Bedouin Soundclash - Sounding a Mosaic

To call Bedouin Soundclash a reggae band would be a gross over-simplification. Their spare guitar-bass-drums lineup gives their music a dry texture that recalls the early Cure, while singer Jay Malinowski's raspy wail sounds, at times, like a cross between Bob Marley and Paul Simon. The band's name is probably intended as a tribute to reggae experimentalist Badawi, who released an album of the same name in 1996, but Bedouin Soundclash's music is actually quite straightforward: highlight tracks like the acoustic-based "When the Night Feels My Song" and the one-drop meta-reggae anthem "Music My Rock" deliver meat-and-potatoes reggae grooves with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of hooks; when they title a song "Living in Jungles" you can count on a jittery jungle beat from drummer Pat Pengelly; when they title a song "Immigrant Workforce" you can count on an expression of healthy economic skepticism. Read More