Skip to content
Reviews

Buraka Som Sistema, ‘Komba’ (Enchufada)

Whether or not you believe the claim that Angola’s kuduro dance style was inspired by Jean-Claude Van Damme’s stiff onscreen movements, the rhythm itself is as “hard-ass” as promised on this Portuguese quintet’s follow-up to 2008’s gem of a concept album, Black Diamond. Opener “Eskeleto” and the title track update the life-affirming, drumming frenzy of a death trip known as komba. And throughout, Buraka assemble Jamaican dancehall, Brazilian favela beats, South African ghetto-tech, and video-game ear candy like colorful Lego blocks on an earthy yet impeccably crafted working-class fiesta for dance-floor zombies and vampires of all nations.