3 more int'l discs
COMRADES! Heading off to AZ today for my brother Nils's wedding....Temps are topping 100 degrees they say, so I'll be the one with an ice water IV....Here are a few new int'l discs for the week....GRUPO NAIDY are a nice pickup by Smithsonian Folkways, SARA TAVARES is the latest bright light from Cape Verde, and SMADJ effectively brings acoustic North African music together with global electronica.....ENJOY!Artist: Sara Tavares
Title: Balancê
Label: Times Square
Genre: int’l / Cape Verde
Grade: A-
On her third album, singer Sara Tavares looks as much to her Cape Verde heritage as to her Portuguese upbringing, using her acoustic guitar and a variety of exotic percussion instruments to create a modified acoustic African pop sound over which she sings her melodic songs, which concern themselves largely with optimistic, generalized expressions of love. Tavares has a jazzy vocal approach that at times recalls Rickie Lee Jones or Norah Jones, and her music has a light touch even when she speeds the tempo for a dance track. She seems to be aiming at a hybrid approach that is neither strictly European nor African, and she largely succeeds, even if the music is more pleasant that substantive. (3 ½ stars)
Reviewer: William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Artist: Grupo Naidy
Title: ¡Arriba Suena Marimba!:
Currulao Marimba Music from Colombia
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Genre: int’l
Grade: A-
Grupo Naidy combines acoustic marimba instrumentation with unpolished (yet disarmingly charming) call-and-response vocals. The vocals, in fact, keep sliding up into a brief, one-note falsetto that seemingly shouldn’t work, yet always does. Best as I can tell, that’s Grupo Naidy’s signature move, and it’s worth checking out.
Reviewer: bjorn ingvoldstad
Artist: Smadj
Title: Take It and Drive
Label: Rasa
Genre: int’l / electronica
Grade: A-
Jean-Pierre Smadja (or “Smadj” to you, buddy) finds a nice way to blend North African acoustic instrumentation / delivery with global electronica. Tracks seem to work best when guest vocalists get into the mix: Amit Chaterjee (India) and Rokia Traoré (Mali) in particular add a lot to the songs they appear on. Preview cuts to think about skipping incidentals that too often appear at beginning of songs!
Reviewer: bjorn ingvoldstad
posted by Anonymous @ 10:03:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home