Comorian - We Are an Island, but Were Not Alone '2021

Tracks list

Sun-baked instrumental meditations played on local string and percussion
instruments. Yearning vocals and songs that evoke the mystifying realities of
everyday life. Recorded live and outdoors on Grande Comore island by acclaimed
producer, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ustad Saami, Zomba Prison Project). 
The Comoro islands are known locally as the “islands of the moon.”
“We are an island, but we’re not alone” is the first album of
original songs ever to be released from the region.
Volume #8 of Glitterbeat’s Hidden Musics series.

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Producer Ian Brennan tells the story of how the album came together:
“It took us six flights to get to the tiny African island, well
sequestered in the Indian Ocean and uninhabited by man until centuries after
Christ. It is a nation with no army, only police. A place where women don thick
mud-masks for sunblock.
Instead of sustenance farming, here there are canoe boat sustenance fishermen.
That they haul in lobster for their families to take the edge off of discontent
and poverty versus the desperation we have seen elsewhere such as in Malawi
where some are forced to resort to eating mice.
There is a trash-filled beach meters past the Presidential Palace, abutting its
walls. The island’s tone is so laid-back that we did a three-point turn
in his driveway, without incident, and barely detecting notice.
Shortly after arriving, we inquired about the ndzumara (a double-reed pipe, or
primitive oboe), and were sadly informed, “He died.” The last living
player had just passed, the sound of the instrument ostensibly lost forever with
him. We were left to only imagine its resonance.
When searching for music, often the stronger artist is hidden behind another,
more famous, but lesser one.
In this case, a slick and successful man named Hassain led us to another
non-musician named Hassain who connected us with a musician who was quite good
and he ultimately introduced us to his friend and mentor, and that person, Soubi
(and his partner, Mmadi) turned out, at last, to be the real deal.
The few roads are lined with cars stripped of all but the body— car
carcasses reclaimed by plant life. There are as many abandoned vehicles as those
in use. With nowhere else to go, we opted for the partial shelter that one of
these auto’s shells provided from the coastal winds. It was a case of
inverting the “listen to a final mix in your car” to provide a
real-life reference point, to instead simply starting the entire process there.
As so frequently occurs, the artist reserved his most melodically compelling
song until the end— after we were broken down and leaving, on his way
out, when at his most free. I’d defied one of my cardinal rules—
never pack-up the equipment until you’re absolutely certain that the
music is finished.
I was left little choice but to stand in the rain holding a handheld backup,
stereo device and try to capture this beautiful moment as we both grew drenched.
Counterintuitively, being in the rain provided superior sonics to being
sheltered, but unfortunately, the moisture killed the machine and what was a
resplendent take, was lost forever— witnessed only by me and a neighbor
who stood bemused and finishing a cigarette in his doorway.”

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Soubi: ndzendze, gambussi, lead vocals on tracks 2, 3, 6, 7 & 9
Mmadi: ndzendze, lead vocals on tracks 1, 4, 5, 8 & 10
D. Alimzé: Guma drum & background vocals

Recorded live without overdubs outdoors on Grande Comore island.

Produced & engineered by Ian Brennan
Photos & video by Marilena Umuhoza Delli

Tracklist:
1 01. Comorian - Please Protect My Newborn Child from the Spirits (05:09)
1 02. Comorian - Mama (Once, We Had a Queen) (03:52)
1 03. Comorian - Salvation (06:03)
1 04. Comorian - America, Crazy (01:01)
1 05. Comorian - The Devil Doesnt Eat Papaya, He Eats Fire (03:15)
1 06. Comorian - Prayer for a Better Life (01:25)
1 07. Comorian - Ive Come to the City (Now My Shoes are Repaired) (11:19)
1 08. Comorian - Bandits Are Doing Bad Deeds (02:56)
1 09. Comorian - Love Must Come Before Things (02:22)
1 10. Comorian - My Friends Went Abroad & Were Swallowed by the Waves (03:38)

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