Rafter’s latest album, Sex Death Cassette, is a piece of expertly crafted post-modern pop. While not as invested in African tones as some of the other indie bands we’ve previously looked at, his own tastes—namely for the pioneering Fela Kuti—are evident. Check out opener “zzzpenchant,” which throws resoundingly Afrobeat horns on top of a gently chugging melody line, or “adventurers,” which marries lo-fi production to bold, brassy trumpets.
PLAY asked Rafter to discuss his current African and world-music obsessions. He told us about pop music’s voracious eating habits, and why Vampire Weekend might be a bit too “safe.”
You cite Fela Kuti as an influence on your newer work, and I think an Afrobeat sound is most apparent in the horn arrangements on the record. Can you explain how you came to these sounds and decided to use them in a pop context?
I think I first heard Fela about eight years ago, DJing at college radio in San Diego's KCR. It just immediately hit right home; I had been hearing things inspired by it for years in Talking Heads and Can and stuff, so hearing it from the source was just majorly wonderful. I got to see Femi Kuti play a few times around that time too, and the big, sharp swinging horn lines just delight me. They're everything great all at once for me. I think using them wasn't really premeditated—they just worked their way first into my musical consciousness, and then a few years later, digested, into my musical vocabulary. That’s so much what pop is about: pulling elements from other music, appropriation, reuse, misuse, etcetera. Lately, pop has eaten house music, hip-hop, Afrobeat, noise, disco, whatever, you name it! I am trying to feed my new pop Indian music, Ethiopian jams, power metal, minimal house and Paul McCartney. Pop is omnivorous!
I have listened to way more world music than indie rock for the last five years. Toumani Diabaté is an incredible kora player. Ali Farka Touré is amazing. The Ethiopiques series is mindblowing. Alemayehu Eshete is a great Ethiopian singer …
Indie bands have been experimenting with African sounds more and more in the recent past—I'm thinking of groups like Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer (who, to be fair, are following an earlier nod from precursors like Talking Heads and Paul Simon). How do you feel about this trend?
I think the trend is great, but you're spot on with the references. "I Zimbra," Graceland—that was about 30 and 20 years ago now? The indie kids are pretty late to the party, but it's still a good party, for sure. Check out Van Dyke Parks' "Discover America"—he was pulling hard on calypso music for that in '72. It's so good!
I'm not sure how into Vampire Weekend I am—it's a little too safe with it for me. I much prefer the way a band like Dirty Projectors does it—there's tons of Ali Farka Touré in Dave [Longstreth's] guitar playing, but
it's couched in such a strange stew that it doesn't feel so derivative. I want people to get ambitious with their pop music. I'm really happy that people are reaching to awesome world musics as inspirations, but sometimes I feel disappointed. I've heard some Gang Gang Dance that felt really [reminiscent of] Ethiopiques, and I dug that. Not many people are twisting that into their taffy yet. I's hard to do—but worth it.
Further Reading:
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Bamako to Brooklyn (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: The Dirty Projectors (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Mahjongg (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Extra Golden (PLAY)
Indie-Rock Dreams of Africa: Vampire Weekend (PLAY)
Vampire Weekend Celebrity Playlist (PLAY)
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Leave a comment