f60


Zoom has just enough to keep you inter- ested and where it’s good, it’s really good, combining as it does Justin Adam’s subtle mastery of production with Taha’s song writ- ing, voice and diverse influences. All too often, though, Taha strays from this great recipe in search of what feels like some kind of image, a desire to be and remain the king of Rock ’n’ Rai – a latter-day Elvis. The results of this fixation are often novel but not always satisfying.


http://www.rachidtahaofficial.com/ Liam Thompson


ERIK MARCHAND Ukronia Innacor INNA 41215


Ruth Theodore


This is a record full of passion, eloquence and incredible music. Touré’s voice soars throughout, adding energy and depth. Per- haps it’s the title track which is most poignant however. Here Samba’s voice, along with the backing vocals and choir, are all absent. Left behind is a sublime instrumental arrange- ment which, though peaceful, perhaps expresses the idea that, faced with the horrors of armed conflict, words ultimately fail us.


www.samba-toure.com Liam Thompson


RUTH THEODORE Dear Lamp Love Moth River Rat RRR007CD)


The modern breed of singer songwriters is certainly motley and it’s weird how some leave you cold to


freezing (sorry Serafina) while others com- pletely bowl you over. With a dizzying vocab- ulary, an imagination where surreal counts as normality and a flair for off-kilter arrange- ments that constantly surprise, Ruth Theodore tumbles firmly into the latter category.


Her last album White Holes Of Mole Hills remains an enduringly mysterious delight of such charm, wit, intimacy and oddity, I doubt- ed she would match it. But Theodore has taken some big strides since, emerging with a colourful battery of instrumentation – Hannes Arnold (French horn), Hannah Oliver (oboe, Cor Anglais), Krisztina Gyura (viola) and Melissa Dobson (cello), with James Hurst on electric bass and some wonderfully eccen- tric percussion from Joe Allen – that changes the landscape entirely, creating a visage far more sophisticated than the relatively spar- tan style of Mole Hills.


Add to this the development of Theodore herself, now showing herself to be an unexpectedly arresting singer. She offsets those thruway Lily Allen moments by swooping in random directions like a punch-drunk Kate Bush, suddenly soaring heroically at other wise quiet passages and at other times – seemingly inspired by the neo-classical inferences of the strings and French horn – sounding like a fully-fledged opera singer. So gently persuasive on Bull Fight, yet so weirdly dramatic on Psychosis & The Willow, a portrayal of paranoia in the guise of a killer willow tree redolent of tra- ditional balladry (Theodore is worth catch- ing live if for no other reason than her introduction to that song.)


Lyrically the songs are as wonderfully


baffling as before but with these arrange- ments, that voice and a series of memorable melodies and some delicious hooks, they sound more rounded, complete and thought- fully constructed. None more so than the ten- minute opener Strings, with its cascading moods of contrasting structures built, with characteristic zaniness, around the imagery of a manic marionette. There’s humour on Archimedes, quirky storytelling on the half- spoken Snakes & Ladders with its strangely hypnotic tick-tock rhythm, a noble stab at popdom on The Heart, and a glimpse of sweetness on Slowdance (heard on this issue’s fRoots 44 compilation). Complex, darker themes are explored on Pinocchia and she puffs out her chest to finish on a defiantly uplifting note on Heavies.


Partly flavoured by a serious illness dur- ing the germination period, the album’s broader themes of life, love and all that stuff constantly hover but, to be honest, the gen- eral feel of the whole thing is so good you don’t need to understand the specifics of her allusions. Trying to work all that out would drive you bonkers very quickly.


www.ruththeodore.com Colin Irwin


RACHID TAHA ZoomWrasse WRASS 310


Rachid Taha’s latest record sees the king of Rock ’n’ Rai try out a range of new styles. Whilst good in places, Zoom often lacks a coherent identity and feels like the work of a man aping others rather than being himself.


On opening track Wesh (N’Amal), and on


numbers like Zoom Sur Oum and Galbi, Taha finds a real groove which, in this reviewer’s opinion, he should stick to. Though lacking some of the glitzy showbiz glamour that he exhibits elsewhere, these tracks have genuine feeling and atmosphere. Drawing on his love of Spaghetti Westerns, rock and roll and North African/Arab influences, Taha creates a seam- less and powerful sound which he comple- ments with simple but effective song writing.


Elsewhere, though, Zoom tries too hard to emulate the sounds of the British stadium rock scene. Algerian Tango is a massive ode to the Clash, and even features Mick Jones, who lends dubby percussion. But the result is the kind of tired and dreary shadow-of-former- self type thing that ageing rock stars often produce. Likewise Jamia makes a U2-esque noise and Fakir has a whiff of the Pogues.


A number of the major figures in Breton music have been experimenting with finding a range of musical settings for their magnifi- cent traditional songs. Erik Marchand has had a long and very successful career and in recent years has been finding close parallels between his own traditions and the rhythms and modes of both Balkan and Arab music.


This album still shows some of these influences and both the oud and a range of Middle Eastern percussion instruments give their pulses here. However this album has a broader base as Erik is heard singing above small group accompaniments that show the influence of both baroque and early music.


Erik’s focus is more markedly on his singing on this album than on some of his recent releases; there is no clarinet from him this time and he has rarely been heard to bet- ter effect than he has here. He sounds equally at home with the stately gwerz as he does in the dance rhythms of Kan Ha Diskan with the instruments taking the response parts. Rather like the albums by his friend Yann-Fañch Kemener, the voice is very much at the centre of the album. His fine voice carries it all off very well, especially the slow soulful laments.


www.innacor.com Vic Smith


LOS DESTERRADOS Dos Amantes Enkolador Enk001


I’ve loved the music of Los Desterrados from the first time I heard a track of theirs on one of those London Diaspora compilations that the Cultural Co-operation organisation put out from time to time. The Ladino music of the Sephardic Jewish community of the Med, North Africa, Middle East and Balkans, fil- tered through a London sensibility. What’s (as I believe today’s young people are wont to say) not to like? Here they are, back after a bit of a break, with album number three (recorded in Potters Bar, no less) and it’s very much business as usual. A heady mix of music from all points on the Sephardic compass played with just the right combination of energy and respect. One minute they might be dipping into flamenco (as on the lovely Estreyas), the next taking things over the water to Morocco or round to Turkey. This is folk music as it should be: age-old melodies, fine ensemble playing and strong, sweet, unshowy vocals (lead singer Hayley Blitz still does the lion’s share of the singing, but other band members are taking on the odd vocal with increasing confidence). I’ve always liked Los Des’s way with the slower-paced material and there’s a fine example of it here on the liturgical Ayi En El Midbar.


Guest musicians include percussion mae- stro Guy Schalom and accordeonist Sheik Taha, but mostly it’s the Desterrados doing what they do best and sounding better than ever.


www.losdesterrados.com Jamie Renton


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