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Afro Celt Sound System: The Source

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: ECC Records
Released: 2016.04.26
Time:
 77:37
Category: World Music
Producer(s): Simon Emmerson
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.afroceltsoundsystem.org.uk
Appears with: Peter Gabriel
Purchase date: 2016
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Calling in the Horses - 2:59
[2] Beware Soul Brother - 8:17
[3] The Magnificent Seven [ACSS Meets TDF] - 4:24
[4] Cascade - 8:06
[5] A Higher Love - 7:47
[6] Honey Bee - 5:28
[7] Where Two Rivers Meet - 9:56
[8] Mansani Cissé/Tàladh - 4:50
[9] Child of Wonder - 6:31
[10] Desert Billy - 3:23
[11] The Communicator - 3:53
[12] The Soul of a Sister - 4:31
[13] Kalsi Breakbeat - 7:32

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Simon Emmerson - Guitar, Cittern, Bass Programming, Electronics, Producer
N'Faly Kouyate - Kora, Balafon, Percussion, Calabash, Kirin
Johnny Kalsi - Dhol, Percussion, Drum Programming
Simon Massey aka. Mass - Keyboards, Electronics, Drum Programming

Moussa Sissokho - Talking Drum, Djembe, Calabash
Griogair Labhruidh - Vocals, Rap, Highland Pipes, Whistle, Electric Guitar

Robbie Harris - Bodhrán on [2-10,13]
Davy Spillane - Uilleann Pipes on [1-2,8], Whistle on [2,8]
Ged Lynch - Drums on [2-3,6-7,10-13], Percussion on [2-3,6-7,10-13]
Richard Evans - Electric Bass on [2-3,11], Moog Bass on [2,8-9,13], Keyboards on [2,8-9,13]
Seána Davey - Harp on [2,8-9,13]
The Dhol Foundation - Dhol on [3]
Emer Mayock - Uilleann Pipes on [3]
Ronan Browne - Uilleann Pipes on [3,6,10], Whistle on [13]
Garry Finlayson - Banjo on [4-5,10,13]
The Kick Horns - Brass on [4-5,11]
James Mackintosh - Drums on [4-5,10,13], Percussion on [4-5,10,13]
Angus R. Grant - Fiddle on [4-5,10,13]
Emer Mayock - Flute on [4]
Ewan MacPherson - Mandolin on [4-5,10,13], Tenor Banjo on [4-5,10,13], Jew's Harp on [4-5,10,13]
Ríoghnach Connolly - Flute on [6]
Simon Richmond - Keyboards on [7,11-12], Drum Programming on [7,11-12], Electronics on [7,11-12]
Chris Taylor - Bass on [8]
Eòghann MacEanruig - Fiddle on [11]

Fanta Mara - Vocals on [1,3-5,8,11-13]
Safiata Condé - Vocals on [1,3-5,8,11-13]
Dianka Dioubaté - Vocals on [1,3-5,8,11-13]
Djékoria Fanta - Vocals on [1,3-5,8,11-13]
Lucy Doogan - Vocals on [1,3-5,8,11-13] on [7-9]
Ríoghnach Connolly - Vocals on [2,6,9]
Jennifer Lindsay - Vocals
Kristin Hay - Vocals
Lauren Parsons - Vocals
Abaigh Barlow - Vocals
Suki McFarland - Vocals
Joanne Forbes - Vocals
Emma McAleer - Vocals
Ashleigh Butler - Vocals

Ailean Dòmhnallach - Backing Vocals on [9]
Eòghann MacEanruig - Backing Vocals on [9]
Pàl Ó Siadhail - Speech on [9]
Valerie Etienne - Backing Vocals on [12]

Jamie Reid - Artwork

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2016 CD ECC - ECC016
2016 LP ECC - ECC100-010



The Source is credited to Afro Celt Sound System. Depending on how a court decides, this may or may not be that band. The split between founding members Simon Emmerson on one side and James McNally and Martin Russell on the other is apparently so toxic it had to be litigated. This version, led by Emmerson, strikes first, offering the first new studio material from any ACSS in a decade. His musical partners here include original members vocalist/kora player N'Faly Kouyate and percussionist Johnny Kalsi as well as new member Gaelic rapper/singer/multi-instrumentalist Griogair Labhruidh. Female vocalist/flutist Rioghnach Connolly also plays an important role in this lineup. Her voice on the long, haunting "Beware Soul Brother" is a set highlight, as is her performance on "Honey Bee," where both her vocal and flute jig elevate an otherwise ordinary melody. Part of ACSS' beauty has been the balance of electronics and organic instrumentation, creating a true fusion, not only in terms of global music styles but their juxtaposition with technology as historic tradition met and was balanced with the present. Emmerson and company have dialed back the electronics to make space for more organic instruments, from the slamming dhol drums to the kora, balafon, and pipes, as well as guitars and fiddles. But the beats are here too, propulsive and authoritatively insistent, as on "The Magnificent Seven," where rhythms meet reels en masse, or on "The Soul of a Sister," where guests Les Griottes offer a grooving chant while Kouyate solos atop layers of percussion. Not everything works, though. Shooglenifty's classic "Monkswell Road" is revisioned as "A Higher Love" with participation from members of that band. The droning melody is appended with organic Gaelic hip-hop and a digital dub that falls flat. Elsewhere, the spoken word "Child of Wonder" has author Pàl Ó Siadhail reading from an unpublished book with spacy effects, bluesy guitars, and spooky kora, but it's simply filler. The real ace here is "Where Two Rivers Meet." It commences with kora, lithe flute, soft bodhran, and acoustic guitars before guest Lucy Doonan enters and literally mesmerizes with her gentle delivery. Improvising Uilleann pipes add tension and drama as swelling effects, chimes, and synths swirl, but the processional pace remains, making the track a ten-minute labyrinth. The Source has its moments, but it doesn't stand with ACSS' best recordings, namely their debut and 2005's Anatomic. It too often feels unfocused. That said, given the new membership and all the additional personnel, it's a first album and a good one at that. No matter which unit gets to use the name legally in the end, there is some truly fine music on display here.

Thom Jurek - All Music Guide



European and African based, globally-connected collective Afro Celt Sound System have been instrumental in fuelling that far-reaching approach; over 20 years, they've found kindred spirits across international talent, and forged a reputation for exhilarating shows and an accomplished catalogue of albums, dating back to their 1996 debut, Volume 1: Sound Magic. Now ACSS continue their adventures on ECC Records, with their first studio recording for a decade - 'The Source'. As its title suggests, The Source summons the original Afro Celt energy and legacy, while simultaneously yielding fresh inspirations. "There was so much scepticism when we started out", admits Grammy-nominated multi-instrumental founder and producer Simon Emmerson. "We've gone from what was a fairly eccentric concept 20 years ago, to something that everyone understands; I think that's testimony to how resilient the music is. It is the first album to fully celebrate the African and Asian roots brought to the band by long-term members' vocalist, kora and balafon player N'Faly Kouyat and Dhol drummer Johnny Kalsi. Along with founder member Simon Emmerson (producer, guitars, cittern) and new core member Griogair (vocals, piping, guitars) winner of Gaelic Singer of the Year at the 2015 Scots Trad Music Awards.

Amazon.com



World fusions come no more eclectic than that of the Afro Celts, with their meld of west Africa and the Gaelic diaspora. The group’s first album in 10 years tones down the electronica of earlier incarnations for a more acoustic but no less propulsive approach in which the kora, balafon and chants of Guinea vie with the pipes, flutes and reels of Highland and Ireland, and the dhol drums of bhangra. It’s an often giddy mashup: nowhere else will you hear a female African chorus alongside Gaelic rap and jazz bagpipes. Yet the group also conjures moments of beauty like Mansani Cissé/Tàladh, where harp, kora and lyrical vocals entwine majestically. A daring, triumphant creation.

Neil Spencer - Sunday 1 May 2016
© 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited



OBOD have a longstanding relationship with Afro Celt Sound System. 20 or so years ago their first album was launched with a Druid ceremony. The Awen flows as strongly as ever in their latest album The Source.

The band’s main members have Anglo, Scottish, Punjabi and African roots and they draw strongly from these in their music, both culturally and spiritually, producing sounds that express the power of those individual musical traditions in a magical fusion that is compelling and inspiring.

Some fusions can feel contrived, a kind of musical shoe-horning of styles but Afro Celt Sound System’s music is seamless, highly skilled and deeply felt, honouring their diverse roots but blending them in ways that feel utterly natural, taking the music to new heights. The Source is a fabulous album, bringing together a host of guest musicians and singers in a multi-cultural mix that is thrilling to listen to.

There are 13 tracks on the album, every one of them a celebration of diversity, creating an effortless flow of changing atmospheres and rhythms with spine-tingling vocals and stunning musicianship. The listener experiences a range of sound-scapes:  ‘Beware Soul Brother’, with the sultry vocals of Rioghnach Connolly, is bluesy and intimate; A Higher Love is summery and bright with Gaelic and Punjabi rap layered with soulful horns. The infectious Desert Billy begins with guitar strains reminiscent of Django Reinhardt but with a strong Gaelic feel and Indian rhythms; The Soul of a Sister features the fantastic female African vocal group, Les Griottes and the Gaelic vocal group Urar with beautifully layered vocals. Throughout there is such a wonderful diversity of sounds from ethnic Ceilidh, to Funk, to Soul and more, all woven together with such love, skill and passion.The-Source

The album’s title is apt, as you get a real sense of this music having its tap root – or more correctly, its collective tap roots – deep within that mysterious Source, and that the musicians and singers are a conduit for an energy that, when experienced through the music, reminds us of our common humanity, of all the places where we are connected; it helps us to recognise that our diversity is a strength and that the coming together of each individual voice in the spirit of unity can produce a whole much greater than its parts. On every track, the integrity of those individual voices is never lost but is enriched and transformed in the process.

The Source is illustrated with the beautifully vibrant artwork of Jamie Reid- a perfect visual expression of the music’s vitality and energy.

The entire album is complex and multi-layered and yet immediate and accessible to the heart and soul. You will want to dance! It is a joyful, exhilarating and emotionally rich expression of music and musicianship at its best. Connect with The Source and feel the Awen flow!

www.philipcarr-gomm.com



To quote a voice sample from one of Simon Emmerson’s less well known projects (The Outernationalists, Ethnomixicology) – “it all started, in Africa”. It was while recording with Baaba Maal in Senegal that Simon first became fascinated by similarities between some African and Irish melodies. That inspiration would take five years to bear fruit, and in 1996 he brought together a disparate group of musicians from around the U.K. and Africa to Real World Studios, and Afro Celt Sound System were born. More than ten years since their last studio album (Anatomic), Afro Celt Sound System are back with a new release, The Source. It’s an album that packs just as many surprises as that inspired and eclectic beginning twenty years ago, and sees Simon Emmerson unite Afro Celts regulars with artists from those first Real World sessions, and some of the most creative figures from the ever-changing face of tradition based music in the UK.

Opening the album in familiar style, Calling in the Horses sees N’Faly Kouyate lead a chorus of Guinean voices (Les Griottes). Uilleann pipes and low whistle howl a response, and a strum of desert blues takes us straight into Beware Soul Brother. It’s here, in a tribute to Nigerian poet Chinua Achebe, that the first of the new voices to the Afro Celts mix appears, Armagh singer and flautist, Rioghnach Connolly. Primal pipes and plaintive whistle continue while Rioghnach breathes a slow, mournful melody.

It’s a typically sensual, hypnotic Afro Celts opening, but it isn’t long before the Sound System opens wide and The Magnificent Seven brings African voices, Dhol drummers, Irish whistles and mandolin together. With guitar and uilleann pipes the sound grows, the beat intensifies to fill the senses, and the imagination.

Rioghnach’s earthy vocal is a welcome addition to the mix; it fits perfectly with the familiarity of N’Faly Kouyate’s voice and kora, Emmerson’s eclectic guitar work, Johnny Kalsi’s epic dhol beats and inpisred atmospheres from Mass and Dave Botterill. Old friends from those first Real World sessions are here too – Ronan Browne and Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes and whistles, with strings and percussion from Shooglenifty stalwarts Angus R Grant, James Mackintosh, Garry Finlayson and Ewan MacPherson.

There are more new names to add to the collective, and the most prominent of those appears in Cascade. Opening with N’Faly Kouyate’s declaimed vocal over a jangle of guitars and balafon; tumbling uilleann pipe and whistle riffs lead to the astounding break-neck puirt à beul of Griogair Labhruidh. It’s hypnotic, it’s soul stirring, it’s exciting; and the Gaelic rap that follows takes the music to an even higher level. Griogair, Gaelic singer, rapper and multi-instrumentalist; has brought a thrilling new dimension to the sound, and his stage presence on the handful of live sets the band have played this year has been a major factor in the unique atmosphere. Another high point of those live sets is Honey Bee, when Rioghnach plays an irresistible flute jig over a guitar/balafon stomp as her bluesy, sultry, intoxicating vocal seduces the senses. Also covering new ground is a haunting spoken word track, Child of Wonder. Pàl Ó Siadhail reads from his forthcoming book, Wonder and the Medicine Wheels, beside kora, harp and flutes; with a beat as mesmerising as the story.

If any track on this album can stand out, though, it’s A Higher Love. Beginning with one of N’Faly Kouyate’s wistful celebrations of African vocal, Griogair opens a psalm book to amazing effect. Gaelic psalm singing is an awesome sound in the right hands and, as Martyn Bennett proved, can be even more enthralling in a contemporary setting. N’Faly Kouyate’s vocal continues to more mouth music, psalm snatches and a Gaelic rap that raises goosebumps. Introduce some big, hearty brass sounds with Shooglenifty strings on top and you have all the reasons Afro Celt Sound System continue to enjoy such an enthusiastic following.

Of course, it’s not all big drums, frantic pipes and club beats. Afro Celt Sound System can chill with the best of them. Where Two Rivers Meet brings a change of pace, with light kora, and deep, unhurried bohdran from Robbie Harris. The leisurely outing continues with Lucy Doonan’s gorgeous, soft Gaelic vocal and Griogair’s jazz-inspired exploration of highland pipes. Just as some, perhaps unsuitable, Pink Floyd associations come to mind; those pipes become a wee bit excitable about five minutes in until a mix of Irish and African strings tempers the pace – held perfectly throughout by Ged Lynch on percussion. All in all, it’s a mesmerising ten minutes.

The smooth pace continues with the kora opening of Mansani Cisse. N’Faly Kouyate sings a favourite, older West African song alongside a flurry of flutes and strings. Here we see the perfect blend of Celtic and African at it’s most literal, with Seána Davey’s harp in duet with the kora as the song seamlessly blends into the Gaelic strains of Tàladh, and resolves into a simply beautiful vocal duet between N’Faly Kouyate and Griogair/Lucy Doogan. Similarly perfectly blended is The Soul of a Sister, with balafon and Les Griottes in a gently swaying chant while N’Faly Kouyate exhibits his staggering vocal range. Then the sweetest of key changes takes us to another Gaelic waulking song and the two unite in a truly uplifting sound.

Desert Billy is a more immediate and funky experience, with Johnny Kalsi and Shooglenifty strings to the fore. This track swings with a barely subdued sense of fun and leads to the equally danceable The Communicator – a feast of Bamako club beats, kora and big brass. The celebratory sound of fireworks that heralds the album’s closing track, Kalsi Breakbeat, is entirely appropriate – there have been fireworks all through the album. When Shooglenifty’s strings, Mass effects, and Johnny Kalsi’s Dhol Drummers join forces you can expect the fireworks to be spectacular.

Under Simon Emmerson’s direction, and wide ranging abilities on guitars and cittern, the familiar core of Afro Celt Sound System have made a thoroughly welcome return to the scene. N’Faly Kouyate’s kora, balafon and astounding vocals bring African tradition alongside Johnny Kalsi’s infectious bangara beats. Add the all-encompassing programming and mixing skills of Mass and Dave Botterill and we have this most eclectic of bands in all their glory. There are no shortage of surprises thanks to the host of collaborators. In the live shows, Griogair also doubles up on guitars, Jaws harp, low whistle, highland pipes and uilleann pipes – he’s proved himself to be an Afro Celt at heart – right down to his roots, you might say.

Robbie Harris plays the bodhran from the depth of his soul and with seemingly infinite possibilities, while Moussa Sissoko supplies African rhythms from talking drums and djembe. Rioghnach Connolly brings a voice that’s as gritty and bluesy as any you could hope to hear, but also plays a flute with the grace of an Irish faerie queen. The trio of uilleann pipe players, Davy Spillane, Ronan Browne and Emer Mayock provide everything from ethereal wails to soothing woodwind. Les Griottes, a 5 strong female griot vocal group from N’Faly’s homeland, contribute those haunting African voices, and the equally evocative Celtic response comes from Gaelic choral ensemble, Urar.

The album was mixed from sessions recorded all around Europe and the U.K. and the cast of contributors is far wider than I’ve been able to cover within the limits of a review. The Source is sure to have instant appeal for long term fans of Afro Celt Sound System. The pan-continental beats and musical traditions that have always been their hallmark are there in abundance. The host of new collaborators bring new life to the music too, and will undoubtedly go a long way to expand the band’s audience. Afro Celt Sound System will be bringing The Source to festival audiences throughout the summer, I can guarantee it’s a unique and unmissable spectacle, every bit as energetic and captivating as this album.

Neil McFadyen 5 April, 2016
© 2016 Folk Radio UK



This might or might not be a new album from Afro Celt Sound System — legal proceedings are underway about who has the rights to the band’s name. Regardless of how that turns out, The Source turns down the electronics and amps up the kora and Uillean pipes and the storm of dhol drums that were at the heart of the original band’s sound. Many of the songs spread out and breathe, notably “Mansani Cissé/Tàladh” and “Child Of Wonder” with its eerie narrative from the novelist Pál Ó Siadhail. Enriching, and not just for lawyers.

© THE FINANCIAL TIMES



Disputes at present surround those claiming to be the soul and sound of the Afro Celts, such matters should not concern us here but sadly they do as the band assembled by Simon Emmerson is but one challenger to the name. No doubt there’ll be another Afro Celt Sound System along before too much time has passed, first blood though to Emmerson, who with collaborators N’Faly Kouyate and dhol drummer Johnny Kalsi has gathered a truly mouth-watering selection of musicians from Celtic and African sources to create a stirring cross cultural dance fusion and produce the first new music from ACSS in a decade.

Actually twenty years since their debut The Source widens the musical landscape, if that were possible, pulling to the centre myriad influences which must have been hell to mix and blend, well done Mass, Richard Evans and Dave Bottrill, there’s nearly 80 minutes of music so it’s a hefty investment. Not that ACSS music was ever what you’d call hasty when it came to albums, even their compilations were advance planning! What’s been created is an album that at its best is mesmerising with extra African emphasis where dark continent rhythms roll under spiralling Celtic pipes and whistle lines, all under scored by pulsing electronics, as on Cascade where Gaelic rapping and a Guinean female singing group Les Griottes add layers of vocal texture. Familiar names are in the guest mix, some previous participants, Davy Spillane’s pipes and whistle, ditto Emma Maycock and a goodly proportion of Shooglenifty, as well as wild cards like Griogair – now officially part of the fuller line up – whose ‘ghetto croft’ and war pipes no doubt add light and shade.

A Higher Love and Desert Billy have trad tunes (Monkswell Road/The Balcony) as their core and it’s here where the ecstatic mix is at its dizziest that multicultural potential overtakes and reveals exactly what glories the band can summon. Whilst the Afro Celts are known as heavy hitters and their use of samples, loops and sundry other electronic beats, at times Emmerson plays down the plugs and switches to let moments of acoustic beauty through where kora, talking drum, flute or vocal ride high, the pace slackens and you’re left with tranquil patches and glimpses of older traditions slip through.

The Source perhaps refers back to the exact moment that a Celtic/African jam session first came to mind, Emmerson if I recall a jaded acid house refugee, was asked to help out on a Baaba Maal recording. If that’s his inspiration then he’s rediscovered the well spring, even if some of the tracks are a little overlong and can feel a bit weighty, hey none of us are perfect, but the fact that Johnny Kalsi’s Magnificent Seven is an example of increased democracy within this set of Afro Celts is encouraging enough. Visuals are once more by Sex Pistols artist Jamie Reid, maintaining the artistic style and tone displayed on all their Real World releases.

Emmerson’s ACSS will be touring later in the year. Meantime The Source is music with resonance and big chops. What happens next we’ll just have to wait and see. Intriguing!

Simon Jones - 17th August 2016
© 2016 Spiral Earth
 

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