As a music writer, I appreciate that part of my rubric is to be impartial. But this is countered by the part of the job spec that requires me to be opinionated. On-line music reviews have become increasingly polite in recent years, and I miss the maulings doled out in the inkies in the days when there was a real music press.
Anyway. I try to be impartial, and I’m usually reasonably polite. But the fact is, of all the genres I can’t deal with, reggae stands top of the class. No, I don’t dislike reggae in the way Morrissey dislikes reggae. It’s just doesn’t do it for me. And you know, I need genres to hate in in order to appreciate what you’ve got.
The eponymous debut by Drum the World (aka KAFRI aka Oded Kafri) may be all about the percussion and draw on myriad elements of world music, but it’s essentially a reggae inspired album with a major focus on the percussion. I don’t hate it for that, despite the absolute genericism of its nature. And there is some nifty drumming to be found across the 8 tracks on offer here (EP or LP You decide!).
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But the fact it sounds like some third-generation Police rip-off in places… I hate it for that. The fact there are extended drum breaks without any real necessity – I just can’t dig that. By drum breaks, I mean protracted drum solos. Yeah, nice drumming. What about the songs? The fact it’s massively derivative and sends me to a place where I can’t escape the idea of what thing mean I just can’t dig regardless.
Drum the World Online
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