The
music:
Antidote to a world in a hurry
Shut
the door, put your phone on silent, draw the curtains, then sit back and allow
l’Orchestre A-Dakar to accompany you on a cinematic journey through a world
whose imagery the music teases from the corners of your own imagination. This is
not music for those in a hurry. Neither is it music for those accustomed only to
the common, simple forms and easily hummable “hooks” of pop music. Patience
allows the music to seep in, and lets you feel the disparate elements coming
together to form a distinctive sound.
Plaintive,
earthy vocals by Mola Sylla, sung in Wolof, the language of
l’Orchestre
A-Dakar do not shy away from experimentalism: long tracks built from a wide
sound palette encompassing the above-mentioned electronic sounds and distortion,
as well as modern classical music, a complete string orchestra and choir. Yet,
the music is never inaccessible, as it unfurls itself slowly, with warmth and
purity of spirit, creating a comfortable cocoon for your mind to build a
succession of pictures. So compelling is this fusion of disparate elements that
you do not even need to understand Wolof to be drawn in.
A
brooding prelude sets the mood for the sort of world l’Orchestre A-Dakar set
out to help you create, dark but hopeful, memories of which will linger long
after you emerge once more into daylight.
Sylla’s
vocals soar in Lay Lay to let in a momentary shaft of light, before the music
returns you to the by now familiar world of shadows for Djenda. The music probes
and beseeches, engaging your imagination, encouraging you to dig deeper still
for the images of this private screening.
The
dreamy beats and the purity of Sylla’s voice create beautiful melodies whilst
sustaining the tension between dark and flickering light, the authenticity of
the ‘earthy’ and the estrangement of the industrial.
With
L’Orchestre
A-Dakar have created so mesmerising and beguiling and auditory experience that
you need the introduction of a fiery classical violin in Beebaante to let you
know it will soon be time to wave goodbye to this warm cocoon and emerge
blinking once again into the ‘real’ world.
There
is nothing new under the sun, yet in the crowded world of music l’Orchestre
A-Dakar has managed to carve out a place for itself with this debut CD.
What
is an African singer from Senegal doing in an electronic soundscape created by a
duo from Amsterdam? The answer: l’Orchestre A-Dakar.
Baz
mattie met Mola Sylla in 2000 during a tour with Chris Hinze, and was impressed
with his distinctive voice and melodies. Out of curiosity, Mattie began to work
on a remix of one of Sylla’s tracks. On the face of it, Sylla’s voice and
Mattie’s electronic music promised to work well together, but the results were
even better than either of them expected.
Spurred
on by this nice surprise, they decided to collaborate further, creating the
tracks on this debut album in the same manner.
Sylla’s demos, in which he accompanied himself on instruments such as
the Mbira and the Xalan, were re-edited and placed in a completely different
context.
This timeless debut CD is the end result of the incredible journey through the musically imaginative world of the collective, l’Orchestre A-Dakar.
by Omar Jabbar