Adapting ritual African music once used by bushmen and women in pagan tranceceremonies (considered satanic by Europeans), this sprawling, 25-member Kinshasa ensemble jump-starts the third installment in the Congotronics series. Buoyant voices erupt in urgent chants, while xylophones, thumb pianos, and percussion create a swirling, hallucinatory web of sound equal to the freakiest psychedelia.The overlapping rhythms of “Kafuulu Balu” could spark an attack of vertigo, while “Drowning Goat (Mbuji-Mayi)” brims with helium beats ideal for sampling.
