For Better Or Worse

Marijata “No Condition Is Permanent” – I want to think of this song as being optimistic, but that’s not really it, is it? It’s more about the solace that comes from knowing that nothing lasts forever, good or bad. It’s a sentiment that can yield defeatism, or a faith in resistance and opposition. It’s pretty clear to me that this is a song of faith and reassurance – who would ever bother to make music as intense, funky, and passionate as this to get across a sad sack message? This is a selection from the new volume in the excellent Ghana Soundz series, which collects Afrobeat, funk, and soul gems from Ghana in the 1970s. (Click here to buy it from Other Music.)

TTC “Ebisu Rendez-Vous” – I haven’t been very fond of the French hip hop that I’ve heard in the past, but this is fantastic. Like the best non-American hip hop, this is not an attempt to ape popular US rap (new or old), but rather something different and distinctly European. This track is entirely comprised of spacey electronic robo-textures that evoke images of a sci-fi future as well as a peculiar mixture of languor and restlessness. (Click here to buy it from Ninja Tune.)