Must admit I'm still loving the Afro Celts representing a real renaissance for music I've had available for some years but have rarely played. If you had told me at the start that they would be my most played band eight weeks into my musical journal I would have been very surprised.
The new album The Source is superb revealing several new epics not fully appreciated on first play. I've had it on in the car at high volume and the level of production is astounding with the multiple instrumentation crystal clear. In particular the track Child of Wonder is pretty much unlike anything I've ever heard before with spoken Scottish dialogue breaking into hypnotic African chant. Unique and invigorating. I was surprised to hear this new album is only their sixth proper album barring a few compilations and remixes. I have also learned that due to a dispute with some ex band members The Source was recorded under controversial circumstances including the usual claims and counter claims to the band name. This may also explain why the majority of their recent live performances have been constructed almost exclusively from this album. Check the setlists of your favourite bands at the excellent www.setlists.fm Suffice to say none of this dispute behind the scenes was evident at the joyous gig recently attended and reported upon in log #7. I've just ordered the much revered Volume 1 which will mean I'll only be short of Volume 2 for a full magazine house! The track Mojave continues to inspire from Volume 5. The rival faction of ACSS are also recording a new album apparently so it will be interesting to await developments.
At the opposite end of the scale for some reason I decided to give an old Motorhead album a spin. When I was a teenager Ace of Spades was the go to album from this particular power trio but I always preferred Overkill with my favourite track No Class. It's a track where their basic riffing and aggressive lyrics really hit the spot, but other than that and a few others the album is a bit samey and the clarity very muddy - really opposite to the Afro Celts.
1. Foals - What Went Down
2. The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules
3. Motorhead - Overkill
4. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - The Last Prophet
5. ACSS - Volume 5
6. ACSS - The Source
The Foals are one of the most impressive modern rock bands operating today. They have a unique rock sound with interesting percussion and rhythms and a good clear singer (the most important part of a rock band I'd say). This is their fourth and latest album. I don't have their debut but the other three including this one are consistently strong. I don't know the tracks well enough just yet to be able to individually identify them outside of the album context - except Spanish Sahara from the 2nd album.
A reentry for the superb Whitest Boy album. One to play loud and dance around the kitchen to with its infectious bass lines. I'll be getting their only other album soon but it's strangely seems to be quite hard to get hold of at a regular CD price for some reason.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's album was one of the earliest and most famous Realworld issues back in the day when "world music" was just beginning to gain prominence in the "west". There are only four tracks of a circular hypnotic and energetic groove. Hailing from Pakistan, Khan (1948 - 1997) was a proponent of Qawwali - the devotional music of Sufism.