Beats from two continents

Beats from two continents

Africa, Europe hit high notes on World Music Charts

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Beats from two continents

African and European bands dominate the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s Top 20 World Music Charts Europe for May. West African and music from the horn of Africa have taken most of the African rankings, while Spain and “middle” Europe fill up most of the rest of the charts. Unfortunately, no bands or compilations from this region made it onto the charts but with the official release of Sound Of Siam 2 on the Soundway last week in London, next month’s chart will, I predict, have at least one album featuring music from Southeast Asia.

Emmaar by Tinariwen.

Interestingly, Soundway, known for its wonderful compilations of African, Latin and Southeast Asian music from the vinyl vaults of yesteryear, also has an album of contemporary African music on the chart from a current band, Let’s Dance by the London-based Ibibio Sound Machine, which is worth checking out; I’ll be reviewing this album in a later column.

Riding on the top spot is an intriguing artist from the refugee camps of the Sahara, Aziza Brahim, who developed her musical skills as a displaced person. She has found a blend of African and European music that is solidly based on her Saharawi ethnic roots. One to watch out for.

At number two is gifted singer Daniel Melingo from Argentina. Rather like Ruben Blades did in the 1980s and 1990s, he uses a “low-life” persona as a “porteno” in his songs that feature his gravelly, Tom Waits-like voice — highly recommended. Anglo-Indian singer Susheela Raman hits the number three spot with her latest effort Queen Between on the World Village label.

On my recent trip to the UK managed to find one or two of the CDs featured on recent EBU charts but by far the most impressive I’ve heard so far is the latest studio effort from those exiles from the Sahara, Tinariwen, who have decamped to Mojave desert near the Joshua Tree National Park in California, where the band has set up a studio.

Tinariwen’s last album, Tassili was recorded acoustically in the desert in Algeria but with the region remaining politically unstable, the band has been unable to return. After Tassili, Tinariwen have returned to their mesmerising guitar-driven sound, and they have developed their album-making production skills; this is the most polished, and I don’t mean this in a disparaging way, album yet from the band. Various guest stars, notably Saul Williams and members of the Red Hot Chile Peppers and Chavez, guest on several tracks. Look out for the haunting track Toumast Tinga and the kicking Chaghaybou. If you like the mesmerising percussion and swirling guitar riffs of the band’s previous album, this one is a must.

The latest sensation to come from Cape Verde, an artist I’ve mentioned before, Mayra Andrade (Lisbon-born but with deep Cape Verdean roots) has a delightful album out, Lovely Difficult, while two Sudanese bands make the chart: Silt by Alsarah & The Nubatones and Alsahraa by Amira Kheir. If you’re a fan of Abdel Aziz el Mubarak or Abdul Gadir Salim both these albums are for you.

Kora player Toumani Diabate, one of the most well-known African artists playing today, teams up with Sidiki Diabate for a kora (21-stringed African harp) on Toumani & Sidiki. Well worth checking out.

The pick of the European albums on the chart would have to begin with an album of Galician music from the Basque region of Spain, which features the distinctive singing and bagpipe-playing of the Basque people and should also include Belonoga (real name: Gergana Dimitrova) for the astounding Bulgarian-style vocals on Through The Eyes Of The Sun. She was part of the early wave of Bulgarian music to reach international audiences (remember that coffee TV ad in the 1980s?) and has this time gone for something out of left field by recording with Aboriginal artists from Australia. Sounds intriguing.


The writer of this column can be contacted at: clewley.john@gmail.com.

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