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But it’s arguably the musical settings that really grab one’s attention and set the duo apart; Phillip’s slide work is quite simply astounding: his dobro playing brings a time- less, distinctly eastern feel (he also uses the chatturangui, a Hindustani slide guitar, on one song), which eerily well complements Hannah’s backporch-infused banjo and fid- dle. Hannah does the majority of the singing, exhibiting a clear determination and strong sense of purpose, and an intermittent yet telling use of decoration (although the close recording renders her attack and timbre a touch abrasive on occasion).
Phillip’s star vocal turn comes on the bonus track, a captivating live recording of Dan Tyminski’s The Boy That Wouldn’t Hoe Corn. Hannah and Phillip also demonstrate the potential of their quirky instrumental blend on a handful of pleasing instrumentals (with percussionist Jon Sterckx in tow); Phillip’s soulful alap-like solo dobro adapta- tion of O’Carolan’s Separation Of Soul And Body is all too brief though… This is a haunt- ing and intimate CD, which should satisfy the increasing demand for take-home product from Phillip and Hannah.
www.philliphenryandhannahmartin.co.uk David Kidman VARIOUS ARTISTS
Afritanga – The Sound Of Afrocolombia Trikont US 0418
As is to be expected from the reliably excellent Trikont label, this compila- tion of contempo-
rary Colombian music goes beyond the obvi- ous names and styles to provide an interest- ing cross-section of this culturally diverse country’s beats and pieces, dipping deeply into their African roots. Put together by Berlin-based DJ, producer, author and film maker Steen Thorsson aka DJ TioChango, the album features music from both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, taking in cumbia, salsa, champeta, reggae, hip-hop and more. It opens with Brit producer Will Quantic’s Flowering Inferno project and also features Choc Quib Town and Colombiafrica – the Mystic Orchestra (both of whom have had international releases). But it’s the lesser- known names that really impress here: the soukous-a-like champeta of La Makina del Karibe, Cynthia Montano’s beguiling mix of marimba, melody and tropical hip-hop and the slinky Pacific coast folk of Grupo Bahia. For those hooked on Soundway’s recent slew of vintage Colombian compilations (and if you’re not, you really should be), here’s an update on what’s hot in a similar style today. 15 tracks and not a duffer amongst them.
www.trikont.de Jamie Renton
DAMILY Ela Lia Helico HWB 58120
NY MALAGASY ORKESTRA Masoala Cinq Planètes CP 17.126
After a storming decade catalysed by the late ‘80s GlobeStyle recordings, when overseas CD releases went from zero to hundreds, Mala- gasy music has been very quiet on the inter- national scene for some years. 11th Septem- ber 2001 didn’t just destroy Tarika, then the international brand leader band, whose career was smashed by the ensuing trauma of the tour they were just embarking on that day in New York, it made everything much more difficult for musicians to get out of that
Damily
impoverished island from which flight costs are massive and visas ever harder to get. Any hopes of recovery were further dented by the world recession, the contracting of the ‘world music’ record industry and a political coup (by a local DJ, of all things) which has reversed local development and made Madagascar something of a pariah state, its government unrecognised diplomatically everywhere. Tragedy. So it’s very welcome suddenly to get two really good new releases, both by bands with support from French labels so they have a bit more of a chance.
Damily, led by
the eponymous gui- tarist/ singer, are as good exponents of the wild tsapika music from around Tuléar in southwest Madagascar as you’re likely to hear. They’re the real deal, nothing watered down or smoothed out for European sensibilities. Whether it’s electric guitar, bubbling bass and skittering drums, or acoustic guitar and hand percussion, everything’s high on the frantic- ometer: dense flurries of guitar, screamadelic vocals from Gany Gany, and a loping rubber band bounce. Hot tsapika out there in the spiny desert bush can be relentless, but this is well paced for CD listening, nicely mixing up the electric and acoustic – even the odd a capella traditional track like Belina. They were rivetting at Womex last year and this fine, well packaged album with bilingual (French/English) notes manages to capture the ambience and energy well. This stripped- down music ranks with Kenyan benga as a creator of dance floor craziness: let’s hope somebody tours them here soon!
www.helicomusic.com Equally well
packaged and pre- sented, with beauti- ful watercolours of the musicians and instruments – this stuff counts – The Malagasy Orchestra’s album marks the debut of an all- star big band, featuring some of the best tra- ditional instrumentalists and personalities from all regions of the big suffering island. Musical director, playing all varieties of the valiha (Madagascar’s tubular zithers), is Justin
Vali, one of the best known of the generation who brought Malagasy traditional music back to respect in the ‘90s. Among a big cast of players of valiha, marovany, kabosy, lokan- ga, sodina, jejy voatavo, all sorts of percus- sion, guitar, accordeon and lots of those unmistakeably Malagasy harmony vocals – far too many to note individually here – you’ll also be pleased find Tarika’s leading marovany player and multi-instrumentalist Donné Ran- driamanantena and that remarkable, larger than life character Manindry, from the Antandroy tribe of the deep south, who jumped out of UK TV screens when he had a starring role in the outstanding BBC4 TV Tari- ka documentary The Mad Rhythms Of Mada- gascar. Nothing mad about this though: it’s virtuoso, inventive Malagasy music straight out of roots traditions but as fresh as it gets. A glorious album from a big ensemble that must, inevitably, cost arms and legs to tour and stage: we can but wish.
www.nymalagasyorkestra.com Ian Anderson VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rough Guide To English FolkWorld Music Network RGNET1261CD
Words to strike fear in a reviewer’s heart: “CD1 compiled by Ian Anderson….” Look, I know what you’re thinking…Ian Anderson is the Edi- tor of this magazine and we are contractually obliged to give it a good review, right?
Actually, that’s cobblers, but it just so happens this is a spectacularly good compila- tion. That’s not entirely down to the good choice of the compiler, of course. As he observes in his sleevenotes, we are in a gold- en age of English folk and, given the amount of outstanding material currently available, you’d have to be pretty cloth-eared not to come up with something exceptional.
From Bellowhead’s good-time opener
Yarmouth Town through to the vibrant Cornish band Dalla closing the album with Bishop’s Jig/No Song No Supper, the thing that really hits you is the accomplished range and variety of these recordings. A track like Ian King’s Adieu To Old England from his much underrat-
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