so last night i remembered how good Afro Celt Sound System is
and if ANYTHING about the band name "Afro Celt Sound System" appeals to you, you will probably like them too
to me vol. 3 further in time is like... the quintessential acss
this is about as pop as they get, so it's a good introduction so to speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNI2Tb24ofI if you like what you hear, the whole album's fantastic
@wigglytuffitout aw maaan
I'm confliiiicted, I like the music a lot but the Phil Collins-esque vocals are good but not really my style
@InspectorCaracal then honestly you'll probably like the rest of it much better, that's just the like... entry level hook to get normies interested HA
try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmh1cZQuXk on for size. that song isn't built around a guest artist singer, but instead by a regular band member on vocals. they're honestly majority non-vocal tracks
Persistence of Memory is a lot more chill and slow but i think is also lovely
@wigglytuffitout "majority non-vocal tracks" oh good!!
@InspectorCaracal the same singer pops up often throughout their albums, he's part of the standard band iirc, singing mostly in gaelic but occasionally english
singing in languages i can understand is the definite minority of vocal tracks LMAO, most of the vocals are in various celtic and african languages
they get more vocal-ish as they go on in the discography if that makes sense? so you might be a fan of earlier stuff moreso
@wigglytuffitout so noted!
I don't mind vocals, but I have Strong Opinions
@InspectorCaracal honestly same hat
i have to be in the mood for When You're Falling, it's def they were trying to go for "let's attempt to get something on the charts"
i really really like the vocal groove they got for Seed
Nevermore is a bit cheesy duet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qfElBWYlu4 but like, it's good cheese. this is cheese that is prime for powering writing your fantasy novel yknow? it is That Groove
@wigglytuffitout when this one's over i'll check it out!
@InspectorCaracal as far as instrumentals go, i feel like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud-pq5LPlyw might be your groove
i admit i'm a couple of albums behind because the band has been sort of. wibbly? like i think there's been high turnover so to speak, i'm here going "wait a gol dang minute y'all told me that album was gonna be the last what's this song i don't know"
@InspectorCaracal it's... anatomic i think where they bring in a guest artist, Jesse Cook, who i also really really like
but it was NOT a crossover i was expecting because Jesse Cook plays flamenco guitar and has branched out further into like. "world music" based on that guitar. i was all PARDON? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN TECHNOLAND WITH THE AFROCELTS?? but it's some genuinely nice songs.
to give an idea of how it blindsided me, THIS is what i consider best of Jesse Cook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3iTfEF52kw
@wigglytuffitout note to self dig up more of Jesse Cook's stuff
@InspectorCaracal his albums range in this like... slide from "closer to traditional flamenco guitar" to "we're pretty far away from it now into new age", but Gravity is i think kinda the defining album
also well worth watching videos of him performing this shit live so you can go HOW DOES ONE MAN'S FINGERS EVEN DO THAT
@wigglytuffitout awww fuck yes, I clicked 'next' and it started playing this which has a super slow start but YEAHHH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzI1vGVdpY0
@wigglytuffitout anyway now with that one you have a good idea of what kind of stuff *I* like in this vein, lol
Seed and Anatomic are tied in my second-place for best ACSS album slot
if you want to like... start with just one of their greatest songs, and are ok with it being a slow burn at first
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC_cKVDM_zY
iirc this was featured on the soundtrack to Hotel Rwanda
some of their songs you can tell teeter more towards the african or more towards the celtic, the above teeters more towards african (and rightly so)