Reuploaded 11/27/2025
I've tried to avoid multi-country compilations so far, but these Island nations are so small, the populations are so migratory, & the recording industry on most so nonexistent that I have lumped the last few Island nations into one post of some great traditional music from around the South Pacific. Some countries in this 27 track compilation I already posted & it covers most of the rest as well.
Another fine release from the Nonesuch catalogue.
In 1978 & 1979, musicologist David Fanshawe made a
whirlwind tour of the South Pacific with the goal of recording the folk music
traditions of the region. The fruits of his extensive labor are featured here,
presenting a diversity of musical settings & styles, from love songs to
work chants.
Here is an excerpt from the original liner note, from 1981:
“Do not expect to hear Hawaiian guitars, ukuleles, & the
Hula. Imagine, however, a musical odyssey through the South Pacific islands
traveling with a rucksack, 200 rolls of tape, 35mm film, & a stereo tape
recorder. Here are some wonderful examples of authentic South
Seas music—unbelievably beautiful & yet an endangered species.
If you travel from the Cook Islands in an anti-clockwise circle via the Solomon Islands to Tahiti,
if you search hard enough this is the kind of music you might have the luck to
find.”
This is a compilation of sweet singing, steel guitars, &
lovely music of the South Pacific. Great songs like "Imenetuki," with some eerie, shifting
harmonies from the Cook Islands or the easy
beauty of the Tongan "Faikava Love Song." Some more of the pan pipes
of the Solomon Islands
are featured here. From the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), the song "Te
Kawawa" has an elastic quality with the single male voice sliding in
microtones around the notes. A drum accompanies Samoan women as they sing a
lullaby on "Tagi," the slow rhythm like a pulse beat. In other words,
there's plenty going on here; it's an indigenous travelogue through the Pacific Islands. Beautifully recorded with
stunning clarity, the reissue of this 1981 album is a delight.
Various - South Pacific: Island Music, Nonesuch 79723, 2003
re-release.
Trackslist –
Drum Dance
Tapa Cloth Beating
Mire
Imenetuki – Cook Islands
Tau’a’alo
Faikava Love Song
Octopus Fishing
Fangufangu Nose Flute
Muli Tu Pe – Tonga
Male Fan Dance
Club Dance Meke Iwau
Vakamalolo Mixed Sitting Dance
New Year Celebration – Fiji
Pan Pipes Rereo Taba
Pan Pipe Ensemble
Pan Pipes & Night Roar
Spirit Song U’ula
Shell Money Making
Women’s Song Kukburi Sifoa – Solomon Islands
Te Kamei
Te Kawawa
Toddy Cutting Song – Kiribati
Sasa
Conch Shell Horn
Tagi
Ma’ulu Ulu – Samoa
Imene Tarava – French Polynesia
Enjoy…all that’s left of the South Pacific is a post of some
great French Polynesian music & then it’s off to Tierra del Fuego & the
firm ground of South America…Chile, here I come.
NØ