Kenyan born Beth-Mburu-Bowie, currently known by the sobriquet HowAboutBeth, has had a varied musical career for someone so young. She’s been a member of the Pipettes, toured with The Heavy, and performed with Chuck Berry, Hugh Masekela, Pink Floyd, and the English National Opera. Oh, she’s also a trustee of the famous Roadhouse in Camden and has appeared at the Royal Opera House. I’m pretty sure that I’m missing something, but when you’ve run through as many musical styles as HowAboutBeth, it’s kinda hard to keep track. Simply put, the girl is a prolific artist and a musical polymath.
In 2010, when she took on her new moniker, Beth decided that she wanted to blaze a sonic trail the likes of which the world has never seen. Her new project, Rabid Ballad, marries irreverent themes and experimental sounds. While the music is pop at it’s core, Beth seeks to stay away from what she refers to as the, “…quantised loops & tonalities with ‘beginning, middle and end’ sequences that don’t mean anything.” Instead of the boilerplate pop music that has come to dominate the genre, Beth utilizes an eclectic mix of off-kilter vocal harmonies, synths, drums, kora, and horns to create a song that can inexplicably be both light-hearted and spiritually arresting.
HowAboutBeth will be bringing her Rabid Ballads project to life along side a motley crew of musicians from all across the musical world (they’re affectionately known has Her Drunken Bandits). Rabid Ballads will perform live as an opening act for Tanya Auclair’s Origami release. If you are based in or around London in the UK, more info on this show is after the jump.
For a taste of the unique sonic experience that is HowAboutBeth, check out “Running,” and “Powerman” below.
Audio: Tanya Auclair’s releases latest EP “Origami”
We like to keep our promises here at okayafrica, and last month we promised to let you know when the incomparable Tanya Auclair would release her new EP Origami. Well, we’re here to tell you that not only has the EP been released, but it’s FREE to download… assuming you aren’t the 1,001st person to try. That’s right, the EP is free for the first 1,000 downloaders.
This new release is more experimental than her previous EP. The style as a whole is minimalist but the singing is robust on all three tracks, and Auclair’s voice switches from one mode to the next in a matter of seconds. To call Origami experimental would be an understatement, but the collage of sounds never feels alien enough to remove the listener from its trance inducing power. There’s a good chance that you haven’t heard anything this original in a long time, so I wouldn’t wait too long to start downloading.
Download Origami here.