ARCHETRIBE

earthtones

Stretta (2001)

review by Bill Binkelman

Led by the synths, guitars, voice, and percussion of Matthew Davidson, the group Archetribe delivers a great ethno-tribal/world fusion/ambient recording with their CD, earthtones. Sensually rhythmic via its assortment of hand percussion, mysteriously exotic in its use of melodies played on flutes, duduk, and clarinet, and yet rooted firmly in a tribal-ambient sensibility, the album is a marvel of varied moods and textures throughout its fourteen tracks. For the sake of comparisons, although Archetribe is distinctly unique in their music, I'd state some similarity to the music of Open Canvas, Al Gromer Khan (but much more beat-driven), and the relatively unknown music of Mo Boma.

The group includes a name which should be known to any fan of electronic music - Larry Fast (who contributes synthesizers, of course). In addition, Jamal Mohamed plays percussion (and does he play - wait'll you hear his work on "Messages from Synesthesia"), Flavio Gaete performs on viola, Ken Field plays flutes, Gunnard Doboze handles duduk and clarinet (quite well, I might add), and Dave DeMarco takes care of bass and baritone guitar. The group is really tight and plays together with equal parts unforced ease and fiery passion - reminding me of no less than Shadowfax, although less "rockish" and more tribal than all but the most ambient of that world fusion group's recordings.

Ambient fans being purists that they are, though, I need to mention that many tracks on earthtones are placed firmly in quasi-non-ambient territory, such as the uptempo percussion-explosion and vocally-enhanced "the Lattice." Wordless chanting, rapid-fire hand drums, and sultry flutes weave a strong Middle Eastern spell to this cut. Personally, I love it. Those hyperkinetic rhythms and the lilting flute and duduk are intoxicating - like powerful incense permeating the room. But lovers of more subdued ambient in this vein (for example, the work of o yuki conjugate, Tuu, and Steve Roach and Robert Rich) may think this music is too close to legitimate world fusion music for their taste - and they may be right.

Tracks like the sexy-snaky rhythmic "the Half Life of Memory" and the beat-driven "Abyss Crossed," while obviously not drone-oriented ambient music, are also not just run-of-the-mill world fusion, though. The mood is dark, mysterious, even a bit foreboding. In particular, "Abyss Crossed" reminds me of Mo Boma in its creative blending of bass and guitar with keyboards and tribal percussion. The album is also full of unexpected twists and turns, such as the dissonant beginning to "Machine Messiah" (morphing into a midtempo sensuous number on wind instruments and percussion), and the bright twinkling EM-meets duduk of "Evidence of a Struggle."

If there is a downside to the album (and that's a purposeful "if"), the tracks are a bit on the short side and some could use a little more developing. While I enjoyed the wide assortment of percussive elements and world flavors throughout earthtones, I sometimes found myself just settling into a groove on a particular track and - wham - the song would be over.

All the musicians in Archetribe play their instruments with skill, alternating between displays of soloing and superb ensemble work. Special credit goes to the wind instrument artists and the percussionists, as they seem to carry the day more often than not. Synthesizers are used with utmost discretion, to excellent effect and yielding great results, I would add. However, the more overt ambient elements are here for shading and added emphasis and they do not dominate. This recording is meant for rhythm and percussion lovers, I'd wager.

Recommending an album with so much percussion and such obvious world music textures to ambient (even ethno-tribal) fans is a dicey proposition. But, in all honesty, while the non-ambient flavor abounds on parts of the CD, the overall "feel" of earthtones is, to my way of thinking, the epitome of ethno-tribal-ambient. I would think that world music lovers might wrinkle their noses at the darker undercurrents here and the use of electronics to color and tone the more traditional musical elements. If you have enjoyed recordings like Myths of the Near Future and Indumani (and, to a lesser degree, Black Marble and Sweet Fire) earthtones will probably/likely wiggle its way seductively onto your "favorites" stack of CDs. It's an exciting and infectious, yet also moody and even disquieting (at times), mixture of the ancient with the modern. Recommended.