Motherfucking MTV, man.

I know the cliche is that they stopped playing music in the early 00s, but at least in Germany they had it all figured out in the last few years. They not just went back to playing almost nothing but music, no, they even had a really damn good team, that put especially at night some really cool playlists together, full of music that I never heard of or totally forgot. Old, obscure and old and obscure stuff that you can’t find on YouTube or any other streamer, wedged in with the obvious hits.

Sadly by now MTV Germany went back to „No music, only reality shit“, but I will cherish the last few years forever!

Why am I telling you this? I’m sure you guessed it. Because of MTV I stumbled across a band that I had never heard of before.

Afro Celt Sound System.

I don’t know why and how they flew under my radar for so long, but after one of their videos ran on CHILL OUT ZONE, which btw was the closest we got to an actual Viva Zwei revival, in terms of experimental music on TV, I instantly grabbed one of their albums.

Their first, to be specific. VOL. 1: SOUND MAGIC. Released in 1996.

Afro Celt Sound System are one of those bands that surely will never get sued for false advertising. It’s pretty much what you imagine a band named Afro Celt Sound System would sound like. African beats with Irish sounds. Plus some synths and electronic beats thrown in for good measure. And it’s crazy how natural that mix sounds.

One cool thing about SOUND MAGIC is that it’s very obvious that a lot of thought was put into the track order. Some albums just sound random. Or they put the big single(s) in the beginning and the stuff that doesn’t work near the end. This album here has an incredible flow. Slower tracks have enough space, so that faster tracks stand out. In a way, it feels like a good DJ set, where the DJ let’s everybody calm down after a string of bangers, before he breaks the next stack of them out.

For example the opener, which technically consists of two tracks, SAOR/FREE and NEWS FROM NOWHERE, starts slow and atmospheric and makes you think of all the Irish villages and landscapes that you saw in movies and TV. I could totally hear this being played in the intro of an Ireland themed TV show. Track 2, WHIRL-Y-REEL 1 is faster and quite the dance song. Uplifting and a mood brightener. And it shows the mix of Irish and African music really well. It’s no surprise that this was released as a single.

For something that has such a clear concept, SOUND MAGIC mixes things up really well. While INION/DAUGHTER wouldn’t have felt out of place on a JAM & SPOON album, SURE-AS-NOT suddenly brings out a breakbeat in its last third, that still makes it sound pretty up to date in 2026. Some tracks, like NIL CEAD AGAINN DUL ABHAILE/WE CANNOT GO HOME have Dub influences, while others are either unashamed Irish or African.

I don’t hate World Music. But I would call SOUND MAGIC and actually Afro Celt Sound System in general „World Music for people who hate World Music“. They were surely not the first to mix the old and the new or different styles from different parts of the world, but it’s surprising how cool they sound.

My point is: This is some damn cool music. And tomorrow’s review should be better. I admit, I already started to struggle with the daily schedule. Sorry.