Tsikaya: Músicos Do Interior

Blighted by war from 1961 to 2002, Angola has received far less attention for its music than many of its southern African neighbours, and the few Angolan musicians who have earned an international reputation have all been based abroad – Bonga and Waldemar Bastos in Europe, and Sam Mangwana in Congo. This album of untitled Angolan field recordings leapfrogs the Congolese, Brazilian and Portuguese pop cross– fertilisations of the capital, Luanda, and delves deep into the interior. It is as eclectic a collection as you might expect from composer, instrument designer and sonic pioneer Victor Gama. Besides drums, the principal instrument on display is the tchisumba – a five-necked, harp-like instrument from the southern Benguela province, which lays a simple, hypnotic line beneath Rodrigo Sekulo’s haunting lament for war and lends a distinct funkiness to the clapping and chanting choirs of Manuel Garoto.

But there’s an abundance of other instruments here: the shivering tsikaya rattle underpinning a hymn from David Ndumbo, the sweet acoustic guitar of the excellent young duo Ovaina Voinaimwe, and the deeply strange coroa (a type of mouth bow), played simultaneously with a puíta (a friction drum) by Avelino Chico, whose vocal improvisations soar and implore over the top.

Such is the wealth of Angolan music. Tsikaya may not be the most seamless of compilations, but it is a fascinating glimpse into a country that has been hidden for far too long.