aaamusic | On 02, Oct 2012

A Tribe Called Red are a crazy, Canadian DJ collective consisting of Bear Witness, DJ Shub and Dee Jay NDN, and they have been active since 2008. The trio have a monthly club night called Electric Pow Wow, and this album – ‘A Tribe Called Red – is somewhat of a showcase of the kind of music they play and support via their night.

Why is their club night called Electric Pow Wow? Because they play Pow Wow Step. What the hell is Pow Wow Step? I hadn’t heard of it either, at least not as a genre tag, but it’s a fusion of electronic music, hiphop, dancehall and traditional Native American music.

‘A Tribe Called Red’ is an eclectic mix of electro (‘Electronic Pow Wow Drum’), dubstep (‘Woodcarver’), and dancehall (‘Look At This’) songs, all laced with hiphop production values and Aboriginal samples. In particular, Native American drums and drum styles feature heavily in every song, as well as distorted and cut up traditional vocals.

When I first listened to this, I wasn’t entirely convinced, mainly because I hadn’t really heard a whole album of electronic music like this. Sure, some artists fuse in oriental and Middle Eastern styles and samples into their productions (M.I.A., The Gaslamp Killer), but few have dared to make a whole album using them. It’s not going to be for everyone, but the traditional samples actually lend themselves perfectly to the contemporary, urban production, and that has to be down to the expert talent of three fellas who make up A Tribe Called Red. Not only is this music creative and unique, the collective are giving it away for free via their website www.electricpowwow.com…I sure hope they pop over the UK soon.

★★★★★
Author: Clive Rozario