Arushi Jain - Delight

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 196, April 2024.

Arushi Jain
Delight
Leaving Records (43 mins)

With 2021’s Under the Lilac Sky, Arushi Jain announced herself as a gifted alchemist of electronica and Hindustani music through her mastery of modular synthesizers and classically-trained singing. The concept then was sunsets; now she turns her focus to her personal philosophy of ever-present delight, to be found wherever one seeks it.

This whole album is an exploration of Raga Bageshri, with its implications of love and longing, but the classical element is diffused within flows of downtempo and ambient techno. Jain adds acoustic instruments to her soundscape for the first time – strings, saxophone, flute and marimba all evolve through production to become extensions of the synths. Her voice, too, is warped with a dreamy, reverb-heavy treatment. The distinction between acoustic and electric is never quite clear, the organic and synthetic working together as one organism.

There is a surreal joy inherent in this music, a wonder at all the creative, positive futures we can imagine for ourselves, echoing the ‘utopian scholastic’ aesthetic that will give 90s kids a healthy dose of nostalgia. The optimism is so refreshing! It’s such a feeling of relief. With the world out of balance in so many, seemingly ever-increasing ways, an album that revels in and radiates so much positivity is… well, it’s a delight.

Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru - Souvenirs

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 196, April 2024.

Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru
Souvenirs
Mississippi Records (36 mins)

The world lost a unique composer with the passing of Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at the age of 99 last year. Her beguiling piano melodies that mix Ethiopian and European classical and religious music marked her as a true original. Now, Souvenirs shows a different side of her music.

This is the first full release of Tsege-Mariam’s vocal music, home recordings of her singing her own songs in Amharic, accompanied by that unmistakable piano. Recorded in Addis Ababa between 1977 and 1985, these are special recordings, and emotional ones too – one need only listen to the opener ‘Clouds Moving on the Sky’ to feel it. We also hear some of her most Ethiopian moments here: ‘Ready to Leave’ is a tizita, a song of wistful yearning and loss, and it’s almost as if the piano takes the role of a giant krar lyre.

These are lovely songs. However, whether it is because of the lyrics-focussed nature of these pieces or the less-optimal quality of the amateur recordings, this set doesn’t quite give the revelatory, otherworldly experience of Tsege-Mariam’s solo piano works. Nevertheless, Souvenirs remains a special, touching album that adds to the beautiful legacy of a much-missed musical genius.

Mukdad Rothenberg Lankow - Just Leave It All Behind

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 196, April 2024.

Mukdad Rothenberg Lankow
Just Leave It All Behind
Clermont Music (41 mins)

Music doesn’t have to have words in order to say something. Just Leave It All Behind sees three instrumentalists coming together to improvise for peace.

This is the second album from a group collaboration that has been bubbling for years. Each participant is multiply-hyphenate in their work: Wassim Mukdad is a doctor, an oud player and an anti-torture campaigner; David Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy, a clarinettist and an interspecies sound artist; Volker Lankow is a nurse, a percussionist and an aid worker for Médecins sans Frontières. Together, their music-flow touches the worlds of Levantine classical, jazz, acoustic-ambient and even blues.

Although the album is entirely instrumental, its music is inextricably entangled with the importance of human rights and the trio’s yearning for peace – for which this release is as timely as any. In the accompanying notes, the artists say ‘these improvisations represent the belief that art can help us get beyond the darkest impulses of humanity.’ However, the end result feels less provocative than that mission statement implies. The musicians and their abilities combine well – this would undoubtedly be a lovely collaboration to experience live, but in an album setting it somewhat lacks a coherent through-narrative. This set is a clarion call for human good, with multiple beautiful moments, but perhaps not as powerful as its message deserves.

Bounaly - Dimanche à Bamako

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 194, January/February 2024.

Bounaly
Dimanche à Bamako
Sahel Sounds (47 mins)

If that title sounds familiar, it probably is: this album shares its name with Amadou & Mariam’s 2005 masterwork – both albums honour the Malian capital’s famous Sunday displays where weddings, street parties and other celebrations blanket the city with colour, food, extravagant dress and, of course, music.

This is Songhai guitarist Ali ‘Bounaly’ Traoré’s first full-length release, and it was recorded live, right in the middle of a Bamako Sunday. But he isn’t from Bamako; he hails from the north of Mali, from Niafunké, where so many guitar greats have come before him. He is one of the capital’s many internally-displaced northerners, whose numbers have grown dramatically since the outbreak of civil war in 2012. Those people need to party – that’s Bounaly’s job.

His rocked-up, cosmopolitan takamba sends the crowds wild. The group here consists of two vocalists, drum kit and calabash, but it’s that raw and roaring guitar that carries it. Extended, effects-soaked solos, blasted out of a distorted PA and competing with the sounds of cheering fans and playing children – it’s electric in every sense of the word. Hendrix once again casts his long shadow, as does Ali Farka Touré and Bounaly’s uncle Afel Bocoum, ending up with something akin to Songhoy Blues at their most rough and ready.

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff - Magg Tekki

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 193, December 2023.

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff
Magg Tekki
Mississippi Records (34 mins)

Assiko Golden Band have been a fixture on the Dakar music scene for the past 20 years, representing the Senegalese capital’s most populous – and crowded – neighbourhood of Grand Yoff. In its current form, the group is a 17-strong collective of drums, percussion and voices spanning three generations, led by poet, singer and flute player Djiby Ly. Amid the dense rhythmic tapestry, lyrics in Wolof and French give positive messages of power, hope and encouragement to stand up for those who have less, with spiritual references to Sufi Islam and Christianity throughout.

Although the band have been going for decades at this point, Magg Tekki is their debut album, and its sound has been very much crafted by Swedish producer Karl-Jonas Winqvist (also the architect behind the Wau Wau Collectif). Assiko Golden Band themselves were recorded in Dakar, but saxophones, accordion, kora, additional percussion and production effects were added later on in Stockholm. While these additions work well and supplement the Senegalese sound with references from Afrobeat, jazz and European folk, it would have been nice to hear the band in their unadulterated, direct-from-Grand Yoff form that has made them so popular in their own scene.

BCUC - WOMEX 23 Artist Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2023 delegate guide.



Based in Soweto, Johannesburg, Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC for short) don’t limit themselves to the music of any single culture group. They epitomise the plurality of South Africa: their music reflects all the people around them, and they sing in all eleven of the country’s official languages. And from that, they make a big, big sound. Drums, percussion, bass guitar, whistles, horns and vocals – it all combines into a powerful driving force that becomes unstoppable. Their explosive live energy takes influence from hip-hop, rock, funk, gospel and Afrobeat, but also indigenous spiritual practices and magic. It’s no wonder they’re firm festival favourites across the globe.

With their all-embracing musical philosophy, BCUC are inherently political. Their songs are shot through with political messages and lessons. They hold high their values and social responsibilities, while being unafraid to criticise the wrongs around them. Like their music, their political perspective is uniquely South African while sharing a solidarity that encompasses the African continent and world as a whole. Even their organisation is utopian – the seven-piece collective is leaderless, each member contributing equally to the passion of the music.

BCUC represent the roots, trunk and branches of South African traditional music. This is cultural preservation in a way that isn’t frozen in time like a museum, but in a way that is living and breathing and growing and dancing. For their dedication to their music, their people and their country; for embodying the strength, unity and progress of their band name; and for their sheer ability to raise any roof, it is with pleasure that BCUC are the recipients of the WOMEX 23 Artist Award.


Photo: BCUC perform at WOMEX 23, by Jacob Crawfurd

On The Move - WOMEX 23 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2023 delegate guide.



The world music scene is built on a foundation of international cultural and artistic mobility. Our industry simply could not exist without thousands of artists and arts professionals navigating the channels of international travel and expansion, but those channels are many, complex, confusing and ever-changing. On The Move has spent the last 21 years helping artists along those channels, and opening up the artistic world in the process.

On The Move is a network and online platform that connects cultural workers of all disciplines with support, information and avenues to international mobility. This takes many forms: extensive guides to institutions and opportunities in territories across the world; global listings of open project calls; mentoring schemes; data-driven research and analysis; and events, including their annual forum. No single way of working is appropriate for all, and the key is in the recognition that mobility exists in many forms – including funding, fellowships, residencies, training and more.

Importantly, all of these resources are free to access and regularly updated to keep atop the latest developments. The heart of On The Move’s mission is the democratisation of international art: by sharing knowledge and tools, it ensures that arts do not become the sole reserve of the powerful and privileged. By giving more artists access to international mobility, the global arts community becomes fairer, more transparent and more sustainable. It also allows for specific help for artists who are disadvantaged within wider cultural spheres, such as disabled, minority ethnic or refugee artists.

For the world music scene and the wider arts ecosystem, mobility is not a luxury, but a necessity. In their commitment to providing this invaluable resource for artists and cultural professionals, On The Move opens the world to artists of all stripes. For this reason, we are delighted that On The Move is the recipient of the WOMEX 23 Award for Professional Excellence.