A few years ago I read a book called ‘The Beach’ by Alex Garland, after falling head over heels in love with it (and wanting to buy a first class ticket to Thailand to go find this Island) I decided to watch the film. The film, as the saying goes “wasn’t as good as the book”, but was pretty good nevertheless. And since that moment, I have watched the film repeatedly and with the help of an amazing soundtrack, I have fallen in love with two particular scenes and songs.
The first scene was when Richard, Étienne, and Françoise first get their glimpse of “the beach”. While you can see the glorious white sand, the clear blue sea and the rolling green hills in the distance ‘Porcelain’ by Moby is playing in the background. I’ve watched this film so many times now that whenever I hear this song (and I play it also quite a lot) it takes me to this place.
The second scene is when they are celebrating their “Tet Festival” (the anniversary of their arrival on the island) and they are all raving to the remix of ‘Yéké Yéké’ by Mory Kanté. I don’t know what it is about this song, but as soon as I’d heard it, I wanted it and couldn’t stop playing it. I guess this was the same for a lot of people as it was the biggest ever selling African single, selling just over a million copies. Although the remix isn’t what you’d call traditional World Music, it was pretty much my first introduction to the genre, and I haven’t looked back since.
Yesterday, I finally got through the Mory Kanté album that I had been waiting for. The album is called “Sabou” and is an all-acoustic release from 2004. To put it simply, it’s brilliant. The fact that the album is acoustic makes the release seem a lot more traditional than Mory Kanté’s other more western stuff, and the familiar griot roots and fantastic kora playing are still prominent but the balafon, soaring vocals and female choruses make this album not only seem contemporary but homely.
The first scene was when Richard, Étienne, and Françoise first get their glimpse of “the beach”. While you can see the glorious white sand, the clear blue sea and the rolling green hills in the distance ‘Porcelain’ by Moby is playing in the background. I’ve watched this film so many times now that whenever I hear this song (and I play it also quite a lot) it takes me to this place.
The second scene is when they are celebrating their “Tet Festival” (the anniversary of their arrival on the island) and they are all raving to the remix of ‘Yéké Yéké’ by Mory Kanté. I don’t know what it is about this song, but as soon as I’d heard it, I wanted it and couldn’t stop playing it. I guess this was the same for a lot of people as it was the biggest ever selling African single, selling just over a million copies. Although the remix isn’t what you’d call traditional World Music, it was pretty much my first introduction to the genre, and I haven’t looked back since.
Yesterday, I finally got through the Mory Kanté album that I had been waiting for. The album is called “Sabou” and is an all-acoustic release from 2004. To put it simply, it’s brilliant. The fact that the album is acoustic makes the release seem a lot more traditional than Mory Kanté’s other more western stuff, and the familiar griot roots and fantastic kora playing are still prominent but the balafon, soaring vocals and female choruses make this album not only seem contemporary but homely.
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