Trance Percussion Masters Of South Sudan celebrates the joy of communal music making. The beating drums and hypnotic chants summon the ancient polyrhythms of Africa’s newest nation. Surrender to Wayo’s percussive musical potion with their pulsating debut album.

For further information, please visit www.worldmusic.net/wayo


WAYO: TRANCE PERCUSSION MASTERS OF SOUTH SUDAN

Wayo’s unique debut album celebrates the joy of communal music-making. Trance Percussion Masters of South Sudan wasn’t made by a soloist, by a band, or even by an orchestra – this album was made by a village. In this village music is king and everyone is a master of their shared sound. 

That very village where Wayo was recorded nestles in the ever expanding outskirts of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. During music-making, three villagers play the kpaningbo, a large wooden xylophone. As the only melodic instrument in the ensemble, the kpaningbo is considered the beating heart of both the music, and the village. 

During performance another man sits atop the gugu, a log drum, and alters its pitch by lifting his leg up and down in time. The abss drum is constructed from re-used material, and was once a plastic water container. Other villagers circle around the ensemble, switching in and out to play the drums. Bells and other hand-drums are also passed from person to person at will. This relay race approach to percussive participation adds a tangible fluidity to every riff and figure, the mood and timbre ever changing and ever unique. 

The sound itself is a woven tapestry of polyrhythm’s, each overlapping and edging in to the other. The driving beats recall the haunting repetitions of minimalism, and the trance-inducing club beats of contemporary electronica at once. Song topics tackle real concerns and provide commentary on social divisions. ‘Now You Are Like A European’ is a particularly revealing allusion to the return home of many Sudanese people who had previously been displaced by war. The members of Wayo contextualise their worries about westernisation via the medium of music. ‘Gaka Kpakpori (Topless Skirt)’ is named after a local dance which requires participants to don a skirt before taking part. ‘The Sky Will Fall (Remix)’ is a pulsing tornado of repeating cross rhythms that strikingly recalls the catatonia of Wayo’s continental colleagues, Konono N⁰1 and Kasai Allstars. 

Trance Percussion Masters of South Sudan is a quite simply killer compendium of thumping, exhilarating beats. Let Wayo loose on your eardrums, and lose your head in the hot percussive party.

Woe Woe Wee Odo Gbere Ni Fanani (The Beautiful Girls Are Wonderful)

India's classical music is deeply bound to the country's ancient mystical traditions. This unique Rough Guide brings together the greatest names in Indian Classical music, performing some of the most beautiful ragas of India’s classical legacy. Enjoy the musical artistry of legendary performers such as Shivkumar Sharma, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain and Ravi Shankar.

For more information, visit www.worldmusic.net/indianclassical

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

India's classical music is deeply bound to the country's mystical ancient traditions. Stretching back  through time to the Vedic period musical historians encounter the Rigveda, an ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns, and the Sama Veda, a text which begins to discuss the origin of seven shruti (notes) from the sounds of nature. The practice of combining tones in certain sequences and the notation system that was developed during this era is connected to the development of the Indian classical raga form. 'Raga' literally translates as a 'hue' of colour and is a musical method of constructing melody through prescribed conventions. Ragas are linked to different moods and times of the day. Amjad Ali Khan's ‘Raga Chhaya Nat’ is in the Hindustani (North Indian) chhayanat mode and illuminates his crystalline prowess on the sarod, a stringed lute that is played with a plectrum. Uppalapu Srinivas' song 'Sankari Sankuru' is played on his mandolin in saveri raga, which is said to bring about the mood of pity and was originally composed by one of Carnatic (South Indian) music’s greatest figures Syama Sastri (1762-1827). 

Indian Classical Legends Shivkumar Sharma, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra are heard delicately delivering a Hindustani bhairav raga on ‘Ahir Bhairav’. This raga is related to Sikh tradition from northern India and appears in the Guru Granth Sahib (the central religious text of Sikhism). Ravi Shankar’s radiant sitar shines bright on the fast-paced track ‘Devgiri Bilawal Dhun’. Shankar’s name and ascendant international career is now synonymous with Indian classical music. Widely regarded as a musical sage or pandit, his definition of raga touched upon its vast and complex nature, describing it as a ‘scientific, precise, subtle and aesthetic melodic form’. Another sitar scholar, Vilayat Khan is heard on ‘Dhun Punjabi Ang’. The Khan musical lineage traces all the way back to the court musicians of the Mughal Empire.

Father and son duo Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain enter into percussive playoff on the live track ‘Ek Taal’. Tabla virtuouso Zakir Hussain remains grounded by the musical discipline and natural flair he inherited from his father who he regarded as ‘a spirit who was created to work for music by God’. Carnatic vocalist Dr M. Balamuralikrishna’s marvellously melodic instrument sparkles on ‘Sadhathava Pada’. His formidable range and versatile tone mark him out as a legendary singer. He is also credited with popularising the jugulbandi concept in Indian classical music – when two soloists of equal skill perform together. Riverboat Records artist Jyotsna Srikanth contributes ‘Annapoorne’, a work crafted by the famous Carnatic composer, Muttuswami Dikshitar. The subject matter concerns Annapoorne, the Hindu goddess of nourishment. The raga used is sama, one that denotes peace.

Uncover the mystery and beauty of India’s verdant classical tradition on this excellent introduction to one of the world’s most valuable musical repertoires. 

Jyotsna Srikanth: Annapoorne (taken from The Rough Guide To Indian Classical Music)

The music of Latin America combines Spanish guitars, African percussion, and indigenous flutes to create some of the most vibrant music on the planet. The children’s songs on this Rough Guide take the lively Latin styles and add stories of ancient kingdoms, mythical journeys, natural wonders, and of course a host of wild animals.

For more information, visit www.worldmusic.net/latinchildren

Vieja Trova Santiaguera: El Tren (taken from The Rough Guide To Latin Music For Children)

Fast and furious, fingers flying with a fiery panache, Söndörgő are one of the most exciting bands in Europe. With their signature instrument, the tambura, the band brilliantly combines respect for tradition with a desire to innovate and a fizzing virtuosity. 

For further information, visit www.worldmusic.net/sondorgo

Listening to the band play, you soon hear it’s nothing like traditional violin-led Hungarian music. Söndörgő’s sound is light, springy and delicately plucked. Their signature instrument is the tambura, a mandolin-like instrument, probably of Turkish origin, used by the South Slav (Serbian and Croatian) communities in Hungary.  

The band is made up of three brothers, Áron, Benjamin and Salamon Eredics, plus cousin Dávid Eredics and Attila Buzás, the only non-family member, on bass tambura. Áron Eredics is also part of the band Vujicsics, winners of Hungary’s most prestigious state-sponsored cultural award, the Kossuth Prize, in 2014.
Tamburocket is Söndörgő’s second international release and features revived tunes drawn from the rich Hungarian archives and annals of the countries esteemed song-collectors and musicologists of yore. 

Tracks featured here that were first collected by national hero Béla Bartók include the dance tune ‘Drago Kolo’, played as a duet by Áron and Salamon; ‘Srpski Madjarik’, arranged for the basszprímtambura (alto tambura) and cello tambura and ‘Majka Kceru’, a rather sedate wedding song in its original version but reworked by Söndörgő in a more ferocious rhythm. 

The two melodies from ethnographer Tihamér Vujicsics were both collected by the Drava river, a tributary of the Danube, which marks much of the border between Hungary and Croatia. The opening ‘Jozo’ is a nonsensical love song, with the original Croatian bagpipe part transferred onto the samica, a small, home-made tambura. The closing ‘Kolovoda’ is a dance song for a kolo ring dance, the most popular folkdance of the South Slavs. 
‘Marice’ is a popular Croatian song named after a girl that all the guys lust after, but can’t get. ‘Evo Srcu’ features two slower Serbian melodies from Vojvodina, the northern region of Serbia. ‘Hulusination’ is based on a Macedonian čoček dance tune, but Söndörgő have brought in a sort of Chinese snake-charmer’s pipe called the hulusi (hence the punning title), plus other wind and percussion to create a powerful trance-like track.  

What Söndörgő combine brilliantly is a respect for the traditions, a desire to innovate and a fizzing unstoppable virtuosity. 


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Söndörgő: Jozo (taken from the album Tamburocket Hungarian Fireworks)

Palestine is a beautiful ancient land of faith where conflict appears to overshadow its creative voices. This unique Rough Guide explores the diverse and wonderful array of music that springs out of adversity and expresses the deep roots of Palestinian identity.

For more information, visit: www.worldmusic.net/palestine

This essential compilation includes voices of Palestinians who live in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel, and in the diaspora: music is one of the ways in which Palestinians communicate their identity no matter where they are. 

Toot Ard are a roots reggae band from the Golan Heights. Their lyrics deal with universal themes: ‘about going back to nature, on the disappearance of national borders and about the idea of freedom’. Jowan Safadi is an avant-garde rocker from Nazareth who makes ‘Hafla (Party) Rock’ but here jams on an African blues feel. Khalas are a full-fat heavy metal band and ramp it up on ‘Badek Zafi’ with thrashing guitars and a sufi-inspired ney. 

Amal Murkus’ distinctive hazy vocal and passionate style is inspired by the folk music of her beloved homeland and by the great classical divas of Arabic music. Amal features again on atmospheric track ‘If I Could Go Back In Time’ with the most highly-profiled Palestinian hip-hop collective DAM. Sanaa Moussa’s ‘Wea’younha’ is inspired by Palestinian songs that date all the way back to the Ottoman period. Haya Zaatry works on a more acoustic flex on the gentle guitar-led ‘Manakir’. 

Oud maestro Hosam Hayek is heard on ‘Give Me The Flute’ taken from his album Stranger In My Homeland. Awan Group features an oud alongside violin and percussion on ‘Nahawand’. Le Trio Jourban also underline the importance of the oud in Palestinian music on the driving track ‘Nawwâr’. 

Shadi Zaqtan’s thoughtful contribution ‘Fi Ballad’ angles towards a more pop feel. Swinging ‘Ya Ktabna’ is contributed by Momken Band. Futuristic sharp-edged track ‘Tojann’ is by jazz guitarist and composer Michel Sajrawy from Nazareth and is his interpretation of a style he coins ‘Arab-bop’. 

Palestine is a land with a uniquely scarred history and its creative voices are often overlooked in the reportage of its crises. This Rough Guide celebrates the passion and diversity of today’s thriving music scene. 

Amal Murkus: Doq (taken from The Rough Guide To Palestine)

Almost as big as the USA, the vast Sahara spans Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.  Despite being the hottest desert on earth, it is home to millions of people whose diverse cultures and traditions create a vivid cultural landscape.  This Rough Guide features the region’s best-loved artists as well as exploring beyond the arid sandscapes to reveal hidden Saharan sounds. 

For more information, visit www.worldmusic.net/sahara

The Sahara spans a humungous 3,600,000 square miles across North Africa, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Its photogenic undulating sandscapes have seduced travellers, artists and storytellers for centuries. 
Since the ancient empires of Nubia, the Great Desert has been inhabited consistently: Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, Berbers, Ottoman Turks and European colonialists are among the tribes that have lived in its realms. Among the Sahara’s present-day inhabitants are nomad Fulani, Tubu and Tuareg peoples who recall stories of ancient battles forcing their ancestors to seek refuge deep in the desert where they carved out a way of life, constantly moving onwards, respecting the moods and winds of the desert herself. Religion is largely Islamic in the region with cultural remnants of Christian, Pagan and Jewish traditions audible in local dialects and traditions. 
Today religious and traditional factions across the Sahara jostle against each other making for a vivid political landscape, not without conflict. Of course political passions inform musical expressions, many of which are portentously highlighted on this insightful album. Etran Finawata from Niger strive to promote unity - their band members are from both the Wodaabe and Touareg ethnicities which have historically been rivals. Mariem Hassan is a Saharawi singer whose music pays tribute to old poems written by Ali Bachir and Lamin Allal, artists from her oppressed nation who were forced to live in exile. The title of her 2012 album El Aaiún Egdat (El Aaiún on Fire) casts a striking comment on the largest city in the Western Sahara, which is under Moroccan occupation. Toureg de Fewet are from Libya and are inspired by their homeland’s traditional song  repertoire.
Other artists bend expectations, re-working familiar pop genres into new, surprising formations. Anansy Cissé sucks up all the brilliant things about well-trodden West African ‘Desert Blues’ trope and spits them out with a new agitated attitude. Moudou Ould Mattala hails from Mauritania, his guitar style has Pink Floyd-ian inspirations. AGS & EJ represent the North-Eastern reaches of the Sahara on track ‘Ya Salam’. Salamat, headed up by Percussion Mahmoud Fadl, explore Nubian elements of Egyptian music, as does Ali Hassan Kuban. Malian rising star Djama Djigui speaks a new language with his tamani (talking drum).

Mariem Hassan: Legneiba (taken from The Rough Guide To The Sahara)

WMN is one of the leading forces on the world music scene & consists of 4 labels – Music Rough Guides, Think Global, Riverboat Records & Introducing.

Woe Woe Wee Odo Gbere Ni Fanani (The Beautiful Girls Are Wonderful)

World Music Network

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