Galactic: Ya-Ka-May

Galactic
Ya-Ka-May
Anti-

A musical tour of New Orleans conducted by jazz-funk band Galactic takes in venerable R&B landmarks such as Allen Toussaint, evergreen on “Bacchus”’s Funkadelic groove, and Irma Thomas, majestic on “Heart of Steel”’s hard-bitten soul stomp, alongside Crescent City voices of more recent vintage.

Drag queen and transsexual rappers deliver rambunctious verses over low-end bass and carnival percussion; local emcees drawl about “drinking liquor in the fast lane” over swampy blues rhythms.

Big Easy hedonism is tempered by post-Katrina bad vibes: “Dark Water” finds jazz vocalist John Boutté boogying on a slippery slope, “popping that cork until we get to the bottom”. Ya-Ka-May, aptly, takes its name from a noodle dish popularly used as a hangover cure.