Various Artists - Léve Léve: São Tomé & Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 156, April 2020.

Various Artists
Léve Léve: São Tomé & Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s
Bongo Joe (78 mins)

São Tomé and Príncipe isn’t exactly known as a musical powerhouse nation – Songlines has only reviewed one other São Toméan album in the past 20 years – which makes this particular rare groove compilation such an unexpected delight.

The country (the second smallest in Africa) is made up of a series of islands in the Gulf of Guinea. It’s perfectly placed to absorb all the sounds from both West and Central Africa, and the music on this album shows a lovely combination of Cuban-influenced Congolese guitar music and Ghanaian highlife with its own unique twist arising from its past as a Portuguese colony.

When I listened to this album, I was in the middle of a deep midwinter gloom, but by the end of the first track – ‘Mino Bô Bé Quacueda’ by Africa Negra – I was already walking with a bounce in my step. It’s brilliant music for feeling cheery, all sunshine guitars and major third vocal harmonies with just occasional dips into cheesiness.

Featuring nine artists across 16 tracks, Léve Léve presents the glorious and little-known sound of the equatorial Atlantic islands. The front cover is also intriguingly marked ‘Vol. 1,’ so here’s hoping we get to hear more São Toméan music very soon…

Various Artists - Protobilly: The Minstrel & Tin Pan Alley DNA of Country Music 1892-2017

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 154, January/February 2020.

Various Artists
Protobilly: The Minstrel & Tin Pan Alley DNA of Country Music 1892-2017
JSP Records (3CD, 226 mins)

This compilation is an amazing and expansive labour of love that traces the journey of country music from the very beginnings of recorded music to the present day. However, with its focus on the influences taken from the early days of pop – from the music halls and vaudeville shows – it steers clear of the most well-trodden ground in the examination of one of America's most valuable folk traditions.

The sequencing of the tracks across the album’s three discs really shines a light on the evolution of the genre. Each piece is represented by between two and four different recorded versions across various styles and time periods. You can hear the development across each example. Warbling voices turn into close harmonies; brass bands and string orchestras are replaced by banjos and guitars; polkas, early jazz, jump blues, Viennese marches and show-tunes transform into folk ballads, bluegrass and good ol' cowboy songs.

The package has an explicit disclaimer warning of the period sensibilities at play on the recordings, which should not be judged by modern standards. It’s nice to go in prepared, but it definitely raises some interesting conversations: it's one thing to safeguard these recordings for posterity and research, but do we really need a song entitled 'N***** Blues' (uncensored, naturally) in the context of this album? Would the compilation have suffered from its omission? I'm not sure it would.

Nevertheless, Protobilly is a collection of awe-inspiring scope and depth. What is clearly the result of years of research has been distilled into nearly four hours of music and a 76-page booklet with detailed descriptions and histories of each song and recording. Entertaining and intriguing in equal measure, this is one hell of a listen.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to World Jazz

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 153, December 2019.

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to World Jazz
World Music Network (72 mins)

For a long time, the Rough Guide series was indispensable for world music fans. Within one CD, they would take you through everything you needed to know about the music of a certain genre, artist, culture or country. They showcased the best and most typical tracks of each subject, as well as throwing in some interesting outliers to highlight the breadth of music on offer. The tracks came from a wide range of sources, even including ones that were difficult to come across.

Those days have passed. For the last few years, the Rough Guides have been including more and more tracks from their sister label, Riverboat Records. Now, we get The Rough Guide to World Jazz, of which all 13 tracks are taken from albums on Riverboat Records. It’s very frustrating. The music included is good enough, with a wide range of artists from India, Poland, Tunisia, the US, Bulgaria and more (and including Debashish Bhattacharya’s 16-minute epic with John McLaughlin, ‘A Mystical Morning’), but when it boils down to it, this is little more than a label sampler masquerading as an essential, genre-spanning guide.

As a former devotee of the series and someone who has learnt a great deal from them, this is a disappointing low in the impressive legacy of the Rough Guides series.

Various Artists - Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 143, December 2018.

Various Artists
Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan
Ostinato Records (2CD, 96 mins)

They dipped their toe into vintage Sudanese music with an album by Abu Obaida Hassan a few months ago; now Ostinato Records are taking a deep dive into that fertile ocean with this double album. This time they’re exploring the music of Khartoum, the capital city at the confluence of the Niles. The rivers are key to Sudan’s unique musical heritage, bringing in influences from North, Central and East Africa to give it a special swing.

The tracks on this compilation span from the 1970s to the 90s, and it’s interesting to hear the changes in style as time goes on. As the title suggests, there is a bunch of violins and a bunch of synths. The trend moves from one to the other over time, the pure disco of the massed violins and wah-guitars slowly making way for full-on synthscapes that really get the heart racing.

All the tracks here have been digitised from cassettes, so the audio quality is understandably varied, which can either be endearing or sonically troubling, depending on your ear. But as with most compilations of this sort, the sheer musical quality is excellent throughout – a wobbly track or two is a fair trade for a wonderful musical journey.

Various Artists - Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 140, August/September 2018.

Various Artists
Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music
Dust to Digital (2CD, 132 mins)

If it ain’t exquisite, it ain’t Dust to Digital. The record label is well-known for its high-quality compilations of remastered recordings, and Listen All Around is no exception.

This is a delightful collection of recordings made by archivist Hugh Tracey, exploring a range of popular music from modern day DR Congo, Kenya and Tanzania as it was in the 1950s.

Although Tracey didn’t exactly enjoy this type of music himself, his recordings are thankfully extensive. There’s tracks based on calypso, country, big band jazz, Cuban son, Ghanaian highlife, military bands and even French folk songs, all with more or less influence from traditional music of the various regions.

Each of the 47 tracks has an interesting story to tell, and there’s lots to arouse the curiosity, such as the massed kazoos of the Dar Es Salaam Jazz Band and ‘Chemirocha III,’ a song by Kipsigis girls in Kenya in honour of country legend Jimmie Rodgers. It’s useful, then, that the 84 pages of liner notes include detailed explanations of every track, as well as a fully-referenced essay about the music and culture of the time by the compiler, Professor Alex Perullo.

The wonderful variety of sounds and impressive depth of information make Listen All Around a great resource for world music fans and ethnomusicologists alike.

Various Artists - Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 131, October 2017.

Various Artists
Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa
Ostinato Records (80 mins)

Sweet as Broken Dates is a collection of Somali-language pop recorded in Somalia, Somaliland and Djibouti from the 1960s right up to the 2000s. Somali music has a very distinctive personality. Many of the tracks on the album are based around an interplay of synthesiser and voice, a tradimodern take on the traditional kaban (oud-like lute) music. But as with any pop music, it has absorbed what is popular at the time – it’s dripping with soul and funk, as well as influences from Ethiopia, the Arabic peninsula and even Bollywood.

The most fascinating selections here come courtesy of Radio Hargeisa, which in 1988 managed to protect thousands of tapes during the civil war by sending them into neighbouring countries or burying them in the ground. They were eventually retrieved and now many of those tapes are kept as part of the 10,000-strong archive, the Red Sea Foundation in Hargeisa. Archaeological musicology, indeed.

The CD comes with a 32-page booklet featuring several essays and interviews with the artists. It’s very detailed and informative, and a great addition to the music. This is a wonderful album for both listening and learning, serving as a jumping-off point for people wanting to start their own journeys into Somali groove. It will be interesting to see if any other compilations – or perhaps full albums – come from the Red Sea Foundation’s amazing haul in the coming years.

Various Artists - Pop Makossa - The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976-1984

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 129, July 2017.

Various Artists
Pop Makossa – The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976-1984
Analog Africa (67 mins)

Makossa united the tastes of a divided Cameroon, not least because it was a musical style that could bend around almost anything the country’s musicians threw at it. From super-tight funk to full-on drum machine and synthesiser disco, makossa embodied it all. There were also healthy doses of rumba thrown into the mix, the Congolese influences plain to hear.

The focus of Pop Makossa – as with many releases from Analog Africa – is on rediscovery. The album presents the lost hit-makers from the genre’s defining era, who have too often fallen into obscurity – sometimes out of choice, sometimes not.

This album does a good job of spanning the diversity of the style, and even includes some gems that have never seen an official release, such as Dream Stars’ ‘Pop Makossa Invasion’, a piece recorded for a radio station and promptly forgotten until now. The accompanying booklet is also filled with great stories of the artists and the Analog Africa crew’s adventures in tracking them down.

A clue to the popularity of makossa is in its name: the word means ‘I dance’ in Duala, and when you listen to this compilation, you won’t be able to argue with that.

Various Artists - The Original Sound of Mali

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 127, May 2017.

Various Artists
The Original Sound of Mali
Mr Bongo (79 mins)

The dance band craze of the 1970s saw groups from all over West Africa putting their own spin on Latin music. Mali was no exception, where deep Mande roots blended with twinkling guitars, crunchy synths and punchy horn sections. This compilation explores the best of Malian music from that golden age.

Featuring tracks from the biggest groups of the era, such as the famous rivals of Les Ambassadeurs and the Rail Band, this album also showcases lesser-known bands, including Idrissa Soumaoro et l’Eclipse de l’Ija, whose long-lost recordings never received an official release.

This collection takes in the spectrum of Malian dance band music, from the more traditional, griot-inspired styles as heard on ‘Fadingna Kouma’ by Zani Diabaté’s Super Djata Band, to some straight-outta-Havana salsas like Les Ambassadeurs’ ‘Fatema’. An interesting inclusion is a piece in the wassoulou style (based on traditional hunters’ music) by Alou Fané & Daouda Sangaré. It’s as wonderful as the rest, but lacks the dance band aesthetic and stands out because of that.

Nevertheless, with such a wealth of amazing music from this period in one of the most musically-renowned countries in the world, it’s difficult to go wrong; The Original Sound of Mali certainly doesn’t.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Ethiopian Jazz

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 122, November 2016.

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Ethiopian Jazz
World Music Network (55 mins)

The eclectic Rough Guide series turns its attention to the wonderful world of Ethiojazz.

The trap of focussing only on Buda Musique’s landmark Éthiopiques series has been avoided, but this leaves the genre’s golden era somewhat under-represented. Two members of the old guard – Mulatu Astatke and Getatchew Mekuria – are included with more recent projects, but many greats are missing, notably Mahmoud Ahmed.

Of the young guns showcased here, most continue the musical legacy of the master Astatke. The inclusion of Samuel Yirga’s intense and brooding piano exploration aside, it may have been fun to feature some of the more out-there young exponents.

The tracks on this album are presented in their unedited, extended forms, up to eight minutes in length. This decision is a double-edged sword: it’s a delight to appreciate the full listening experience as intended without the unceremonious fade-outs of abridged tracks; on the other hand, it means that only nine tracks are included, as opposed to the 12-18 that are usually found on Rough Guides. As such, the spectrum of Ethiojazz presented is not as broad as it otherwise could have been. One album can only ever hope to scratch the surface, but perhaps this one could have scratched just a little deeper.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Bollywood Disco

First published in fRoots issue 377, November 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Bollywood Disco
World Music Network (2CD, 137 mins)

A fun compilation of music from Indian cinema’s tackiest era. Cheese-lovers only need apply. Tracks range from the awful and embarrassing to the fairly funky. Comes packaged with The Rough Guide to Kishore Kumar as a bonus CD, which is slightly more listenable.

Various Artists - Real World 25

First published in fRoots issue 377, November 2014

Various Artists
Real World 25
Real World Records (3CD, 227 mins)

This year, Real World Records celebrates its 25th anniversary and to commemorate, they’ve released this 3CD set of tracks from their back catalogue. But where this would usually be an excuse for a label to put out a standard sampler showing off some of their best-selling material, Real World, true to form, use it as an opportunity to create something special.

Each of the three CDs has a different theme – the first a selection from the label’s ‘classic’ albums, the second explores some of Real World’s more obscure releases, and the third features tracks selected through a public vote. This works really well, giving the listener an opportunity to hear great music that may otherwise have been lost in the depths of the catalogue and giving a sense of discovery that has always been at the heart of Real World’s philosophy.

Overall, the 48 tracks (227 minutes!) of this compilation span 35 countries and from the label’s very first release to some of the most recent. The tracks themselves are, of course, of the highest quality, such is the album roster from which Real World Records have to choose. The box also contains a lovely 25-page (see what they did there!) booklet with interesting stories and notes about each track. This is a wonderful set of music and an admirable way for Real World to celebrate a quarter of a century’s worth of releases – here’s hoping for many more years of exciting records to come.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine

First published in fRoots issue 376, October 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine
World Music Network (2CD, 122 mins)

What a pertinent release. With the Israel/Gaza conflict experiencing a particularly bloody recapitulation, the World Music Network continue their fantastic series of Rough Guides with the Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine, focussing on the often overlooked culture of the troubled region.

One might expect this album to be chock-full of Palestine’s particular brand of Levantine classical music and Egyptian-inspired orchestral works that are seemingly ever-present in the Arabic world, but, while some great examples of these are included, they sit amongst a diverse line-up that includes hip-hop, punk, pop, reggae and a fair amount of jazz. Full credit should be given to compilers Nili Belkind and Nadeem Karkabi for managing to squeeze in so many styles without any sounding out of place or the album feeling too muddled. With such a range of genres, it’s quite difficult to choose particular highlights, although Sanaa Moussa’s indie-acoustic tribute to Ottoman-period Palestinian songsters on 'Wea’younha' and the driving modern jazz of Michel Sajrawy’s 'Tojann' stand out in particular.

As with most recent Rough Guide releases, the Music of Palestine comes with a bonus album – Reflections Of Palestine by buzuk player Ramzi Aburedwan. Mixing Arabic classical music with jazz, tango and French elements, this bonus is an appropriate and complimentary addition to the main compilation.

The collection’s attention to the less ‘traditional’ side of Palestine’s musical spectrum can be seen as a positive, humanising tool at a time where most images we see of Palestine are of the ruined buildings and wounded civilians of Gaza. It also serves as a reminder of some of the great culture that may well be disappearing before our eyes. Even disregarding the timeliness of such a release, however, it’s still a brilliant and varied compilation from a country that is not necessarily famous for its musical output.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 100, June 2014.

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali
World Music Network (2 CDs, 136 mins)

So, just how does one represent such a musical powerhouse of a nation as Mali into just one CD? Well, this Rough Guide has a fair go of doing just that. Big names are included, such as Oumou Sangaré, Bassekou Kouyaté and Ali Farka Touré, but other superstars (Salif Keita, for one) have been bravely left out to showcase less well-known artists, which helps keep the album feeling fresh and exciting.

Pieces from a wide range of cultures from all corners of Mali are included on this compilation, from traditional Mandé jeli music in the south to Tuareg rock in the north. Unfortunately, although the compilation is stylistically varied, only music from the last 18 years is featured, with none of the legends from the 1970s making an appearance. The popular music of today’s Malian youth is also absent: there are no hip-hop or R’n’B artists here.

Taken on its own, this is a collection of great music. It’s a stonking listen, covers a good range of Malian music and comes with a bonus CD by Samba Touré. It just seems as if it may be impossible to do justice to such a musical country in only 70 minutes.

Various Artists - Music From The Source

First published in fRoots issue 370, April 2014

Various Artists
Music From The Source
Riverboat Records (2CD, 146 mins)

As us old-timers at fRoots pass our 35th anniversary, those wet-behind-the-ears young whippersnapper new-kids-on-the-block Riverboat Records turn 25. To celebrate, they’ve put together this world-spanning two-disc compilation of music from their illustrious past and exciting present. Happy birthday Riverboat!

Various Artists - Huambo Música Sessions

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 99, April/May 2014.

Various Artists
Huambo Música Sessions
PangeiArt (57 mins)

From spicy semba to the hip club beats of kuduro, Angola’s urban music styles are often those that we hear loudest in the world music circuit. For the Tsikaya ‘Músicos do Interior’ project, however, it’s the music of Angola’s rural areas that deserves wider attention.

Tsikaya aim to create an audio archive of the sounds and music of the Angolan countryside, and in their second release, the focus is on the central province of Huambo. The seven artists featured on Huambo Música Sessions cover a range of styles and present the musical diversity in Huambo Province, from the lively female percussion and vocal choir of Grupo Katiavala, to the Congolese-inspired dance band Banda Crescente and the joyous guitar picking of Alimba Okimbo.

A striking feature of these rural styles is how far they are from the typical Lusophone sound – there’s little room for saudade here. Instead, their sound is much more similar to other southern central African styles; some of the album’s more brooding tracks even conjure up shadows of the music of Angola’s far-distant Caribbean relatives the Garifuna.

Huambo Música Sessions is an amazing album from a fantastic and worthwhile project. Open your ears to the inside sounds of Angola!

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Best African Music You’ve Never Heard

First published in fRoots issue 369, March 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Best African Music You’ve Never Heard
World Music Network (2CD, 100 mins)

The Rough Guide to Best African Music You’ve Never Heard is the latest release to come out of the World Music Network’s popular battle of the bands competition, which aims to bring lesser-known world music acts to wider attention.

True to the compilation’s name, the musical standard here is very high, and most of the tracks are taken from recent releases by up-and-coming African artists. Also included on the album is some as-yet-unreleased material and a track by the unfortunately obscure 1970s Senegalese band La Sahel. The two most effective tracks on this album, however, are provided by red-hot kora player Noumoucounda Cissoko and Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Simo Lagnawi, giving hints as to the wide range of styles being played in the continent today. Cissoko channels a pure Senegalese funk in 'Noumou Koradioulou', whereas Lagnawi’s 'Baniyorkoy' tends to the traditional, a beautiful example of the bluesy, esoteric gnawa grooves.

Unfortunately, despite the quality of the tracks included, it doesn’t really feel as if the African continent as a whole is particularly well-represented. Although it does feature tracks from most areas of the continent, eight of its fourteen tracks are from Mandé cultures, so at times it does feel a little West Africa-heavy.

Included as a bonus disc is Junk Funk by Sotho Sounds. This Lesotho band’s light-hearted album was included in fRoots’ playlist in November/December 2012, and its playful use of homemade instruments fits well with the vibe of the record it’s packaged with.

In the end, this is a great album to listen to, and a good way to sample the next generation of African stars. If you’re not a huge fan of West African music, though, there may be better releases out there for you.

(Please note that on the album’s packaging, Simo Lagnawi is misspelt ‘Simo Lagwani’)

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Arabic Café

First published in fRoots issue 369, March 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Arabic Café
World Music Network (2CD, 113 mins)

The seventh in the World Music Network’s Café series, and the second edition of this title, the Rough Guide to Arabic Café aims to recreate the ambience that one could expect in the coffee houses of the Arabic world.

Oddly, the focus of this compilation seems not to be on Arabia but rather North Africa: the vast majority of tracks included come from this region, with only three from the Middle East. Regardless, all of the tracks from this album are very enjoyable, and there are a few lesser-known gems in there too. The order of the first few tracks, however, seems rather misjudged. These tracks are still entertaining but they don’t really convey a relaxing ‘café’ atmosphere, being fairly up-tempo and busy.

Nevertheless, from around its midpoint, the album seems to hit its stride. The rest of the tracks gel together well, and create a vibe that could be expected in the stated beverage emporium. The two tracks that work most effectively here are 'Isfahan' by Daramad and 'Tahrir' by Ramzi Aburedwan. Daramad bring a jazzy feel to Persian classical music in a sympathetic and effective manner (although their inclusion in an ‘Arabic’ compilation is rather baffling) while Aburedwan’s tight ensemble of buzuk, accordeon, oud and percussion present some positively hip-shaking Palestinian sounds.

Also packaged with this album is Jordanian folk ensemble Dozan’s 2008 release Introducing Dozan. This bonus album actually seems to fit the idea of the ‘Arabic Café’ somewhat better than the Rough Guide itself, filled with relaxed yet interesting – and actually Arabian – pieces.

Overall, this package contains some great music as well as giving some sense of atmosphere. It is perhaps let down by the order of compilation, which, given a shuffle, could well have produced an all-pervading ambience that would have made this record extra-special.

Various Artists - Orient Noir: A West-Eastern Divan

First published on Musika.uk.com in October 2012.

Various Artists
Orient Noir: A West-Eastern Divan
Piranha Musik (64 mins)

The first two tracks of this compilation work effectively as its mission statement, with French band Watcha Clan’s brooding Jewish-and-Electronica opener blending seamlessly with Salwa Abou Greisha’s mix of Egyptian classical music and Nubian song.

And so the album goes. Orient Noir brings together music from around the Arabic cultural sphere and the Jewish diaspora. Genres featured range from the classical to the modern, including fusions with dubstep, Latin and Balkan music, amongst others. Although the album seems to have the vague structure of moving from older to newer styles as it progresses, the latter seem to take more of a precedence.

The stand-out track of the album is ‘Pakistani’, a Zanzibari piece performed by ‘Queen of Taarab’ Bi Kidude Baraka. As well as the fusion of Egyptian classical music with East African styles that is taarab, this example also uses a strong tango influence, much akin to the Arabic string orchestras of Beirut and Damascus. Another highlight is the full version of Watcha Clan’s cover of Ofra Haza’s ‘Im Nin'Alu’, in which they effortlessly combine Sephardi vocals, Balkan brass and Arabic percussion with a grounding of dubstep bass and beats.

That such contrasting tracks can sit together on an album pleasingly and without jarring is a testament to the skills of the compiler, Dr. Bertram Nickolay. However, while the tracks of the album and their position in relation to each other create an enjoyable and interesting listen, the compilation itself seems to lack focus. If the goal was to highlight and celebrate the similarities between Arabic, Jewish and Balkan music, then tracks such as Maurice el Médioni’s Maghrebi Latin track ‘Ya Maalem/Kelbi Razahi’ fit somewhat uneasily with such aims; similarly, if a Mediterranean journey was intended, then the offerings from Bi Kidude and The Klezmatics undermine this.

Overall, for a pleasant album of great music with an ‘oriental sound’ (whatever that somewhat troubling term may imply), this compilation hits the spot. Just don’t think about it too much.