Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tumi and the Volume - Pick a Dream: Hip hop with joie de vivre

OK, what I know about hip hop is somewhat limited. I know I prefer it in a club to electro dance dance BS. My ear, shall we say, is relatively undeveloped. But my ear is backed up by reliable sources, so I can confidently say that Tumi and the Volume is 100% nzima.
The new(ish) album Pick a Dream is French-produced and comes complete with a more refined sound. The good ol' Tumi perspective is still solid and speaks clearly to a South African audience.
Tumi and the Volume caught their international break when playing a festival on Reunion – an island off the coast of Madagascar. They were picked up by the organiser Gerome Galbert and paraded around Europe for all to see. The French got the first listen as Pick a Dream was released there early in 2010. We in Saffaland were graced with the album much later - during the Christmas rush - and it was denied the attention it deserved.
TATV's second studio album, and third album in total, Pick a Dream carries the attitude and voice of Tumi and the Volume and the expertise of international production. A vast array of interesting instruments make an appearance, and TATV do a fantastic job of incorporating these into their own unique sound. It's hard not to be proud of our boys with a stellar offering such as this. 
If I have one critique it's that they had to go overseas to do it.The SA music industry really needs to start taking note of acts such as these, rather than sending them off to foreign climes.
Catch Tumi in action at the AGH Soweto sessions and RAMfest, and TATV at venues around SA. 
Visit their MySpace page for more info or a preview of the album: http://www.myspace.com/tatv

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