There's a lot of buzz surrounding the third release by the UK-based band Afro Celt Sound System. Apparently, DJs are requesting the album in a kind of feeding frenzy of excitement, but I'm afraid I can't join that chorus. The album's single "When You're Falling" features a beguiling pop song structure, and Peter Gabriel on lead vocal. (Robert Plant, Pina, and Julie Murphy also offer guest vocals on the album.) "When You're Falling" is the most musical track here, and its brief window of vaguely South African choral work is about as African as anything in the mix.

That's the crux of the problem. The musicians here are strong and the production flawless, but to my ears this group should be called Techno Celt Sound System, because the music is either hopped up Celtic folk, or else fairly generic club groove with flashes of very well-played Celtic music used as garnish. The "Afro" part is little more than a bit of kora here and tama there, and that one vocal break on the Gabriel track. A faint whiff of Malian wassoulou music can be barely detected on "Go On Through," the tune with the tama drumming. But given the overall sound of this record, the term "Afrocelt" is a bit pretentious. If there's rhythm, it's African. Volumes 1 and 2 had the same problem, but here it's even worse, as though the group has drifted further and further away from its desire to include real African music in the mix, but just kept the name for marketing reasons.

As for the music, we get grandiose dirges like "Lagan" and "Persistence of Memory," and Celtic ornamented grooves like "Shadow Man" and "North Part"--just studio fun to my ears. The Robert Plant track, "Life Begin Again," is okay--a kind of blown-out backbeat number not completely devoid of soul. Granted, I'm about as unsympathetic to techno club music as any pop reviewer you're likely to read--most of the stuff bores the hell out of me. I also find most of Gabriel's own music--another important influence here--weighty and ponderous, although I admire the man tremendously for his promotion of world music. Anyway, if techno pump and Gabrielesque high drama are your bag, you may find this a creative gold mine. But Afropoppers beware. On the level of composition, rhythmic structure, ambiance, and overall feeling, this music is "Afro" only in the most watered down, generic, and generous sense of the word. And there's the pity, because the potential inherent in a deeper communion of African and Celtic music is enticing. After all, a lot of great American roots music represents a fusion of exactly these two genres. By comparison, Afrocelt Sound System sells a great idea far short.

Back to the buzz. Word is that Afrocelt's live show goes beyond anything on their records. Check them out in person and decide for yourself.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org