The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia

Few countries’ musical heritage has been pilfered so thoroughly as has Ethiopia’s in recent years. Rarely a month goes by without hearing of yet another collaboration between Europeans or Americans seeking inspiration, and Ethiopian musicians needing exposure. Quite a few of the tracks on this compilation are taken from such co-operations. The result of these efforts makes Ethiopian music far more listenable and danceable to a Western ear than it is in its raw state, but its authenticity as Ethiopian music could be called into question. Spend any time in Addis and what you’ll hear coming from the bars and the taxis is not the music you mainly get on this disc. Ethiopia is almost unique in Africa for having retained its political and cultural independence, not least in the sound of its music. The airwaves are full of it, with singers trilling outrageously in specifically Ethiopian scales (often these days with a synthesised pop backing track). But there’s only a little of that here, on what is a very listenable collection of tracks.

There are four tracks culled from Francis Falceto’s excellent series, including the ubiquitous Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete, as well as Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou’s dreamy piano t'zeta ‘Homesickness’. But there’s no doubt the excitement comes from the modern collaborations such as the opener, Bole 2 Harlem’s ‘Ametballe’, even if it is as much New York as it is Addis. Teru Edel Zenebe provides the vocals on ‘Gue’, a track created by Holland’s The Ex band. It’s nothing like her other records, it’s a dance track, and it’s wild. There’s a bonus CD from Invisible System, which often sounds more authentic than the main album, and makes this package a real bargain.