The Rough Guide to Acoustic Africa

The Rough Guide To Acoustic Africa
Compilation album by
Various artists
Released25 March 2013
GenreWorld, Acoustic, African
Length127:08
LabelWorld Music Network
Full series chronology
The Rough Guide to African Disco
(2013) 		The Rough Guide To Acoustic Africa
(2013) 		The Rough Guide to Flamenco
(2013)
Complete list

The Rough Guide To Acoustic Africa is a world music compilation album originally released in 2013 featuring acoustic music spanning Sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the album contains two discs: an overview of the genre on Disc One, and a "bonus" Disc Two highlighting griot Noumoucounda Cissoko. Disc One features artists hailing from Niger, Madagascar, the DRC, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, South Sudan, Sudan, Senegal, and Guinea. All but three tracks are guitar-based.[1] The extensive liner notes were written by Daniel Rosenberg, and Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network, produced the album.[2][3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
MSN Music (Expert Witness)[4]A-
PopMatters[5]

The recording received positive reviews. After admitting that compilations spanning many countries typically annoy him, Robert Christgau recounted this one as "soft-spoken" and "pretty" enough to award it an "A−".[4] David Maine of PopMatters wrote that this release was consistent with Rough Guides' "knack for culling good tunes from a far-flung range of material". Maine was particularly impressed by Disc Two, comparing Cissoko with Salif Keita.[5]


Track listing

Disc One

No.TitleArtist (Country)Length
1."Saghmar N Nanna"Etran Finatawa Niger4:54
2."Sweet Lullaby"Lala Njava Madagascar4:03
3."Mbanda Nasali Nini? (Madeleine)"Syran Mbenza & Ensemble Rumba Kongo Democratic Republic of the Congo 
4."Yekanini"Shiyani Ngcobo South Africa4:31
5."Ha Kele Monateng"Sotho Sounds Lesotho3:28
6."Ndinewe"Monoswezi MozambiqueNorwaySwedenZimbabwe4:50
7."Masikini"Eyuphuro Mozambique5:09
8."See Wo Nom Me (Tsetse Fly You Suck My Blood)"Koo Nimo Ghana4:22
9."Obili Éba"Mr Eddy & Sally Nyolo Cameroon5:22
10."White Crocodile Blues (A Song for M) [Instrumental]"Samba Touré Mali3:44
11."Lemon Bara"Abdel Gadir Salim & Emmanuel Jal SudanSouth Sudan 
12."Diamano"Amadou Diagne Senegal3:41
13."Djou"Mory Kanté Guinea5:34
14."Aomby Mazava Loha"Vakoka Madagascar4:21
15."Afrika"Nuru Kane Senegal3:35
16."AIDS"Mabulu Mozambique4:28

Disc Two

All tracks on Disc Two are by Noumoucounda Cissoko, a Senegalese kora-playing griot, from his 2012 digital album "Falling".[6]

No.TitleLength
1."Interlude 1"0:28
2."Noumou Koradioulou"4:10
3."Nagnou Talal Loxxo Afrique"6:45
4."Sining featuring Tumi Molekane"7:22
5."Interlude 2"0:39
6."Dindingo A Bamah"4:47
7."Bannaya Foly"6:25
8."Begg Ci Yow"5:06
9."Yekhi Medina"4:22
10."Interlude 3"1:26
11."Gorgni featuring Fredy Massamba"6:08
12."Bannadenoufele"5:58
13."Interlude 4"1:18

References

  1. ^ Phillips, Glyn (3 August 2013). "ROUGH GUIDE TO ACOUSTIC AFRICA - CD REVIEW". Worldmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  2. ^ World Music Network. "About Us - The WMN Story". Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  3. ^ "The Rough Guide to Acoustic Africa". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 Dec 2013.
  4. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "Expert Witness". MSN Music. Retrieved 21 Dec 2013.
  5. ^ a b Maine, David (27 June 2013). "Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Acoustic Africa". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 Dec 2013.
  6. ^ World Music Network. "Noumoucounda Cissoko: Noumoukoradioulou". Retrieved 2014-01-11.