This morning, MailTape offers you the soundtrack of a thrilling film that could take place somewhere in East Africa, like an Ethiopian Tarantino, with real contemplative shots, incredible action scenes, languid moments… An adventure in 7 chapters, a fabulous journey between gems of a futuristic past and resolutely modern sounds, which draw from varied influences!
This Original Soundtrack, we owe it to the Sorcerers, the band from the north of England who released last July a fourth album, in the line of the previous ones, which offers a groove borrowed from ethio-jazz, where one sees walking sometimes a sax, sometimes a keyboard, sometimes a clarinet, sometimes a guitar… Always a bit freaky, this album has an astral dimension, like an invitation to venture into unknown territory, despite apprehension. Let’s embark on this joyful journey made of soundscapes that may take your breath away.
Guest’s selection
Saif Abu Bakr & The Scorpions - Nile Waves
The Sorcerers: ” What I like about it is how it’s like Africa is interpreting an American funk from the 60s. So, our attempt is kind of interpret their interpretations.
So, we’re trying to interpret it in our way. But I just like how effortlessly funky it is. And how well it incorporates those two sounds. That always makes me think about how do I incorporate these sounds to create our own kind of story. “
Mulatu Astatke - Ené Alantchie Alnorem
The Sorcerers: ” This is one of the tracks that kind of influence, the sound of the album. We were listening to it on a playlist on tour. So it really influenced the track “The Great Belt” and because we’re listening to it driving across a river called the Great Belt, and that bridge, an expansive bridge. There’s no sunlight at all and it just went. So it’s kind of got like a dreamy almost tired quality. “
Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band - Migibima Moltual
The Sorcerers: ” I think, for this album we were trying to go for kind of retro futuristic sound because it’s called “Other Worlds And Habitats”. So we were wanting to introduce more organs, synthesizers instruments that you know, the sort of instruments that aren’t just acoustic. Sure. And that guy, he’s sort of like the king of that stuff when it comes to Ethio-Jazz. So, his music or just the sound that he has was a really big influence. It was interesting capturing that sound. Weirdly the organ, or the way that he plays the organ sounds very much like Ethiopian vocals. So there’s like this really sort of vocal sound to it but it’s a very distinct sound as well. Like you actually have to go and buy the keyboards or the types of keyboards that were made in that time to sound like that and what keyboards were used. We used a Farfisa compact duo and Gen 73 Piano - I’ve been collecting them for years. It’s like it’s just part of that aesthetic, part of that sound. “
Curator’s selection
The Sorcerers – The Great Belt
Anto: ” What I like about this track is the vaporous and persistent aspect of this melody, which seems to want to fly very high but always comes back down, as if it were meant to be cautious and reasonable. This melody is the main character of a sequence which smells of uncertainty, like a transition between two parts of the same story, like a bridge between two worlds, between two eras. From there to seeing a nod to the title which evokes a famous Danish bridge, there is only one step. In any case this keyboard is hypnotic and the strength of this song is that it is not alone, it is rather well accompanied. “
Sun Atlas – Wandering Around Haccika
Anto: ” What a classy track! I find it grandiose, tinged with a little melancholy that fades as it develops, like an inexorable march forward, an allegory of life that continues, come what may. It appears on a wonderful album released last year and which I struggle to get tired of. A new EP was released just two weeks ago, enough to prolong the ecstasy and follow the evolution of a band with a truly fresh and stimulating identity, which reminds me of The Sorcerers. “
Lord Paramour – East Color
Anto: ” A small step aside with a more electronic sound that has obsessed me since I put my ears on it, just a few weeks ago. Here, the Ethio-jazz is more subtle, only little touches skillfully distilled here and there, and sonorities that inevitably echo an influence that is perhaps more Indian than Ethiopian. But no matter. The construction of this song is crazy. I particularly like the phase where everything accelerates, like a chase after the beat. “
Tasmin – The Bride Dance
Anto: ” We end up with an almost mystical trance, a flute that grabs us and leads us into a frenzied dance, where an undertaker’s keyboard delivers notes from I don’t know what fabulous world. This is an extract from a very successful first EP that I recommend listening to in length and breadth, as the 6 tracks that compose it are excellent. ”
And that’s it for today, friends.
Congratulations to Pierre-Julien for this brilliant first illustration and welcome to the team!
Thanks to Michaela from ATA Records for the link and to The Sorcerers for the great selection.
See you next week:
