Album Reviews Ray LaMontagne PART OF THE LIGHT. RCA With a delicious and exciting acoustic guitar sweep LaMontagne opens this album in grand modern folk style. ‘To The Seas’ superb production quality hits me immediately as that gentle and smooth voice ‘Paper Man’ is next and thunders along in darker mode with production that’s Spector-esque, grand and compelling. Anothe fine melody makes this one linger in the head…”Why so many people always running around?/Looking for a happiness that can’t be found” is the observation that opens ‘Part Of The Light’ with the message hammered home with: “For every one respendent in/the wealth of kings/thousands upon thousands only suffering?” The fragile backing vocals add such emotion and drama to a song with another solid melody and one of the most expressive and moving vocals on the record. ‘It’s Always Been You’ is a slow-moving hymn to love which also sounds very ecclesiastical with Hammond featuring aided by mournful guitar notes. Just beautiful. This has not been the best of album release years so far but this recent release really ups the stakes. Having also recently seen LaMontagne perform live in front of a capacity 3,000 audience I can now understand why he holds a special place in the hearts of so many fans. The album offers diversity in tempo (check out the explosive blues rock of ’As Black As Blood Is Blue’) and mood allied with moving lyrics and vocal performances that reflect song sentiments and emotion. Essential. 5/5 The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices Feat Lisa Gerrard BooCheeMish. Prophecy “In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox. Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.” BooCheeMish sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s. Sometimes in listening to music sung in an incomprehensible foreign language one is still able to be moved and entertained. But how can this be? Listen to this album and you will understand why…the first thing that struck me listening to ‘the voices’ for the first time (with this album) was its distinctive harmonies and exhuberant tribal a capella sound. Combine these with tangible melodies, the punctuated percussive sounds and indivudually beautiful voices and one is compelled to listen. Now I also happen to be a Lisa Gerrard fan and she admits that her original and distinctive sound is at least partially influenced by Bulgarian folk music and voices. Lisa Gerrard features on the second track of the album, ‘Pora Sotunda’, which is composed by Gerrard and Jules Maxwell. The succesful marriage of voices from very different cultures is extraordinary. The pace and mood of songs is wonderfully diverse but with a steadfast traditional thread running through, even with the modern compositions. ‘Rano Ranila’ is a fast-paced modern song followed by a much slower and mystical ‘Mani Yanni’ which is intensely moving and again features Lisa Gerrard in lead vocal duties. The sparse and beautifully judged instrumental arrangements throughout focus the attention on the voices but are nonetheless superb and a dramatic addition. ‘Yove’ speeds up and in my mind’s eye I can imagine the choir moving to the songs powerful rhythm and enjoying every minute (my feet couldn’t stop tapping). ‘Sluntse’ opens in a capella style but within seconds voices give way to a jazzy mix of guitar, gadulka, and other strings to complete another stunning song. The voices return full-time in ‘Unison’ which once again features the special voice of Gerrard. The song has a distinctly Eastern vibe with sharp percussive sounds accompanying solo and multiple voices. I sense an innocence and sincerity with the songs on this album with harmonies which are utterly compelling. If you’re interest is in choral music with a traditional foundation but with the odd modern touch then you should savour this album. 4.5/5 Page: 1 2 |
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