Album review

Bibi Tanga & The Selenites

Dunya

Paris 

04/02/2010 - 

Almost three years after the release of his debut album, Bibi Tanga is back in the news with an excellent follow-up: Dunya. On this second album, Bibi - who grew up in the Paris suburbs but traces his roots back to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic - teams up with trail-blazing French DJ and producer Le Professeur Inlassable once again. The pair were joined in the studio by The Selenites (a trio who regularly accompany the duo live on stage.)

Bibi Tanga and his sampling sidekick Professeur Impassable (The Tireless Professor) originally wowed Afro-funk connoisseurs back in 2007 with a promising debut album entitled Yellow Gauze. The album, with its mix of hypnotic Afro beats and Bibi's stream-of-consciousness lyrics, arrived on the French 'rare groove' scene like a musical UFO from outer space cementing the partnership of what at first appeared to be the most unlikely duo. Bibi, a lanky African singer and guitarist whose basslines are every bit as sinuous as his frame, looked to be a rather odd partner for Le Professeur Inlassable, a Parisian aesthete renowned for his studio experimentation and abstract soundscapes. 

However, the pair's continuing collaboration on Bibi's second album proves that this odd couple work amazingly well together. Le Professeur Inlassable's driving Afro-beat rhythms and electro-tinged soul make the perfect backdrop to Bibi's falsetto vocals on Dunya as the latter deftly juggles lyrics in English, French and Sango (the language of the Central African Republic.)

This time round, Bibi and the Professor did not go into the studio with guest musicians, preferring to work with The Selenites, a trio who evolved into Bibi's backing band live on stage. Bibi and his band like to compose in purely improvised jam sessions in the studio with the Professor stepping in every now and then to pepper their Afro-pop offerings with abstract samples and cosmic sound effects.

Stand-out moments on the album include the special effect-heavy Red Wine, an ultra-funky Swing Swing and the ever-swirling rhythms of the title track Dunya. If this is the future of Afro-groove, we simply can't get enough of it! 

Bibi Tanga & The Selenites Dunya (Nat Neo/Naïve) 2010

Current French tour includes an appearance at Le New Morning (Paris) on 4 May

Jacques  Denis

Translation : Julie  Street