The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167652 Message #4046804
Posted By: Vic Smith
18-Apr-20 - 07:29 AM
Thread Name: Fra Fra - Funeral Music - Glitterbeat
Subject: Fra Fra - Funeral Music - Glitterbeat
Fra Fra - Funeral Music - Glitterbeat
A new album of funeral songs of the Kologo or Fra Fra area of north-west Ghana and the south of Burkino Faso is one of the best albums to come my way so far this year. Far from the slow solemn music associated with these sad occasions in Britain, this is raw, exciting, celebratory, delightful music. Titles such as "You Can't Escape Death" or "We Must Grieve Together" are the only evidence that the songs deal with death. It is not going to be to everybody's taste but if you like your music, raw, unsophisticed and passionate whilst still showing rhythmic complexity and subtlety - but then I am totally committed when it comes to West African music and the more 'ethnic' sounding it is, the more I like it. It is released at the end of this month.