An interesting concept album from the folks at
ARC
.
Pulse of Africa
focuses on drumming traditions of the continent, as many albums do, but there's a catch. Here, they not only focus on drumming, but do so to the point of exclusion of all vocals and other non-percussion instruments (marimbas are occasionally used, but sparingly). The works are completely stripped down from any full musical context and only the beat itself is left. On rare occasions, a small flute takes the place of the vocal lines, but in general it's left to the drums alone. This can work well to highlight the complexity of a number of styles (a la
Master Drummers of Burundi
), but at the same time it can set the album up for a fall, if the pieces chosen generally have more complexity to them, and the drums are largely the backing portions. This seems to be the case for a number of works here. As such, the album is somewhat interesting in its own right, but isn't the most energetic or even necessarily the most listenable of the multitude of African drumming albums on the market. For those who enjoy rarities, incidentally, it does include a couple of interesting works on a Zulu friction drum and a seldom-heard Venda drum. ~ Adam Greenberg