Customer Reviews

Madagascar 2: Popular Music

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These tuneful tracks on Volume 2 showcase Malagasy popular music of the 1980s (as opposed to Volume 1 which contains folk and traditional styles of mainly the Merina culture of the highlands and the Betsimisaraka of the east coast). Rivaling the island's exotic fauna - like those cute lemurs - is its music, where one soon encounters the compelling sounds of the valiha and the kabosy: both stringed instruments with acoustic & electric models.

Oddly enough, the `o' is pronounced `oo' in Malagasy. The song Madirovalo by Mahaleo would thus phonetically be spelled Madiruvalu. It's a gentle acoustic piece featuring the kabosy, bubbly percussion and complex vocal patterns. Malagasy music has integrated influences as diverse as South African mbaqanga and pop, benga from Kenya, soukous/rhumba from mainland Francophone Africa and sega from the Indian Ocean islands.

Rossy and Tarika Sammy with two songs each were the most determined pursuers of an integrated Malagasy sound at that time. In the style called `zana-kira,' the inspirational Aza Mba Manary Toky by Sammy's has beautiful vocal harmonies. The slow song Voromby portrays the flights of an airplane across the island; the words comprise the names of towns and cities along the route.

Raha Manina Any by Rossy is in the vakisova style in which the lyrics derive from oral literature. Zeze's gently lilting Ento Rora features a bamboo-tube valiha from the high plateau.

Totoy Tzara by Ny Sakelidalana is a tremulous, poliharmonic number with acoustic guitar, bass and valiha whilst Sarotra by Les Smockers represents the dance style known as Sigaoma - an appealing marriage of Congolese Rumba (Soukous) & Township. The tromba trance genre of Diego Suarez on the north coast appears on the penultimate track Malaza Avaratna by Nonot Kidza.

Africa & Polynesia meet in Madagascar in a colorful ethnic & cultural blend. This album displays some of the delightful diversity of the nation's pop music of the 1980s. An hour or so with such intricate rhythms and delicate harmonies in this resonant Polynesian language is an uplifting experience.

agascar. I liked this Cd because you have a variety of artists and you get many different styles in one CD. The music is typical of the high land for the most part. Pleasing to the ear, valiha is ever present in this Cd. This Cd is for people who wants to know what it would be like to hear Madagascar Radio right now.