Buraka Som Sistema reviewed
Buraka Som Sistema
Black Diamond
(Enchufada/Fabric)
Depending on your point of view, Buraka Som Sistema are either the apex or nadir of the M.I.A.-fueled Slumdog phenomenon.
Appearing: Tuesday, April 28th at Sonotheque in Chicago.
How do we equate Sri Lanka with arch-rival India, much less with distant, Portuguese-speaking Angola? Easy: M.I.A., Kano, Diplo, and Switch all have connects to BSS, which is only a letter removed from fellow Porto-spasmoids CSS. (Something so easily compactable must have been designed this way.) Black Diamond has nothing to do with KISS, however, though might be as pyrotechnically explosive. Each track flails feverishly as if trapped, pacing rhythmically between rave and revolution. Because it’s intended for recreational, white drug users, you can expect where it ends up. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the ride.
— Steve Forstneger
