Top of the World
The editor's choice selection of the 10 best new releases, a track from each album appears on the issue's CD covermount.
Ali Farka TourÈ
Savane
World Circuit
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In many ways Savane is the most traditional record he ever made; at the same time itís also his most different. Thatís apparent from the first track ñ ëErdií ñ which opens with the scratchy sound of a couple of ngonis (plucked lute) and the one-string njarka (fiddle) before the wailing blues harp of Little George Surreff takes up the theme. Ali then picks out a hypnotic guitar riff and begins to rap a deep-throated vocal of defiant power and conviction.
Savane is as pure and deep an expression of the blues as you will ever hear ñ up there with the unearthly recordings of Robert Johnson or early Muddy Waters. Yet it is also an album of wonderfully contrasting sounds and textures. ëBetoí features the smouldering tenor sax of Pee Wee Ellis to devastating effect. Listen to the reggae lilt of the title-track and youíll be convinced that the rhythms of Jamaica also originated in Africa. The rustic-sounding ëPenda Yoroí finds the ngoni pickers to the fore again, and you can hear where the Appalachian banjo has its roots.
And thatís the most extraordinary thing about this remarkable recording. It seems to tap into some rich, deep and unfathomable spiritual source from which, in the distant mists of time, all music must originally have flowed. Right now, Savane genuinely does sound like the best album Iíve ever heard.
Nigel Williamson
Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas
Hang it High, Hang it Low
Rounder
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There are universal lessons in Williamsí lyrics (ëYour Love Lasts As Long As Your Moneyí and ëDo It Nowí) that are rare in zydeco. Elsewhere on the album, the music hints at blues, New Orleans barrelhouse, Cajun chank-a-chank and soul ñ or some combination thereof ñ with Williamsí accordion chuckling like a Saturday night reveler, or buzzing like an ornery wasp. His able sidemen, several of them kin, can be heard proclaiming their pleasure on several tracks, and youíll want to join them, and to dance to it all.
Jeff Kaliss
Trilok Gurtu and the Frikyiwa
Farakala
Frikyiwa
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Although itís Gurtuís name that appears in bigger lettering on the cover, in many ways Farakala really belongs to the West Africans: the enchanting voice of Guineaís Hadja KouyatÈ, the mesmerising acoustic strings of Senegalese kora (harp-lute) player Ali Boulo Santo and the more earthy sounds of the kamelengoni (lute) played by Maliís Filifin take centre stage. Produced by Galliano and recorded without overdubs, Gurtu for once puts his tablas aside in favour of calabashes and other African-styled percussion, but still injects the subtlest of Indian rhythmic influences. In the past he has fallen prey to the classic jazzerís pitfall of over-elaboration and a tendency to fill the available space with too many notes. The beauty of Farakala lies in its sheer simplicity. Itís not so much a fusion as an immersion.
Nigel Williamson
John McSherry & Donal O'Connor
Tripswitch
Vetical Records
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John McSherry has probably never played better in his life. For evidence, turn to the opening track, kick-started by the sonorous march ëRose in the Gapí, and to the w¸nderkind set of reels ëSe·n Maguireísí. Itís not just the precision of his playing, but its powers of sheer invigoration which confirms McSherry as one of Irelandís foremost pipers. And DÛnal matches the piper note-for-note, via some captivating fiddle work. Alongside some of Irelandís most pulsating jigs and reels, youíll find two gorgeous 5/8 signature Castilian dances, a driving Asturian jig and several delightful self-compositions, including the dazzling slow air ëBoth GhÈí. With its crystal clear production, if thereís a better Irish album released in 2006 Iíll willingly dance naked in Trafalgar Square with a ferret on my head. But only if Tripswitch is playing in the background.
Geoff Wallis
Malecon Social Club
Como me Gustas
Le Chant du Monde
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The enchanting bit comes as much with their original versions of what have become standard tourist fare, washing ëLagrimas Negrasí, ëVeinte AÒosí, ëDos Gardeniasí and ëYolandaí clean of clichÈ. Talent and passion, sincerity and humbleness go a long way in successful entrancing people. Having spent a large amount of my life in Cuba recently I expect to be satiated by Cuban music. Then along comes something like this which cleans the palate, reviving oneís enthusiasm all over again.
Jan Fairley
Accordion Tribe
Lunghorn Twist
Intuition
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Accordion Tribe is a collective of five of the worldís finest and most interesting squeezebox players. Bratko Bibic is Slovenian, Lars Hollmer is Swedish, Maria Kalaniemi is Finnish, Guy Klucevsek is an American of Slovenian descent and Otto Lechner is Austrian. Each is a celebrated musician. They work in theatre, radio, multi-media projects and dance, as well as folk, jazz and contemporary music groups. Each player brings along material that they work on together.
The tribe first assembled a decade ago, and they have gathered occasionally since. Lunghorn Twist is their third album. But listening to the intricacies of their playing together, their exploration of ideas and traditions, one feels Accordion Tribe gathers for its own sake, and that we are privileged to overhear.
Julian May
Musicians of the Nile
Down By The River
Long Distance
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The metallic clatter of the dumbek drum marks the music out as obviously Arabic, but the presence of the rabab fiddle (constructed from horsehair, coconut shell and fish-skin) and the arghul (double pipe) gives the music a specific and unique character. The opener, ëSir Bina Ya Qitarí, like many of the nine tracks here, uses rich metaphors to describe a lost or yearned-for lover, underpinned by mournful singing and rabab playing, and driven ever forward by frenetic percussion. ëWa Ana Mali, Ya Qalbií has a Coltranesque meditative quality it shares with the arghul solo ëTaksim Al-Hawaí which features a drone reminiscent of the bagpipes. The mid-tempo ëAbou Zeid al-Hilalií carries almost majestic overtones.
Overall, the CD successfully captures the ferocity and passion of The Musicians Of The Nile. That this music is becoming increasingly rare makes this excellent recording doubly important.
Chris Menist
Tom ZÈ
Estuando o Pagode
Luaka Bop
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Then in 1986 David Byrne chanced upon Estudando O Samba in a S„o Paulo music store and fell in love with the album. He asked Caetano Veloso who ZÈ was. Caetano apparently confused him with another singer, TuzÈ de Abreu. But Byrne tracked ZÈ down nonetheless, recording him and resurrecting his career. Now, at the ripe old age of 70, ZÈ has released a companion to Estudando O Samba. And itís a masterpiece.
The CD is a dramatic exploration ñ in the form of a rock operetta ñ of the most popular form of samba in Brazil, pagode. ZÈ plays with pagode rhythms from their earliest incarnations, as associated with artists like Bezerra da Silva, to their more modern, as typified by bands like Harmonia do Samba. He intertwines these with jilting Zappaesque rock complexity, classical choruses, sound effect interludes, soliloquies and lyrical bossa nova reflections.
Pagode is house party music of the kind played at home around the barbecue. It lies at the heart of Brazilian society. ZÈ exploits this, cutting a cross-section through macho attitudes towards women in Brazilian popular culture, society and by extension the world at large. The result is a magnificent avant garde tour de force as profound and experimental as Carla Bleyís Escalator Over the Hill or Beefheartís Safe As Milk, yet resolutely Brazilian.
Alex Robinson
Etran Finatawa
Introducing Etran Finatawa
World Music Network
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Nigel Williamson
Ustad Vilayat Khan & Pandit Kishan Maharaj
When Time Stood Still
Navras
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The half-hour of alap that opens this disc ñ recorded at one of his last London concerts, in 2002 ñ is a searching, spacious instance that takes all the time that it needs. He even talks over it, demonstrating the lateral pulls in some detail (a pity there is no translation) without for a moment breaking the flow. Vilayatís son Hidayat Khan is on stage too, echoing the earlier phrases but keeping respectfully out of the way when his father is in full flow. This performance of ëRaga Darbari Kanadaí then jumps straight to a pair of gats joined by the vigorous and subtle if no longer athletic tabla of Kishan Maharaj. In the second, Vilayat sings some of the compositions before the music accelerates. It doesnít attempt the flamboyance of his younger days, but the end is thrilling enough. A short version of ëRaga Bhairavií, one of his favourites, makes a substantial encore-style bonus.
Although the DVD is pretty austere, with three main camera angles, the long shots catch the performersí serenity and the close-ups introduce a quite disarming intimacy. You can see for yourself how closely the style is modelled on vocal traditions: Vilayatís whole body seems to caress the music on to the instrument, while the explanations are as good as a master-class. Every follower of Indian classical music needs to have seen him at least once, and this is a classic embodiment of what he meant to the genre.
Robert Maycock





