World music is a cringe-worthy classification of sounds. For decades, anything that has come from a non-English speaking country has been subjected to the term. Whether it be Afro beat, reggae, Mali music, or traditional Chinese folk music, it’s all lumped together. And for as much as I loathe the term, it’s pretty much impossible to classify DakhaBrakha as anything but world music.
Sunday night at the Skylight in Santa Fe, the Ukrainian quartet mesmerized a packed crowd with what could only be described as a well-traveled melting pot of musical styles. Reflecting the band’s wide ranging assortment of styles was the type of impeccably diverse crowd that I’ve grown to expect from Santa Fe. And no matter young or old, the fans celebrated DakhaBrakha’s performance with immense joy.
Having never seen them before, I had little idea of what to expect outside of what I’d had absorbed from their album Light, and a couple of videos I had watched online. Immediately upon reaching the stage, they brought excitement and energy to the room in the form of polyrhythmic percussion and captivating vocal gymnastics. In unison, each member showcased exceptional talent, while they blended every musical style imaginable with mind blowing fluidity. Songs developed from delicate noire folk to explosive Afrobeat/Highlife influenced anthems. No seams ever showed as the members of DakhaBrakha hopped from neo soul (“Baby”) to Ukrainian hip hop (“Karpatskyi rep”). From an American perspective, the closest kin to DakhaBrakha would appear to be the similarly genre hopping freak folk duo of Cocorosie, but the differences still outweigh the similarities.
DakhaBrakha has referred to their music as Ethno-chaos, but what I witnessed on Sunday night was far from chaotic. In contrast, their performance was a passionate unifying synthesis of musical cultures. Anyone with the opportunity/privilege of seeing DakhaBrakha live should do so. While their recordings are captivating, the energy and charisma of their live performances is beyond anything the recorded format could contain.