Franketienne and Mark Mulholland - Chaophonies

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 7 / 5 / 2014

---

Review

Although there is little evidence of this, this album was conceived in tribute to Haïti. The captivating French folk blues music of Franketienne echoes two centuries of the island's 'malheur'. Franketienne, however, sounds like he is singing about Paris, and the influence of 'la ville schizophonique' – Haïti's capital Port-au-Prince – is only there in the background. A devoted homage to his city by any means, Franketienne, however, strikes a universal chord. Mulholland being a Scotsman certainly helps, yet because of Franketienne's eloquence and ease with words you might be tricked into thinking he's French, or from Paris. Mark Mulholland's orchestration owes much to the Penguin Café Orchestra, Leo Kottke and Ry Cooder, which provides a unique contrast to Franketienne’s frank Frenchness. "Dans mon ventre (...) dans mes tripes" shows that his gut feelings are right. Franketienne's longing for a "ville toute proche" indeed ends in a chaophony but refrains from cacaphony, let alone chaos. 'Chaophonies' is a concise and coherent album of Haïti poetry and blues folk, as heard and rendered through Western ears.

Track Listing:-

1 Mots et rêves
2 Ville schizophonique
3 Le petit train
4 Terre ouvrière d'ombre
5 Potoprens chouk
6 Loco
7 Sa Ki Lan Kè Mwen
8 Bleu fou
9 Tambours et ombres dense
10 Peyi A
11 Mots et rêves (Instrumental)

Band Links:-

http://www.markmulholland.net/
https://www.facebook.com/markmulhollan
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Franket

Label Links:-

http://canneryrowmusic.com/