Legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen's recently released World Circuit / Nonesuch debut album, Secret Agent, finds Allen "continuing his late career high," says Pitchfork, "never more confident." The Boston Herald gives it an A, calling it "the real thing." Time Out New York says Allen is "sounding at once gracious and cool," and Dusted says the album "bears witness to his development of Afrobeat beyond the shadow of Fela Kuti."
Legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen's recently released World Circuit / Nonesuch debut album, Secret Agent, "is only the latest step of a creative continuum set in motion over 40 years ago," says Pitchfork reviewer Joshua Klein, "beginning with Allen's pioneering and prolific work in Fela Kuti's band through his years as a solo act and bandleader and even, a few years back, as a quiet but important component of Damon Albarn's the Good, the Bad & the Queen project." Klein says the new albums finds "Allen (nearing 70) continuing his late career high ... never more confident." Read the complete review at pitchfork.com.
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The Boston Herald gives the album a perfect A. Reviewer Kevin R. Convey says that, while bands like Vampire Weekend may have absorbed elements of Afrobeat style, "if you want to know what makes this music great, it helps to hear it played by a master" like Allen, who "ratchets up the tension to a degree that should shock and enchant those who have only experienced the style secondhand. This is the real thing." Read more at bostonherald.com.
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Time Out New York's Jay Ruttenberg says Allen is "sounding at once gracious and cool" on the album, and Dusted magazine calls Secret Agent "a masterful blending of Afrobeat" and elements of the many genres in which he has worked since his time with Kuti, "everything from funk to jazz to electronica."
Dusted reviewer Richard Miller sees Allen's latest as a step forward in his musical evolution. "Since leaving Fela and striking out on his own," Miller explains, "Tony Allen has grown and changed. This album bears witness to his development of Afrobeat beyond the shadow of Fela Kuti and, as Allen begins his 70th decade, points toward the future, not the past."
Read the review at dustedmagazine.com.
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Secret Agent is available now in the Nonesuch Store, with the complete album included with the CD as high-quality MP3s at no additional cost. Allen begins a weeklong North American tour in June; for information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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