Boozoo Bajou
Monday, July 18th, 2005 by Paul Irishcalypso dancehall // dub // bossa
To get an idea, imagine Basement Jaxx in a damp island jungle instead of a nightclub. With Boozoo, the beats are wet, the grooves are deep and the hooks are funky-ass funky – Mike Reinboth of Compost Records aptly called them, “NuDubReggae-meets-Mambo-Bossa”. These German blokes have been pumping out LPs and remixes for some time, but have now found their groove with their new record Dust My Broom on K7. “Killer” is the body-moving, hip-shaking stunner on the disc – dancehall vocals on top of a wide tropical bass. “Take It Slow” unfolds a smooth summer reggae ballad of a more intimate feel.One to move your hips. And one to move your lips.
Andrea Mangia falls somewhere between a blissful float down a sunset river and snow falling on industrial estates, whatever that means. And yes, he sounds like a breed of Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) and Four Tet, but I mean, so what? I like Four Tet, and frankly the last album wasn’t that great – so if there are competent imitators I’m happy to oblige. Especially with tracks like ‘Hip Hop Cocotte’ that swirls slowly into a great, sticky mass of guitar strings and electronic hisses; or ‘The Dixie Saga’ which has an eerie darkness to its clicks and twangs.
Hearing a musician inhale is a guilty pleasure of mine. And then hearing that oxygen toke through a reeded harmonica, like an Ashley Judd drag on a cigarette, it’s enough to make you squint those eyes in a twisted pleasure. Trina brings her game to rocking out on harmonica and tambourine in “Down To The Hollow”. It’s a full-force blues number, but the recording makes you feel like she’s riding next to you on a roadtrip down to ‘bama. 
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