Continuing their globe-trotting search for good, good music – and vibes – the Time Capsule crew now alight on the French Caribbean, and the island of Martinique. Compiling the early grooves of “Cosmic Poet”, Gratien Midonet. Grooves that combine traditional chouval bwa ceremony with Brazilian boogie, group harmonies with mad modular synths. 

Collecting twelve-plus-one-more magical acoustically strummed rituals – music accompanied by Moog squelches, woodwinds and percussion like shaking serpents tails. The guitar continually switching between African and European influences. Spain, Mali, and the nomads of the Sahara. Sometimes also blurring the border between Hawaiian slide and Nigerian Ju Ju. The picking in places even producing kora-like runs. 

There are moments of electric distortion – I guess Tropicalia in tone – and wah-wah effects ripple like the rush of fresh, fast flowing water. Sampled birdsong and surf wash into sambas of fretless bass, and accordion-like keys – gentle dances given an additional kick by the odd drum machine. 

Most of the songs feature sunshine-fueled sing-along choruses – if you speak Creole that is – and the spoken word passages can’t help but recall Francis Bebey`s beautiful playfulness. Their lyrics mixing childhood memories, nostalgia for home, the beat of the big bèlè, with stories of Arawak, Carib and Kalinago mysticism.

Gratien Midonet`s A Cosmic Poet From Martinique 1979 – 1989 will be released by Time Capsule. You can pre-order vinyl over at Qrates.