Afro Celt Sound System debut album broke down many tediously outdated barriers. Now the Afro-Celts are back with Anatomic, another genre-bursting, non-preachy, multi-culti soundscape.
There has never been anything bland or generic about the ensemble's output as their concept of one-world music is less color-blind than color-appreciative; in other words, they don't ignore our differences but celebrate them.
Anatomic continues an ongoing pilgrimage of respectful collaboration, wherein Western studio mastery abuts Irish flutes and percussion, harp-like West African koras, keening bagpipes, and gutty Greek bouzoukis, all presented over a resonant, crunchy bottom with beats and electronica for days.
Iarla Ó Lionáird sings in English and Gaelic, sitting in with Sevara Nazarkhan from Uzbekistan (who is lovely if disembodied on 'My Secret Bliss') and Dorothee Munyaneza, a genocide survivor whose soulful pipes made such a strong impression on the soundtrack to Hotel Rwanda. As always, Simon Emmerson's guitar fulfills dual roles as a melodic vector and tireless rhythmic powerhouse.
