Montpellier’s Fanga is one of the two Afrobeat bands that’s released a new album recently (The other being Kokolo). Frankly the selling point for me was the involvement of the legendary Fela Kuti sidekick Tony Allen as I haven’t heard about their 2004 debut “Afrokaliptyik“. Thank God for that because this is an essential piece of modern afrobeat. While the main emphasis on “Natural Juice” seems to be the hypnotic drive (although not as much as Kinshasa’s Konono No.1), the brass section is extremely listener friendly as well, if you compare it to Fela’s experimental afrobeat, making it an irrepressible force, just as their name “Fanga” suggests in Dioula. Out on Underdog Records.

Fanga – Crache La Douleur (Feat. Tony Allen)
Fanga – Kelen
Fanga – Natural Juice ‘Ashanti Mix’