Guinea music reviews

i listened to this while pregnant, then while nursing. now we listen to it at bedtime, and sometimes in the car. the music is so beautiful and soothing, it's one of my favorites in any category.

This is a great CD and I often listen to it without my child around. I've even played it when we have company and they comment on it being good. The music on this CD is very similar to some of the African influenced music on Graceland. Other CDs in the series are as good.

I received this cd as a gift from a friend for my 5 month old daughter. We listen to it every night as part of our bedtime ritual. She loves it and I probably enjoy it at least as much. A very nice alternative to the routine lullaby cd's out there!

People associate New Age music with synth-heavy,repetitive tunes a la Yanni&Enya.Not so with this album. It's too bad that it's currently out of print and no longer in Putumayo's catalogue.It's also proof you CAN judge a CD by its cover.It has beautiful album art to match its beautiful music.

This is a soothing CD,perfect for meditation,yoga,relaxation.This is also one of Putumayo's best.

Highlights-
1)Midal-An unusual,hypnotic song from Papua New Guinea.Very primal and lovely.
2)Mais Filhos de Gandhi-A brilliant combination of Indian classical music with Brazilian bossa nova.It's from the great album "Bossa Nova Delhi."
3)Makola-A lovely song from Guinea.Very bluesy.
4)To a Beloved-Blends Western "smooth jazz" with Indian classical music.It's from the wonderful CD "Anahita."
5)Arica-A fun little instrumental.From Big Sur,of all places.
6)Tautai e-A beautiful chant from New Zealand.
7)Elepaio Slack Key-Elegant Hawaiian slack guitar from Keola Beamer.
8)Happiness is...-A song about true happiness from a wonderful Tibetan singer.

This album is 5 years old,and it's gotten better with age.If you're tired of John Tesh,Yanni and Enya,this is perfect for you!It's from paradises around the world.

I picked up a copy of "Gardens of Eden" for ...(very little). I couldn't resist the price and the countries represented: Hawaii, New Zealand, Tibet, India, Brazil. I had not heard of the majority of the artists but all offered traditional music from their homelands.

I especially liked "Mais Filhos de Gandhi," which blended Brazilian rhythms with classical Indian music, and "Happiness Is" by Tibetan songbird Yungchen Lhamo, which blends guitar, fiddle, whistles, and ethereal vocals, sounding at first more like Celtic music, but is achingly beautiful, with a message of finding a path and following it.

All in all this is an excellent, affordable compliation that represents artists from lesser-known musical countries: Guinea, Madagascar, the California wilderness of Big Sur, New Zealand, and Tibet. Very beautiful songs take you away to different visions of the Garden of Eden: lush, tropical sonic paradises to enjoy after a hectic day.

No matter what Garden of Eden you have in mind, this is the music to take you there.

We were traveling down Rt. 1 in California and stopped in Big Sur. At one of the local shops, I heard the ever familiar Putumayo music and fell into a conversation with the store owner over our mutual appreciation for the Putumayo label. She then brought to my attention that her group was featured on Gardens of Eden. Naturally, we bought it.

The next day, when traveling through the misted mountain road, we were entralled by the way the music somehow choregraphed the scenery - or was it the other way around? All I know is that I will forever remember driving in the convertible, rounding each bend to music that swept away all of our cares and concerns.

I highly recommend this disk.

I bought this one without hearing it first, based on the reviews. If you like the simpler Mali sound, not the harder blues and pop, you will love this album like I do. Many earlier artists are included that are not on Putumayo's compilation. Maybe I was African in another life, but this music just makes me happy. There are choruses and much native sound. Enjoy.

This was the first Rough Guide CD I bought, and also the first CD covering music from the region. It is still one of my favourite CDs though I have bought a lot more since.

I agree with an earlier reviewer - the song by Balla et Ses Balladins is the best track; although the one directly after it Haidara is also a great song.

But there are no weak points and I would recommend it highly. The inlay sleeve is also quite useful with a lot of history about the musicians and the respective countries.

stand out track balla ses balladines...I am trying for 4/5 years to get music from this unique band...so in the meantime I have to reley on compilations like this superb one from your connaisseurs at rough guide.good to see Mali music catches up with listeners in the USA.I used to live in the remote Ausralian desert and all I ever listened to was Aboriginal rock bands and Mali desert music.You know why? cause it fits in with flat ,open wide spaces and car drives in heat and dust and smiling black faces.move your arse and your head will follow.

This is a magical cross-pollination of music from Mali and Spain. I've owned this CD for quite a few years. I no longer remember why or where I acquired it, and it doesn't strike me as the type of thing I would normally pick up. I'm glad I did, because it is one of the finest disks I have. The sound is bright, lively, and intricate. I highly recommend it.

I also found this as a cassette, in a "99-cent" store, of all places, alongside cheesy oriental imports and a variety of low-quality goods. I was familiar with Ketama, so I snatched it up, thinking I might have a pretty cool find on my hands. I had no idea this would become one of my favorite albums. I have since purchased the first Songhai album, but the second is superior, in my opinion. I have owned it for about 8 years, now, and although the cassette itself is wearing out, the music itself seems to get even better.

I found this album as a tape in a 99 cent bin cause it sounded interesting...and boy did I hit the jackpot! Its easily one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard. The song pozo del deseo is just magical. The album has both african and spanish sounding parts to which combine very well. I went out and bought the other album after listening to this, and its great too.

Putumayo is a great vehicle for touring the world -- you can do it from the comfort of your own home by way of some incredible music. This particular disc is an enchanting and rhythmic look at Africa and its many different musical styles. According to the accompanying and extremely informative booklet, Africa is home to over 50 countries, 1,000 different languages, and 3,000 different tribes. That would make this disc a brief glimpse of all Africa has to offer in the music world, even though it is a very comprehensive sampling - ten songs from seven different countries.

Many cultures have influenced the music of Africa over the years, adding to a rich diversity of both music and the instruments with which to play music. The music found here is as beautiful and untamable as the African landscape - showing the strong unbreakable spirit of a strong, enduring, and culturally rich people. As well as containing two previously unreleased tracks of known artists, this disc also contains music of people that have never been heard outside of their marketing areas before. A bona fide treasure to care for and enjoy.

Fundo Di Matu is sung in Crioulo, which is a blend of African languages local to the Guinea Bissau and Portuguese, which is the main language of Guinea Bissau. Manuel Leal Emidio Costa, or Manecas Costa, first released this song on his album of the same name in 1999. Fundo Di Matu means Deep in the Forest and the rhythms of this piece will have you swaying and moving to the music before you realize what has happened, as Manecas' emotion laden lyrics dance around the melody.

Les Go is local slang along the Ivory Coast for "The Girls." This group is fronted by not one, but three young women who are a part of something so much larger - the L'Ensemble Koteba d'Abidjan. The famed dance/ theatre/ music company which was established in the city of Abidjan in order to preserve the Mandingo culture. The director of this school brought the three girls together, and now they mix their cultural music with popular Western music to bring about their own unique and most definitely unique sound. The lyrics of this piece are in Bambara, the language of Mali. In this track can be heard the n'goni (a four stringed lute-like instrument), Malian flutes, drums, and even some modern studio effects. The end result is a stunning and flavourful almost pop sounding track.

Ke Cu Minino Na Tchora is another interesting piece with a definite Reggae influence. The lyrics are completely at odds with the upbeat, chipper melody. The electric guitar has a bit of a spotlight, dancing all about the drum beat and bringing a smile - until you read the lyrics, that is. The Criolu lyrics describe the pain and suffering which comes with war, and focuses on the children thus affected. Bidinte has a strong love for music, according to the liner notes he even changed his religion to Catholic so that he could play the priests guitar! Incredible spirit and drive are combined with some serious talent where this young man is concerned. I hope to hear more of his work in time.

Not only is this a great way to expose yourself to African music, it is a great dance disc. The rhythms are very strong and lend themselves well to such strenuous activity. All of the artists featured on this disc are talented and have something worthwhile to say - this is music with meaning and a deep regard for life.

Review Original Posted at LinearReflections.com

While people associate Africa with drumming,this album leans to the acoustic side.Putumayo excels in exploring world acoustic music,and this album is a shining example.Each song is perfect,haunting.

Manecas Costa sings of a long-lost love;Seydu sings of the plight of children during wartime.Les Go is a powerful trio of women from the Ivory Coast.Oliver Mtukudzi of Zimbabwe,who is on many Putumayo albums,has a beautiful song about the sustaining power of spirituality.Augusto Cego from Cape Verde sings of the melancholy of the sea.Aura Msimang sings powerfully of a mother's loss.Adama Yalomba sings about helping the less fortunate accompanied by an unobtrusive electronic beat;I wish I could find more of his music.Habib Koite sings about the problems caused by polygamy when wives fight;it's not the glossy version of polygamy presented on HBO's "Big Love",but the atrocious nature of it in Mali.Koite doesn't sugarcoat it.

This is a powerful album.Despite its heavy themes of hunger,war&polygamy,its music is relaxing&uplifting.

Putumayo does it again! Beautiful musical voyage of Africa with some haunting melodies. This is an enchanting album ...something you need to add to your I-Pod ASAP! My favorites are Raki by Oliver Mtukudzi and Sinama Denw by Habib Koite.

A pleasant African pop album by a Guinea-Bissau bandleader who has recently emigrated to the United States for political reasons... Those political leanings are evident on several songs here, which touch on the widespread warfare and unrest that has engulfed Africa. This is a nice, pleasantly diverse album, with jazzy undertones and intricate musical arrangements. Worth checking out!

Z� Manel is the biggest and possibly the most important contemporary musician to come out of the African country of Guinea-Bissau. Originally the drummer with Mama Djombo, one of the country's most popular groups, he was forced to flee the country after his 1983 solo album, Tustumunhus di Aonti, whose politically acute lyrics put his life in danger. Maron di Mar is his return to his homeland, and it's equally thoughtful but a work of stunning maturity. With a voice that slides gorgeously in and out of the upper registers, his compositions also feature his wonderful multi-instrumental playing, with "Immigr�" (not the Youssou N'Dour song of that title) an absolute quiet standout. The rhythms throughout float easily across the album, the arrangements airy and easy but still quite involving. To put it simply, this is one of the best and most accessible albums to come out of West Africa in a long time, making you wonder just why Z� Manel isn't the household name other African performers are. He has everything going for him: the voice, the instrumental chops, and the songwriting ability that shows itself so sharply on pieces like "Safinte na Baloba" and the title cut. Upon its release, this immediately became the biggest disc in Guineau-Bissau. It's not hard to understand why. - Chris Nickson

In the tumultuous 60's and 70's, as independence from colonial rule was won across Africa, there emerged many expressions of cultural revolution. In Guinea-Bissau, it was music. Deep-rooted rhythms and folklore were re-interpreted in modern arrangements that inspired, mobilized, and unified. The new music featured electric guitars, brass, and lyrics sung in Kriol (a synthesis of several African languages and Portuguese), the language of the people. Z� Manel is a foundational figure of that movement.

Manel was born in Bissau, the capital city, on May 22, 1957. At age six, he formed a band to play music at boy scout camp. Soon the band was playing weddings, baptisms and birthday parties, and its members took their craft so seriously that some were forced to leave. By age seven, young Z�, playing drums and acoustic guitar, had become the main attraction of this band, named Super Mama Djombo after the female spirit of a sacred offering place. When Guinea-Bissau won its independence from Portugal years later, Orchestra Mama Djombo emerged to sing the victory.

In the years that followed, Kriol music became the bridge that brought people to their national identity. "Independence felt like people taking over their own house," recalls Manel. "After independence, life was a party, not a struggle." In that euphoric atmosphere, Mama Djombo acquired the status of national group. They often traveled with the first President Lu�s Cabral, representing the new nation through music. In 1978 they were flown to Cuba to mark the new musical identity "present" at the 11th Youth Music Festival. The group filled a Senegalese stadium, where the crowds literally broke down the doors to hear them play. It is said that whenever a Mama Djombo song came on the radio during lunch, people would get up and dance-and then return to their meal. It seemed an ascendancy that would never end.

The pressures of success-and ideological conflict-brought the end of the band in the mid 80's. In 1982, Z� released his first solo album Tustumunhos di Aonti (Yesterday's Testimony), which sounded the alarm over the formation of a new, repressive ruling class. The album was a national event (people in Guinea-Bissau today still sing the songs from this soulful, relevant album), but the political environment was heating up and Manel's fans were concerned for his safety. It was becoming increasingly easy to "disappear." He was given a scholarship to study abroad-one of the more pleasant means of removing voices of dissidence.

Manel left Guinea-Bissau for a Portuguese conservatory to study classical music, opera and piano. Upon completion of his studies, Z� played for a year on the Paris scene, then moved to Oakland, California to equip a studio.

Maron di mar marks Z�'s return to Guinea-Bissau for the first time since Tustumunhos. The album has touched a nerve with people there, and Manel is once again a national hero. The struggle for dignity and new possibilities that drove the revolution continues today, as a society strives to affirm democracy and identity. Thanks to Z� Manel, Kriol music once again aids that fight, providing a counter-narrative to potential constitutional fictions.

Between their 1984 album TREASURE and 1988's BLUE BELL KNOLL, the Cocteau Twins' output was limited to a somewhat prolific series of EPs. Three were released in 1985 alone, and while the back-to-back "Tiny Dynamite" and "Echoes in a Shallow Bay" EPs got the most attention, the earlier "Aikea-Guinea" EP is a hidden gem. It shows a band moving even further into ethereal bliss with softer production and a greater understanding of subtlety.

"Aikea-Guinea" opens the disc. TREASURE was a hard album to follow, and happily this song shows that the Cocteau Twins have stayed as strong. "Kookaburra", the second track, is somewhat different but equally amazing. It announces that the vocals of Elizabeth Fraser has now entered their finest period, one that would continue until 1990. The exquisite layers of vocals (one with gorgeously trilled r's) with Robin Guthrie's solid guitar and Simon Raymonde's bass combine to form a track better than most of TREASURE and one that is sadly underrated. The third song is the low point of the EP, as "Quisquose" sounds like a track that didn't make it on TREASURE and displays rawer production (it's somewhat reminiscent of "Pandora" from that album) that doesn't make it fit in very well with the other three tracks here. The closing track "Rococo" is, ironically, an instrumental. While the Twins' had one of the finest female singers in history, on this track the superb instrumentation shows that Guthrie and Raymonde were masters of their own particular fields. While the track is technically brilliant, it is all the more astounding because it sounds like a random jam. That this guitarist and bassist could create such a powerful track off the cuff makes one chide oneself for having paying so much attention to just the vocals before.

Of course, nothing's perfect, and while the music here is among the Cocteau Twins' best, 23 Envelope's artwork is among their most lackluster. The stone with the seahorse-shaped patch of lichen that adorns the cover doesn't really impress the viewer as much as Nigel Grierson's photographs on earlier Cocteau Twins EPs. Nonetheless, one can't judge an album by its artwork, and those who move past the cover to the disc will be very pleased. And while the music does great as it is, the Cocteau Twins' best-of STARS AND TOPSOIL features a remastered version of the song "Aikea-Guinea" that brings out layers of the song never before heard. That's certainly worth getting.

While some of the Cocteau Twins' finest work is on their EPs (especially 1986's "Love's Easy Tears" EP), it's probably best to start with their albums. I'd recommend HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS or TREASURE as an introduction to their work if you've never before heard this excellent group. Once you've got the albums, the EPs await, and "Aikea-Guinea" should be one of the first you get.

The greatest e.p. that I can think of, by CT or any band. A must have.

Many folks have heard the song Aikea-Guinea on the compilation album The Pink Opaque. Whether or not you like that song, the 1985 Aikea-Guinea EP is worth buying for the other 3 songs not featured on any full-length album.

Full track listing:

1. Aikea-Guinea

2. Kookaburra

3. Quisquose

4. Rococo

Kookaburra and Quisquose (and actually Aikea-Guinea as well) sound almost as if they belong on the 1986 Love's Easy Tears EP. And Rococo is a wonderful, circular romp of an instrumental. This is an EP I always recommend to new and existing Cocteau Twins fans. It's one of my personal favorites.

Heaven knows what the Future Sound of London busied themselves with in the five years between Dead Cities and Translations, but they obviously haven't lost their touch. Some will be surprised by this disc's flavor, which employs a lot of '60s and '70s-sounding guitars and sitars and definitely doesn't go for the raw industrial edge of a lot of the ISDN and Dead Cities tracks. But on the other hand, what two FSOL albums before this sounded alike anyway?
Note that I call this an album, not a single, because the tracklisting aside, that's what it is. No two of these tracks sound alike enough to be called the same song. Only "Papsico" bears any notable resemblance to the 12" Original. This is refreshing material, and far more creative than the original Papua New Guinea single from back in '92. Welcome back, FSOL! We missed you.

What people visiting this page need to understand is that Papua New Guinea in any form is but a gateway drug. No argument: it is a wonderful song that rises above much of the Dance/Trance/House/Floor pap of today, and debatably has more staying power than any other song from those heady days when Electronic began its glorious assault upon the ears of the world, fulfilling its manifest destiny.

What you must realize is that FSOL is more than Papua New Guinea; to truly understand their genius you must receive the ISDN transmission, examine Lifeforms, walk along Lifeforms:Paths 1-7, and travel unaccompanied through Dead Cities. With these albums FSOL exhibit through the newest musical medium musical genius that would make the great classical masters bow their heads. In those songs are aural landscapes of such beauty and sonic visions of such complete sublimity that other musics will be measured against them from then on, and either found lacking or at best: in complete harmony.

Start your journey in Papua New Guinea, but do not stop there.

What people visiting this page need to understand is that Papua New Guinea in any form is but a gateway drug. No argument: it is a wonderful song that rises above much of the Dance/Trance/House/Floor pap of today, and debatably has more staying power than any other song from those heady days when Electronic began its glorious assault upon the ears of the world, fulfilling its manifest destiny.

What you must realize is that FSOL is more than Papua New Guinea; to truly understand their genius you must receive the ISDN transmission, examine Lifeforms, walk along Lifeforms:Paths 1-7, and travel unaccompanied through Dead Cities. With these albums FSOL exhibit through the newest musical medium musical genius that would make the great classical masters bow their heads. In those songs are aural landscapes of such beauty and sonic visions of such complete sublimity that other musics will be measured against them from then on, and either found lacking or at best: in complete harmony.

Start your journey in Papua New Guinea, but do not stop there.

On this, Telek's second full length cd, the provactive singer with the "magic" for writing songs has produced one of the most remarkable pairings of "world" music and state of the art production made this year. Telek's voice alone mezmerizes and seduces. What moods can be found on this record. Starting off with the mysterious Midal. Continuing with the joyous chanting in Waitpela Gras and ending with the somber yet beautiful "Rirwon", Serious Tam will warm the soul. This review wouldn't be complete without mentioning the work of David Bridie. David has tried through the years to make Telek's amazing music available to the world. Now through the help of Gabriel's real world, the dream has been realized and all of us can reap the rewards. If you enjoy the more textural elements on Serious Tam, Mr. Bridie's own brillant solo album "Act of Free Choice" will also be sure to please.

When I first heard a cut from SERIOUS TAM, I told my wife that this is what the Beatles would have sounded like today had they been allowed to live and to evolve from the 1970's to the 2000's.

Curiously, the liner notes reveal that George Telek loves the music of the Beatles, and his initial stop when visiting England for the first time was at that famous Abbey Road crosshatch, where he had his photo snapped.

Each of the sixteen songs here has a hook, just as most of the Beatles' hits, and each builds a distinctive soundscape from its unique collection of instruments (including the impressive bass drumming of a pounded split log which reverbs like God's foot-taps into your living room!) and melodics, many of which involve the New Guinean snake-like weaving of a third voice among two fixed harmonies. The result is danceable, joyous, and the most compelling World Music I've heard this year.

The diversity of lyric experimentation on SERIOUS TAM makes it a CD which one can listen to again and again without getting bored, always finding a new layer while enjoying the already noticed ones.

Telek supposedly chewed betel nuts as a child, and the ensuing mystical experiences helped make him a mystical songsmith. Betel nuts or not, Telek is a superbly talented musician whose songs will bring you energy and joy. Highly recommended!

"Serious Tam" is yet another excellent offering from the Real World label. If you're looking for strictly "indigenous sound," search elsewhere. However, if you're keen on instruments and songs of the South Pacific augmented by washes of guitar and treated with studio effects, this is the album for you. George Telek effectively marries the traditional music of his native Papua New Guinea with Western pop influences. The result is surprisingly warm and earthy, and the rock trappings don't detract from the beautiful harmonies and interesting acoustic percussion that make Telek unique. This album is smartly-orchestrated global pop, in the proud tradition of albums like Geoffrey Oryema's "Beat the Border."

Beautiful, hypnotic electric guitar music from the African country of Guinea in the early '70s. This series is one of the best "world music" artifacts you'll ever come across... as the person who turned me on to them said to me, snap these puppies up while you can!

From the onset, it's important to clarify one thing: this series is the heritage of the "revolution". References to its leader and its greatness are common place through the series. As for the music , it's simply sublime, from "Waraba" by Bembeya Jazz to Demba Camara's (RIP) "Exhumation Folklorique", you are invited to take a waltz with Keletigui ( "Cocktail", "Nadia"), Balla ("Kaira" and the superb "Moi je suis decourage") and finally when the Virtuoses Diabate ( Brothers Papa & Sekou) start the guitar riffs, it's time to savour the talent on display. Excellent sound quality by the folks at Syllart, One would just hope that the authors of these timeless pieces are receiving some of their dues!