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Music Compilations Matumbi: Music In The Air (Trojan) 
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| Matumbi: Music In The Air (Trojan) |
| By Matthew Hirtes | |
Monday, 03 October 2005 Description:Largely forgotten UK reggae band Matumbi started out in 1972 to support visiting Jamaican artists like I.Roy and Dennis Brown. They became big, as they say, back in the day. Now they release a 2-CD retrospective to remind everybody what the fuss was about first-time around. Which means? Key member Dennis Bovell, who went on to establish himself as a central figure of the UK reggae scene as both a producer and performer, and his former band members (Matumbi split in the early ‘80s) get back together to select from their best-known singles including ‘Man In Me’, a Bob Dylan cover, and previously unreleased recordings to put out this highly personal compilation. Is it much cop? It’s as arresting as finding yourself woken by a dawn raid, bundled into the back of a waiting police van and hauled down to the station handcuffed and blindfolded. How many good tracks? CD1? 16 out of 16. CD2? 11 out of 17. It doesn’t get going to seventh track ‘Chatty Chatty’. The original version of the much-covered ‘Wishing On A Star’ goes on forever. In a good way. ‘Come With Me’ betrays the band’s inventive approach, a bluesy number and possibly the first (and only) reggae track to feature a harmonica. And the worst? ’10 Green Bottles’. A performance best left eerily echoing on the coach the band used to tour in times gone by. Biggest disappointment? Apparently Matumbi resented the fact Trojan tried to turn them into a soul band. With that in mind, they could have ditched the likes of ‘Running In And Out Of Life’, I have a weakness for the shooby doo wahs of ‘Living In A Dream’ so that can stay. In their place, could have come more tracks from arguably their greatest album, Point Of View. Verdict: Matumbi derives from a Yoruba (Nigerian) world meaning reborn. On Music In The Air, Matumbi float merrily on the clouds of renaissance. Now how about that reunion tour, guys? (4/5) Release Date: 03 October 2005  Music In The Air |
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