Dopest Ethiopian

Ethiopia is a truly fascinating and complex nation. Western conceptions of what the country is all about may range from the images of famine-starved children of the mid-1980s, the classic Live Aid pictures seared into our collective consciousnesses but long forgotten by many. Or perhaps it is the kingdom of Emperor Haile Selassie I that it conjures images of, with the links to Rastafarianism through Jamaican culture and ultimately reggae music. Maybe it is just a mysterious African country, unknown like so many nations in the cradle of life, and of little interest to the majority of people. The point is that any such conceptions fail to do the place any justice whatsoever. There is a snobbery, perhaps even an unconscious racism or superiority complex, that I think pervades many people's view of African music.

Similarly, the genre World Music can have many music fans scratching their heads in ill recognition, with many scrambling for cover and downright hostile to it. Images of tie-dye trousers and joss sticks abound. But this is a shame as it is perhaps the most original and growing sub-section of music, with a world of delights to be unearthed. Whether as the true source of the Blues in West Africa through any number of artists from Ali Farke Toure to Tinariwen, the funk work of Fela Kuti and his followers, the mysticism and beauty of Moroccan Sufi music or vocal magic of Q'waali singers such as the late great Nusraat Fateh Ali Khan, and so much more besides. It's not just Paul Simon and Graceland you know.

All of this is a roundabout way of drawing attention to one of the best releases of 2007, the compilation "The Very Best Of Ethiopiques". Here is not the place to give a potted history of the Ethiopian music scene, and particularly that of the capital Addis Ababa, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A google search for this title can give you that. But if you want to listen to one of the most infectious, joyful and downright brilliant slices of jazzy, funky soul music then this is the place for you. To pick out a highlight is impossible, to describe the affect that hearing it will have on you is similarly pointless. Just get it and have your horizons broadened in the best way possible. You may be initially unsettled, but also comforted by the strangely familiar melodies and rhythms. What is certain is that you will be transfixed, and an exciting new adventure of discovery will await you. Isn't that what good music is all about after all? And the world is a damn big place!!