Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Loketo

  • Soukous Trouble [Shanachie, 1990] A-
  • Extra Ball [Shanachie, 1991] A

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Consumer Guide Reviews:

Soukous Trouble [Shanachie, 1990]
Shared personnel notwithstanding, Diblo's Super Soukous was a guitarist's record and this is a band's. Six titles, six composers (three singers, two guitarists, one drummer), each of which achieves the same HI-NRG with a different deployment of stripped-down resources (the aforementioned plus bass, synth, percussion, a two-man horn section, and the occasional female chorus). Sure it's all up-up-up. They'll take you there. A-

Extra Ball [Shanachie, 1991]
They've subdivided now--Aurlus Mabele keeps the logo, Diblo Dibala takes the John Hancock. But your last chance at a great band is also your best. Mabele's warm, rich, relaxed baritone is merely foremost among several engaging voices, and the guitar dominates, as it should. Endlessly, effortlessly fluent, Dibala pours his most gorgeous effects into a hornless format that varies and repeats like prime James Brown. I just hope he meshes with bassist Miguel Yamba in real life. They should be together. A