Vol. 2: Release [ENHANCED]

Afro Celt Sound System

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 18, 1999)
• Original Release Date: May 18, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Real World
• ASIN: B00000IWUW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,218 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lots of traditional-music recordings thrive when they're at their purest, stripping away influence to revel in a core sound. The exact opposite is the case with the Afro Celt Sound System's sophomore effort, Release, which hits its highest plateaus when it's juiciest and pulpiest, throwing everything into the mix. Hailed for their cross-cultural toss-together of traditional West African and Celtic musics on an electronic backbone, the Afro Celts indulge their digital-age ability to throw African drum patterns behind Uilleann pipes and Irish tin whistle all with a club-ready pulse. Their debut and various appearances at World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD) festivals cemented their success at this mixological approach, and Release makes the clarity of the group's vision all the more astonishing. Perhaps it's what Irish violinist Martin Hayes has called the "lonesome touch," but the Celtic contribution often squares up as a yearning cry, contrasting vividly with the techno beats and West African drumming. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hypnotic, pulsating, and universal, May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This CD soars! I bought their first effort, Sound Magic,blind from Amazon based on customers' reviews and was blown away by the melding of Celtic ethereal with African heartbeat. Waiting for the follow up, I was fearful that the band might end up being be a one trick pony. This CD puts those fears to rest. Hypnotic, pulsating, and universal. At times, I'd almost swear that I hear sung Japanese and an alto didjeridoo blended in that digital beat. Most certainly this CD won't appeal to the Celtic purists out there, but that would be their loss. Hybrid vigor is strong vigor and this is as strong music gets. Both the vocal and instrumental versions of Release (It) rejoice in life and make me want to dance in celebration. If its spirit doesn't grab you, you'd better check your pulse. Guest vocalist Sinead O'Connor has never been more at home in a song. Dance DJ's get ready to sample. International..Beat...Dance...New Age...Old Age... .throw the labels away. Listen, move and be.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relentless Rhythm, Transport Through Time, November 21, 1999

By A Customer

I came by way of Celtic music: whirling reels, wailing 'pipes, a journey into the only heritage accessible to descendants of white Europeans. I had heard thousand-year-old tunes played on 500-year-old instruments in a setting from a Druidic past. And I felt it stir my soul. I had also come through Africa, by way of Johnny Clegg and Savuka, before Nelson Mandela had been freed -- urgency aligned with the certainty of impending joy. I heard some cuts from Afro-Celt sound System's first album, Sound Magic, and it caught my attention. Then I came to Release, and it all flowed together. I was reminded of (believe it or not) The Rascals' "Mother Nature Land" which 20--25 years ago had blended driving, naked drums with a search for religious and environmental peace. But "Release" soars with a voice more appropriate to the material, and with no human voice at all, and it takes you along. Are you in the African past, or in the Celtic past of blue-faced warriors? Ultimately, it doesn't matter, because it dances you into the future, even if you don't dance much. You will. Take this to any party, and you'll be the hero, for taking the whole groove to a higher level, turning the evening's festivities to joyous relevance and leaving everyone with a mystical calm when the music stops. Or just put it on your player at home and let it take you away.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Music, March 24, 2000

By	"ediblebrain" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This album rocks! It's not just "World Music"... Deep Forest blends samples of real music and sounds of world culture and other groups blend techno and ambient beats with live music of a certain culture. But ACSS blends the music of Africa and Ireland to make a whole new sound, one that reaches deep into the soul and raises the spirit. The first album is intense and exciting but this second album has more electronica, dance beats, and haunting vocals from Iarla O Lionaird and Sinead O'Connor.

I had the pleasure to see this group live and if you ever get the chance, I recommend you do too. It was a small venue but the energy was as intense as a coliseum. These guys truly enjoy each other's company and communicate beautifully (in spite of not being able to speak each other's language). You can see that the members of this group do this music for love and FUN! And this joy comes out on the album.