Artist: Various Artists

Based on Irish folk dancing styles, Riverdance was originally devised as a 20-minute intermission entertainment for the Eurovision Song Contest. There, its phenomenal reception inspired composer Bill Whelan to expand the piece into a full-length stage show, still centred around Irish music, but now telling a loose story of many different peoples who in the twentieth century have found themselves émigrés. The paradoxically formal yet expressive, sensual and exhilarating energy of traditional Irish dance and Irish folk music is only the beginning. A work full of strong melodies, excitement, romantic dreams and nostalgic longing, the full Riverdance show is a spellbinding spectacle. Complete with orchestra, Bill Whelan brings influences from Irish classical music, incorporates the haunting sound of vocal group Anuna, and adds the diverse folk sounds of Nova Scotia, Macedonia, Russia and Andalucia to his rich cultural melting pot. Playing on the album are some of the finest folk musicians around, including piper Davy Spillane and Eileen Ivers on fiddle. The result is not just a tuneful souvenir of a great stage show, but a most enjoyable release in its own right. Bill W...
Excellent CD, 2010-02-05
Just love the music by riverdance, if you buy this CD you will
not regret it such a mixture, and so good.

Artist: Afro Celt Sound System

In light of everything that has happened since Sound Magic's release--both inside Afro Celt Sound System (massive global success, the sad loss of founder member Jo Bruce, a patchy second album) and outside (a whole string of bands following in their wake) it's worth taking another look at that debut album. While the Afro Celts certainly weren't the first to combine the traditional instruments of Ireland and Africa (Sin E and Kila, to name but two, were also kicking around) they were the first band with the budget and inclination to bring the musicians together. The band came together as part of the annual Real World recording week in Bath for "Sound & Magic" and it fizzes with an inspiration that seemed to desert the project when it became a "proper" band. The opening eight minutes of "Saor/Free" are still of the highest drama, a pretty definitive calling card. Bruce's drum & bass and techno driven grooves pulsate throughout, bubbling underneath the koras, pipes, whistles, percussion and wonderful vocals of Iarla O Lionard. And do you know what? It sounds like the most natural sound in the world. --Phil Udell
The best of global fusion music, 2009-01-30
I can remember hearing this for the first time and being blown away by its originality and the amazing musicianship. There are many bands out there that try playing this stuff but no one gets any where near ACCS.
A dramatic and atmospheric first album.

Artist: Amadou & Mariam

If every Sunday in Bamako is like this, that's where I'm going..., 2010-07-07

Like Salif Keita, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are from Mali: the origin of the very best, most exquisite, innovative, effortlessly complex and original music from the African continent - if not the whole world - over the past 20 years. It's a mystery why, but all the very best music seems to be from Mali.

Like the late Ray Charles, Amadou and Mariam are blind. They're also married to each other, and have been composing and performing together since around 1980. This though is their most electrifying, original, joyful, danceable-in-the-street, clever, richly textured and simply best album by far, and the reason is almost certainly the involvement of Manu Chao who not only produced the whole glorious celebration but composed and performed on several of the tracks as well.

Sung mainly in French with that delightful West African dialect - but also with a couple of English language numbers - "Dimanche a Bamako" (Sunday in Bamako - the title track of the album) is a joy from start to finish, full of surprises, different rhythms, interesting arrangements and eclectic choice of instrumentation. It romps along at a fair old pace and, even if you have no idea what they're singing about, you'll instantly love it. Every track is different and yet the whole is even more than the sum of its beautiful and exquisite parts: musical excellence, a delight to be savoured again and again.

If you like African music, especially music from Mali, and you never heard this album then you should buy it right now. If "world music" has never appealed and you're put off by lyrics sung in languages other than English, this could be a breakthrough and a revelation. Give it a listen, and open up a new world of joyous West African delight.

Artist: Francoise Hardy

Sunlight after the dark, 2010-04-16
A respite from the hard indusrial excess of the Delvis beat. Francois Hardy sings with the majestic beauty of a canary trapped in a cage. 60's french chansons sound bitter sweet and never treacle in the language d'amour. The cadences of french just pour themselves to a sunlight lilt through a soft focus filter of freshly squeezed oranges served with warm succulent croissants.

Along with Brigitte, Francois' magic is in invocation, a time that never existed except in the minds of Jean Luc Goddard and the french new wave where art and imagination turned over the slabs to uncover the beach.

So get out onto the street and when the industrial jackhamer has ceased and torn away the grey concrete, get the deckchairs out, the hamper and the refreshments. Then sit back, watch the clouds scuddle across the clear blue sky, listening to the velvet dulcet tones of Francois whilst your mind skips across hand in hand in the sand.

Artist: Salif Keita

Outstanding acoustic classic, 2010-02-12
Another brilliant acoustic album from Salif. The first track, La Difference, opens with some English vocals that seem a little obvious (I am black, my skin is white - I am white, my blood is black, I am what I am). For anyone who doesn't know, Salif is an albino. The musicians thoughout are wonderful and the instruments varied. Kante Manfila and Djelly Moussa Kouyate are on guitars. There's plenty of n'goni, camele n'goni, percussion and gorgeous backing singers - but also many surprises such as piano, trumpet, cello, oud, and on four tracks a six piece Arabic string section.
There's a stunning version of Seydou, with a vibraphone, floating chorus singers and the swaying string section, all led by the gently weaving guitar lines.
Gaffou has two n'goni's, oud and cello.
Folon appears in a different version with Bill Frisell on guitar and some subtle piano.
Ekolo d'Armour is a perky dance track with strings, piano and oud.
Djele has accordion, cello, balafon.
Samigna with it's two n'goni's, swirling strings and then trumpet is a wonderfully diverse sound.
The CD ends with a version of Papa, complete with breathy vocals, piano, and subtle bass from the camele n'goni and double bass.
Salif's voice is almost upstaged by the brilliantly diverse instruments!
Outstanding.

Artist: Etoile De Dakar

Great music, 2010-07-09
I have seen the review of this CD on the Financial Times weekend newspaper and decided to have a look. Indeed the music is fantastic.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder

Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders. --Derek Rath
Brilliant, 2010-02-11
Simply brilliant! With Diaraby being the grand finale, what a combination of talents, definitaly one of the best CD's in my eclectic collection.

Artist: Afro Celt Sound System

Their debut album broke down many tediously outdated barriers. Now the Afro-Celts are back with another genre-bursting, non-preachy, multi-culti soundscape. There has never been anything bland or generic about the ensemble's output as their concept of one-world music is less color-blind than color-appreciative; in other words, they don't ignore our differences but celebrate them. Anatomic continues an ongoing pilgrimage of respectful collaboration, wherein Western studio mastery abuts Irish flutes and percussion, harp-like West African koras, keening bagpipes, and gutty Greek bouzoukis, all presented over a resonant, crunchy bottom with beats and electronica for days. Iarla Ó Lionáird sings in English and Gaelic, sitting in with Sevara Nazarkhan from Uzbekistan (who is lovely if disembodied on "My Secret Bliss") and Dorothee Munyaneza, a genocide survivor whose soulful pipes made such a strong impression on the soundtrack to Hotel Rwanda. As always, Simon Emmerson's guitar fulfills dual roles as a melodic vector and tireless rhythmic powerhouse. --Christina Roden
Their best yet!, 2009-01-30
After 10 years ACSS bring out their best album yet. Its definitely my favourite for its swirling dramatic music that dips and rises with rich and distinct musical texture. If you are new to ACSS then get this one first

Artist: Ceu

Superb, 2010-03-23
I keep coming back to this album and each time it surprises me how good EVERY track is! Even the Bob Marley Concrete Jungle track is a triumph.

Modern Brazilian music at its best, with pace, beat and a little musical quirkiness.

She is a far more accomplished singer than Bebel Gilberto.

I have not listened to her other albums yet but I will remedy that soon.

Listening to the album as I write this review it is very easy to give it 5 stars. I just wish I knew how to pronounce her name!

One of my top albums.

Artist: Hugh Masekela

The other compilation to have, 2008-11-19
This compilation of Hugh Masekela tracks cover 30 years from his great pop hit Grazing in the grass (1968) to the moving Mama (1997). With a few ballads (Stimela), invigorating calls (Bring him back home) and great singalong songs (Vasco da Gama, Don't go lose it baby) this is the companion album to the funkier The Collection.