Indie Folk...with an African Twist

African musical influences - whether it be North, South, East or West African - have shaped the development of reggae, blues, rock, jazz, calipso, tango, mamba, salsa...and many other styles of music.  But in all of these cases, the African influence evolved into a brand new genre, effectively becoming it's own style of music.  Yet for all it's musical influence, it is rarely used as the primary motif of a piece of music.

"What do you mean?" You say?

This might be explained easier if I compare it to Latin music.  When a piece of music has a Latin flair to it, it is usually quite prominent - the rhythm, the scales, the melody, and even sometimes the language - is used in a way that it is front and center of the music.  If the basis is rock music - such as Santana's music - you can hear the Latin influence on the melody and rhythm, all the while still being undeniably "rock".  Or Indian music and the role it plays in "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles, or "Beware..." by Jay-Z and Punjabi MC.

African styles of music however, don't often get that kind of creative usage in Western music. And I don't know why.

There are exceptions of course, and I find them very refreshing - such as Shakira's Waka Waka song, Paul Simon's Graceland, or even the Lion King soundtrack.  But you probably haven't heard much else that prominently has an African flair to the music.

Given that rarity...would you be curious what Indie Folk with African flair would sound like? Of course you would be!

If you've watched the MLB playoffs this year, you may have noticed a new Blackberry Torch commercial. While the commercial itself isn't incredibly memorable, the music in the background completely floored me - and I found myself hoping that it's an actual artist that plays this type of music, instead of it being a jingle that was written just for the commercial. In fact, it was only the last few seconds that really stood out, because it clearly had a twangy, nasal, multi-voiced rhythmic feel - a prominent African flair.

The song is by tUnE-yArDs, which is the moniker of an Oakland based musician named Merrill Garbus. It's really rough sounding - it's recorded at home, using non-professional equipment - but it makes the sound that much more raw and honest. She has one album out right now, and it's full of little gems that are African influenced, yet unmistakably indie folk. Where does her African flair come from? She spent some time studying and living in Kenya! Very cool.

So without further ado, here is "Fiya" (Fire) by tUnE-yArDs. If at first it seems really straightforward folk, wait until it builds up. The African flair comes in slowly, but completely takes over the melody and feel of the song at around 4:00.