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Afro Celt Sound System: Volume 2 - Release

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Afro Celt Sound System
Title: Volume 2 - Release
Released: 1999.05.18
Label: Real World
Time: 63:54
Producer(s): Simon Emmerson
Appears with: Peter Gabriel
Category: Pop/rock
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2000.10.07
Price in €: 11,55
Web address: www.afrocelts.org

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Release (Emmerson/McNally/O'Lionáird/OConnor/Russell) - 7:39
[2] Lovers of Light (Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 4:03
[3] Eireann (Emmerson/Kouyate/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 5:13
[4] Urban Aire (Browne/Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 2:07
[5] Big Cat (Emmerson/Maher/McNally/O Lionárd/Russell) - 7:47
[6] Even in My Dreams (Aslan/Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 7:07
[7] Amber (Emmerson/Kouyate/McNally/O'Lionáird/Russell) - 5:27
[8] Hypnotica (Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 7:18
[9] Riding the Waves (Browne/Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 6:36
[10] I Think Of... (Emmerson/McNally/O Lionáird/Russell) - 4:33
[11] Release It [instrumental] (Emmerson/McNally/O'Lionáird/Russell) - 6:26

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Simon Emmerson - Guitar, Programming

Iarla O'Lionard - Traditional Irish Vocal
Davy Spillane (Moving Hearts) - Uilleann Piper
Ronan Browne - Uilleann Pipe
James McNally (the Pogues) - Whistle
Ayub Ogada - Kenyan Nyatiti
Baaba Maal - Kenyan Nyatiti
Kauwding Cissakho - Band Member
Massamba Diop - Band Member
Jo Bruce - Keyboards and Electronic Programming
Shoonglenifty - mandolin, bongos, banjo, guitar and fiddle

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


The traditional music of Western Africa and Ireland is fused into a seamless blend by the Afro-Celt Sound System. The band's exciting performances have become a popular attraction at the WOMAD festival in Reading, England since 1995, while their 1996 debut album, Volume 1, remains one of the most successful examples of cultural exchange.

The Afro-Celt Sound System brings together top-ranked musicians including traditional Irish vocalist Iarla O'Lionard, uilleann pipers Davy Spillane (Moving Hearts) and Ronan Browne, whistle player James McNally (the Pogues), Kenyan nyatiti player Ayub Ogada and Baaba Maal band members Kauwding Cissakho and Massamba Diop. Jo Bruce, the son of British bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce (Cream), rounds out the group on keyboards and electronic programming. Several tracks on the band's debut album, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Simon Emmerson, featured members of Shoonglenifty on mandolin, bongos, banjo, guitar and fiddle. Released initially on the EMD/Real World label, Volume 1 was issued in the U.S. by Caroline Records. The Afro-Celt Sound System made their U.S. concert debut in July 1997. Their second album, Volume 2: Release, was finally issued in 1999 by Real World.

Craig Harris, All-Music Guide



Volume 2: Release, Afro Celt Sound System's eagerly anticipated second album, continues the group's dedication to hypnotic grooves and innovative arrangements. Ancient and electronic elements blend in a timeless, ethereal fashion, transcending world and dance genre labels. Sinead O'Connor provides vocals on the first track, and an interactive music game is included as a bonus track. Volume 2: Release is a complex, complete artistic statement from a unique, open-minded group.

Heather Phares, All-Music Guide



Die meisten Folklore-Aufnahmen sind um so besser, je puristischer sie sind, je mehr sie ihre Einflüsse ablegen, um zum inneren Kern zu gelangen. Bei Release, dem zweiten Album von Afro Celt Sound System, trifft genau das Gegenteil zu, es erreicht seine Höhepunkte an den wildesten, krachendsten Stellen, wenn alles zusammengemixt wird. Afro Celts, berühmt für ihre elektronische Multi-Kulti-Mischung traditioneller westafrikanischer und keltischer Musik, geben sich hier ganz den Möglichkeiten hin, die das digitale Zeitalter für die Verknüpfung afrikanischer Trommelklänge, irischer Sackpfeifen und Tin-Whistles zu einem pulsierenden Club-Beat bietet. Ihr Debütalbum sowie zahlreiche Auftritte bei "World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD)"-Festivals haben ihren Erfolg mit diesem Querbeet-Projekt gefestigt, doch auf Release wirkt die visionäre Klarheit der Band noch eindrucksvoller. Vielleicht liegt es an dem, was der irische Violinist Martin Hayes den "lonesome touch" genannt hat. Jedenfalls nimmt der keltische Einfluß oft die Form eines sehnsüchtigen Rufs an, der einen lebhaften Kontrast zu den Techno-Beats und den westafrikanischen Trommelklängen darstellt.

Andrew Bartlett, Amazon.de



Lots of traditional-music recordings thrive when they're at their purest, stripping away influence to revel in a core sound. The exact opposite is the case with the Afro Celt Sound System's sophomore effort, Release, which hits its highest plateaus when it's juiciest and pulpiest, throwing everything into the mix. Hailed for their cross-cultural toss-together of traditional West African and Celtic musics on an electronic backbone, the Afro Celts indulge their digital-age ability to throw African drum patterns behind Uilleann pipes and Irish tin whistle all with a club-ready pulse. Their debut and various appearances at World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD) festivals cemented their success at this mixological approach, and Release makes the clarity of the group's vision all the more astonishing. Perhaps it's what Irish violinist Martin Hayes has called the "lonesome touch," but the Celtic contribution often squares up as a yearning cry, contrasting vividly with the techno beats and West African drumming.

Andrew Bartlett, Amazon.com



In music these days, nearly anything goes. And in Afro Celt Sound System's case, that means force-feeding lite hip-hop rhythms into R&B overtones with uilleann pipes and Celtic drone.

Volume 2: Release is a Riverdance-meets-Puff Daddy concoction that is so eclectic, it’s both intriguing and discouraging, but ultimately a frustrating album. The attempt to merge such polar opposites as Celtic and Afro-Pop is like trying to get Rosie O'Donnell and Howard Stern to cast aside their differences and lock lips -- it's doomed to fail.

On tracks like the opener, "Release," there is little doubt that the unison of Irish and African rhythms can be stimulating. Aided by guest vocalist Sinead O'Connor, Afro Celt Sound System creates a likeable blend of Celtic fiddling with seductive African-style accents.

Yet the unnatural hybrid of clashing styles loses steam on the very next track, "Lovers of Light," where the band seems incapable of blending urban beats and traditional Irish pipes. Rather than making Volume 2: Release a liberating listening experience, Afro Celt Sound System's incongruent crossbreeding weighs down the album.

Just like New Coke, the colorization of classic films, and William Shatner singing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," Volume 2: Release is something we might be better off without. Once the novelty wears off, there isn't much here except a watered-down, world-beat/Irish album with too many disco beats in between the good stuff.

David McGurgan, June 21, 1999
Copyright © 1994-1999 CDNow, Inc. All rights reserved.



Afro Celt Sound System is a multicultural seven-piece filled with musical paradoxes. Using exotic instruments such as bodhran, uillean pipes, whistle, kora, djembe and the necessary vocal stylings, the group strives to find the common ground between its seemingly dissimilar inspirations, Celtic songs and West African music. The band manages to create a cohesive global fusion that remains both reverent and thoroughly contemporary, if not ahead of its time. Highlights on Volume 2: Release include the opening "Release," which boasts a fine guest appearance by the angelic Sinéad O'Connor, and "Amber," which features inspired vocals from Iarla Ó Lionáird and N'Faly Kouyate. At its best, Afro Celt proves that cultural boundaries are pointless, at least when it comes to music.

Tad Hendrickson, CMJ Artist Services



Aus dem Studioprojekt wurde eine Tourband, die nun den Nachfolger VOLUME 2: 'Release' vorlegt - mit Gastsängerin: Sinead O'Connor. Der Titel verrät schon, daß es sich um einen zweiten Aufguß derselben explosiven Mischung handelt, die schon das Debüt in zwei Lager spaltet. Die Traditionalisten haßten es, doch Club-DJs und ein aufgeschlossenes Publikum machten es zu einem Bestseller der Realworld-Serie.

ME/Sounds 6/99
 

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