Mesmerising rhythm is the common theme of the two sides of this perfectly divergent EP. It has one long track from the US drum quartet (with megaphone vocalist) FOOT VILLAGE and three shorter ones from Malinese dance group SUPER KHOUMEISSA. Taken together it has the agreeable effect of evoking a dizzying 35 minutes from a lost John Peel midweek broadcast.
FOOT VILLAGE impressed in the UK last year, and are touring here again this month, doing those non-corporate venues that pretty well guarantee exciting challenges and quirky/wonderful support acts. Their 16 minute six second track "Let Bebongs Be Bebongs, Idiot" is a tiny bit tUnE-yArDs without loops, bass or careful rehearsal. But on that balance between expressionism and impressionism this recording works brilliantly at the expressive level. It will be up to listeners how much they want to join in with the steadily building rapture and how much attention they want to give to the flurries of shouting, chant, cross rhythms and changing dynamics. There is no shortage of opportunities. It's an exciting, spontaneous splurge of madness and a great prelude for the gig I'm now planning to attend.
SUPER KHOUMEISSA are from Northern Mali. Anyone who knows Tinarwarien or Festival In The Desert stuff will recognise the sound immediately. SUPER KHOUMEISSA's music is in the Takamba tradition, played and enjoyed at weddings and other celebrations. A vocalist sings tales of heroism, love and history to the changing repetitions of percussion and plucked strings, played on three Calabasses and two Ngoni. It's comforting and absorbing music, good to hear at length and in the foreground. (how used we are to short snatches of such music to give atmosphere beneath to TV presenter burbling). The musicians are: Zerena Maiga (vocal); Yacouba Toure and Abourhamane Idrissa (ngoni); and Salif Maiga, Mahamar Almou and Boubacar Izia (calabasse). Their exceptional playing is fluid, exciting and intuitively "tight" as we used to say. It's easy to imagine the dancing and swaying that is a necessary adjunct in performance. The thre songs are Ai Baka, Khoumeissa and Zololo.
