FOLK/ROOTS
I Various Artists: Desert Blues (Network) :lIn/tium'es .t’u .Vti/itirti is the subtitle of this beautiliilly produced double (‘1). .-\ gtos-sy booklet. ItI‘et'aIIy spread with colour photographs ol' the Sahara. Sahel and neighbouring regions. and the ttitts‘ic‘latls titetnselyes Ilaaba .\laal. :\Ii lin'ka Tome w itlt Ry (‘oodet and Tai .\Iahal. Yonssoti .\"I)our and a score more itiusicians contribute about two and a halt liout‘s
LII. \‘.i‘EItIL'I I'll'.
music III the ittos' .t'ztat ttx e sti'isieal t‘a; kagz‘ released to;
yeais
I Marta Sebestyen: Kismet (Hannibal Bykodisc) The stunning \Uc‘.‘.I :tI‘tItIlc's HI IIit‘ mercuttal little Hungarian singer at'e here united ‘\‘-lIIl delicioust interesting instrumental playing. led by Bulgarian titaestro Nikola I’aroy. whoztt you might haye noticed in the Riyeidaitce band. iii an albtntt or songs she's
lo\ ed and leained oy ei year» lotttiitx‘ all oyei I5ui'ope and the I'..t\l. Bulgaria. Ilosnia. Rntmnia. India. (iteece. and \ ariotis tornter Soy tet states are ytsited. 'I'Iteies ey en a y eistoit or
‘I eayt'tg i)ett_\ ()ttay~ learned t'roiit Dolores Keane and sung \ery much in that ( ialway I11;'.IIIIL'!'.III llrtglish .»\ musical titagpie or ciiat‘tieleoii is our .\Iaita. I‘ILI SIi.‘
\\"I
ti.titses all that
t an incredible \oice. p..~ston and cotttzol.
I Ceolbeg: 5 (Greentrax) The best tiiitsteal .Itiection yc'l Int the Scots sc‘\.tcl. now teattntng Rod I’atei'sott on yocals and guitai. II.:!t‘. pipes. tlute. enter it. keyboards. drums. bass and t‘c't'ctl‘~\lt)tt create a yer tull speettttiit ol sound. but tit yarious coiitbtnattons titanage to create enough ot' a dynamic tange to rest the ear limit what could be (time .211 .tti:al ..ssattit (It. the songs. tlze traditional '(iabetitin/ie .\I.:n' ts beatitit'ully arranged and sung. as is Stewatt .\I;ic'(ii'i‘:—‘iti"s ‘ I'ite I’i'esetice'. "I he (‘how Man‘. a iitihtaty pipe match. is taken here at a harmoitically unusual. gentle pace; and w ho yy'ottIdtit be amused at their pt ‘er .\lil e ls'atl. at otte time a bass play er III a Los Angeles t'unk band. whose slippery opening reel is titled in honour ol‘ tlte matriarch ot'iaH/runk. Mother liartiuar.
I Eliza Carthy: Heat, Light and Sound (Topic) The titost respect-ed nante iii Tingliin IoIk music is Tilt/as dad. Martin (farthy is credited on Dylan's first albutn as an intluence arid for three decades Carthy has carried a torclt for that much maligned art form.
A whole new meaning to Oasis: Ali Farka Toure contributes to Desert Blues
Iiitglisit traditional music. Iih/a's ttlllitt ts Norma \\.tiL'l'\tiil. Ul- lI‘it‘ gl‘t‘dl
.l-nghsh singing Iamily. so p
‘the yt-uzzcstei was liteia .y
.t'otgltt trt‘ singing and
tittitipeted in .tdyance b
‘ Lnt t'ttllle It shows line play me and
singing Is the twenty-
(‘I.t\ftti'
year-old. and gieat supporting musicians including ()ikney‘s Ila/cl Wrigley. hay‘e produced Ifitghsh music tor a new gt‘ltc't'LtIltttl.
I Martyn Bennett: Martyn Bennett (Eclectic) \ whales egg «it. aii .tII‘ltlti this' much
the young multi-
insttittttentaltst's Iiy e
show s ol karaoke
Highland piping attd titddling oy‘ei' prepared
backing tapes, ( )ii tlte album he plays e\ei'y tlttng himselt; it's well produced. w ith interesting tustons ot' house. techno and otl.ei current dance
.‘iiiythttts and tempi with , traditional tunes on the
pzpes. I'ittoittinately they ":e neatly all Irish.
but who caiesi’ llamish
Ilezuletsoit and Harry I .itidei .ii'e dubbed into
1 the ll‘tl\. and there's a yer lone toke at the end with ‘aboiit III nztnutes ol‘
training water and the eyeittiial sound of a rip I‘c‘tttLY pulled tip. btit there ate some onely lyrical
passages. especially when
lie plays \ ioliii. on which he Itas .t beatitil'ul touch.
I Bobby Brown and the
Cape Breton Symphony Fiddlers: The Great Cape Breton Fiddle Company
I: (Lismor) A great. ttt'tek
wedge ot sound and an
tip-beat \igour characterise this album. (In the coy et. a tartan-clad
itldle. but inside. less ol‘
the tittulent phrasing of the .tyet'age Scots
stt'athspey and reel
society. and more. well.
balls. Scots~born Bobby
Brown leads {tom the
key board. and the band ot‘
tour riddles is augmented
by piano. guitar. bass guitar aitd drums. The repei‘toiie is essentially
I
Scottish or ltoiite-grown (‘anadiatr and none the worse for that.
I Dar Williams: Mortal
. City/Honesty Boom : (Grapevine) Double Ct)
set from art emerging t‘eniale singer/songwritcr. Recorded on A I).-\T in Dar's .\lassacliusetts bedroom by Steven Miller. who produces
Sit/attire Vega an-I .lane Sibetty. Mortal (‘ily is the eagerly awaited t'ollow-up to Honesty RUI‘III. her debut :ztbitii‘ ot‘ I905 The
\t‘ is her hobby. and you
cat. \ :‘~ll iiet' Website at
httiii/fw w \y'.patii\.citin/tn
ell/claw She cati also be e- ntailed. and there is a Net discussion group about her music. The songs are may well pitt together. with cIey'er lyrics and IilL‘l‘t‘b great Use oI'ceIIo. acoustic instrumental testares aitd guests like .loliit I’rine oit \ocals aitd Itl\Il/.'\lllc‘l'lc‘ttll Iiddler I€ileen lyers. btit my layotit'ites are the simplest tracks w ith inst her yoice. giiitat and maybe one other instruittent. .-\ star tn the tttakiitg.
I Jack Elliott: Ramblin Jack (Topic) I-ioitt a new series of reissues. ‘Tlte I.e}.'endary Topic .\Iasters'. come 3») tracks I'ront one ol' the prime tittiy'cl's ot' the moyemenl which changed the lace oI contemporary music. and. I suppose. our own culture The guitar-toting ()lIs protest singer emerged hour the \ :siott oI' t'reedont aiid conscience at't‘oi'ded by their work. and inspired a generation. You can Itear all of Dylan‘s early style here. and although it speaks lrom another time. the 3-1 tracks. matton them talking blues. h'ty'e intoi‘ittal. i'aiitbliitg introductions. nostalgtcally redolent ot the era oI Woody Guthrie. l)erroll .-\dams. Kerouac. the Beats. Wobblies and hobos. and the liberal. working class. socialist underbelly oI' Slts and ()(Is .-\itteiica.
I Jesus Alemany/Altredo Rodriguez: Cubanismo! (Hannibal Bykodisc) \ery iauy. Itot contemporary Latin music. recently recorded itt Cuba by a wonderl'ul star band led by Sierra .‘ylaestra's Jesus .-\Iemany on trumpet. Alfredo Rodriguez' superb piano wot k and the ititlltiggiitg percussion of Tata (iuines. Brash. bright. Ittsh. ripe and colourl‘ul. btit with a great yariety ot' rhythms. and occasional y'ocals. this is ittiagiiiatiy'e dance music. coy‘eriiig sort montunos. guaguaitcos. cha chas. rutitba and descargas'. Itigltly scored but with a pervasive itnpt'oy'isatory l’eel. (Norman Chalmers)
Iiirst up. a second I.l’ from The Fugees. Hie .y't are tColumbiai is an estremely Itiglt quality American rap record. Mid-tempo iit general. it combines persistent. tiieastzred hip hop beats with creative. but subtle
I sampling and cIey'ei'.
catchy yocal interplay. Reminiscent of our yery own Massiy'e Attack iti parts t‘Ready Or Not') arid highly original itt others ('Iiu-(jee-I .a' t it also includes an uptempo coy er of Bob Marley's ‘.\'o Woman .\'o fly" and .t mitettes tap rendition of Roberta I‘Iltc‘ks classic Killing Me Sot‘tly' .-\n cscellent package. Staying with the rap. CDDIID’S litIItHV-tlp to his Not smash ‘(iangsta's Paradise' is sottiething ot' a let dowti. ‘ I. 2. 3. -l (Sumpin' .\'ewi' iTommy Boy) shows (‘oolio iii uptempo mood. losing the power (ll. his distinctive voice iii the sheer chaos of the rap. Worse still. the track sounds suspicioust similar to one oI~ his earlier tracks t ‘I‘antastic Voyage' ) being played at the wrong speed. That said. the flip. ‘Smilin'. is more chilled and as a result far better. Not as good. howeyet'. as D’Angelo’s ‘(.'i‘iiisiit' ((‘ooltempol. which is pure attd sweet soul
music. It’s no wonder this man ltas been compared to Maryin (iaye- his y oice is a sheer joy. (.‘heck Soul IDT Real’s 'Iiy'ery Thing l I)o' I.\l(';\t for similar
tiiale \Itc'tlIs this hate on
the swingbeat ytbe.
together with the tihttizat. seal or swing appro\ al witlt the Sean ‘l’ut't'y' Combs rettti\ treatment. Plus. it's currently getting Iieayy rotation on daytime radio. as is ‘.-\ccess‘ (I-‘I‘rreedomt by DJ Misiah and DJ Tim. This Is currently a big. big club anthem. Think hard.
driy iitg synthetic teclnto that stoittps. builds and hisses into a relentless acidic crescendo aitd you‘ll get the picture. Still in clubland there's the new single l‘i‘otn Adeva and Hyper Go Do. ‘Ilo Watcha I)o' t:\ye\t which will undoubtedly bomb on any hall decettt dancelloot. It‘s terrible. the production is Iiglttwetgltt arid the piano ril‘I has been Used (to
Coolio:
VIEWS MUSIC
I‘t‘llt‘l' 'c‘lTL‘L‘ll tl Ittlltdl'c‘d titties bet-ore. Wltat a waste «it an amazing yocal
‘talent. In contrast. Baby
'l‘ttscti I‘lt‘ttrs ‘cttl .t.. .
D S lake .\le Io Ileayen tl’iodtiction House) shows the power ot a good yoice.
Iltl\ slit-lt‘atSIIIIlt piano-
‘sl‘am s tItsttttc‘I Iiaccs til
soul. The taster tangle
nt:\es add new
dimensions especially
with the nice l‘iiic Sermon sample (‘ltomdtgi' t attd the additional jal/y yibes. Hack to the rap and the ottttttotisly titled 'The
Best Rap .-\Ibtim iii The
World Iiyei" (Virgin). Do ttte a lay-a? Since when has iap cotne to mean Shaggy and Apache Indian. not to mention ino dtstespecll .\Iassi\t‘ .-\ttack'.’ This is ittoney- spinning. ittatitstream .\IT\' culture at its ham- t‘isted worst. Talk about easy listening. .\'ot exert the presence ot‘ the legendary Sugaihill (lang
can .edeem this. .\'e\tl
i.Iim Ilyei'si
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The List 22 Mar-4 Apr 1996 41 ‘