Nouvelle Calédonie: Voix des Rivages et des Montagnes

Music from New Caledonia – a little-known French colony in Melanesia, midway between Fiji and Australia – is, well, little known. But Kanaky, as it is referred to by its indigenous inhabitants, has a thriving and varied cultural life, where oral traditions and clan-owned songs and dances rub alongside the recording studios of its boutique-strewn capital, Nouméa. This quite lovely album takes us away from the latter, travelling from the south to the north of the main island, ttempting to be as inclusive and respectful as possible of ensembles belonging to some ten ethnic groups. The album’s timeless opener, with its birdsong and guttural chants, makes clear the fact that this is ancestral music; recorded in situ, captured fresh and kept alive – as was the intent of the compilers, French radio producer Françoise Degeorges and her director, Charles Le Gargasson. As the album unfolds, the listener becomes increasingly privy to a hidden, precious world. Extraneous sounds – peals of laughter, the clank of cutlery, smatterings of applause – add layers to an aural document that feels very precious indeed. This is a world where music comes from wind, rain and fire as much as it does from mouths and hands; where new dance moves are ‘dreamt’ via communication between the dancer-creator and his ancestors. Instruments such as the double flute are augmented by pounding on bamboo sticks, and rhythms played on hard-packed leaves. Songs that tell histories, evoke symbolism and commemorate struggles are sung softly, as if in secret. Prepare to be mesmerised.