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Sambasunda Quintet


and may come to harm; and Haydo by Arto is about an Armenian shepherd boy yet applies to children everywhere.


Sadly, none of this information is avail- able from the album booklet, where the sto- ries, poetry and backgrounds could have illu- minated this exceptionally good album by artists who (especially Arto ‘Mr Avantgarde Folk’) already have some name recognition and acclaim here. The lack of English notes is frustrating: it deserves to be made accessible and promoted accordingly. An album of the year, its rewards can nonetheless be found in the music alone, the qualities of the voices and instruments will get to you – go to it!


www.kalan.com/en.html Chris Potts


SAMBASUNDA QUINTET Java TUGCD1058


Indonesia’s Sambasun- da lead a bit of a dou- ble life. Back in their hometown of Ban- dung, Sunda in west-


ern Java, they have released a series of albums that do basically what it says on the tin with titles such as Sunda Bali, Bali Jaipong, Reggae & Reggoe, and the latest Sundanese Healing. All essentially mixtures of Sundanese sounds with other Indonesian traditional music and styles from around the world. And yes, even new age. Among the occasional banality are some moments of pure musical magic, and I’d grown to enjoy the lo-fi quality of it all.


Internationally meanwhile, they’ve toured the world and released the excellent Rahwana’s Cry, mainly due to the support of the blessed producer/musician Colin Bass. With his help Sambasunda managed to pro- duce a more coherent, distinctive and settled sound that captured some of the exhilaration of their live shows.


For this long-awaited follow-up, once again produced by Bass, the group have been pared down from 20 to what they call a ‘chamber ensemble’. Java is comprised of mostly Sundanese traditional compositions in various styles such as the vocal music, Tem- bang Sunda, plus cianjuran and kliningan gamelan. Subtle nuances in instrumentation and arrangement add a contemporary touch. The main instrument, played by three of the group including the leader Ismet Ruchimat, is the kacapi, the boat-shaped zither central to much of the local traditional music. Kacapi is augmented by the suling (bamboo flute) ken- dang (barrel-shaped drum) and violin. It’s all beautifully played in that charming, wistful,


Sundanese way, but perhaps the album’s greatest asset is the new singer Neng Dini Andriatti. Sunda is known for its female vocalists and Neng appears to be a worthy addition to a long line of singing stars.


The only jolt to the general ambience is Paddy Pergi Ke Bandung (Paddy Goes to Ban- dung). Maybe it’s hearing too many Chief- tains collaborations over the years, but for me it doesn’t quite work. Being stuck in the middle I found myself skipping the track in order not to spoil the atmosphere.


Overall however, this is a superb album


of an under-represented music in the west and comes highly recommended.


www.worldmusic.net Paul Fisher ANDREW CRONSHAW


The Unbroken Surface Of Snow Cloud Valley Music CV2009


Correct me if I am wrong, but this centu- ry, prior to The Unbro- ken Surface of Snow (2011), the sum total of Andrew Cronshaw’s recorded output would seem to be On The Shoulders Of The Great Bear (2000) and Ochre (2004) and appearing as part of that Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt’s Magic Zither project on TFF Rudolstadt 2004 (2004). The speed at which he knocks out albums is reminiscent of the Aesopian hare-free, care- free, unhurried tortoise.


On four of The Unbroken Surface Of


Snow’s five pieces, Tigran Aleksanyan joins him playing duduk. Brought to wider atten- tion in the west by Armenian maestro Djivan Gasparyan, this double-reeded woodwind’s mournfulness has popped up in Avatar, Blood Diamond, Gladiator, Hotel Rwanda, The Pas- sion Of The Christ and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End. For the Holly- wood sausage machine duduk is just another spot colour or sonic effect which, overused, can come perilously close to stalking no- brainer cliché territory. Cronshaw and Alek- sanyan skilfully avoid the pitfalls to paint duduk frescos of startling variety and wit.


The album’s opening tracks, Käärme and


Fujaruk, are duos and the album’s only studio recordings. Käärme, an exceptional calling- card, is a colloquy between Cronshaw’s zither, drone, kantele, whistle, reed pipe and ba-wu and Aleksanyan’s duduk. They rein out its slow-release movements to maximum mini- malist effect, as they do on the live Im Hogutz, the 12-minute concluding track. Fujaruk is a far shorter exchange between


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