Where afrobeat is concerned, in France Fanga (Dioula for "strength, energy and power") has been a force to recon with for years now. Afrobeat demigod Fela Kuti once said: "Don't do what I've already done!", a quote Fanga has always kept in mind, as once again proven by their new album 'Kaleidoscope'. Wikipedia defines a kaleidoscope as: "…an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces inclined to each other in an angle, so that one or more objects on one end of the mirrors are seen as a regular symmetrical pattern when viewed from the other end, due to repeated reflection. The reflectors or mirrors are usually enclosed in a tube, often containing on one end a cell with loose, colored pieces of glass or other transparent and/or opaque materials to be reflected into the viewed pattern. Rotation of the cell causes motion of the materials, resulting in an ever changing viewed pattern.", and Fanga has extended that principle to the sleeve design of the album, on which elements referring to each of the songs on 'Kaleidoscope' are depicted. 'Soldiers', a song about the plight of child soldiers in Africa, 'Kalo Ka Bon' and 'Compréhension', tracks in which the Burkinabe front man Korbo switches to French, were a little less to our taste, but the rest of the songs on 'Kaleidoscope' are pure afrobeat as we like it best. An extra shout out should go to David Rekkab for his excellent psychedelic organ playing (definitely check out opener 'From Sheep To Sheep'). The spirit of Fela is still alive and kicking, even in Montpelier!