10: Beasts, Ghosts & Dancing

One of the few African bands led by a woman, Tarika combines tight vocal harmonies with harps, lutes, and fiddles (plus percussion and electric guitars), wraps it in a swaying island sound and produces musical joy that’s still grounded in their Malagasy roots. It’s warm, lively and sweet. This retrospective release is full of gems, plus two videos of their songs.

*1. Deliciously bright and upbeat.
2. A warm midtempo groove w/some sweet vocals & strings.
*3. Happy-happy dance in praise of rice pastry. Yay!
4. Sweet & relaxed love song w/a more orchestrated sound.
*5. Rich vocal harmonies & tight strings in a gentle, bouncy thing.
6. Midtempo w/soaring vocals and nice work from the band.
*7. Warm & catchy w/tight harmonies.
8. Rich vocals/strings nicely combined. Mid/uptempo.
*9. Opens with a big vocal romp. Fast, energetic, fun.
10. Slow, delicate and sweet w/a sense of sadness.
11. Wonder-fast strings/perc/vocals. Lots of energy.
12. Relaxed and sweet but with a feeling of loss.
*13. Big Afro-Celt mix w/a driving global dance sound.
14. Transglobal Underground remix w/a dance funk groove.
*15. Recorded live. Upbeat, fun, great energy. Crowd noises.
7/2004