FOOL'S GOLD (US)
The Oya Festival booking team saw then unknown Fool’s Gold play an amazing set to an ecstatic crowd in a dark and sweaty basement in Brooklyn last year, and was convinced immediately. The Los Angeles-based band is fronted by songwriter/guitarist Lewis Pesacov and vocalist Luke Top, but also features ten other musicians from bands such as We Are Scientists, The Fall, Glasser and Foreign Born.
Together they make music influenced by Ghanian highlife, Nigerian afrobeat, quawwali, krautrock, soul, pop and rock, and are often compared to the equally eclectic Talking Heads. Israeli-born Top sings in both Hebrew and English, while the band playfully adds polyrhythmic percussion, jangly guitars, feisty horns and thumping bass to the mix.
Their self-titled debut is currently import-only here in Norway. It was just released in the UK however, to great reviews in BBC, Uncut, Time Out and The Guardian. The latter described the album as “a brilliant, euphoric, universally transcendent amalgam of global sounds". Rough Trade called Fool’s Gold “the first great album of 2010” when they named it record of the week.
Fool’s Gold are going on an American tour with Tinariwen this winter, and have previously shared stages with Cat Power and Fujiya & Miyagi. Don’t miss their first Norwegian show at The Oya Festival this summer!
