World music on CDs - compact discs

Whole Earth Review, Summer, 1990 by Jonathan E.

THE EXPANDING INTEREST IN music from around the world is reflected both by the increasing number of releases and by the broader variety available. What follows is by no means a comprehensive guide, but rather an attempt to provide signposts to some interesting territories. it is limited to CD recordings released in the US.

Many of the titles below are rather delicate pieces of music and significantly benefit from being heard on CD rather than vinyl or tape. A simple A-B test shows that the CD version has greater clarity and definition as well as being richer and having more presence. The difference is about the equivalent of looking through a slightly misted window as opposed to no window at all. in most of these particular recordings, however, I find that the major improvements are to do with surface noise and durability. However careful you are with vinyl, it suffers wear and tear. Clicks and pops appear, and with delicate music they are overly detrimental to the listening experience. However, if you don't have a CD player, these are still genuinely fabulous pieces of music that you should treat yourself to on vinyl or tape. Generally, I also chose these recordings because these sounds transcend their own cultures and have a certain ecstatic quality composed of both gentleness and power, delicacy and strength. All have some traditional roots, but almost all include influences from outside their immediate culture, reflecting the true nomadic tides of human existence and culture. They are mostly small, mostly acoustic ensembles that can be played at relatively low volume without sounding muted or losing resonance. Nobility and beauty are the common denominators to all of them. Hopefully, those who like accordions should be happy with this music. They also nearly all have good sleeve notes, which make clear the philosophy of the lyrics and fill in the artists' backgrounds. One ecological note of particular relevance to CDs: Among all the arguments raging about CDs, the most significant and least idiosyncratic is that of the outrageous amount of packaging the retailers claim is necessary for display and theft prevention. Funny they don't have those problems with considerably smaller cassettes. Funny the Europeans don't bother with it. One option is to recycle it yourself, but better would be to strip it off in the store and leave it there. The retail music business is sensitive to such consumer behaviour, and in time they'll figure out an alternative. You can bet the manufacturers don't like paying. for all that cardboard and printing and folding and gluing and shrinkwrapping, but to increase leverage try mailing the excess packaging back to the head office. North-West Africa Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck Djam Leelii (Mango CCD 9840). From Senegal. TWO acoustic guitars, wailing vocals, and gentle percussion with balafon and subdued electric guitar produce a measured, stately, chiming music that swirls around and around in a endless spiral of seamless sound. All Farka Toure (Mango CCD 9826). From Mali. Stinging, ringing, intense solo guitar and hoarse, aching vocals atop bongos recall country blues without that genre's edge of sadness, but vividly recalling and sharing its inherent strength and dignity. Jali Musa jawara Soubindoor (Mango 9832). From the ivory Coast and Guinea. Warm-sounding kora and balafon contrast against the soaring but husky call-and-response male and female vocals for a flowing, cascading effect of fragile, seesawing beauty. South-East Africa Remmy Ongala Songs For The Poor Man (RealWorld/Virgin 91315-2). From Tanzania and Zaire. A rolling, complex sound from an eight-piece ensemble, complete with kit drums, hand percussion, guitars and saxophone, topped by fluid vocals. Most songs start at a relatively relaxed pace and build to a gallop, with a soukous-style guitar whipping along. Somehow everybody reaches the finish line at the same time. Thomas Mapfumo Corruption (Mango CCD 9848). From Zimbabwe. Thoroughly contemporary expression of traditional Shona music. Guitars recreate the mbira perfectly, the stuttering hi-hat and bass drum capture the original foot stomping and gourd rattling, while the horns blow in contrasting color. Mapfumo's shamanic vocals ache with the sad plight of social justice in post-colonial Africa. Dumisani Maraire Chaminuka: Musk Of Zimbabwe (Music Of The World CDC208). From Zimbabwe. All marimba and mbira (and a few gourds) with dry vocals on a mix of original Maraire pieces and traditional Shona tunes. An interestingly sparse contrast to Thomas Mapfumo, and a recording that continues to grow on me after a slow start. Philip Tabane and Malombo Unh! (Elektra Nonesuch Explorer Series 9 79225-2). From South Africa. Deep thudding drums, twangy guitar, a lonely whistle, solitary sax, twin trumpets, and pattering percussion underpin guttural, wailing voices. Philip Tabane is a unique artist, absolutely unlike anyone else I've heard. His music seems about to break down any moment, but hangs together with uncommon sinewy strength. Abdullah Ibrahim/Dollar Brand Midif (Enja R2 79601). From South Africa. Eerie, breathy, jazzy sounds from the desert dusk alternate with brighter, clearer scenes of daylight busyness. Timeless African mystery absorbs the brash elements of American jazz. This was the soundtrack to Chocolat. Trans-Atlantic African Diaspora Various) Brazil. Forro Music For Maids And Taxi Drivers" (Rounder CD 5044). From northeastern Brazil. A jaunty merry-go-round of carnival sound relentlessly bouncing into orbit. Four rockin' and swingin' little combos give prominent pride of place to accordion and percussive mania. Nicely paced, with definite possibilities for wild dancers to get creative. Various) Brazil Samba Roots (Rounder CD 5045). From Rio de janeiro, Brazil. The fabled "grace under pressure" quality soars with instant vibrancy and warmth into an eternal swirling samba. The honesty of this recording is a refreshing change from the snippets-live-from-the-street style or the pumped-up pop samba. Given their somewhat similar backgrounds, this style is a fascinating alternative to the sadness of the blues. Various) Konbit! Burning Rhythms Of Haiti A&M CD 5281). From Haiti. Generally not as frantic as zouk or soca, nor as languid as reggae, Haitian music has a comfortable groove @ but, make no mistake, it swings from joyous horn and percussion work-outs to Pink-Panther-strutting reggae. This is an exceptionally strong compilation covering a lot of stylistic ground, with an emphasis on socially relevant lyrics the title song is about community reforestation. Various) Sabroso! Havana Hits (Earthworks/Virgin CDEWV II). From Cuba. The magic stew of Cuban music has been shut out of the U.S. for so long that any taste of it is tantalising. However, this collection does not rely upon rarity alone. The blasting horns and famous percussion slide beneath the pianos, flutes, and expressive vocals for a moving, sophisticated and intricate effect. Musical Meetings Ketama, Toumani Diabate, Danny Thompson Songhai (Hannibal HNCD 1323). From Spain, Mali, and England. The perfect combination of shimmering kora and flamenco guitar with a subtle, pulsing bass, aided and abetted by percussive handclaps, choral African vocals and guttural exhortations. The result is dynamic and propulsive, but not pushy. Sheer musical wonder. Jon Hassell/Farafina Flash Of The Spirit (Capitol/Intuition CDP 7 91186 2). From Burkina Faso, Canada, and England. Slithering effect-laden trumpet crawls over percolating percussion, disembodied vocals, and echoing electronics. The music's pan-ethnic origins hide in shifting sands of otherworldliness. It should have been the soundtrack to Dune. Definitely not for purists. Dissidenten Out Of This World (Sire/ Reprise 9 26030-2). From Germany and Morocco. The cool of European electronics does a funky dance with the warmth of the North African night in an obsessive and tight embrace, hips perfectly attuned, feet swept from the floor. Earthiness and ethe. realness are so close here, it's hard to tell when one begins or ends. This is an up-to-the-minute pop production, but with deep roots. Balafon Marimba Ensemble (Shanachie 67002). From Oregon, U.S.A. Nothing but five marimbas, mbira and a forest of percussion. The music originates from several cultures, although Zimbabwe is particularly well represented. But the differences between Maraire's solo marimba or Mapfumo's modern mbira and this massed pounding of the marimba keys ensures no overlap in aural pleasure. The clean energy of Balafon is uplifting and positive. Throwing into consideration their live performances, they seem to me to be one of the most exciting and potentially significant groups to come down the pike in a long time. Asia Idjah Hadidjah Tonggeret (Elektra Nonesuch Explorer Series 9 79173-2). From java. Floating, eventually soaring, somewhat guttural female vocals are urged on by call and response with several male vocalists over a careful, colorful flower arrangement of emphatic drums, gongs, metallophones, and a quiet, quavery fiddle. Some of this music is a popular dance style in java, but I don't quite see it at the local disco. But there is one track I might try for truly ambitious dancers! Various) Bali Elektra Nonesuch Explorer Series 9 79204-2). From Bali. A series of jewel-like water gardens with ringing, metallic pools of sound are strung together by sudden rushing cascades of sparkling notes. Flutes, jew's harps, and pieces of bark also provide a reedy quality, and on one track the famous frogs of Bali have influenced the locals' music more than they have all the environmental recordings put together. includes a kecak or "monkey-chant" recording, and, for good measure, the most interesting timing between tracks I've heard yet. Nusmt Fateh Ali Khan - Qawwal And Party Shahen-Shah (RealWorld/Virgin 91300-2). From Pakistan. Ecstatic feverish vocals over a drone of wheezing harmonium and a bouncy beat provided by handclaps and tabla. Crescendos build and build until further escalation seems impossible, but through it all there is no sense of strain. What is present is a sense of deep belief and surrender to religious fervour. European Les Negresses Vertes Miah (Sire/Warner Bros. 9 26029-2). From southeastern France. A punchy, dynamic sound that mixes a Celtic/Gypsy/Arabic/rock base into a wailing whirlwind of jumping, riotous, raucous mayhem. Like the clowns at the circus, there's an edge of sadness. Everything's under control, but the surreal wistful tone makes you want to believe that the world is that crazy anyway. The wild party atmosphere of this recording makes it unsuitable for ethnomusicologists. Vujicsics (HNCD 1310). From Hungary. Fiddles and female vocals front over various other strings and reeds for a very frisky dance feel (but not in the bass-heavy urban sense). The singers have some of the same qualities as the vastly overrated Bulgarian ones, but they are sweeter with a lot more life to them, and are balanced by the helter-skelter strings chasing each other all over the place. Plus there is a bagpipe-like skirl, but not so shrill, on some tracks. Really very pleasant, jaunty, and foot-stirring music . . . not that I can dance to it without looking like a prancing prat.