Tim Maia - Tim Maia - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Guillermo Gregorio - Faktura [COMPACT DISCS] Germany - Import date 01/01/2002

Jean Coulthard - Portrait [COMPACT DISCS] date 11/01/2009

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7Inchs and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled Expansions, BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago. Part of the allure of a new record from Bacao is finding out what covers they chose. However, die hard fans are also waiting to hear the original numbers like the stellar album opener InchTough VictoryInch. It's airtight rhythm section, brass arrangements, and layers of steel pan melodies make the term Inchcover bandInch a shoe that could never fit Bacao. Within the next three songs they go from Jazz (Galt MacDermot), to Hip Hop (Slum Village / J Dilla), to a dance floor classic (Grace Jones) taking them all on with their signature style, expanding on the originals. An easy crowd favorite is their gritty, gully, and neck snapping cover of the Timbaland produced Jay-Z club hit InchDirt Off Your ShoulderInch. The infamous crushing Bacao drums start the show and the moment they start playing the top line on the pans, all bets are off. Sure to become a dance floor filler is their bottom heavy, four on the floor version of Sylvester's classic InchI Need Somebody To Love TonightInch. They venture into some gutbucket funk with Ike Turner's InchGetting NastyInch and bring the steel pans to Minnie Riperton's Jazz classic InchLes FleursInch. Digging deeper in the modern canon and paying tribute to a tribute, they cover Erykah Badu's homage to the la