Defying the expectations of the “tablatronic” sound, the talented Kale puts a surprisingly heavy emphasis on the “-tronic” part of the equation on his third album. Sounding more like a tasteful and well-traveled pop album than his previous, more “exotic” excursions, Broken English is what the global jukebox should sound like. It seems that Kale’s collaborations with the likes of Bill Laswell have allowed him to fully exercise his prodigious skills as a tabla player and producer, so that when it came time to make his own record, the sound of his heritage only emerges occasionally as a facet of Broken‘s sound. Though it’s somewhat unfortunate that a good many of the tracks rely on predictable structures, and though it’s appalling that he chose to open the disc with the clumsy rapping of MC Napoleon, it’s difficult to be too hard on a record that’s as engaging, accessible and sonically rich as this one.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2006.