way down to his politics: Songs like “Democracy,” “Puppet Boy,” and “No
Face Enemy” deliver indictments of governmental corruption. But even
less subtle than the band’s message is its music, a spring wound so
tight it grooves from one phrase to the next with the resolve of a
locomotive. While that’s easy enough to replicate in a modern studio,
Albino! is the real deal; the six-year-old group’s second album,
Peralta House, released in May, was recorded live with all
eleven members in the same room at the same time, and its boiling
drums, striking guitars, and swirling horns never miss a beat.

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