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Praise for Shine Your Face (2009)
“…uproariously energetic and politically engaging… Subtle, poetic and funk filled.”
- Short and Sweet NYC, New York
“…superb release…. this infectious five-piece band grafts each sensational track together with smart pop hooks held in place by a gifted and extraordinary singer in Johan Hultqvist—adding accessibility to what is otherwise a high-torque melding of funk, jazz and Afrobeat (each of which is far too limiting in defining this crackerjack band).”
- Penguin Eggs – Canada’s folk, roots & world music magazine
“This Toronto quintet is one of Canada’s best-loved afro-beat combos and now four albums into its career comes the fabulous Shine Your Face, which will most assuredly please fans of the genre. With heaven-sent horn arrangements and topical lyrics the band holds true to the estimable track laid by early originators like Fela Kuti. The standard, low rumbling percussive Afro-beat rhythms are in full flow right from the opening track The Antidote and it only gets better from there.”
- Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg
“Shine Your Face pares down the frantic locomotion of Afrobeat to stretch out the band’s jazz chops. And drummer Larry Graves swings like hell.”
- EYE WEEKLY, Toronto
“For their fourth album, Toronto’s Mr. Something Something don’t change much about their winning sonic formula, and when it comes down to it, why should they? The five-piece band, with a beefed-up quartet horn section on record, blast their way through eight powerful Afrobeat-inflected groove tunes that embody the spirits of Fela and more. Fear not, as this is no retread or rehash, proof positive that the blending of cool funk, jazz, soul and pop elements into the band’s global soundscape, and the lyrical nods to themes of social justice, provide a winning formula.”
- HOUR Magazine, Montreal
“All eight songs on the new CD grab you from their opening Afrobeat pulses and reel you in with crisp, blistering horns and lyrics that tug at your sense of wanting to right so many wrongs. Even with lyrics that mirror the horrors of war, the ache in an old man’s heart and the need to affect change, the music is jubilant and celebratory.”
- The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA
“…a dense, multi-layered and polyrhythmic sonic steamroller of funky African repetition and old jazz chops. The arrangements on Shine Your Face sizzle; time signatures flail on the side of complexity; John MacLean’s tenor sax interjects in the spaces left by the voodoo churn of Paul MacDougall’s palm-muted guitar, Liam Smith’s bass, and Larry Graves’ mountain of drums. Tempos are usually quick, and more often than not, the instrumental intensity and musicianship on display is almost intimidating.
- Pop Matters (US)
**** (4 out of 5)
- Ottawa XPress
“A thinking person’s party band, the five Toronto players make rhythmically sophisticated and socially conscious music, heavily influenced by the hybrid Nigerian/American Afrobeat styles of the late Fela Kuti. “When the news is bad I need you to remind me that the urge to create beauty can’t be contained,” front man Johan Hultqvist sings in the opening track, “The Antidote,” signalling an informed, optimistic, world view. The band’s second album The Edge drew a Juno nomination, but Shine Your Face marks the group’s most accomplished work yet.”
- The Toronto Star
“Mr. Something Something, coming from Toronto, take all the blazing dancefloor passionate, polyrhythmic experience of Nigeria and Ghana, and add a glorious amount of good ol’ soul and funk to create an intoxicating blend of their own world beat mania.”
- The Ripple Effect (US)
“Innovative and rhythmically sophisticated.”
- WRUV-FM, Burlington, VT
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Praise for Deep Sleep (2007)
“Afrobeat’s political edge is kept razor sharp by the….impressive Canadian sextet Mr Something Something and Ikwunga The Afrobeat Poet.”
- WIRE (UK)
“NNNN” (4 out of 5)
- NOW Magazine, Toronto
“A new level of urgency, a new level of groove, this is an incendiary new album from a band that has built its reputation on a live experience over the last few years. I promise it will knock your socks off. This is music on a different level.”
- CKUA Radio, Edmonton
“Formidable – a group of Canadians take on difficult Afrobeat syncopations behind a Nigerian poet, a man bursting with startlingly dramatic diction and much presence, and emerge with credit. Ikwunga The Afrobeat Poet may in waking life be a lovely personality, but in performance he sounds very cold and very cross, exactly the sort of man you wouldn’t willingly disappoint. The title Deep Sleep refers to the trance state into which African leaders have been lulled and corrupted. Remind you of someone? Yes, the late Fela, and indeed Ikwunga has been a regular performer at The Shrine in Lagos. So, some pedigree, and the musicians are up to the task: they are sharp, inventive and well-muscled.”
- fROOTS (UK)
“With their third release, Mr Something Something make it clear that they are not interested in imitation, while constructing a firm case for themselves as Canada’s premiere Afrobeat band.”
- !earshot magazine – Canada’s Campus & Community Radio Report
“…classic Afrobeat characteristics including syncopated melodies, technically compelling grooves and layered vocals [...] Fela’s legacy remains well-maintained here in Toronto.”
- EYE Weekly, Toronto
Praise for the first two albums / live reviews
“Mashing up Afrobeats with politically conscious lyrics, this band’s music has you grooving and thinking at the same time.”
- Aparita Bhandari, CBC Radio
“highly danceable”
- Li Robbins, Globe & Mail
“…the band’s eco-conscious attitude, clever lyrics and danceable rhythms all add up to a show that shouldn’t be missed.”
- Stacy Lee Kong, Toronto Life
“And finally, the awesome, Juno-nominated Mr. Something Something (easily one of my favourite band-names in all of music) brought the evening to a rollicking conclusion with their superfunky Afrobeat concoctions. What amazes me about their music is that in spite of all the busy-ness of the horns, guitar, bass, drums and vocals (not to mention the on-stage dancer and lead singer Johan Hultqvist’s mesmerizing and tightly controlled flailing) there is a kind of spare-ness to the arrangements that almost let you visualize lines of music spilling off the stage and spreading among the dancers in the house – each one a kind of personal muse for movement.”
- Jowi Taylor, CBC Radio Two
“If you were with us at Supermarket on Friday for ‘On the Map’ you know what these guys are capable of. Everybody in the room was dancing, me included, terrifyingly enough. This is why, Mr. Something Something, a song called The Wanting. …taken from a CD, which is really fantastic, called the Edge. If you’ve never seen them before, trust me when I tell you that they put on a fantastic live show.”
- Matt Galloway, CBC Radio
“Mr. Something Something had the crowd gyrating in admirable pagan fashion.”
- Patrick Langston, Ottawa Citizen
“Keeping Fela Kuti’s legacy alive…. Mr. Something Something has developed quite a reputation for giving people what they want at their high-energy shows”
- Errol Nazareth, Toronto Sun
“…it’s all here: punchy horn riffs, jazzy drums, percolating guitars and percussion galore…. these guys rank with any Afrobeat in the world today.”
- David Dacks, EXCLAIM!
“Their furious rhythms, frantic energy and razor-sharp horns make for an intense live experience, and one that’s well worth going out of your way for.”
- Peter Hemminger, FFWD Weekly, Calgary
“Featuring more exotic instruments than you can shake a Gun-gon stick at, local Afrobeat sextet Mr. Something Something mix such tongue-twisting tools as Kpanlogo drums, borborbor hand drums, Ashanti gourd rattles and Frychiwa metal castanets with more conventional noisemakers (tenor and baritone sax, bass, guitar) into an infectious blend of percolating polyrhythms, layered horn punches and hot-stepping basslines. …The Edge makes for an album-length extended groove that can, in a live setting, spell dancefloor heaven…”
- Ryan Watson, EYE WEEKLY, Toronto
“With authentic African rhythms, a fantastic horn section, hand drums and rattles from Ghana, spirited male and female vocals it’s almost impossible not to be moved by the sheer intensity of Mr. Something Something’s desire to get funky.”
- Jordy Yack, PULSE, St. Catharines
“You catch this Toronto band live, this Mr. Something Something, and you’re a changed person. Next day, you’re still dancing, hypnotized by the entrancing rhythms carried first hand across the waters from West Africa and made personal by this distinctive team.”
- Halley Southgate, MUZIK ETC
“…a celebration exploding with rich tones and vibrant beats, a throwback to something primal, infectious and seductive. …dares even the dance–challenged to try and sit still during a live performance.”
- Peter Klaassen, VIEW Magazine, Hamilton
“Throughout a two-hour set at the Casbah, the sextet of Mr. Something Something proved that they rank with any Afrobeat in the world today with soaring, vibrant horn lines rolling through passionate vocals filled with conscious lyricism…”
- Shain Shapiro, EXCLAIM!
“…suggestive of hot climates, late-night clubland communion and head-swiveling propulsion. In a word, it’s groovy baby!”
- Dean Gordon-Smith, Vernon Morning Star
“…loaded with spirit, welcomed exuberance, and rhythmic muscle. [...] A careful blend of inspired vocals and instrumental punch make each piece a gem in and of itself.”
- Randy McElligott, Jazzreview.com
“Mr. Something Something have the West African-style groove-thing down pat. The beats are infectious and the horns are big, bold and beautiful.”
- Chris Watson, VIEW Magazine, Hamilton
“…a welcome new flavour in the Canadian musical landscape.”
- Doug Taylor, The Coast, Halifax
“…you can’t help but feel the vibe….cool and infectious…”
- Dylan Ferguson, The Manitoban, Winnipeg
“…West African style that blissfully combines catchy lyrics with a variety of horns to make their fans get up and dance. Known not only for the music they make, but also for promoting a strong social conscience and for their sometimes acrobatic use of (often limited) stage space, these guys are worth seeing, midterms or no midterms!”
- McGill Tribune, Montreal
