Artists
who's who and who's doing what?WAI
- country:Germany
- region:Polynesia
- style(s):Electronic Roots
- label:Minaaka/Jayrem
- artist submitted by:
'The mission to build a contemporary style out of the elements of traditional Maori music is one that has been taken up numerous times over the years, but no one has come up with anything quite as natural and tough as Wellington outfit WAI. There is little to latch onto other than voices and rhythms; the feeling is of being drawn into something ancient and deep. Ripia and McGregor make full and inventive use of the latest technology; this is no historic re-creation. The result is an album that's as soulful and funky as any modern R&B, while sounding not remotely like it. There's a bold sparseness to the sound and a refusal to resort to pop cliches. WAI may be drawing on the music of their ancestors, but they are making sounds to rock the 21st. Century.'
(NZ) Listener July 2000
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