The Wolf Of Badenoch

This is one of the odder entries in the voluminous Suns of Arqa catalogue, but also one of the cooler ones. To his usual mixture of funk, dub, and Indian classical elements, group leader Michael Wadada adds British Isles folk music: Highland and Uillean pipes, Scottish-inflected vocals, fiddles, and tin whistles join the chorus of sitar, electric bass, and synthesizers to create something less than a complete fusion of styles, but something more than just a juxtaposition. And there’s some politics in there as well.