''Serious Tam'' is the second studio album by
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
n musician
George Telek George Telek Mamua MBE, commonly known simply as Telek, is a musician and singer from Papua New Guinea. He has won one ARIA Award for this 1997 self-titled album. Telek sings in his native language, Kuanua, and in Tok Pisin. Many of his songs are su ...
. The album was released in July 2000. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2001, the album was nominated for
ARIA Award for Best World Music Album.
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
voted the album as 'Best Pop Album of 2000.
Reception
Diana Potts from
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said "Translated, most of the songs on ''Serious Tam'' are about the common themes of daily life and passionate love. This a definite global pop album with an ethnic twist. ''Serious Tams tribal drum sounds and simplicity will take the listener to a better, more serene place."
Josef Woodard from Jazz Times said "Producer David Bridie brings Telek into popish relief, layering on guitars, backbeats and synth sounds on the album ''Serious Tam''. A singer of no small talents, Telek shows his interest in exploring indigenous roots, but there are genuine Beatlesque roots, as well, and enough echoes of
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
to make one wonder about a trickle-down 'company sound' over at Realworld. Most of the lyrics are in the Tolai tongue, Kuanuan and Tok Pisin (Pidgin English) and recount the life of the Tolai people, then and now."
In a review by The Times, the reviewer said "One phenomenal song follows another...Telek's voice on its own is a thing of rare beauty...a magical album".
Li Robbins said "Telek takes the music of Papua New Guinea's Tolai people, and updates it with keyboards, electric bass and guitar, and ambient sounds. The hybrid is for the most part executed with a sure hand, excepting the track Waitpela Gras, where vestiges of prog rock suddenly make an unwelcome visit -- a heavy-handedness sadly all too regular a feature of Realworld recordings. Overall though, it's charming, and sweetly evocative music."
Billboard said "The songs speak of common experiences, love, and magic charms. Once some conventional, and not-so-conventional, Western instrumentation was added to this music, the arrangements emerged as a very appealing traditional/world pop fusion."
Track listing
# "Midal" - 4:12
# "Bunaik" - 5:13
# "To Pol" - 4:05
# "Serious Tam" - 2:14
# "Boystown" - 4:48
# "Iamagit" - 2:35
# "Barturana (Duke of Yorks)" - 3:10
# "Tolili" - 2:19
# "Balamaris" - 4:04
# "Go Ralom" - 3:43
# "Tolili Kundu" - 2:27
# "Waitpela Gras" - 3:02
# "Lili" - 4:18
# "Tutana Kuraip" - 2:43
# "Talaigu" - 2:26
# "Ririwon" - 1:46
# "Sori Tru" - 3:31
(Australian only bonus track)
# "Paska" - 3:22
(Australian only bonus track)
# "Paliwo" - 3:35
(Australian only bonus track)
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2000 albums