Known for albums that celebrate everything having to do with dance and life, Afrika Bambaataa and the Millennium of the Gods’ new album, “Dark Matter Moving At The Speed of Light,” delivers big with a genre-defying collection filled with nostalgic styles from the 1970s and the early 1990s.
Blending funk, rap and electronica, the album, released by Tommy Boy Entertainment, creates a sound listeners have come to expect from a man considered one of the grandfathers of modern hip-hop.
Bambaataa’s status as a master producer has lead to collaborations with The Zulu Nation, James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Boy George and George Clinton, so it comes as no surprise this release continues the streak with tracks featuring lesser-known artists like Mustafa Akbar, Aghi Spirits and Alien Ness.
This album might not contain a chart-topping hit like the 1986 single “Planet Rock,” but it does offer a unique brand of electro-funk. Clocking in at just over an hour, Bambaataa offers his best pieces when his old-school style is left alone. Tracks like “Got the Vibe,” “Metal,” “Soul Makossa” and “2137” are the album’s best offerings, focusing on dance-beat rhythms and positive lyrics.
Gary Numan, known for his 1979 electropop single “Cars,” along with Bambaataa and MC Chatterbox collaborated on “Metal,” a track that uses different vocal pitches to rehash the “Dark Matters” dance theme. The vocalist’s change in pitch creates lyrics that are not sung, but forced. In other songs these forced lyrics would feel out of place, but inside “Metal” they help complete the awkward title of the track with a helter-skelter delivery that has a polished dated sound.
Though the lack of modernization in Bambaataa’s album will steer away listeners who want a newer sound, the blending of old and new is one of the album’s best assets along with multiple featured artists scattered throughout.
The downfall in having multiple vocalists on this album is that it takes away from the overall presentation. However, this set back is also an advantage because listeners gain a sense of excitement at not knowing who will be on the next track.
The album’s first and arguably best track, “Got the Vibe,” featuring King Kamonzi on vocals, uses a sitar to create a catchy intro that goes straight into a speed rap describing world regions that have a dance vibe. Again, the positive lyrics and near hypnotic drum and bass in the background of the track are a main-stay that fit well with Kamonzi’s delivery.
The low point of the album, “Touch & Go,” featuring Muriel Fowler. The song is a soulful ballad dealing with a woman complaining about her significant other. The song is a cliché. The first half of the song sounds like a 12-year-old child bought a music mixing machine and went to town. A change in pace in the middle of the song – declaring it is a remix – ruins what little gratification a listener can take from the over-the-top singing. This track would have been better if it had been produced in the remix fashion stated in the middle of the song other than the slow building anticipation the track attempts, but fails, to create.
Overall, “Dark Matter” is a solid old-school hip-hop album that will grow on the listener. The album features are no blatant top 10 tracks, but that should not take away from an overall enjoyable album.
