NOMO

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to Ave.To, and mentioned how hard it was to spin an instrumental album that didn't spin your attention right out into space and what you're going to have for dinner that night. Well, lo and behold, what came across my eardrum but NOMO. Although it's the first time I've been acquainted with the group, Ghost Rock (the album I encountered) is actually their second. The band hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but sports some funky Afro-beat and world music chops that are out of this world. And when I say out of this world, I mean imagine Fela incorporating some loops and delving into electronica, creating an Afro-beat of the future.

This percussive creation doesn't just root itself in Nigeria though. While Fela might be the beginning, NOMO takes it into the future right off the bat with the opening track Brainwave. You can sense the jazz influence here as well, with a synthetic improvisation feel to the tracks. They're built on some looping beats that are expanded, contracted, taken up by new instruments, continue, and then fade. You'll also find some soul here as well. Try Rings below, the fourth track from the album, and tell me the horn work doesn't remind you of something Bill Withers would lay down on you.

This album is 100% about what a band can do playing off one another, and in this case, NOMO does a phenomenal job. Put it this way, after listening to this album for a couple of days, I went right out and got their first AND ordered a 12" single from the Ubiquity Records website. I've been listening to the three of them since, and I would say that the new album is the stronger of the full lengths, but both are worth your coin. Check 'em out.

NOMO - Brainwave : Ghost Rock

NOMO - Rings : Ghost Rock

and one from their last album:

NOMO - We Do We Go : New Tones

Visit their website, their label Ubiquity Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

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Bill Withers - Better Off Dead (live) : Live at Carnegie Hall