Iain Campbell Smith
Bagarap Empires
© 2005 Iain Campbell Smith (783707058009)
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"One should seriously consider purchasing Bagarap Empires. Especially if you are, or would like to be, a songwriter, just to hear how good it sounds when it's done really well" Mike Cooper, fROOTS magazine (UK)
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"Once in a blue moon a drift of music so unlike any other enfolds your sensibilities and reaffirms the power of song"
Warwick McFadyen, The Age, Melbourne, Australia
"Bagarap Empires is an intelligent, compassionate and sardonic Australian's response to his experiences as a Peace Keeper in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands"
Doug Spencer, Presenter, ABC Radio National
Over the last 5 years songwriter Iain Campbell Smith has spent time away from the Australian festival circuit to work in the war-ravaged islands of the South Pacific.
Sent to the islands by the Australian Foreign
Ministry, he learned pidgin dialect and began
writing songs, in both English and pidgin, from the stories of the people he worked with as they struggled to build trust and peace after a bitter war
He became a celebrity on Bougainville Island collaborating with local musicians to release 20,000 copies of a "Songs of Peace" cassette, and hosting a weekly program on the island's only radio station.
Bagarap Empires has been described as "a focused work of storytelling through song." They are stories of tough times in a faraway place. The experiences of men, women and nations at war are universal, and the parallels with American and Australian experiences in Vietnam and Iraq are strong.
The first edition of Bagarap Empires was released in Australia in 2002 and gained legendary status on the Australian folk scene. Smith has added 4 new songs for this North American release, all written last year on his final tour of duty in Bougainville.
Three of the tracks are sung in Papua New Guinea pidgin dialect including a light hearted jingle Iain wrote for Radio Bougainville.
Sydney film maker Nick Agafonoff shadowed Smith for 3 weeks during his last tour of the island resulting in the documentary film Bougainville Sky, scheduled for release in June 2005.
This unique album was co-produced by Peter Best, musical director for Crocodile Dundee.
More quotes about Bagarap Empires:
"Wonderful songs, different and clever arrangements, and powerful performance make "Bagarap Empires" one of most appealing efforts released by a contemporary songwriters in recent times."
Massimo Ferro, Radio Voce Spazio, Italy
"An album full of haunting, stirring, compassionate, sardonic and dark beauty"
Deiter Bajzek, Folk Alliance Australia Newsletter
"A stunning marriage of ethereal poetry and hard nosed realism lyrically, with relentless rhythm and fragile, shimmering melody"
Warwick McFadyen, The Age, Melbourne, Australia
reviews
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What great depth and haunting,gentle beauty! Bagarap Empires, YES!
author: Kathryn DavidsonBagarap Empires is hauntingly lovely and real. It seems to come straight from soul of this talented singer/songwriter. Absolutely incredible, sensitive lyrics and music that speak to all of us! Very deeply moving!Thank you, Iaian!
Songs with a true sense of place
author: Gene F.A travelogue, of sorts, about Iain's stint in the Solomon Islands as a peacekeeper. After a couple of listens you may well feel like you were there by his side the whole time. Clever, heartfelt, and a joy to listen to, even when you feel like shedding a tear. A must!
Songs with a true sense of place
author: Gene F.A travelogue, of sorts, about Iain's stint in the Solomon Islands as a peacekeeper. After a couple of listens you may well feel like you were there by his side the whole time. Clever, heartfelt, and a joy to listen to, even when you feel like shedding a tear. A must!
Enchanting
author: LindaA wonderful discovery! Brings the listener into his world, from the playful to the serious. "When she cries oceans."
Well done!
author: Allan HarringtonI recently had the oportunity to hear Iain play live at a local SAW showcase, what a pleasure. He is a wonderfully engaging entertainer and writes great songs. Don't miss the chance the see him live!