- Whether you are of the opinion that modern dance music was invented by three friends in Detroit, or by a troupe of German cycling enthusiasts, it would be wanton disregard to dispute the importance of the beating heart of Africa as its abiding progenitor. It is hard to imagine where our appreciation for rhythm would stand without the deep-rooted influence of this continent; and for a micro-culture in which provenance is so obsessively revered and imitated, it should be of particular interest that such intrinsically African flavours take to the fore in this latest release from Gerd Janson's Running Back imprint.
Mim Suleiman is the Zanzibari native who steals the limelight here with her indigenously sanguine vocals, however, in an A&R coup by Janson, it is the charge of much-admired producer Maurice Fulton to vamp the East African's work into the gloriously sun-drenched, afro-boogie fusion that this 12-inch comprises. If the unfettered percussion, pop-friendly sensibility and effortless funk of this record are pointers towards what lies ahead on the collaborative pair's forthcoming album Tungi, then we all have a veritable treat in store.
I only refrain from scoring this even more highly for a lack of additional material on the package: While the flip-side dub reworks the original to a certain extent, a remix or further album-teaser would have no doubt been better value. Though let's not get caught up on nitpicking: Note for note, sunbeam for sunbeam, Nyuli is really rather magnificent.
TracklistA Nyuli
B Nyuli (Dub)