Reviews: November 2006

Afenginn

Akrobakkus (TUTL)

Denmark's favourite madcaps return with another new disc of original material. The Balkan influence remains intact and strong and the playing is even more skilful, with divergences into the downright bizarre. Beautifully paced, the writing is possibly even more complex than before, but never loses itself in that - the sense of melody is always present. If you like 3 Mustaphas 3, this is the kind of band you've been looking for.

Druha Trava

Good Morning, Friend (Compass)

You don't get a lot of Czech bluegrass, but if the standard is this high, maybe there should be more. To be fair, they tend more to folk, with a very tasteful selection of songs, but they can hold their own against any bluegrass band on the planet. The arrangements veer more towards New Grass, but are none the worse for that, never veering into the noodling some outfits use. A definite winner.

Rafa El Tachuela

Flamenco Romantico (ARC)

El Tachuela has been around the flamenco scene for quite a while, more in the Nuevo than traditional end of things. This is quite a satisfying selection, showcasing the slow end of the genre, with the guitarist tweaking forms to suit his style. He's a formidable instrumentalist, but one of his greatest assets here is showing restraint. This won't set the world on fire, but it's still very, very listenable.

Marcel Khalife

Taqasim (Connecting Cultures)

Working with bass and percussion, Khalife gets free rein for his virtuosity on this set of extended improvisations inspired by the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish. By turns lyrical, frantic and sublime, it's an exercise in Middle Eastern music that's joyful and easily accessible. Darwish should be proud to have been the indirect father of something so sublime.

Ismaël Lo

Senegal (Wrasse)

He's been called Senegal's Bob Dylan, a singer-songwriter with a harmonica. But on this outing there's little of that, as he turns instead to full band Afro pop. It's pleasant enough, with a typically glossy production and he sings as if he means it, but in spite of many neat little touches, there's very little to distinguish this record from many others around and that's a shame, because he's proved that he's capable of so much more.

Ana Moura

Aconteceu (World Village)

Unlike many of the other young Portuguese fadistas, Moura is very much steeped in the heritage of the style, tracing a direct line back to the great Amelia Rodrigues. Her husky alto subtly captures the nuances of pain and heartache over arrangements so delicate that they almost melt away. With this disc, Moura has come of age and she's ready now to take her place on the world stage.

David Nighteagle

Torn from the Heart - The Journey (Canyon)

Native American flutist Nighteagle shines on the instrumentals here with his atmospheric playing, but one the songs pride of place goes to singer/guitarist/lyricist Courtney Brocks, who presents what's almost a song cycle history of the Indians, with compassion and anger. It's powerful stuff and the band does it justice, especially on "Honoring Grandfather," where a recording of Nighteagle's grandfather springs from the past to connect the web of history.

Les Primitis du Futur

World Musette (Sunnyside)

The new album from this French outfit (featuring American cartoonist Robert Crumb) takes a slightly different tack, bringing world music elements into their 1930s jazz musette sound. Maybe it shouldn't work as well as this, but the madcap spirit - and some serious musicianship - keeps it wonderful, whether they travel to Cuba, China, or import American blues. Every combination is irresistible.

Various Artists

The Rough Guide to Latin-Arabia (World Music Network)

Yes, there really are strong links between Latin and Arabic music and this collection proves them beyond reasonable doubt. There are plenty of great tracks (Maurice El Medioni, for instance), but more than that, it opens your mind to connections that extend beyond Shakira shaking her hips. Surprisingly natural bedfellows, this is a paring that makes perfect sense once you hear it - and you'll never think of Arabic music in quite the same way again.

Various Artists

The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill, Vol. 1 (Brechin All Records)

Not as well known as his countryman Robert Burns, Tannahill was still a prolific writer of lyrics and this first volume of five brings that work to life. "The Brase Of Balquhidder" will be more familiar as "Will Ye Go, Lassie," but the rest will largely be new - and the only surprise is why has all this been lying dormant for so long. Wonderful arrangements and loving performances make this a vital strange in the Scots tradition.

Various Artists

Café Cantante 8pm, 10pm, 12am, 2 am (Tumi)

This 4-CD set is a wonderful evocation of moods, from romantic for dinner to the sizzle of midnight dancing and jazzy 2am romance. Culled not only from Tumi's own catalogue, it's wonderfully sequenced, with thoughtful track selection throughout - there's not a single piece here that's not world class. Pulling from all over Latin America, this is music to slake any appetite - the major problem is that it will distract from your other plans for the evening as you get caught up in the sound.

Various Artists

Metropolis Shanghai - Showboat to China (Ede)

With its superb packaging, this is almost a documentary in music and sound effects, tracing the arc of China's most cosmopolitan city in the 1930s until the Japanese invasion, but with a sub focus on all the Jews who fled there to escape the Nazis. So you'll get a recurring Chinese melody next to Viennese café music and it somehow seems right, unified by a place and time and falling apart at the end (the desperate pipa playing on "Ambush On All Sides" is the perfect evocation of the times). A masterful disc that makes the obscure brilliantly accessible.

Waterson: Carthy

Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man (Topic)

It's a theme album, covering celebrations Christina and pagan - Christmas, Wassail, May Day - an epic idea and given the full on treatment by an augmented group that includes acapella trio Devil's Interval and a few extra musicians. The fuller sound works well, with the basic quartet sound invigorated and eager to tackle the songs. As always, there's a wonderful and usual selection of material, well annotated and the performances are glorious throughout.