95 f
leads to a moment when her vocals are dis- tressingly cracked up and distorted. Rage fails, and gives way to longing. Drama with- out fear.
www.vialactea.be John Pheby
SILLE ILVES Perwg Libahundix CD0113
Estonian hurdy-gurdy player Sille Ilves has lived in Wales long enough to thoroughly explore, collect and hand-pick some cracking Welsh tunes to record on this CD of her favourite Cymric melodies (‘perwg’, it turns out, is an old word for the hurdy-gurdy, not much referenced in historical Welsh litera- ture). Musical cohorts include Martin Leamon on bouzouki, guitar and melodeon, and Ceri Rhys Matthews of Fernhill, who contributes vocals to a couple of tracks on an otherwise instrumental and quite minimal album, which consists mostly of beautifully recorded solo tune sets, whose intensely trance-like drones and rhythmical consistency remind me of the best of Cliff (Blowzabella) Stapleton’s work. A tune like Glyn Tawe, recorded recently by mother/daughter duo DNA on their lovely album Adnabod, becomes here something altogether different due to the trance instru- mentation, and similarly Iolo Morganwg’s Cywydd tune is redeemed from its original cheesiness by the insistent rhythmical dron- ing of the solo hurdy gurdy.
Personally, I find any recordings which
link Welsh music with ancient drone-based aesthetics and with Breton/French influences (as Fernhill’s first album so convincingly did) quite fascinating and valuable, as the musical context is so different from the usual Welsh fare and hints at an old, lost Brythonic style, and this CD really shows how minimal and integrally rootsy a collection of good tunes can become if played in this mode. Unfortu- nately the CD may not get the attention it deserves, being so far removed from main- stream ideas of the Welsh tradition, but as a listening experience, and as a collection of good juicy tunes, it succeeds on its own terms very well, flowing satisfyingly from start to finish and drawing the listener into its crisp, clear sonic world. Long live the perwg, and its proponents!
silleilves.bandcamp.com Nathan Williams
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rough Guide To Arabic Café World Music Network RGNET1315CD
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 coffeehouses 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. While these tracks are still entertaining, 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 of an Arabian coffee- house. The two tracks that work most effec- tively 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 slightly confusing) while Aburedwan’s tight ensemble of buzuk, accordeon, oud and percussion present some positively hip-shaking Palestinian sounds.
Also packaged with this album is Jorda- nian 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 authentically Arabic 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.
www.worldmusic.net Jim Hickson
BORIS KOVAC & LA CAMPANELLA
Eastern Moon Rising Riverboat Records / World Music Network TUGCD1076
In a considered and proud celebration of musi- cal cross-pollination, Boris Kovac once again revels in the fact that he shares his Pannonian plains and thoroughfares with at least twenty other nationalities. His Pannonian Blues track here does commence by exploring various dis- parate and sketchy melodies and motifs, but then the band achieves a difficult but unmis- takeable unity, artful lounge lizards serenad- ing into a melancholy sunset; a musical defi- ance of the nation state and a singular vision.
Kovac has paused his local history in order to explore its absurdities and confu- sions, in an album of urban music drawn from a vast rural landscape of different traditions. All of which is rather important and serious, but Kovac’s playful and strutting stage per- sona – scowls, retro sunglasses and garish pink threads – sits nicely at odds with his thought- ful and perplexing compositions. In addition to his complex personal and musical roots in the traditions, cultures and meeting points of Serbia, Hungary, Romania and elsewhere, he also has a much decorated background in rad- ical theatre. And he has used this complex background and his inevitable abilities to adapt and to meld numerous influences into one, to attempt reconstruction of his devas- tated culture. Rather mystically, he sees his
Boris Kovac & La Campanella
creativity as being concerned with the three interdependent values of “House, Way and Being”, each sparking the other and each con- tributing to a musical journey that is both inimitable and unpredictable.
There’s plenty of Kovac theatre to listen
to in Entertain You, the only song on the album, where his vocals are ironic, guttural and grimy, while his band wheeze along in a dirty almost Bad Seeds-ish groove. But there are also waltzes and even tangos, centred on his extrovert alto-saxophone playing and Goran Penic Gogi’s lithe accordeon. Sini Vals journeys through these styles, initially dis- guised as a tipsy waltz, before mid-step and mischievously cutting loose into a sprightly jazz-age whirl. Fly By, in contrast, separates the ever-resonant band into a sparse, inti- mately recorded and finely nuanced march, stripping the music down into its constituent parts before wittily and tightly reviving and rebuilding – slowly, monumentally, defying categorisation in a unique and vitally strange musical reality.
www.worldmusic.net John Pheby
SONNY AMATI SCHMITT Sonny Day Le Chant Du Monde 274 2179
The Schmitt family is proud to announce the arrival of another gypsy jazz guitar genius. That’s the message of this CD. Fans of this music are familiar with the name Dorado Schmitt, whose composition Bossa Dorado is in everyone’s repertoire. They’ll also know cousin Tchavolo and eldest son Samson.
Sonny Amati Schmitt is Dorado’s youngest son and just to keep it in the fami- ly, his brother Bronson Schmitt is on rhythm guitar. Dorado plays cajón, additional rhythm guitar, and breathtaking fiddle. He created the arrangements, produced the CD, and contributes seven compositions out of the fifteen tracks.
Even compared with his powerful father, Sonny is a remarkable player, and impresses on a variety of material including three of his own compositions. There’s a little electric gui- tar, and even some chorusing on one track, but in the main the music is the regular for- mula of rhythm and solo on Selmer style gui- tars, with supporting bass. Another gypsy jazz star named Schmitt is born!
www.lechantdumonde.com Jon Moore
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