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Ya-Ka-May
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Anti
Release Date: 09 February 2010
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Funk, Rock, R&B, Pop
Summary
Heavily influenced by hip-hop, rock, blues, funk, and jazz, the New Orleans "Bounce" quintet Galactic enlists vocal legends for its sixth studio effort. These include Rebirth Brass Band and Irma Thomas, as well as such up-and-coming Bounce artists as Cheeky Blakk, Big Freedia, and Sissy Nobby.
Also By This Artist: From the Corner to the Block
Also On The Web: Last.fm Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
The funkateers have infused YA-KA-MAY with an abundance of varied flavors as they skillfully back a wide range of NOLA musicians, from legendary artists such as singer Irma Thomas and producer-composer Allen Toussaint, to young rappers Katey Red and Sissy Nobby....The result is an often very tasty musical, uh, stew.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
Galactic’s cyber-savvy New Orleans funk remembers the past but stays hardheaded about the future.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Galactic's Ya-Ka-May is a pungent musical fusion, adding hip-hop to mardi-gras funk, with help from a cast of local luminaries. [Apr 2010, p.86]
PopMatters
As the album title, a reference to an Afro-Orleanian soup-like culinary delicacy, suggests, this release is the most playful and carefree collection of tunes in Galactic’s impressive oeuvre.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Ya-Ka-May is not merely a collaborative amalgam of tracks, but rather a unified whole reflecting NOLA’s musical vitality and reveling in it all simultaneously; it's the sound of a musical community being itself for itself, while screaming--in full party mode--into the world that it's alive and evolving.
Read Full Review >Billboard.com
In New Orleans vernacular, Ya-Ka-May is a stew comprising various meats, green onions, noodles and a hard-boiled egg. This album may well be the musical counterpart of the dish for which it's named.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
Named after a New Orleans street food, "Ya-Ka-May" mixes a whole variety of ingredients that shouldn't hold together but do. While no record could truly capture the sound of New Orleans in 2010, Galactic sure has a great time trying.
Read Full Review >Filter
For the most part, the popping bass and booming horns keep Ya-Ka-May simmering smoothly, refelcting NOLA's rich musical history while still manageing to sound unmistakably out of this world. [Winter 2010, p.98]
Spin
Galactic struggle to accompany all these signifying voices, sometimes resorting to hard, strident rhythms that don't really augment the performances.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
Galactic’s Ya-Ka-May works as a concept album, but its execution ranges from grating to tolerable.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
