Mo-Di
With the release of their first album, Mouth Music became a sensation in Europe and America, topping the World Music charts in Billboard and CMJ New Music Reports, garnering critical raves on both sides of the Atlantic, and making "Best of the Year" lists in Q Magazine, the Boston Globe, and CMJ.The second Mouth Music album, MO-DI is a densely layered musical map of the world, where African grooves meet rhythm and blues while "Milking the Cow."  It's where Eno meets Enya in the ethereal ballad "Waiting," a showcase for vocalist Jackie Joyce.  Easygoing hip-hop rhythms and relaxed toasting are surrounded by a swirling wash of mysterious voices and sythesizers on the relentless "So Step Off."  Celtic funk crosses the Brazilian border on "Crathadh T'Aodaich," carried by Michaela Rowan's vocals, and then melts into Arabic rhythm and violins."I want people to be baffled and excited and confused," says Martin Swan.  " A lot of dance music is low on harmonic content.  A lot of songwriter music is low in rhythm and energy." His band's mix of strong rhythmic grooves and traditional harmonies give each song "a real sense of place," Swan continues, "I need to be taken further than a studio.  I like to feel I've travelled some distance.  Unlike most dance music, these are songs that people should remember after they walk away." Hardly your everyday dance record, MO-DI is both original and strangely familiar, ancient yet completely new.