Zipping my Afrocelt anorak up to the neck and putting up the hood, I'd like to point out that Simon & Mass are part of the band, but not the whole.

HMV have got their research wrong too, the Afrocelts have never won a Grammy (though IMO they should have). Simon was a nominee for his work as a producer with Baaba Maal on 'Firin in Fouta' (sp?) but they didn't win. This album was the seed of the Afrocelt idea, shortly after Simon was working with Davey Spillane and with some input from the agitprop artist Jamie Reid and the folks he'd met on his travels with Baaba Maal, the idea of the Afro Celt Sound System was born.

One member of the band who DID play on the new SOH album but never seems to be mentioned, is Johnny Kalsi, also of the Dhol FOundation. He plays the tablas on 'If I Needed Someone' and is certainly a major contributer to Mass' huge collection of drum samples, with Dhol, tabla and his famous Kalsi Kit (a kind of Heath Robinson affair of allsorts of percussion on scaffolding).

As for the song 'Roots' I'm afraid I don't like it at all, it seems needlessly jingoistic (is that a word?) to me and the chorus doesn't seem to go with the verses. The Union flag (not jack btw) is the national flag of the UK of GB not England. And I like 'Duelling Banjoes' anyway, so there.

But I haven't just joined this thread to plug my favourite band, there is some indication (ok idle gossip and speculative rumour) that 'Roots' will be the last song on Simon Emmersons next project 'The Imagined Village'. This project is a trip through English folk, the only song I've heard so far is Martin Carthy/Paul Wellers 'John Barleycorn' in a thread on the fRoots board Ian Anderson (who heard the finished tapes) mentions PJ Harvey & the Copper Family, also the poet Benjamin Zephania. Maybe the 'Roots' song will make more sense as part of the whole, I hae ma doots though.

BTW Cllr, 'Whirl-Y-Reel' is from the Afrocelts first album 'Sound Magic', two mixes, 'Folk Police' and 'Beard & Sandals' a third, 'Whirly #3' is on Pod. It's one of my all time favourites, Shooglenifty also guest on the tune. ACSS have some wonderful guests on their albums too, Davey Spillane plays pipes on that one.

Lizzie your new favourite Ayub Ogada is another of their guests on 'Sound Magic', he accompanies Iarla O'Lionard on vocals on 'House of the Ancestors' and plays nyatti (?). He features on 'Seed' too in the wonderful 'Ayubs Song/As You Will' a set of tunes which also has Martin Hayes on fiddle. It's that good, Mike Harding even played it on his show!

fx (too hot in anorak)