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SnapShot
Cross*culture Reviews
Album: SnapShot (2011, CAAMA Music)
Track Listing: 1. WE ARE THE DESERT MULGA - Desert Mulga
2. ANOTHERWAY - Jacinta Price
3. AMATRUNGU (MT LEIBIG) - Running Water Band
4. KUNGA NYUNTU NGAYUKU - Sunshine Reggae Band
5. ESPANA - Sammy Butcher
6. AMATANYA - Stuart Guakamangu
7. PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG - Iwantija
8. GRANDFATHERS DREAMING - Sunshine Reggae Band
9. THROW IT TO THE WIND - Minority Sun
10. WIND STORIES - Tjangala Band
11. NYIRRIPI - Desert Mulga
12. MY BABY LEFT ME - Iwantja
Dave’s Review:
Whenever the question ‘Which part of Australia produces the best bands’ is raised you normally hear the whole Melbourne vs Sydney argument (‘Our city is the best…Melbourne/Sydney is crap), and normally Perth puts their hand up (and by producing the likes of Jebediah, Little Birdy, Eskimo Joe etc they are well and truly entitled to), but now thanks to CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) Central Australia can raise both hands in the air. As CAAMA’S new ‘SnapShot’ compilation shows there is some brilliant music coming out of Central Australia at the moment.
There simply isn’t a weak track to be found on this album. Desert Mulga’s ‘We Are The Desert Mulga’ has a strong reggae sound while Jacinta Price proves with ‘Anotherway’ that she has one of Australia’s finest voices… think Tori Amos, ladies and gentlemen. Running Water Band’s ‘Amatrungu (Mt Leibig) shows that experimental music is well and truly alive in the Central Australian music scene while the moody guitar styling of ‘Kunga Nyuntu Ngayuku’ by Sunshine Reggae Band wins you over in an instant.
‘Espana’ by Sammy Butcher reeks with groove while Stuart Guakamangu’s ‘Amatanya’ is smooth and beautiful. The gruff vocals of Iwantija’s ‘Part All Night Long’ bring emotion to it, but it is the second helping from Sunshine Reggae Band (this time with ‘Grandfather’s Dreaming’) that is so thought provoking it really does show why a compilation like this is so important.
‘Throw It To The Wind’ by Minority Sun is smooth and catchy and then along comes something for the guitarists out there – both ‘Wind Stories’ by Tjangala Band and ‘Nyirripi’ by Desert Mulga contain some riffs that are real standouts. SnapShot then closes with a live (and very funky) version of Iwantja’s ‘My Baby Left Me’.
There are a ton of ordinary compilations out there these days, but this certainly isn’t one of them. This is what Aussie music is all about and every Aussie music fan should have a copy of SnapShot on their shelf (take note of that Triple J!!!).RATING:- *****(out of 5)