Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

Appreciation for music is so dependent on mood and in 20 Ways To Float Through Walls the spectrum of sounds to score emotive states is as diverse as the ethnicities of the artists. The album opens with a lovely ambient ballad in Apollo Nove’s ‘Traz Um Alivio’ followed by mesmeric Tuareg drum beats and chants in Tartit’s ‘Tabey Tarate’, contrasting styles with another Tuareg band, Tinariwen. Wise in Time ‘Nine’ moves like a pleasing dream as the compilation first enters Europe, though with plenty more globetrotting trips.

Balkan Gypsy music is shown through Taraf de Haïdouks, who feature twice and offer a taste of the Romanian countryside, including through a mellowing Tunng remix taken from Electric Gypsyland 2. A brass slant is offered by the Koçani Orkestar, while chanting, brass and strings are further combined in a Gypsy style for Mahala Raï Banda’s ‘Morceau d’amour/Spoitoresa’ which abruptly changes direction in this Russ Jones and Roc Hunter remix. Zuco 103 sound as if Mulatu Astake was recording with Manu Chau.

“This is not a ‘world music’ album, it’s an album of open-minded music, made by people who happen to come from 15 different countries & sing in 10 different languages” Marc Hollander

The diversity of Brazilian music is shown in ranging from dancefloor sounds by DJ Dolores merging funk Carioca with drum and bass through to the soulful melancholy of Cibelle or the charming acoustic style of Celso Fonseca. Well known Brazilian soulstress Bebel Gilberto also features with the DJ Spinna of ‘Céu Distante’. A glimpse of how Elliot Smith may have sounded if he was French arrives in Hugo’s ‘La Collection’, we then briefly cross the Pacific. Residing in New York, Iranian artist Sussan Deyhim’s poetry is arranged by Bill Laswell, the legendary bass player on Herbie Hancock’s Futureshock, and the American journey continues in Tuxedomoon’s haunting ‘A Home Away’ echoing the 80s new wave scene.

Congolese polyrhythms invigorate and encourage movement with the Kasai Allstars and the distinct sounds of Konono No.1, an act I adore. Snooze explores assorted sonics with a kicking beat before an amazing short burst of big band jazz emerges in Flat Earth Society’s ‘Psychoscout’. Peter Vermeersch gives a majestic clarinet solo and leads the players wonderfully, continuing in the Belgium big band traditions of Francy Boland or HaFaBra. I have not heard their album of the same title and must amend this.

20 Ways… is out now and a fantastic demonstration of the breadth of music available through Crammed Discs. With mobile recording studios and wonderful principles they are breaking ground, releasing amazing music and challenging the feeble term ‘World Music’.

Links:
Crammed Discs, with further info on all the artists
Bill Laswell
HaFaBra — HArmonie, FAnfare, BRAss band music