Urban Caraïbes / Urban Caraibes

From the opening synthesized Celtic strains, Urban Caraibes presents a somewhat uneven potpourri of musical influences coming out of the Metropole, Paris. George Decimus was a former member of Kassav until he left in 1990 to form Volt Face, a group that also includes Jeff Joseph (formerly of Grammacks, a legendary band from the island of Dominca). Those familiar with cadence and zouk will recognize new versions of "Carnaval" and "Zouk la Se Sel Medikaman" ("Zouk Is the Only Medicine We Have"). The remakes do not match the groove quotient of the first versions. (The original cadence of "Carnaval" is loaded with drive and horns, while the original Kassav anthem "Zouk la Se Sel Medikaman" is a song that is impossible to re-create.) This album tries to incorporate too many different styles and suffers from dilution as a result. There are the obligatory salsa riffs and seven rappers in the house with the inevitable hip-hop. Decimus shows that he is open to all these urban influences but he doesn't work and stretch the grooves. Cadence and zouk, if true to their roots, stand on their own. For lovers of cadence and zouk, this disc offers limited satisfactions with the omnipresent Americanization. There are a few good tracks though: "Doudou" and the ragga hip-hop of "Mettez La Radio" ("Turn on the Radio).