Ravi Shankar’s GRAMMY-winning Living Room Sessions Part 1 on East Meets West Music through Harmonia Mundi Distribution is up for the Songlines Magazine Best Artist Award!
From World Village, Lo’Jo is nominated for Best Group with Cinema el Mundo and Emel Mathlouthi is up for Best Newcomer with Kelmti Horra!
Fanfara Tirana & Transglobal Underground’s Kabatronics is out in the U.S. on April 9 on World Village! Listen to two tracks on our Facebook BandPage!
Pre-order the album now on iTunes.
“here’s an experiment that actually works…The result is a highly entertaining clash of Albanian brass and beats, with unexpected echoes of India or the Caribbean added in” - The Guardian, 4 STARS
Two maverick groups, Britain’s eclectic Transglobal Underground and Albanian brass maestros Fanfara Tirana, team up for a dynamic cross-border, cross-cultural jamboree. Drawing on a Tom Tiddler’s ground of musical treasures, Balkan and otherwise, they exchange ideas, melodies and lyrics to tell new tales of mystery and re-imagination in a sparkling celebration of life, love and solidarity with its roots in history and its sights on the future. The results of this collaboration are a blast: Southern Albanian kaba meets reggae; drums meet electronic; the voice of the Albanian folk idol Hysni Niko Zela meets Tuup’s black soul; sitar strings embrace Iso-polyphony from the eagles nation. All together, the album Kabatronics is astounding.
(via New Releases Gloria Cheng, Ludovico Einaudi, Kyle Eastwood :: harmonia mundi usa)
Take a look at the March new releases on Harmonia Mundi. Get 20% off purchases at the webstore through 3/16 with coupon code MAR12!
(via Lo’Jo CD review in DooBeeDooBeeDoo » DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY)
“…The production is fascinating. The way the vocals were mixed is particularly creative. They often place the female vocalists in a distant background, without diminishing their presence or impact. Pean’s vocals are very prominent in the mix; standing at the forefront, like the singer himself leaning close and quietly speaking to you…
The songs are quite imaginatively composed. Each one has its own character; yet they all blend well into a cohesive whole; rather like chapters in a book – or scenes in a movie. The musicianship among the band is flawless…
Cinema el Mundo is one of those CDs that is best listened to at night; preferably in the company of friends and loved ones. The overall feel of Lo Jo’s music is that of being invited into the inner circle of a distant culture, and experiencing firsthand the lives of others, and delighting in the contrast between that which is unfamiliar, and that which you recognize as your own.”
Songs of the Metropolis opens with Paris which features a conversation between sweet piano and a soft saxophone. The rambunctious Tel Aviv follows allowing the musicians to have a bit of fun.
The musicians tone it down for a sulky visit to Buenos Aries and the saxophone appears to shed tears. Here we imagine unrequited love, tango dancers abandoned, alone on the dance floor. We could expect the late tango master Astor Piazzolla to show up with his bandoneon. And although this track drips with exquisite perspiration, the musicians don’t break into a tango. On the other hand, Vienna features a glockenspiel and sends us waltzing across the floor. I expected them to break into an improvisation of My Favorite Things, ala John Coltrane. However, on Scarborough the musicians treat us to strains of the famous folk tune Simon and Garfunkle made famous. Rounding off the cities, we musically travel to Manhattan, Moscow, Berlin, and somewhere in Italy. What fun!
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Gilad Atzmon’s Songs of the Metropolis : In review—World at Your Feet In stores next Tuesday! On iTunes now. |
Don’t forget to vote for World Village for Best World Music Label in the About.com Reader’s Choice Awards! Voting continues everyday until March 19!
Come like us on Facebook! Upcoming releases:
Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble - Songs of The Metropolis (March)
Fanfara Tirana & Transglobal Underground - Kabatronics (April)
Don’t forget to vote for World Village for Best World Music Label in the About.com Reader’s Choice Awards! Voting continues everyday until March 19!
