Rais

Tambu music from Curaçao is a drum-based genre that has incredible significance for the islanders. It is a particularly social and popular style, but it was banned for many years by Dutch occupiers of the Antilles for its alleged erotic appeal. Bandleader Roël Calister has roots in Curaçao, but lives in Amsterdam: a city now famed for its modern dance music scene. Kuenta i Tambu is Calister's latest project: an enjoyable venture that combines the music of his homeland with the bass-heavy sensibility of EDM.
The energy levels are high across Rais (Roots) and it is a rousing listen. Opener ‘Sangura’ is bold and brash, its chorus both militant and vocally percussive. ‘Obrero’ is joyously funky, building up from an iterative clap pattern into a boisterous groove while ‘Bon Bon’ layers a frantic clave pattern, Afro-Caribbean singing and a low-end assault that wouldn't sound out of place on a Major Lazer record. Indeed, this blend of global bass styles – from moombahton to baile funk – gives a definite cohesion to the project. At first, Rais may seem a misleading title for such an expansive project, but these roots readily trace back to Curaçao, albeit via a packed dance floor.