Customer Reviews

Son Egal

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In March 1947, the French government sent troops from Senegal to crush an uprising in its colony of Madgascar. Estimates claim that perhaps as many as 100,000 inhabitants of the world's 4th largest Island were killed in the crushing of this exile. Torture and rape also featured in these brutalities. The Malagasy have never forgiven the Senegalese for these atrocities committed in the name of France. Tarika set out to discover the truth of these brutalities and used this as the central concept of this album (Son egal, literally 'equal sound', is a play on words with the French word for Senegal). The group discovered that although the troops used to crush their up-rising were called Senegalese they were actually from all over Africa. The album is a plea for reconciliation- should former colonies continue to be divided by violence carried out in the name of the coloniser? is it not time to move on? Even if this and other political messages in the album leave you cold, you will find here a superb range of rhythms and melodies. This is African dance music at its best. Some have compared the group to Bob Marley. Although the style is very different from his reggae there are certain similarities in the emphasis on rhythm and also the up-lifting message of the lyrics which are usually a plea for peace and positive thinking. The liner notes of this album translate most of the songs into English and give interesting explanations of all the songs.

This CD is one of favorite of all genres. It is filled with wonderful harmonious voices, vaiety of styles and instrumentation, with adequate production. (This can't be said of much music today.) This CD is enough to capture any music lovers attention. C'est tres bien!

This is the weakest of Tarika's albums. The songs discuss deep issues, from the systemic corruption of Madagascar's politicians to France's 1947 use of soldiers from its other African colonies to brutally put down a Madagascar uprising. But all the effort was put into the lyrics, and none into the music. Unless you speak Malagasy, once you've read through the liner notes, what you're left with is a CD of nondescript music. The song "Avelo" is an exception. (I'm not even sure the effort was put into the lyrics--Hanitra Rasoanaivo's liner notes are a lot more compelling than the translations of the lyrics she provides.)

The musicians and singers in the Madagascar band, Tarika, certainly come forward with music of substance in this release. It is dancible, lively and infectious, without being overly pop. The lyrics, while not in English, are serious and usually politically-hard hitting, written in a positive, rather than negative, mode. (The liner notes are comprehensive.) There's nary a bad song on this album. Recommended!

Possibly the best album by this renowned Madagascar ensemble... Their sound is built around the various types of harps and stringed instruments used in Malagasy music; also included are Senegalese and mainland instruments like the kora-- the reason for this is that the album's content is about the rocky colonial-era relationship between Madagascar and Senegal. Apparently 19th-Century colonial authorities used Senegalese troops to supress unrest in Madagascar, playing one ethnic group off another, and singer-songwriter Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo explores the fallout of that bitter history in her lyrics. Mostly what will be noticed by Northern hemisphere listeners will be the pretty music... nice stuff!

I first heard this CD in my French class, and I couldn't get the songs out of my head! The rhythm is great, not to mention the excellent lyrics (I couldn't understand most of them, but they sounded great!!)