Album Notes

Where the heck are all the protest singers—after all there is a war going on? “Non-news is good news, at least it’s the kind they sell/side-step responsibility/doesn’t question authority…” is the first line of one of the tracks on the new CD called LA River, the freshman project by independent recording artist Fumilayo Bankole. An unusual musician very much in the tradition of anti-war musicians of the 60s, her music has a “Griot" Pop twist (griot as in oral history keeper)! She plays an acoustic guitar and sings poignant lyrics that challenge many aspects of American society. She tackles issues like domestic violence, AIDS, and the destruction of habias corpus in America, racism, homelessness and the decrepitude of the LA school system done in a way that seems pop-ish and light until you realize what she’s been talking about for the past 3 minutes. She is the anti-American Idol, full of grown-up, insightful lyrics, short on the over-vocalizing and unoriginality so popular these days. She is a unique activist voice with a talent for creating memorable, catchy melodies. Fumi draws on a ten year stint being a high school teacher in Los Angeles, KPFK programming, her personal experience and intense empathy for people in the world who are suffering at the hands of a few. The eleven tracks on LA River are a combination of poetry, acoustic songs and accompanied songs enhanced with bass and eerie sound bites. The CD, which was recorded at Prime Rib Recording Studios, co-produced by Fumi and Philip Rohr, is an audio adventure, beautiful at times, that leaves you thoughtful if not a little ashamed for sitting on your butt when there’s a world out there that, in order to be saved, needs intelligent people to stand up and do something. Thank goodness this generation-X artist decided to quit singing in the shower, jump on a stage and share her art with the world—Neil Young and Bob Dylan you all can finally take a break!