Afro Celt Sound System Volume 1 Sound Magic CD

Personnel includes: Ayub Ogada (vocals, nyatiti); Zil (vocals); Simon Emmerson (guitar, programming); Caroline Lavelle (cello); Myrdhin (Celtic harp); Kauwding Cissokho (kora); Davy Spillane (whistle, Uilleann pipes); James McNally (whistle, accordion, bodhran); Massamba Diop (talking drum); Manu Katche (cymbals).
Recorded from 1995-96.
Afro Celt Sound System: Iarla O Lionáird, Ayub Ogada, Zil (vocals); Simon Emmerson (guitar, drum, programming, keyboard programming); Malcolm Crosbie (guitar); James MacKintosh (banjo, bongos); Mydhin (celtic harp); Kauwding Cissokho (kora); Ronan Browne (mandolin, alto flute, wooden flute, Uilleann pipe, harmonium); Iain Macleod-Jones (mandolin); Angus R. Grant (fiddle); Jocelyn Pook (viola); Caroline LaVelle (cello); Davy Spillane (whistle, Uilleann pipe); James McNally (whistle, accordion, bodhran); Jo Bruce (keyboards, bass instrument, drum, keyboard programming); John Fortis (keyboards, electric bass, loops); Martin Russell (keyboards, programming); Massamba Diop (talking drum); Manu Katche (cymbals); Lévon Minassian, Simon Edwards.
You may never have thought of Celtic and African rhythms as complementing one another, but this very interesting effort takes both idioms into new territory with some engaging results. The outcome is a sort of hip-hop jig and reel, like the Chieftains meet the Chemical Brothers. Masamba Diop's masterful talking drum creates an exotic pulse under Myrdhin's fine Celtic harp, and it sounds like a party at some global crossroads. Indeed, the most fascinating aspect of Afro Celt Sound System's Volume 1: Sound Magic is the very real sense that a common language can be found between any cultures, no matter how divergent they may seem. This effort is worth a listen just for its audacity alone. ~ Tim Sheridan
There may have been a time when the juxtaposition of Uilleann pipes and African drums would have seemed contrived or even cacophonous. However on this release the Afro Celt Sound System makes it seem as if it were inevitable.
With song titles such as "Inion," "Nil Cead Againn Dul," and ""Eistigh Liomsa Sealad," SOUND MAGIC, the band's debut album, arguably leans closer to its Celtic roots. However, a steady dance beat, electronic loops, and the presence of such performers as Kauwding Cissokho and Masamba Diop, both from Baaba Maal's band, mean that this is world music in the truest sense.Q (9/96, p.107) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...mixes kora music, Celtic pipes and harp, African talking drum and clattering dance beats to produce the kind of album that gives collaboration a good name. The range of sound is broad and kaleidoscopic..."