a game
Shaun de Waal Soccer CD of the week
When the words “World Cup” come up in conversation, I usually have to ask politely which sport is involved. Okay, it has now been drummed into me that most of the world is presently focusing its attention on a series of soccer games in France.
Since Luciano Pavarotti advised the football-loving world a few years ago never to sleep on Nessun Dorma, and sold a few million copies in the process, the soundtrack to the World Cup is a hot commercial property. As Allez! Ola! Ol! The Music of the World Cup (Sony) demonstrates, it is also an occasion to highlight music stars who are big at home but not necessarily well-known internationally.
Kwaito kingpin M’du represents South Africa here, but his song, Mawe, is featured in a new version that has been latinised with a bit of a brassy samba beat. The whole album, in fact, has an intermittent Latin feel – appropriate, given the passions stirred by futbol in Central and South America. Many Latin stars appear here, though the pallid pop of Mexico’s Fey and Argentina’s Soledad doesn’t recommend them. Much more fun are tracks like Daniela Mercury of Brazil’s cumba-style dance number.
Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour and Belgium’s Axelle Red duet soaringly on the official World Cup song, and techno-oldie Jean-Michel Jarre collaborates with both English nouveau-dance act ApolloFourForty and Japan’s Tetsuya Komuro.
Atmospheric samples of cheering crowds and ref’s whistles keep sliding into earshot, and the CD package contains lists of the teams, with things to fill in for all the trainspottery types. It’s quite a relief, really, to find Germany’s Jam and Spoon reminding us cheerily (and ironically?) toward the end that It’s Only a Game.