This one can be hard to find if you live outside Taiwan and Hong Kong:
Heart of Darkness: Aboriginal Ballads from Taiwan
The music on this CD is performed by a group called "Feijuyuenbao Synectics" (the name means "Flying Fish and Cloud Leopard", and the group has a website in Chinese language). Consisting of members from different indigenous tribes in Taiwan, the Synectics aim to promote the aboriginal culture of Taiwan, and all the proceeds of this CD are to be spent on cultural preservation projects.
This CD has made rounds in "audiophile" magazines in Hong Kong. Indeed, this primarily acoustic record is beautifully made: the instruments are crisp, and the voices are strong and sonorous -- befitting a people living in mountainous terrains, yet emotion is seeped through every tiny vocal inflexion. The opening "Song of Life" is a resigned lament, perhaps symbolising the predicament of indigenous people in an rapidly urbanised world. "Song of Triumph" and "Song of War" is appropriately powerful.
The notes are inadequate: only the lead singer and the arranger, and the tribe they belong, are credited. The instrumentalists, and indeed the instruments, are unlisted. The song texts are included and translated into Chinese and English, but they do not always include the history and story behind each song. Musicological info is completely absent; I am left wondering why the song "Musaauinu" ("Where are you going?") sound so very Hawaiian.
I heard that this CD sold fairly well in Taiwan, and this is to be celebrated. But I'd wish the Synectics had used the liner notes to inform people about the indigenous culture of Taiwan, instead of haranguing about colonial expansion and capitalism and generally painting a picture of victims on themselves -- but with the title Heart of Darkness, you know they are subversive.
The news that Cristina Branco will come to Hong Kong this October prompted me to pick up this, her latest studio CD. Amongst the current generation of Portuguese fadistas, Branco is arguably one who has been truest to her roots; but nowadays, it seems that no fadista of international stature can survive without some experimentation. In Ulisses, Branco sings in several languages and dabbles in melancholic jazz moods, and the result is unappealing -- the second track, "Alfonsina y el mar" sung in Spanish, is as ignorable as a piano-bar's routine, but the pox mark of the album has to be her slow, flaccid rendition of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You".
Beautiful voice aside, Branco is perceptibly out of her elements when she is not singing fado: she ventilates loudly, and her dynamics is straitjacketed. Fortunately, the second half of the album is pure fado delight: here, her thoughtful voice charts and navigates the varying moods in each song, from the weighty "Oh! Como se me alonga de ano em ano" ("Oh! How it grows longer each year" -- the pronoun refers to a journey, of course) to the radiant "Liberte" sung in French, the songs shine and blossom like crystal flowers. The simple line-up of musicians (four different guitars and piano) is nevertheless capable of conjuring a variety of moods, and there is a surprise (uncredited?) in the last instrumental track.
Ulisses is not the unadulterated fado heaven that was Murmurios, Branco's debut, but there is enough beauty to satisfy any fans of beautiful female voice.
The recording is available as SACD, and this is the version that I got.
What!!!??? No CéU? I'm surprised that nobody's even mentioned this one. Maybe I've missed it?
This might not be the traditional Brazilian type of music but she does a great job of mixing electronica, jazz, reggae and Samba. It's kinda relaxing but at the same time fun and groovy. Highly recommend.
Back from the Cristina Branco shows: her song list follows faithfully her latest Live album (which is very good indeed -- full of fado perennials with a few South American imports, and the best thing is that it never gets jazzy and sappy). She is in good form during the shows: many of the audience found her compelling (after the show, the stall was relieved of all her CDs in five minutes); I think she emoted too hard, and subtle nuances were leveled off in favor of highly-charged delivery.
Branco was not a chatty kind, and with the exception of a few songs written during the Portugese Revolution, would rather sing the songs than explaining them. In an interview I read, she seems firm in her belief that language is no problem in appreciating her music (which is true); but I always think that some background information will enhance my enjoyment immensely.
The name threw me off: I had expected some electronic fusion of gnawa music, turned out only three out of the 14 tracks are recognizably gnawa -- one is a straight dope that could have been taken from a field recording; two are overlaid with languid trance beats and are nothing to write about. The bulk of the album are what the magazine Songlines regards as the best thing since the wheel -- ethnic rap and hip-hop. The band, Algerians based in Paris, raps in Frech. While I don't understand the words , they are definitely political (One rapper yells "A Fxxxking cowboy!!" to the strumming of banjos). So are they any good? To be honest, the music is above the typical ethnic hip-hop product, which consists of nothing but exotic instrumentation tacked on factory-setting beats. The music of Gnawa Diffusion is more integrated, substantial, and flowing. Given my strong prejudice against hip-hop I still found it a fun listen.
In her second solo outing, the vocal half of the new-age group Vas makes a point of differentiating her music from the group's. Elysium is a chill-out, "electronica" album: lots of sequencers plus some middle-eastern instruments; drum machines mingle with acoustic percussion. The music is pleasant enough, but does not break any new grounds. Ali sings in both English and her native Persian language, and, as can be seen on the cover, plays the "Harem harlot" stereotype to the hilt -- in Elysium, she uses a breathy, languid voice, as opposed to the sonorous, bell-like tone in the august, almost liturgical material of Vas.
While I have little to complain about the music, the sound suffers from all the ills of modern pop: the recording is not "hot", but the dynamics is still almost flat. Instruments are a muddle; the soundstage is narrow; and Ali's voice is shadowed under tasteless reverb. Electronica can be a feast to the ears; unfortunately bad production can ruin everything.
What!!!??? No CéU? I'm surprised that nobody's even mentioned this one. Maybe I've missed it?
This might not be the traditional Brazilian type of music but she does a great job of mixing electronica, jazz, reggae and Samba. It's kinda relaxing but at the same time fun and groovy. Highly recommend.
x2. This is one of my favorite albums from the last year.
I just got the album by CéU and I agree it is an interesting and enjoyable album. It is tempting to compare CéU with Bebel Gilberto, as both are pushing the boundary of Bossa Nova using electronics. But while Gilberto, with her dreamy pixie voice, inhabits the rainbow-colored world of electronic synthesis, CéU's R&B, "African" vocal style finds a natural match in American urban music. Both are good in her own way, but I prefer Gilberto.
Time to bring this ol' thread out of the dungeon..
Just got the new Orchestra National De Barbes cd 'Alik" and its fr*cking awesome. How come these guys aren't massive worldwide??? Just go to youtube and check them out.
Best live band in the world at the moment? They've got my vote....
Linear Mode
