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ing Cat Slack Key Guitar series, it also features the playing of Alan Akaka and Bobby Ignano on electric lap steel guitar and the slack key guitar playing of Jeff Peterson. An album of beautifully restrained playing and my favourite in Debashish’s long discography.
worldmusic.net Mike Cooper KEFAYA
Radio International Radio International Recordings B01LX6V4OK
Named after the Arabic word for ‘enough’ and Egypt’s progress coalition for social change, Kefaya are a London-based musical collective based around the Anglo-Italian quintet of Giu- liano Modarelli (guitar), Al MacSween (keys, accordeon, electronics), Joost Hendrickx (drums), Domenico Angarano (bass), Camilo Tirado (live electronics) who peddle a culture- crossing combination of international folk melodies, revolutionary songs, instrumental improv and electronica, collaborating with musicians from Afghanistan, India, Spain and South Africa as required.
Although they came together back in 2011, this is their debut release, which inter- sperses eight tracks proper with six interludes featuring snippets of news broadcasts, politi- cal speeches and the like. On paper, all of this genre- and culture-hopping (from the Middle East to Latin America to India to reggae, folk and jazz) should result in the kind of feature- less ‘bit of everything and a lot of nothing’ aural sludge that gives world music a bad name. The fact that it doesn’t is down to the musical interplay and stylistic distinctiveness of the core musicians.
High spots include brassy Spanish stom-
per Indignados, the dub-meets-Italian-folk of New Rotes, featuring guest vocalist Alessia Tondo, and a fiery version of the Italian politi- cal anthem Bella Ciao. As you’ve probably gathered by now, politics and musical daring are certainly in the mix here. A bit of a wel- come rarity in our musical culture, increasing- ly defined as it is by don’t-rock-the-corporate- boat conformity.
kefaya.co.uk/about Jamie Renton
THE LORDS OF THYME Pellets Sunstone Records SSCD13
It’s been a long time coming, but the debut long-player from the herbaceous time-trav- ellers realises much of the potential already shown on a couple of more-than-decent EPs. Whilst knowingly evocative of a bygone era, guitarist Joe Woolley and multi-instrumental- ists Tali Trow and Pat Kenneally possess the chops and commitment to reference the likes of Pentangle, Fotheringay and Mighty Baby without being directly derivative.
A perfect introduction is supplied with
opener Coming Down, on which Trow’s Mello tron and guest musician Stephen Bar- low’s pedal steel swirl and swell in mellow wooziness, before climaxing in a proper, old- school wig-out with Joe Woolley’s stinging lead guitar. Keep On Travelling features prin- cipal songwriter Joe at his most John Marty- nesque. He also delivers a fine version of the traditional song George Collins while singer Michelle Woolley contributes the traditional Bruton Town and wails effectively on blues shuffle Freight Train To Rainham.
Trow contributes a hefty slice of folk- rock with his own The Bird It Sang – a depic- tion of “Bonnie Charlie in his highland plaid”, which fairly motors along on Kenneally’s drumming, and everyone chips in with groovy West Coast harmonies over pedal steel on Fine Falling Rain.
Pellets is a gladsome record, made by musicians who can really play (and then some) and their obvious love of the past is something that extends way beyond affect- ing a particular guitar or Mellotron sound. The Lords Of Thyme sound like a group who’d always go for spending an extra few hours jamming on something ’til it comes together, rather than seeking a quick studio fix with digital editing tools. The cover is a sadly nondescript design, but the music with- in has real character.
sunstonerecords.co.uk Steve Hunt
TINARIWEN ElwanWedge SARL WEDGECD00117P
Tinariwen came to life in 1979 to fight and critique the politics of the time, and 37 years later they are very much on that same path, responding to the troubles in their region that have flared up in recent years. Elwan, their seventh album, continues to offer words of wisdom to their people through the medium of desert blues music. For the rest of us, we get a sound that can’t be heard anywhere else.
The music on Elwan can be described through apparently contradictory, yet com- plementary, pairs of adjectives. The songs are energising and relaxing; driving and medita- tive; gritty and clean; spacious and complete.
Voices and guitars are equal partners in
the music of Tinariwen – the former clear and direct, and the latter warm and distorted. It is more appropriate to say the guitars are sung rather than played, as they hum buzzing drones, warble harmony lines or take the lead of the tune.
The album is very well structured, tak- ing the listener on a gentle journey through landscapes of feelings. It leaps straight into the gritty and percussive blues of Tiwàyyen and slowly drops into the spacious and wist- ful blues of Ittus. The next landmark is the rocking lullaby of Ténéré Tàqqàl, which helps to build back towards more upbeat tunes, such as Assàwt, a driving afro-beat blues featuring an acoustic guitar which sometimes sounds like it is going to break into Gypsy swing.
Tinariwen
The quality of production on the album gives everything an added sparkle. The per- formances are generally kept pure and raw, with just a few delicately placed effects that keep the sound contemporary. The instru- mentation is impeccably balanced, and the whole album has a beautiful stereo width and warm reverb that echoes the vastness and heat of the Sahara Desert.
If you’d like to hear one of the tracks in advance, have a search for the beautifully animated video to Ténéré Tàqqàl. It commu- nicates the striking and surreal landscape of the desert, and the unpredictable and often unseen forces that operate there.
tinariwen.com Joshua Coppersmith Heaven
WHYTE Fairich Whyte
Originally conceived as a commission by Gael- ic arts organisation Ceòl‘s Craic for their Gaelictronica event in February 2016, Whyte is a Glasgow-based collaboration between ambient electronic composer and musician Ross Whyte, and Gaelic traditional singer and songwriter Alasdair Whyte (no relation).
Whyte (A) is an utterly magnificent singer whose ability to convey the emotional essence of the songs renders them com- pelling even to non-Gaelic speakers. The soundscapes crafted by Whyte (R) are both adventurous and apt, ranging from minimal drone to symphonic arrangements featuring a live string ensemble. Highlights include Fuaim An Taibh (The Ocean’s Sound) which makes effective use of environmental field recordings; Cumha Ni Mhic Raghnaill, which builds slowly across eight minutes from solo, unaccompanied voice; and the gloriously melodic An Làir Dhonn (The Brown Mare).
Fairich is an absorbing record which will immediately appeal to fans of both The Gloaming and Sigur Rós, with the potential to gain recognition well beyond the confines of the existing traditional Gaelic song audience.
whytetheband.bandcamp.com Steve Hunt
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