.Longtime fans may miss the more emphatic singing of Maal's previous recordings -- his power is showcased here only on the flamenco-tinged "Dakar Moon" -- or wish that he hadn't ceded so many vocals to Sciubba. On its own terms, however, "Television" is a success. Such songs as "Miracle" and "International" claim the whole world with a gently lilting assurance.Click to read the full article
This is neither a conventional ‘world music’ release nor a standard dance music compilation and that’s what makes it so special. It offers a welcome blast of inspiration for the four-to-the-floor formula of British and American house music. It’s also another fine release from independent label Out Here Records (forthcoming compilation Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa is also worth checking) and it introduces plenty of big characters – not least Pastor Mbhobho on the title track. Perhaps the most fabulous offering comes from DJ Sumthyn Black featuring poet Ntsiki Mazwai; their fierce, soulful dance/spoken word collaboration Wena is levelled at a disloyal lover or a more sinister foe. Mazwai argues that ‘house is the language of the people’. On Ayobaness! that language translates as a call to party on a triumphant, transcontinental scale.Click to read the full article
Raghu Dixit is a bestselling curiosity, an Indian musician who has created a new style that has little to do with either India's great classical tradition (even though he is a master of classical dance) or with the exuberance of Bollywood. Instead, he has pioneered a folk-rock fusion, in which his fine, soulful vocals are matched against programmed drums and guitars, with influences that range from traditional Indian folk songs to rock, reggae and funk.Click to read the full article
If you'd asked me two years ago whether I'd be spending a Monday night watching a man who in robe, kaffiyeh, dark glasses and tightly clipped moustache send the Scala beserk with music that sounds like being simultaneously crushed with a piledriver and attached by swarms of killer bees, I wouldn't have believed you. Yet Omar Souleyman's frantic combination of hyperspeed electric oud, overdriven keyboard and intimidating yet deadpan stage presence has clearly struck a chord.Click to read the full article
Bonga's music is a bubbling mix of Portuguese folk music, local roots rhythms and styles like kizomba and samba, with some strong Latin elements (during the Angolan civil war, Cuban soldiers were stationed in Angola). He has a haunting voice that ''cracks'' in a in a way similar to the blues singer Bobby Bland as he soars over an accompaniment that features twirling guitars _ reminiscent of Portuguese fado music _ and subtle hypnotic percussion. At first I only liked his sad ballads _ the so-called lamentos _ like the spellbinding Mona Ki Ngi Xica and the forlorn Kianje, the former from his debut album, but now I've started to really appreciate the other rhythms he uses; you can hear Brazilian sounds on some tracks which is not surprising when you consider that samba was taken to Brazil by Angolan slaves and can be found in Bahia, where samba became the basic template for the development of one of Brazil's most famous rhythms, the samba.Click to read the full article
There are also some connections between Angola and the other former colonies _ you can hear strains of the Cape Verdean morna, for instance. There is a version of the Verdean song Sodade (the Portuguese Creole for saudade, that bitter-sweet melancholic feeling that permeates all Portuguese influenced music) that Bonga recorded in 1974, years before Cesaria Evora would make it one of her torch songs and an international hit.
If you track down this album and enjoy Bonga's music, I recommend that you check out his heir apparent, Waldemar Bastos, whose music I reviewed a few years back. Both are major artists and both have been somewhat overlooked by critics more interested in West African music. This compilation by Bonga is changing this view somewhat _ in the past year the album which is mid-priced, has cropped up on many Top 10 lists and has sold well in Europe. Highly recommended.
