I’ve had a bit of a week: I’ve shot gothic Americana, kickass lady punk, electro-synth indie pop, and last night, a double bill of great, great Afrobeat. To be honest, I was almost completely ignorant of Afrobeat as a genre or a movement until I started going to see my friend Seth’s project, the Brand New Life, and coupled that with reading Will Hermes’ amazing Love Goes To Buildings On Fire, which gives great service to that scene in ’70s New York, but even despite that, I remained pretty unsure of what it was or whether I liked it.

Then I heard an interview with Antibalas on Bullseye, one of my favorite talky-talky podcasts, and then the Brand New Life scored the gig as the local open for Antibalas’ tour, and that’s how I found myself grooving in a crowd of dancing Chapel Thrillians, which almost never happens. You can’t listen to either of these bands and not want to dance, though, and for that I’m grateful. It was an amazing show.

Full set here.