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Om · 01-19-09, 02:02 AM

Afro Celt Sound System
Official Site

If you're into world music, you're going to love the Afro Celt Sound System (a/k/a Afrocelts). And if you're not, there's a very good chance you're going to love them anyway.

Quote:

When the Afro Celts, originally known as the Afro Celt Sound System, emerged in the mid-1990s with a ground-breaking blend of traditional Irish and West African music with modern dance beats, listeners witnessed the birth of a new sound ...

The inspiration behind the Afro Celts dates back to 1991, when Simon Emmerson, a Grammy-nominated British producer who would become the group's guitarist, collaborated with Afro-pop star Baaba Maal. While making an album with Maal in Senegal, Emmerson was struck by the similarity between one African melody and a traditional Irish air ...

In an experiment that would prove successful, Emmerson brought members of Baaba Maal's band together with traditional Irish musicians to see what kind of music the two groups would create. Adding a dash of modern sound, Emmerson also brought in English dance mixers for an electronic beat. "People thought I was mad when I touted the idea," Emmerson told Jim Carroll of the Irish Times. "At the time, I was out of favour with the London club scene. I was broke and on income support. [But] the success was extraordinary."

(Full biography HERE)

Here is a small selection of house favorites, selected to give you a flavor.

Enjoy ... and sit still if you can.

*

Release (w/ Sinead O'Conner)

Eireann

When You're Falling (w/ Peter Gabriel)

Further In Time

Whirl-y-Reel 1

Rise Above It

*

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Neophyte · 02-02-09, 06:44 PM

This is a little addictive. I have only listened to the first one but already reached over and turned the volume up twice. The bass underneath is great and drums laid down on top.... Wow. Great find, Om.

Checking out the tune with Gabriel next.

servumtuum · 02-02-09, 11:35 PM

Finally got around to checking this out. Great, Om, like I don't have enough combinations to keep my busy with Pandora-sheesh! Very good stuff tho'...thanks.

Om · 02-03-09, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neophyte

This is a little addictive. I have only listened to the first one but already reached over and turned the volume up twice. The bass underneath is great and drums laid down on top.... Wow. Great find, Om.

Checking out the tune with Gabriel next.

Yah, Release is a keeper. And talk about a band that "gets it" ... they have an instumental version of it too. Another favorite of mine is Further In Time, which is pure gold for pulling getting you back on your feet when you're fading.

Of note, each of the selections posted in the thread are from "older" Afrocelts. The newer stuff, on Seed and Anatomic, is more subtle, a little less programmed, and at least for my money, shows a growing maturity that promises this might be a group headed someplace special.

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