Afro Celt Sound System - Volume 1: Sound Magic (1996)

«The traditional music of Western Africa and Ireland is fused into a seamless blend by 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. Afro Celt Sound System bring together top-ranked musicians, including traditional Irish vocalist Iarla O'Lionard, uillean pipers Davy Spillane (Moving Hearts) and Ronan Browne, whistle player James McNally (the Pogues), Kenyan nyatiti player Ayub Ogada, and Baaba Maal bandmembers 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 […] featured members of Shoonglenifty on mandolin, bongos, banjo, guitar, and fiddle.

You may never have thought of Celtic and African rhythms as complementing one another, but this very interesting effort takes both idioms into new territory with some engaging results. The outcome is a sort of hip-hop jig and reel, like the Chieftains meet the Chemical Brothers. Massamba Diop's masterful talking drum creates an exotic pulse under Myrdhin's fine Celtic harp, and it sounds like a party at some global crossroads. Indeed, the most fascinating aspect of Afro Celt Sound System's Volume 1: Sound Magic is the very real sense that a common language can be found between any cultures, no matter how divergent they may seem. This effort is worth a listen just for its audacity alone.» (AMG)

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