STACK NZ Mar #71

REVIEWS MUSIC

GET IN tune for WOMAD

The iconic annual world music fest returns to New Plymouth March 18-20. For those who want to do a bit of audio homework first, John Ferguson recommends five albums to get you in the WOMAD mood.

Underworld Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future

Various Artists WOMAD 2016

The drums are splashy and stadium-sized. The banjo is, er, unexpected. Cue monster mothership arriving from Planet Groove. Open blast doors and enter Karl Hyde, rapping his random staccato declamations as if through a bullhorn: Life, golden,

The obvious place to start, of course. As in previous years, it is a pleasingly eclectic collection that mixes well-known western headliners (John Grant, Calexico, St Germain) and world music titans (Asha Bhosie,

open, stumble, catch, yeah, grace, well, yeah... and we're off. Especially after six years holding their breath, I Exhale is a fanfare befitting one of the truly heroic names in British electro. There's little concession to how that genre might have evolved since Born Slipp y nailed the post-rave zeitgeist of the mid '90s, though no party is likely to falter as the pulse quickens in If Rah , and polyrhythms blossom around the muted 4/4 slap of Low Burn with its gently ecstatic entreaties to "be bold, be beautiful, free, totally, unlimited." Yeah baby. The energy ebbs to an atmospheric pace between the gentle South American thrum of Santiago Cuatro and the pitch-shifted hum and tinkle of Motorhome before a big shiny finale in Nylon Strung that might have sounded quite at home on an old Ultravox LP. The thrill is in the sheer momentum of a beast still beholden to dance, but Barbara Barbara, the magic is in the detail. Michael Dwyer

Songhoy Blues) with less familiar festival acts (Iranian sisters Mahsa & Marjan Vadat, Ukrainian hip hop folksters Dakhabrakha). Like the best samplers, it will make you want to explore further. John Grant Grey Tickles, Black Pressure

At last year’s WOMAD, Sinead O’Connor opened her set with a song by John Grant, who she has duetted with on a number of his albums. This year, the festival plays host to the witty Iceland-based US

MUSIC

songsmith himself; expect plenty of songs from his latest opus. Blending lush chamber pop (the title track, Global Warming ) with sly electro disco workouts ( Disappointing , Snug Snacks ), this is essential listening. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 A Long Way To The Beginning Produced by go-to jazz/soul man Robert Glasper, the third studio album from the son of the legendary Fela Kuti is a punchy, joyous slice of horn-drenched Afrobeat, that also finds room for some fiery political messages. The perfect introduction to the wonders of African funk and a must for any fans of Fat Freddy’s Drop.

Miike Snow iii

Grant-Lee Phillips The Narrows

Tami Neilson Don’t Be Afraid

There’s much to be said about a band that will cheerfully rhyme “Genghis Khan” with “get it on”, and not all of it pertains to English as a second language. Swedish- American electro-pop trio Miike Snow will chase a feel-good hook beyond the pale and back again with whatever their neighbour left on the verge, whether it’s an old hip-hop beat, a Stax soul horn sample or Charli XCX in full schoolgirl pout (that’s her featuring, on For U ). The candy coating drips so thick that substance is barely missed as they expertly balance falsetto soul, mechanised grooves and a toy shop full of vari-sped and otherwise craftily-treated gimmicks into a toddler’s delight of plastic goodness and cooing suggestion. Michael Dwyer

Bob Dylan and Neil Young both recorded in Tennessee, lured by its creative community. But going one better, Grant-Lee Phillips recently uprooted there from his native California. Always a songwriter with a sense of home and history, this new album digs deep into his family roots. For sure, there’s echoes of Dylan and Young, yet throw in some Townes Van Zandt or The Triffids for a wider perspective. The Narrows is more subtle than the early records that wrote Phillips’ name large, with random banjo and pedal steel licks among the solid acoustics; even the titles such as Moccasin Creek , YellowWeeds and Tennessee Rain conjure their own bucolic aura.

We are big fans of New Zealand's favourite country chanteuse and her raw but uplifting fourth studio album has lost none of its power to bring both a tear to the eye and a smile to the face. With blues and gospel very much at the fore, even country skeptics should get a kick out of this. Various Artists

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Bollywood This splendidly bonkers collection features 12 tracks from Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle – immortalised in Cornershop’s indie classic Brimful Of Asha – who is one of the must-see WOMAD headliners. Standouts include her original version of Dumo Maro Dum (an exhilarating

new live version also features on the WOMAD sampler) and the trippy funk of Pyar Zindagi Hai (which features her equally famous sister Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor), while cult film fans will appreciate the inclusion of the classic surf guitar rumble of Mohammed Rafi’s Jaan Pehechaan , a clip of which played throughout the opening credits of Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World .

Recommended. GarethThompson

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