Various Artists - Music Ashanti of Ghana / Various - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Among the Ewe of southeast Ghana, drummers must also be proficient dancers, and dancers are often required to become musicians as well. As evidenced on this recording, Ewe instrumentation is largely percussion-based and includes talking drum, double or single gong, and gourd rattle played in complex, polyrhythmic patterns. Instrumentation varies depending on the nature of the occasion (festival, funeral, etc). Liner notes include further cultural commentary from Seth Ladzekpo, the former drum-and-dance instructor at the Ghana Institute for Art and Culture.

For about a decade now, Dirtbombs frontman Mick Collins has threatened that the band-s next would be their bubblegum album. After a couple of records of mostly originals, a compilation of singles and an album of Detroit techno covers, one might have suspected that the concept either fell by the wayside or was a farce to begin with. Well, at long last, here is OOEY GOOEY CHEWY KA-BLOOEY. Mick Collins wrote ten new tracks which pay homage to the sound and style originally popularized in the late 60s / early 70s by producers / exploiters like Kasenetz-Katz and Don Kirschner. While the usual Dirtbombs double-drums, fuzzy guitars and soulful swagger are present, OOEY GOOEY is sugary, sunshiny pop rock that recalls Josie & The Pussycats, the Banana Splits and Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution, to name but three.

Volume I of Music of the Ga People of Ghana, recorded in 1971 and released in 1978, features recordings of Ga funeral music, called Adowa, which is also played for rulers holding court and the annual harvest festival honoring ancestors. Music is sung by ensembles organized by age and gender, with the most prominent singers in their middle and later years of life. This structure reflects the Ga belief that death is not the end of life; rather, the deceased is transformed into a spiritual, immortal being-a cause for celebration. Liner notes include photographs of musicians and instruments as well as explanations of the music and cultural traditions.