Throughout the past couple of years the mainstream record industry showed much interest yet much resistance to
take a leap of faith and "gamble" on Isabelle and our music.
We always felt strongly that it needed to be out there, available to the public, so this led us to take it out on our own. The CD is a bit shorter than we had conceived originally (8 tracks: 6 main titles and intro & outro). Some of the songs containing samples could not be "cleared", but we hope to be able to feature them in a future project or extended version of this album.
"Sanctity" is a deeply sensuous, erotic and highly emotionally charged album. Ambient grooves from acoustic and electronic sounds interweave with beats to induce a grounded meditative state.
What characterizes the tracks on this CD is the prominence of spoken, chanted poetry adding yet another dimension to the urban beats. There is some use of ancient music. The song "Sanctity of Sex" uses parts of a chant from the 12th century German Abbess Hildegard Von Bingen (one of Isabelle¹s strongest musical influences). Two other titles on the album use old French troubadour songs, whose contents are particularly meaningful in relationship to Isabelle¹s poetry.
Isabelle likes to call her songs "her babies", "her children" for she sees them as living entities of their own. Her work with music, she says, "is really alchemical because it is about transformation, about the condensation of unseen energies into perceivable sounds and about the distillation of sound, the grasping of its essence to communicate with the unseen".
This music is multidimensional, it will move you through time-space and lead you on a journey of sexual and musical
healing.
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Sanctity
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Atlantic Records announces the release of Mánnu from Finnish folk group Angelit formerly The Girls of Angeli, on Finlandia Innovator. Mánnu (The Moon) features the group performing traditional folk music from their Sámi culture with added modern pop elements from computer music guru Kimmo Kajasto.
Angelit, come from the village of Angeli, one of the few purely Sámi villages in Northern Finland. Speaking in the Sámi tongue, the village of Angeli relies mainly on reindeer husbandry. The nearest shop is 70 km away. The music of the Angeli is the joik, the traditional Sámi song form and is the heart of Angelit's sound and spirit.
Ursula and Tuuni Lansman, the pair who founded Angelit, are bringing fresh approaches to the joik. With their newest release Mánnu they have collaborated with computer wizard Kimmo Kajasto to add even more electronic programming, drums and loops to their beat- oriented folk music. This performance by Angelit is joyous and irresistible - yet the joiks still have their traditional rough edges and a wealth of emotion. Adding modern elements to an ancient tradition has brought their music closer to exotic alternative music and compared with renowned pioneers of ambient joik such as Wimme and Ulla Pirttijärvi.
Angelit has traveled to summer festivals, folk music festivals, rock festivals, and clubs all
over Finland, with Performances in Italy, Belgium, Norway, France, Japan and Germany.
On Mánnu, they continue their exploration and challenge of musical boundaries, drawing
inspiration from the great tradition of "the European Indians" and invigorating its history.
Atlgelit may travel the world, but they never forget their home - and they have a sound
unlike any other.
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Oumou Sangare is not only Mali's greatest vocalist, but at just twenty-eight years of age, she has become
West Africa's leading feminist.
For years I have adored her albums, which combine contemporary lyrics -
pleas for human rights, economic equality, and an end to discrimination and violence against women - with the traditional rhythms of the
Wassoulou region of Mali. A year ago, on Sangare's last North American tour, I took a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Toronto to see
her in concert at the Wintergarden Theater.
The Wintergarden, about the same size as Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater, is one of Toronto's most elegant concert halls. Sangare's band
took the stage first, led by Kasim Sidibe, a young kamelngoni player. The kamelngoni is a six-stringed instrument with a gourd resonator,
which produces a bass-like sound that sets the tone for Wassoulou music. The lineup also featured a djembe drum, saxophone, violin, and
guitar. A minute later, Sangare and her two female backup vocalists entered, with a beautiful series of call-and-response vocals, at the same
time tossing back and forth a set of large calebasses (basket-shaped gourds with shells attached). Toss, catch: tsss, tcht-tcht, tsss, tcht-tcht,
in perfect unison. Hearing this sound on her records, I had assumed it was made by small shakers. The reality was much more inspiring, a
beautiful and dramatic musical image.
Sangare's lyrics are all in Bambara, a prominent language in Mali. Between songs, she spoke in French to the audience, carefully explaining the songs against arranged marriages and polygamy. Her words were echoed by whispering, as those in the audience who understood French translated for those next to them. Over the course of the next ninety minutes, there were songs about womanizers, dowries, the importance of education, and the spirituality of love. The messages were uplifting, never patronizing.
Sangare is known as Mali's greatest songbird, as she has the rare ability to inspire both through her music and her words. Back in Mali, she is transforming the region, regularly broaching topics that a decade ago were considered completely taboo.
Toward the end of the evening, Sangare and her backup singers brought out another set of traditional Malian shakers. Imagine an instrument
the shape of a baseball bat with hundreds of small shells attached. It was another truly dramatic moment as the three women sang and shook
the instruments in unison, simulating a game played by young girls in West African villages.
Oumou Sangare makes her Michigan debut at the Ark on Tuesday, November 11.
-Dan Rosenberg
"...At different moments her songs can suggest a proud crusade or a luscious
dream, always colored with her swirling voice and flashes of dark, fatalist philosophy....At 28,
Sangare has become such a masterful phrase-shaper that her voice alone grips attention
throughout WOROTAN..."
Spin 2/97, pp.88-90
"No praise is too huge for Mali's Sangare: she's not just a superstar, she's a national
treasure....She's got one of the world's greatest voices....She's not afraid to speak her mind,
and she's not afraid of updating the tradition..."
Option 11-12/97, p.114-115
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Ko Sira(1993)
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This album, originally recorded in Africa in 1989, will no doubt inspire rabid fans to
swoon under the impact of Sangare's haunting, moving vocals. This album is a real
delight for fans of African music, featuring her impassioned, golden-toned voice
backed by a small combo instead of the big brassy overproduced sounds of the Parisian studios.
--CMJ New Music Report
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