The Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern dance rhythms (trip-hop, techno, etc.) with traditional Irish (Celtic) and West African music. It was formed by Grammy-nominated producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and is considered to be somewhat of a world music supergroup, often having a wide range of guest artists on their albums.
Their albums have been released through Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, and they are also reportedly the best-selling band on the label, only exceeded in sales by Gabriel himself, and their striking live performances have often become the highlights of the WOMAD concert festivals. They signed a contract with Real World obliged to release five albums, of which the 2005 release Anatomic is the last; at this writing it is unclear what path the band will take in the future.
In 2003 they changed their name to the simpler Afrocelts; however, two of their latest albums, Pod, a compilation of new mixes of songs from the first four albums, and their fifth studio album Anatomic uses the long and familiar form. This decision is apparently affected by the fact that they seem much more well-known as Afro Celt Sound System around the world.
AFRO CELT SOUND SISTEM Vol.1 - MAGIC
Bodhran and kora? Talking drums and Uilleann pipes? Echoing ancient trade roots from a thousand years ago, Sound Magic reunites two seemingly disparate music traditions in a contemporary setting, reaching for a dance-oriented but spiritual hybrid that takes on a life of its own. Producer Simon Emmerson assembles some noteworthy artists including Ayub Ogada, Davy Spillane, Manu Katche, Caroline Lavelle, James McNally (of the Pogues), Iarla O Lionaird, and Masamba Diop to create evocative, clubby grooves that also incorporate samples and flavors from Armenia and the East. With its multilayered rich textures, Sound Magic grafts cultural respect and urban hipness for the global village of the '90s.
1.Saor/Free/News from Nowhere (Album) 8:21
2. Whirl-Y-Reel 1 7:21
3. Inion/Daughter (Album) 4:15
4. Sure-As-Not/Sure-As-Knot (Album) 9:58
5. Nil Cead Againn Dul Abhaile/We Cannot Go... (Album) 7:20
6. Dark Moon, High Tide (Album) 4:12
7. Whirl-Y-Reel 2 (Album) 5:28
8. House Of The Ancestors (Album) 8:01
9. Eistigh Liomsa Sealad/Listen To Me/Saor Reprise (Album)
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AFRO CELT SOUND SISTEM Vol.2 - RELEASE
Lots of traditional-music recordings thrive when they're at their purest, stripping away influence to revel in a core sound. The exact opposite is the case with the Afro Celt Sound System's sophomore effort, Release, which hits its highest plateaus when it's juiciest and pulpiest, throwing everything into the mix. Hailed for their cross-cultural toss-together of traditional West African and Celtic musics on an electronic backbone, the Afro Celts indulge their digital-age ability to throw African drum patterns behind Uilleann pipes and Irish tin whistle all with a club-ready pulse. Their debut and various appearances at World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD) festivals cemented their success at this mixological approach, and Release makes the clarity of the group's vision all the more astonishing. Perhaps it's what Irish violinist Martin Hayes has called the "lonesome touch," but the Celtic contribution often squares up as a yearning cry, contrasting vividly with the techno beats and West African drumming.
1. Release
2. Lovers of Light
3. �ireann
4. Urban Aire
5. Big Cat
6. Even in My Dreams
7. Amber
8. Hypnotica
9. Riding the Waves
10. I Think of...
11. Release It
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AFRO CELT SOUND SISTEM Vol.3 - FURTHER IN TIME
While not as out-of-left-field revelatory and astonishing as their exalted debut, nor as darkly magnetic as their sophomore follow-up, Volume 3: Further in Time finds Afro Celt Sound System fleshed out, funky, and fiercely fresh. Now a band of 20-some-odd players, the Afro Celts push forward with unbounded energy and focus, organically driven beats, and a thoroughly joyous fusion of West African and Irish traditional music enhanced with dissonant Eastern influence, psychedelic trip-hop groove, and a monster flood of sonic waves. The resultant sound is somehow both cutting-edge futuristic and primitive in its visceral virility. Demba Barry steps up with an unexpectedly punchy African hip-hop-styled vocal on "Shadowman," "Lagan" plays out into an orchestral swan dive, and, throughout, Johnny Kalsi and Moussa Sissokho come on like gangbusters with the drums. Real World label honcho and world-music champion Peter Gabriel does a stunning turn on the eminently catchy "When You're Falling," and Robert Plant contributes a powerfully epic rock vocal on "Life Begins Again." Fine as all these moments are, the centerpiece of volume 3, where the band achieves beyond perfect synthesis, is the ecstatic groove-lock on the African acid ceilidh of "Colossus." Volume 3 is the tune-in turn-on we've been waiting for.
1. "North" - Part 1
2. "North" - Part 2
3. "When You're Falling" (featuring Peter Gabriel)
4. "Colossus"
5. "Lagan"
6. "Shadow Man"
7. "Life Begin Again" (featuring Robert Plant)
8. "Further in Time"
9. "Go on Through" (featuring Pina Kollars)
10. "Persistence of Memory"
11. "Silken Whip"
12. "Onwards"
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