VALERIE KIMANI- BAISIKELI
This is one of those days I just want to be away from anyone else in the world not because I am sad but because I want self improvement. I want to polish up on some of my weaknesses and the best way for me to do so is to roll myself into a cocoon and wait to break out as a beautiful butterfly. As I cocoon myself I will need music that will inspire me to continue my covering venture bit by bit and this is the album I chose.3 years ago, my love with afro-fusion was born and I credit its birth to the sounds of Valerie Kimani. She is the first person to have taken home the title of being the tusker project fame winner getting the opportunity to record with Gallo Record Company in three different countries with most of the work was done in South Africa where the company is based.She came up with a very beautiful album called Baisikeli (bicycle) which in my opinion is called thus because of the way she sings of life in its element from love to hurt to fun and sad times: The continuous cycle of life.
“village girl” is a brew of love in the pot of acoustic afro soul about a village girl who loves his city boy with a love that is professed by both to be a never ending kind of love sung by Moses Kirya and her. The fusion of their voices brings out the sunset in my mind and arouses a nice feel of a calm dusk on a Saturday evening as the birds head towards their nests singing melodiously.The last time you heard of tembo I am sure it was In the context of an animal. “Tembo” is the next track with a flare of head bumping possibilities covered in Swahili sweetness that I believe is metaphorically crafted to talk of alcohol addiction and the decision to quit it usage. I might be wrong; do you think it is in the same line?“Besame mucho” (kiss me again an again, kiss me a lot or kiss me much) this is one of the best of renditions that I have heard and it introduced me to my love for Spanish. The song was written by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velazquez who by the time of writing it was only fifteen years and had had never been kissed. As the words melt into my brain to give me a machismo (masculinity) feel giving rise to my strength and power from within I can now become a matador in kissing not cattle wrestling.
After someone we love decides to walk out of our lives, someone you gave your heart to ditches you and in the depth of your heart you tell yourself you can never love again. Then when you have grown stronger and you have moved to better things and your heart is relearning hoe to love again they come back and say the way they want everything back and how they have realized that they wrong!! This song “to late now” should be your burning spear.My best song in this album is “sirudi tena” (not coming back again). And you will have to listen to the song to know why. It just leaves me with less of words/speechless.And a love song kicks in next with words of wisdom for every man on words you can use to make her stop on her tracks. Words that most ladies (if not every girl) would want to be told at some point in her life if not everyday. “Ndoto langu” (my dream) is the must listen to for the man who knows his place in the universe.There are 13 tracks in the album that you can listen to and smile but since I can not understand what 3 are about I have only 10 tracks to toy around with. Most of my best tracks are at the start of the album which is a good listen.A great song should break down language barrier with its execution making you dance to it even without wanting to know what the song is about.Reviewed by ©Robert Mahebo images from www.last.fm
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