Medicine

To get the full therapeutic benefit of Orchestra Gold's Medicine; it's best to play it loud. That way you experience the mesmeric effect of Mariam Diakite's powerful vocals against the swirling, polyrhythmic backdrop of bass, drums, percussion and saxophones fronted by Erich Huffaker's searing guitar. Based in Oakland, California, the band features Malian vocalist Mariam, singing in the Bamana language, and Californian guitarist Huffaker, who brings an American rock/funk aesthetic to Orchestra Gold. They describe their music as African psychedelic rock and it's certainly a big sound, drenched in glorious echo and distortion.

It's tempting to make comparisons with other Malian singers like Fatoumata Diawara or that other well-known Mariam – Mariam Doumbia of Amadou & Mariam – but Orchestra Gold's sound is grittier. Their music is almost closer to Swedish experimentalists Goat or to Texan psych-funksters Khruangbin (themselves recent collaborators with another great Malian, Vieux Farka Touré). The album is called Medicine because the band hope to spread ‘healing and community through the universal gift of music.’ As far as I can tell, Orchestra Gold's hypnotic groove has no unwanted side effects.