14 September 2013

Kiribati, Tonga, Cook Islands




I've tried to avoid multi-country compilations so far, but these Island nations are so small, the populations are so migratory, & the recording industry on most so nonexistent that I have lumped the last few Island nations into one post of some great traditional music from around the South Pacific. Some countries in this 27 track compilation I already posted & it covers most of the rest as well.

Another fine release from the Nonesuch catalogue.

In 1978 & 1979, musicologist David Fanshawe made a whirlwind tour of the South Pacific with the goal of recording the folk music traditions of the region. The fruits of his extensive labor are featured here, presenting a diversity of musical settings & styles, from love songs to work chants.

Here is an excerpt from the original liner note, from 1981:
“Do not expect to hear Hawaiian guitars, ukuleles, & the Hula. Imagine, however, a musical odyssey through the South Pacific islands traveling with a rucksack, 200 rolls of tape, 35mm film, & a stereo tape recorder. Here are some wonderful examples of authentic South Seas music—unbelievably beautiful & yet an endangered species. If you travel from the Cook Islands in an anti-clockwise circle via the Solomon Islands to Tahiti, if you search hard enough this is the kind of music you might have the luck to find.”

This is a compilation of sweet singing, steel guitars, & lovely music of the South Pacific. Great songs like "Imenetuki," with some eerie, shifting harmonies from the Cook Islands or the easy beauty of the Tongan "Faikava Love Song." Some more of the pan pipes of the Solomon Islands are featured here. From the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), the song "Te Kawawa" has an elastic quality with the single male voice sliding in microtones around the notes. A drum accompanies Samoan women as they sing a lullaby on "Tagi," the slow rhythm like a pulse beat. In other words, there's plenty going on here; it's an indigenous travelogue through the Pacific Islands. Beautifully recorded with stunning clarity, the reissue of this 1981 album is a delight.

 Various - South Pacific: Island Music, Nonesuch 79723, 2003 re-release. 


Trackslist –

Drum Dance
Tapa Cloth Beating
Mire
Imenetuki – Cook Islands

Tau’a’alo
Faikava Love Song
Octopus Fishing
Fangufangu Nose Flute
Muli Tu Pe – Tonga

Male Fan Dance
Club Dance Meke Iwau
Vakamalolo Mixed Sitting Dance
New Year Celebration – Fiji

Pan Pipes Rereo Taba
Pan Pipe Ensemble
Pan Pipes & Night Roar
Spirit Song U’ula
Shell Money Making
Women’s Song Kukburi Sifoa – Solomon Islands

Te Kamei
Te Kawawa
Toddy Cutting Song – Kiribati

Sasa
Conch Shell Horn
Tagi
Ma’ulu Ulu – Samoa

Imene Tarava – French Polynesia

Enjoy…all that’s left of the South Pacific is a post of some great French Polynesian music & then it’s off to Tierra del Fuego & the firm ground of South America…Chile, here I come.

5 comments:

  1. I have been impressed with your ability to find something from the little nations so far. And this one looks great.

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    1. Thanks. It has been difficult. Many of these little countries do not really support a recording industry so sometimes it falls into the hands of ethnomusicologists or persons displaced by some type of diaspora to provide the sounds of these exotic places. Otherwise the digging can get tough. That's why I'm looking forward to hitting South America hard. They have a rich musical heritage & great recording facilities, with a depth of styles to choose from due to indigenous tradition & colonial influences. Then it'll be off to the Caribbean & good hunting once more. I have much of that area already, but not all the hard to locate stuff. It's been a great challenge. Thanks for taking the journey with me & for making the informed comments & suggestions.

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    2. Various - South Pacific Island Music
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  2. THANK you very much for all of your shares until now!!!
    Is it possible to re up this music gem?
    thank you in advance!!

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    1. Thank you for your kind words. Thanks also for letting me know about the dead link. The file is re-upped. Just click & grab.

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