San Francisco Bay Guardian Review of 'Sun People'

Fresh for the heat of the summer, Brooklyn based beatsmith Nickodemus -- and seasoned selector from the acclaimed Turntables on the Hudson party -- drops a gem on us. In his inspired sophomore effort, Sun People (ESL Music), Nickodemus delivers a groove pummeling sound collage that expands on the cosmopolitan spirit fundamental to the Afrobeat tradition. He manages to inform Afrobeat’s free-formed jazz sensibility and funkified polyrhythmic arrangements with raw elements of celebratory music from around the world. Swaying jazz horns give way to uplifting blasts of air from Latin American and Balkan brass sections that loosen up the heavy hitting, grounding percussion. This strategy allows the drums to thrust in endless hypnotics without feeling too claustrophobic, a subtle formula for creating holistically sanguine dance grooves. And the fusion feels organic, perhaps due to the lively multinational character and experimental ethos at the very heart of Afrobeat, allowing the music's dynamic nature to morph, mutate, and evolve in provocative directions... FULL REVIEW


San Francisco Bay Guardian Review of 'Sun People'