Cape Verde

Those who’ve had their fill of the new Cape Verde artists like Mayra Andrade and Tcheka and are yearning for the islands’ real musical roots will love this rough and ready CD from the father of the funaná – the most popular rhythm on the archipelago's most populous island, Santiago. With accordion playing as naive as Dylan's harmonica and further accompaniment limited to the scraping of a rusting metal reco-reco, these recordings would sound best in a dusty backyard in Praia, with a bevy of local hand-clappers and lots of grog.

The songs are invariably about community life and personal woes. ‘Fomi 47’ describes Kodé di Dona’s life during the 1947 famine. It’s rich with local names, people and day-to-day events. ‘Amizadi la Korason’ talks of friendship between pigeon fanciers. Others like ‘Mi N ta Rabola’ are homages to girls or reminiscences of Dona’s love life. They are as ribald in their innuendo as a Beryl Cook beach painting. As ever, Ocora provide loving liner notes, which, while informative, further add to the CD’s anthropological museum-piece feel. All too often on CD, the raw charm of the music is lost when divorced from occasion and location. Rather than earnest listening to this album, it’d be much more fun to meet up with Dona in Santiago, get drunk with him and dance along with the locals.