World Music
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Various Artists: Turkish Groove (Putumayo/Elite)
16 Jul 2006 | <1 min read
The Putumayo label pumps out the compilations and some of them, most actually, are pretty indifferent. But the likeable generic packaging has captured the imagination so some people just get into that "buy the series" thing -- and get stuck with uninteresting Asian Lounge, various albums of kiddie folk, and disappointing collections of B-grade Cuban or Brazilian artists. But... > Read more
Mustafa Sandal: Kalmadi
Various Artists, Congotronics 2 (Crammed Discs)
9 Jul 2006 | <1 min read
The first volume of this impossible-to-have-anticipated meltdown of cheap electronica, traditional instruments like thumb piano, vibrant percussion, ropey production and chant-sing vocals from the suburban dance clubs around Kinshasa was picked as one of his 10 best albums to get you through winter by Jim Pickney (DJ Stinky Jim, who has excellent taste) in a recent Listener. This follow-up... > Read more
Sobanza Mimanisa: Kiwembo
Etran Finatawa: Introducing Etran Finatawa (World Music Network) BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2006
9 Jul 2006 | <1 min read
From the same emotional source and geographical location -- the sub-Sahara around Niger -- as the thrilling and now well-known Tinariwen comes this equally extraordinary band. Their mesmerising guitars have no exact counterpart in Western blues, folk or rock (although every now and again something eerily familiar pops out) and that alone -- along with just about everything else about them --... > Read more
Etran Finatawa: Iledeman
Tinariwen: Amassakoul (Wrasse/Shock): BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2006
15 Jun 2006 | <1 min read
Tinariwen were from a group of stateless wanderers who lived at the whim of weather and changing political climates in the greater Sahara, and were educated in the language of armed struggle. In the 80s they developed their music of exile. But just as blues singers from America's south found acoustic guitars didn't cut it in the hard-edged cities like Chicago, Tinariwen needed a tougher form... > Read more
Tinariwen: Amassakoul'N'Tenere
Ishta: Ishta (Monkey)
2 Jan 2006 | <1 min read
Listening to this multiculti outfit from Auckland qualifies you for frequent flyer points: the line-up has musicians from Dutch, Kiwi, Israeli, Indian and French backgrounds; and the instrumental artillery on display includes sitar, saxophone, didgeridoo, guitar, flute and double bass. All of which could make for an unworkable implosion of world fusion, if it weren't for the keen... > Read more
Drop the Soap
Ali Farka Toure/Toumani Diabate: In the Heart of the Moon (Elite)
15 Dec 2005 | <1 min read
In world music circles Malian guitarist Toure and kora player Diabate, are acknowledged geniuses, and Toure’s playing and sandpaper vocal style have drawn comparisons with Delta blues musicians. He almost leapt to greater recognition with Talking Timbuktu a few years ago (with Buena Vista Social Club prime-mover Ry Cooder, in the background here with his percussionist son Joachim).... > Read more
Natacha Atlas: The Best of Natacha Atlas (Mantra)
1 Jun 2005 | <1 min read
Atlas -- born in Belgium but with family links to Egyptian, Palestinian and Moroccan cultures -- is one the most thrilling contemporary voices of the Middle East crescent. She came to attention in the early 90s with Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart then the dance-electronica outfit TransGlobal Underground out of London. Her solo career began with the Diaspora album in 95 and since... > Read more
BAABA MAAL INTERVIEWED (1999): The soul of Senegal
10 Jul 2000 | 3 min read
It opens with a hush of Celtic-sounding voices, all that airy, Eirey ambience so familiar from Enya and the like. But then something peculiar happens. That isn't a guitar coming in there, but something more primitive sounding. Something more ... African? Then a penetrating voice slices across the top, a wail from some place more primal and universal. When Senegalese singer... > Read more