Afro Celt Sound System Seed CD

Additional personnel includes: Jesse Cook (guitar); Martin Hayes (fiddle); Jah Wobble (bass); Hossam Ramzy (tabla, shaker).

On its original 2003 issue, SEED was credited to the AfroCelts rather than the group's original moniker of Afro Celt Sound System. This 2008 reissue restores the band's original and better known name, but is otherwise largely identical to the original release. A wide-ranging mixture of world music, pop, electronica, and experimental rock, SEED is a fine follow-up to Afro Celt Sound System's justly lauded earlier releases.

Previously known as the Afro Celt Sound System, the band has shortened its name to Afro Celts and has become a more mature incarnation of its former self. As the name implies, the group offers up an unlikely pairing of West African and Celtic music, with the diverse ensemble managing to make this merger seem completely natural. Boasting world class musicians who hail mostly from Africa and the UK and have performed with the likes of Van Morrison and Peter Gabriel, the band uses a startling array of instruments and guest musicians in rich, orchestral fashion. The title track features African chanting and slide guitar, while on "Deep Channel," fiddle, guitars, and mandolin pluck away to brisk techno beats, as the Javanese flute soars mightily above. "Ayub's Song" and "As You Were" feature fiddles, Uilleann pipes, nyatiti (an African harp), double bass, and brush darbouka (a Turkish drum). It may seem like an almost overwhelming blend of sonic elements, but the artistry and the spirit of the Afro Celts' sound is undeniably wonderful.

Afro Celts: N'Faly Kouyate (vocals, kora, balafon, drums); Iarla O' Lionaird (vocals); Simon Emmerson (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, stapletone, keyboards, programming); James McNally (guitar, wooden flute, whistle, piano, keyboards, bodhran, programming); Myrdhin (harp); Emer Mayrock (Uillean pipes); Mass (keyboards, shaker, programming); Martin Russell (keyboards, programming); Johnny Kalsi (drums, tabla, percussion); Moussa Sissokho (djembe, talking drum).

Producers include: Simon Emmerson, James McNally, Martin Russell, Mass, Iarla O'Lionaird.

Afro Celt Sound System: N'Faly Kouyate (vocals, kora, balafon, drum); Iarla O Lionáird (vocals); Simon Emmerson (guitar, guitars, slide guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards, programming); James McNally (guitar, bamboo flute, whistle, piano, keyboards, bodhran, programming); Myrdhin (harp); Emer Mayock (Uilleann pipe); Mass (keyboards, shaker, programming, drum programming); Martin Russell (keyboards, programming); Johnny Kalsi (drum, tabla, percussion); Moussa Sissikho (talking drum, djembe, percussion).

Personnel: Mundy, Nina Miranda, The Screaming Orphans, Valerie Etienne, Sharlene Hector, Michelle John Douglas (vocals); Jesse Cook (guitar, flamenco guitar); Katherine Watmough, Natalia Bonner (violin); Eileen Ivers, Martin Hayes (fiddle); Lucy Theo (viola); Rosie Wetters (cello); Pete Locketet (piccolo, drum, bongos, darabukka); Hilaire Penda, Jah Wobble, Paul Turner, Laurence Cottle (bass instrument); Ali Friend (double bass); Hossam Ramzy (shaker, tabla); Ron Aslan (programming).

Programmer: Mass .CMJ (03/31/03, p.8) - "...Combining the traditional music of both Western Africa and Ireland, while giving them a 21st Century spin, the group reveals that, in the end, we aren't that different after all..."
Mojo (Publisher) (5/03, p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This fourth outing opts for a knees-up, yet still sees the band finding new avenues of Afro-Celticism: the flamenco-driven opener Cyberia being the strongest case in point..."