Pitchfork

Michigan is not necessarily the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of scorching-hot Afropop, and yet here I am, listening to Nomo, the self-titled debut from a troupe of 16 Ypsilantians (17 if you count producer Warn Defever of His Name is Alive, who chips in some wah guitar). Led by multi-instrumentalist Elliot Bergman, Nomo play a heavy, largely faithful descendant of Fela Kuti & Tony Allen's classic Afrobeat sound that leans more toward the jazz side of the style than the funk side, with the occasional blast of distorted guitar or flourish from a flute.

Defever's horn sound is deliciously crunchy and deep, with special emphasis on Dan Bennett's blazing baritone sax, but the production leaves a lot of air between those arrangements and the rhythm section, which consists of multiple guitars, bass, two drummers, and assorted percussionists. All those people make for quite a solid wall of sound, but the music is surprisingly nuanced, with the band able to pull back and just let the Rhodes piano blanket the groove with pillowy chords or allow a solo to breathe. Most of the band members get their shot in the spotlight at some point on the record, and they all shine, though some more brightly than others. Bennett in particular cuts loose on "Busy", wrenching a twisting, growling solo from his horn.

Bergman's horn themes provide ample jumping-off points for his band mates' improvisations, and they carry the mostly instrumental album nicely, offering a lot of ear-grabbing moments to balance the solos and the occasional jammy tangent. The only vocal original on the album, "Moving in Circles", features one of Nomo's heaviest, nastiest horn charts and then asks poor bassist Jamie Register to compete with it, a task I don't envy. She does well by it, though, opting for a smoothly soulful delivery that acts as a sort of counterpoint to the thundering horns. She also does a great job on the band's sped-up cover of Segun Bucknor's awesome, funky Afro-soul song "La La La".

It's only one album, but this record places Nomo rather firmly near the head of an emerging pack of Afrobeat revival bands, led by New York City's Antibalas along with a few other established acts like Akoya and Kokolo. It's a good bet that anyone who digs Ted Sirota's Soul Rebels will love this, given the emphasis on jazz, and naturally, there's the affinity with Fela, so Afrobeat and Afro-jazz afficionados are encouraged to give a listen. Anyone else who just wants to dance can come along, too.