The Library CD Music Shelf
La Difference
Salif Keita
Decca/UMG Recordings
c/o RockPaperScissors, Publicist
825 - 8th Avenue, New York NY 10019
$16.98 www.deccarecords-us.com
Salif Keita IS different from most Africans, in that he is albino and
has suffered for it, as have other albinos throughout Africa. Profits
from LA DIFFERENCE thus will go to Salif's charity to help albinos in
Africa. Of course most listeners will not realize this, as the lyrics
are not in English or any other European-based language. So why buy
this recording? Because it's Keita's most musically realized recording
yet, using traditional Malian instruments blended with Western
instruments such as piano, electric guitar, but not the brass horns we
heard on his early recordings. On some cuts there are Arab-sounding
string sections or an oud, perhaps an accordion. Some of these tunes
have been in Salif's repertoire for decades but are now done in a
softer and more imaginative style. Salif Keita may have started out in
a band whose whole purpose was to get people dancing, but now with LA
DIFFERENCE and the last two albums that preceded it, Keita shows just
how much he has grown as an artist, carefully weaving ancient and
modern sounds from around the world into something new, yet deeply
rooted and moving. Highly recommended!
Charming Hostess
The Bowls Project
Tzadik
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
511 West 4th Street, Suite 2, Bloomington, IN 47404
$15.00 www.rockpaperscissors.biz
Charming Hostess is an extraordinary music album on CD, inspired by
the earthenware "demon bowls" that have been excavated from beneath
Babylonian houses. Blending the stark enlightenment of these
mysterious, somewhat animalistic decorations with elements of
everything from Iraqi popular to American heritage music, Charming
Hostess brings to life the manipulations of mistrustful demons. Might
a demon adopt an unassuming disguise, the better to trick the
unprepared into an improper marriage, even compel a subsequent
divorce? Are the machinations of angels truly any more benevolent?
Vocals, cello, clarinet, percussion, guitar, dulcimer, harmonium and
more contribute to this eclectic yet illuminating audio tour of
supernatural forces. An unforgettable listening experience, all the
way through.
Vranjski San
Brass Menazeri
Porto Franco Records
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
511 West 4th Street, Suite 2, Bloomington, IN 47404
CD, $13.99 www.rockpaperscissors.biz
Vranjski San is a riotously exciting music CD album by the group Brass
Menazeri, blending Bosnian tradition and Balkan brass with wildly
popular Bollywood stylings and homage to Rromani (Gypsy) influence.
The result is an eclectic, original blend of classic and contemporary,
a celebration of brass, funk, and jam. Vranjski San is as lively as it
is emotionally enlightening, and a "must-have" for international music
shelves. The tracks are "Vranjski San", "Hajde Fato",
"Mikrokonstandinos + Zone Erotikos", "Izgubljeno Jagnje",
"Cocekahedron", "Phirava, Daje", "Vranjanka", "Mejra na Tabutu",
"Hasan's Dream", "E Davulja", "Mandilatos", "Lal Lal Hothon Pe",
"Izgubljeno Jagnje Reprise", "Kozarica Kolo", and "Opa Cupa Fly". Also
highly recommended for anyone curious to peer beyond America's borders
for rapturous music is French singer Michele Choiniere's newly
released album, "La Violette".
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