Ifriqiyya Electrique – Rûwâhîne
(Glitterbeat Records)
LP / CD / DL
26 May 2017
10 / 10
One of the first ‘rules’ I was told to observe about reviewing music
was never to write in the first person.
I’ve broken that rule once, a review of an album by The Fall which was
the first time I’d listened to one of their long-players, and I’m breaking it
again. I’m breaking it because this
album has been an eye-opener, a journey into a sound that I’ve never heard
before and even now, after many (and I mean many) listens, it is one of the
most incredible albums I’ve listened to in recent years.
There have been few that have made the immediate impact that Rûwâhîne has made – Torment & Toreros (Marc And
The Mambas), Furious Angels (Rob Dougan) and more recently, Tracks Of Wire(deux furieuses) – hitting me like a ballistic missile between my bulging
eyes. It is described as music of adorcism
– the method of placating and accommodating evil spirits in possessed beings rather
than exorcism - and it’s easy to see why.
Rûwâhîne is a curious but incredible mix of desert
rock, of multiple percussion, of chanting, hip-hop and hints of Nine Inch
Nails. Intrigued? You should be, and enough to track this
album down and play it. Admittedly, it
may not appeal to the soft pop fans and the ones who want to experience
something safe, but to those of you who want something to shake the bones and
kick you in the proverbial bollocks then this is the one.
Growing up I ‘ve always loved the Burundi beat,
first of all with Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band, then Adam And The Ants and
whoever have insisted that one percussionist just isn’t enough, and with Ifriqiyya
Electrique it clearly isn’t. At times,
their sound is like the soundtrack from hell as guitar, bass and electronics
combine and break all the rules. This is
music that has been known to possess, making people leap uncontrollably into
the air transfixed and dancing like their body has lost complete control.
When all seems to settling into place, a hip-hop ‘record scratch’
appears in the background, piano chords bounce unsettlingly and bass guitar
thud with those incredible voices.
Listen to Annabi Mohammad- Laa La Illa Allah – Deg El Bendir and tell me
you aren’t affected in some way. Raw,
gnarling guitars from the school of Trent Reznor screech and leave indelible
marks.
Rûwâhîne is no ordinary album. In fact, the word ‘extraordinary’ doesn’t
even do it justice. Rûwâhîne is one of
the most amazing pieces of work you will ever witness, maybe never heard before
and never to be heard again. An album
catching a feeling, an emotion, a moment in a lifetime. Improvisation between tradition and
technology. Quite literally blood, sweat
and tears.
Fantastic.
Published on Louder Than War 17/05/17 - here
No comments:
Post a Comment