Abatwa (The Pygmy) - Why Did We Stop Growing Tall?

The Guardian 60

(Glitterbeat)

Grammy winner Ian Brennan is a producer on a mission; to capture the music of the forgotten and the dispossessed, a quest that has seen him record Cambodian war survivors and the inmates of Malawi’s Zomba Prison, among others. A trip to remote Rwanda delivered this collection of singers from the endangered Abatwa people, often accompanied by a one-string fiddle and battery-powered loop. Its dozen tracks are spartan but often charming and sometimes disquieting. The Hard Worker resembles a Cajun hoedown, Protect the Environment has mournful call-and-response vocals, while a 19-year-old female rapper delivers a tirade called The Child from the Streets. Remarkable.