PAUL SIMON GRACELAND

Rip It Up, Issue 113, 1 December 1986, Page 44

PAUL SIMON GRACELAND

“The world is a shrinking place. It’s no longer a question of whether other cultures will effect what’s going on in this country. It’s only a question of how. I think one of the most important — and entertaining — things any artist can do is to try and bridge cultures; to find the common bond and enhance it. That’s one of the things music does better than any other form of communication, I think, and it’s certainly the foundation for the songs on this album.” ■ On the subject of GRACELAND, a normally measured, soft-spoken conversation with Paul Simon takes on an intriguing edge. It’s obvious he has a story to tell: “My hope is that people will be interested in hearing more of this kind

of music,” he continues. “These artists are enormously gifted and there’s no question that, in time, they could have as significant an impact on popular music, as say, reggae had in the seventies.” It is those sounds that are captured and brilliantly transferred into a whole new cultural context on GRACELAND. Far from an ‘ethnic’ album, farther still from a studious field recording or a westernized approximation of the ‘real thing’, Simon’s work on his first new LP in nearly three years takes on an authenticity all its own. This is African music as surely as it is American music. But more importantly it is human music a celebration of the family of man.

ALBUM • TAPE • COMPACT DISC • UJ66