The long-established pipeline of recordings from Africa, South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere lessened the sonic hegemony of the US and UK considerably, and as the clock continues to tick the outpouring shows no signs of diminishing; devoted to pushing boundaries and expanding stylistic possibilities, Germany’s Glitterbeat plays a major role in the distribution of contemporary global sounds. Below is some additional background and thoughts on five Glitterbeat acts either from Africa or tied to the continent, their offerings pressed onto 180gm vinyl and tucked into gatefold jackets with accompanying downloads.
Founded in 2012 by co-owners Pete Weber and Chris Eckman, Glitterbeat is a branch of Glitterhouse, the long running German enterprise that gained traction back in the late ‘80s as the Euro arm of Sub Pop, distributing Eckman’s band The Walkabouts in the process. In the ‘90s they served the same capacity with Amphetamine Reptile.
Glitterhouse has undergone many changes since those productive days; subsidiary Glitterbeat began putting out records in early 2013. Roughly two years later the venture has amassed a steadily growing discography featuring robust sounds from a wide range of locales; Mexico, Italy, Brazil, and Vietnam are all included in the midst of heavy attention paid to Africa, particularly Mali.
Admirably, Glitterbeat has chosen to largely focus on the new, but they’ve also cleared space on the roster for welcome reprints, namely Jon Hassell and Brian Eno’s Fourth World Vol.1: Possible Musics and Laraaji’s Ambient 3: Day of Radiance. Furthermore, the label has issued recordings by Dirtmusic, co-owner Eckman’s endeavor with fellow Yank Chris Brokaw (of Come) and Australian Hugo Race (a former Bad Seed); their second album BKO finds them in collaboration with the Malian group Tamikrest.
Winner of the WOMEX (World Music Expo) award for best label in 2014 and 2015 (World Circuit, Stern’s, and Crammed Discs are previous recipients) Glitterbeat’s modus operandi is the sponsorship and encouragement of hybridization in service of fresh aural territory. Again a laudable approach, but one that’s often more amiable than powerful; making the coverage below doubly impressive is urgency and retention of edge amid a tendency for polished production. It marks the artists assembled as thoroughly of the moment.
Even without exposure to the complete discography there’s doubtful a better representation of intent than Glitterbeat 16, Mauritanian vocalist-bandleader Noura Mint Seymali’s Tzenni. Seymali comes out of the centuries-old Moorish griot tradition; her father Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall was responsible for devising the Moorish system of musical notation and crafted the Mauritanian national anthem. Seymali’s stepmother Dimi Mint Abba was one of the country’s most famous musicians, while her grandmother taught her the nine-string harp-like ardine, an instrument wielded on Tzenni alongside her husband Jeiche Ould Chighaly’s guitar and tidinite. The latter axe is played by males in tandem with the female-aligned ardine (herein doubled on four tracks by Ayniyana Chighaly); together they achieve “azawan,” an effect complemented by Ousmane Touré’s bass and Matthew Tinari’s drums.
Tinari also produced and contributed enlightening notes to Tzenni, and it was partially recorded in New York City by ex-Pere Ubu-Golden Palomino Toni Maimone. The title refers to a whirling dance accompanying the Moorish griots, but the platter is as much about guitar-based psychedelia and Seymali’s soulful, emphatic vocalizing as it’s inclined toward inspiring physical movement.
This plurality of qualities insures uncommon richness significantly illuminated by the gatefold’s text. If psychedelic in nature, Seymali and group have mastered pop tidiness especially on opener “Eguetmar” and side one’s closer “El Mougelmen.” But this is band-derived music managing to spread out and precisely ride grooves (e.g. ‘Emin Emineïna Chouweynë”) while eschewing predictability. Occasionally startling in its assurance and avoidance of missteps, Tzenni would be a splendid intro to Glitterbeat’s objectives.
However, those with little experience in the global music field might find Glitterbeat 17, the self-titled long-playing debut from the London-based Fofoulah, to be an appropriate entryway. Comprised of Tom Challenger (Red Snapper) on saxophone and keyboards, Phil Stevenson (Iness Mezel) on guitar, Johnny Brierley (Outhouse Ruhabi) on bass, Dave Smith (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) on drums and sabar (a traditional drum played in Senegal and Gambia), and Kaw Secka (Irok) on sabar and tama (a “talking drum” from the same region), they combine respect for tradition with progressive-mindedness.
Similar to the “Bene Bop EP,” which paired them with Senegalese vocalist Biram Seck, Fofoulah fruitfully utilizes guest voices. Senegalese singer Butch Gueye, who fleetingly brings Pere Ubu’s David Thomas to mind, is quite enjoyable on four cuts, as are the vocals by Gambian born Juldeh Camara, Algerian/Parisian Iness Mezel and the UK-based Ghostpoet.
These sorts of cross-cultural undertakings risk faltering into puddles of self-congratulation, overly reverent innocuousness or musically flatfooted environs (or worse), but there is thankfully no trace of poor judgment across the nine selections. Frankly, without a solid core the guest additions wouldn’t amount to a whole lot.
From a rhythmic standpoint Fofoulah is appealingly non-rudimentary as they easily circumvent any showoff gestures; likewise, Stevenson regularly delivers crisp cyclical maneuvers rather than inappropriately flashy note spillage, but the periodic warmth of Challenger’s saxophone and the non-gratuitous application of electronic elements really highlights the intelligence of the LP’s overall design. In some ways it’s reminiscent of the heyday of trip-hop but with less studio dickery; Fofoulah is far more about working up an organic sweat.
Glitterbeat 20 belongs to Samba Touré’s Gandadiko, and fans of the desert blues may already be familiar with the work of the Malian singer-guitarist as his prior album Albala (issued by Glitterbeat in 2013) made a sizable impression as it deeply pertained to his country’s struggles with radical Islamist control. A protégé of Ali Farka Touré, Samba was initially strictly a singer, reportedly not picking up the guitar until age 30, though by now his tough, earthy sound oozes experience.
Less angry/intense than its predecessor, Gandadiko’s lyrics reinforce that Touré is still very concerned with societal affairs. Unsurprising, but here the occasional severity of the words (printed in English in the gatefold) are somewhat softened by the inviting depth of Touré’s voice as he blends into a setting infrequently exploring modes of optimism.
It’s steeped in lines as tranced-out as they are bluesy, yet Touré’s “Male Bano” holds an early tidbit recalling Willie Dixon’s “Walking the Blues” as “Su Wilile” dives into the essence of Bo Diddley; Gandadiko is highly recommended for ears attuned to the down-home groove style of the US south as corralled by Arhoolie and Fat Possum. But there are spots eclipsing the trance-blues predilection, with the gorgeous guitar in finale “Woyé Katé” worth the price of admission alone.
How these raw elements integrate with the vocal smoothness is an absolute treat, and the LP benefits from Baba Arby on bass, Djimé Sissoko on the tama and the West African lute the ngoni, numerous individuals on assorted percussion including calabash and shaker, and Adama Sidibé on the violin-like njarka; his playing on “Male Bano,” “Touri Idjé Bibi” and the gradually building tension and uptempo release of “Gafouré” stands out. Gandadiko should present an attractive entry point for adventurous roots rock fans.
Of the records here it’s definitely Glitterbeat 22, Taksera by Tamikrest, which most boldly interacts with Western models to produce a distinctly rocking result. Belonging to the Tuareg (a traditionally nomadic Berber people inhabiting the Saharan region of Africa) and formed in 2006 in northeast Mali, Tamikrest were heavily impacted by the African-Western rock merger of well-known Tuareg unit Tinariwen; they can be accurately evaluated as an extension of the veteran outfit’s example.
Beside Tinariwen the group members further honed their chops on such ‘70s FM radio staples as Hendrix and Pink Floyd, these influences surely detectable but attaining far from a dominant position in the lean discipline of Tamikrest’s groove-oriented sensibility. It’s not at all unusual that Taksera is a live album.
Indeed, it’s clearly in the Classic Rock mold as it borrows from all three prior efforts, 2010’s Adagh and ‘11’s Toumastin for Glitterhouse and ‘13’s Chatma for Glitterbeat proper. Issued last April for Record Store Day, Taksera was plainly intended as a prize for Tamikrest converts, but as drawn from the set-list of a gig at the German Burg Herzberg Festival it’s not an inapt place for newbies to begin.
Bluntly, Tamikrest’s welcoming sound is well suited for the sort of environment commonly fostered by outdoor concerts, and as Taksera unwinds it’s easy to envision a field full of gyrating bodies; it’s an image encouraged by the spirited “Tamiditin” and “Aratan N Tinariwen” in particular. And yet their deep-rooted rock (though non-rockist) tendency is instrumentally vibrant throughout, e.g. the wah pedal passages of “Fassous Tarahnet” and the meditative closer “Aratane N Adagh,” enough so that the non ass-shaking portion of their audience indubitably goes home satisfied.
Rock lovers harboring a parallel interest in Afrobeat won’t want to miss soaking up Ba Power from Mali’s Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba. Containing the input of five ngoni players led by Kouyaté, Glitterbeat 23 supplies a superb gateway into the instrument’s unique strains and contrasts with Tamikrest by possessing an immediately African aura even as the LP features numerous Western guests. Amongst the support is Jon Hassell on trumpet and keyboards, Fofoulah’s Dave Smith on drums, Dirtmusic’s Eckman on acoustic guitar and keys, and his bandmate Brokaw on electric guitar; happily the auxiliary do nothing to streamline Kouyaté’s objectives; to the contrary, Ba Power is assessed as Ngoni Ba’s hardest hitting record to date as the griot background shines through.
In terms of mingling tradition and innovation these nine tracks pair nicely with Noura Mint Seymali, the lead voice of Kouyaté’s wife Amy Sacko deepening this connection. While not as overtly psych as Tzenni, a handful of outbound instances waste no time in surfacing; Brokaw’s string burn on opener “Siran Fen” is excellent.
Samba Touré’s contribution to “Fama Magni” kinda gives Ba Power the quality of a Malian-Glitterbeat summit, but that’s not a bad thing. Moreover it’s a dual showcase for the sheer range of the ngoni and Sacko’s vocal strengths. If not as instantly danceable as Tzenni and Taksera, Ba Power is still a rhythmically lively ride, and it’s a must acquisition for World Music lovers. Since its release Glitterbeat has added five more LPs to the roster, so plunging into the catalog without delay is an advisable course of action.
Tzenni:
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Fofoulah:
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Gandadiko:
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Taksera:
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Ba Power:
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