Fool's
Gold
Fool's
Gold (IAMSOUND Records)
Fool's Gold is a Los Angeles based 10+ member
musical group that weaves together western pop aesthetics
with various African influences. The experience is both vital
and joyous yet not limited by any single genre categorization.
They are known to make audiences dance up a sweat and chant
along to their fluttering choruses, sung in both Hebrew and
English. Singer/bassist Luke Top (via Israel) and guitarist
Lewis Pesacov lead the
blissful march of supporting members, which include Argentinean
pop star Erica Garcia and members of Foreign Born, into an
impassioned collective fervor. The result is not just a nod
to the lush variation of global music, but a unique foray
into a new kind of reinterpreted American pop music. Fool's
Gold has shared the stage with a variety of artists ranging
from Cat Power, Fugiya & Miyagi to The Senegalese Kora
Master Youssoupha Sidibe. They presently have a limited edition
7” out on Black Iris and an upcoming LP out on IAMSOUND
in September of 2009.
L.A. Weekly:
“Phalanxes of guitars chime and clang a mesh of crisp,
clean melody. A drum kit locks on a syncopated shuffle as
countless extra limbs provide bongo thwacks, conga smacks
and tambourine splashes. A lone bass, thick and deep amid
the trebly latticework, kneads gelatinous orbs. Balmy synths
hum in soothing billows. Top's voice leads the charge, booming
Hebrew verses, and the whole group responds en masse to his
calls. The lilting guitar music of West Africa is an obvious
touchstone. Fool's Gold have already popped up on France's
radar -- the arts program Tracks flew out to Echo Park, to
hold court with them. Then again, who else is weaving cantorial
yearning through the tuneful electricity of Afro-Islamic jangle
and the tribal antics of Adam & the Ants?”
Los Angeles Magazine:
"Their sound, rustic tropical rhythms that have been
grown, harvested, dried, ground, and mixed with Luke Top's
vocals, fried every molecule in the room." Individual
performances in the band are deceptively simple and repetitive,
but a musical complexity comes from the sheer number of people
on stage, as if a much smaller band invited their friends
to come out from backstage and jam. The whirling, hazy repetition
would be nothing without Top's singing, which fluctuates between
Hebrew and English with surprising power."
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