Galactic:
Ya-Ka-May

Galactic

Label: Anti-








If you're looking for old, funkadelic Galactic, they blasted off many years ago and probably won't be coming back. The stylistic facelift, From the Corner to the Block, bridged the New Orleans quintet's evolution away from their jammy roots, toward the modern hip-hop fusion they've dabbled with over the decade. Ya-Ka-May furthers this trend with a diverse mixed bag of urban NOLA musical styles and guest artists. But like a reheated bowl of Yaka Mein (the NOLA soup that inspired the album's title), there's an undeniable inconsistency.

Big Freedia's pompous syllable-spitting in "Double It" is annoying, though it's not as humiliating to blare out of your car stereo as is Cheeky Blakk's pointless shrieking in "Do It Again." On the funk end of the Ya-Ka-May spectrum, the Rebirth Brass Band sets the groove on fire with "Boe Money" and "You Don't Know."

Ya-Ka-May is not nearly as urban as Block, but it deviates in a more prominent way. Whereas Block had the signature Galactic ambiance underneath all the rapping, Ya-Ka-May doesn't. The repetitive beats are less jam-band and more R&B, less for grooving to and more for clubbing. Thus, the songs inevitably fall into generic pop structures, rendering the album devoid of any room for improv or musicianship. Ben Ellman, Robert Mercurio, Jeff Raines, Richard Vogel and Stanton Moore are five gifted musicians who barely utilize their talent and instruments here. Too often, it sounds like the band turned on loop machines and left the guest singer/rapper alone with a microphone to engage us by themselves. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Those frustrated with Galactic's current trajectory will be quick to scathe and ignore Ya-Ka-May. Those who embrace it will find some infectious NOLA anthems. "Dark Water," "Liquor Pang" and "Bacchus" are a few highlights to add to your Mardi Gras pregame playlist, but as an engaging and concise play-through album, Ya-Ka-May fails.

by Jory Spadea