Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Review
But the synth-driven incantatory sound goes back decades and this is essentially Deep Forest, Enya and Jean Michel Jarre mixed with some astute picking of guitars and pounding of exotic drums to produce a self-consciously globalised ethnic slush. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and with the volume cranked up, this is a powerful, brain-cleansing music for unfocused meditation, or ironing perhaps.
But Afro Celt Sound System are not strict ambientalists and employ many of the musical tricks advanced by pop-synth whizzos like Moby and the Chemical Brothers (and all those long-lost rave DJs). Track 3, "Mojave", is typical: we get a slow-building crescendo, dreamy swirling pipes, stadium-rock guitar, and a melting pot of music with Native American and Celtic elements in abundance. The title track takes you elsewhere, a great beat and pan pipes suggesting the band have one foot on Ben Nevis and the other on Aconcagua. It's a bit fly-by-night, but all good fun.
At other times, as on "Dhol Dogs", they seem to lean closer towards Glass-style minimalism, and it would be interesting to see them pushing further into atonality and abstract compositions.
The band contributed to the soundtrack of Hotel Rwanda and are joined again by singer Dorothee Munyaneza as well as Uzbeki star Sevara Nazarkhan. The range of elements across these nine tracks is considerable, and there's really not a bland moment. The clear, sometimes strident acoustic trills and samples in fact allow the synths to do what they do best: blast out massive chords and reach for zeniths of modulation.
Polished, formulaic, politically correct, this is easy listening for those with ethereal inclinations but its full of great tunes, impassioned vocals and little surprises along the way. --Chris Moss
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Now that the ranting is over, let's talk about the music. ACSS released their first album ten years ago to wild critical and commercial acclaim. That recording, VOLUME 1: SOUND MAGIC, was a world fusion masterpiece. Their subsequent releases have all built on that foundation, from the club-friendly beats of VOLUME 2: RELEASE and the global power of VOLUME 3: FURTHER IN TIME (which featured guests such as Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Altan) to the more organic and ethereal sounds of 2003's SEED and the dramatic reinterpretations of last year's POD (a remix project that was more creative and fulfilling than anything else in its class).
ANATOMIC is proof positive that the Afro Celt Sound System has honed its craft to perfection. The opening track, "When I Still Needed You" is a heart-wrenching epic that marries accordian, bouzouki, bodhran and other percussion, and superb programming with the impassioned vocals of Dorothee Munyaneza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide who first collaborated with the band on the HOTEL RWANDA soundtrack. Next up is "My Secret Bliss," a funky duet between Iarla O'Lionaird and guest vocalist Sevara Nazarkhan. The 10-plus minute "Mojave" is the musical and emotional high point of the album, with atmospheric keys, spiritual Gaelic vocals courtesy of Iarla, and a vast array of instrumentation including uilleann pipes by Emer Mayock, dhol drums courtesy of Johnny Kalsi, some very soukous/East African-inspired guitar by Simon Emmerson, and beautiful Irish whistle and bodhran by James McNally, who plays just about every instrument imaginable, and plays it well.
Each song that follows is a joy, from the gentle African strains of "Sene" (featuring vocals and kora by N'Faly Kouyate, with a sound reminiscent of Youssou N'Dour) to the beautiful electronic ballad "Beautiful Rain" with English vox by Iarla. The title track is a classic Afro Celts instrumental with swirling keyboards, uilleann pipes, fiddles, and percussion that will light up the dance floor, while "Mother" features another appearance from Dorothee Munyaneza, trading vocals in a touching duet with Iarla. "Dhol Dogs" assaults the senses with aggressive programming and a symphonic, "Europe meets Asia" vibe, and then "Drake" ends the hour-long journey on a mellow note with a predominantly acoustic sound that eventually morphs into electronic bliss.
Producer/engineer Martin Russell ties the whole package together with sensitivity and grace, proving once again that the Afro Celt Sound System is the only act around to have discovered the perfect musical balance between man and machine. ANATOMIC is a feast for the ears and the perfect capstone to ten years of musical milestones from this groundbreaking band.
It makes a change from the usual cr"p thats about.
Give it a try............
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Dance & Electronic
- Music > Pop
- Music > Rock
- Music > World Music
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
