Skip to main content

Elina Duni, Partir

Elina Duni, Partir


This Albanian singer has traditionally performed Balkan folk music and married it to jazz and other contemporary forms, and on her new album she expands her range. Singing in 9 different languages, Elina Dinu’s voice unites a wide variety of musical compsositions and backgrounds and weaves an international tapestry of soaring beauty. In addition to singing, she plays all the instruments — guitar, piano and drums — though her voice is clearly the main event. Duni the songwriter mostly steps aside here to favor traditional songs and covers. Most of the pieces are still of Balkan or Mediterranean origin, but they venture as far as France to the west and Egypt to the south. All of them sound like they were written for her. Highlights: “Oyfn Veg,” “Vishnja,” “Lamma Bada Yattathana”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Richard Thompson, 13 Rivers

Richard Thompson ,  13 Rivers Richard Thompson — 13 Rivers Arguably the most consistently engaging artist of the last 50 years, Richard Thompson continues to write deep, dark folk-rock songs with an acerbic wit married to a soft, calm wisdom. This new album isn’t widely divergent from his established catalogue but miraculously Thompson, who was already a guitar hero in the 1970s, still manages to grow as a guitarist and sound fresh. Working highly intricate riffs into the undergirding of each song’s frame, he also solos on every song and as usual, his virtuosity remains connected to the music, always moving the songs forward rather than grandstanding. Plus, Thompson’s one of a kind voice only deepens in resonance over time. Highlights: “Trying,” “O Cinderella,” “Bones of Gilead”
Post a Comment
Read more

Jacob Banks, Village

Jacob Banks ,  Village With the British, Nigerian-born future soul singer’s full-length debut, Jason Banks discovers the point at which today’s forward-thinking alternative R&B comes full circle and connect with classic R&B. Banks’s arrangements are contemporary, much of his instrumentation electronic and advanced, and he makes relevant enough cultural references to blend in with the hip hop set. his voice, though, recalls the soul men of yore, with a mighty, stirring baritone of which he is in full command. His voice rings out with power and sensitivity in equal measure. Banks brings some fusion from outside R&B world too, with traces of reggae and African sounds. This one’s worth checking out even if you don’t think you like soul or R&B. Highlights: “Kumbaya,” “Caroline,” “Unknown (To You)”
Post a Comment
Read more

Vince Staples, FM!

Vince Staples ,  FM! The Long Beach rapper follows last year’s star-studded, experimental and genre-warping  Big Fish Theory  with more streamlined hip hop record. With only eight short songs, Staples’s approach is simple, straight and to the point, and packs an awful lot into his breathless 22 minutes. The framing sequence of radio show DJ interludes fills the record out, and it does feature a variety of guest cameos — but this time around, they’re all from the worlds of rap and R&B. The beats are highly varied in style, though mostly uptempo and staccato. Lyrically Staples focuses on a blend of black pride, commentary on the disenfranchised life in America, summertime hangouts, and also plenty of tried-and-true rap self-praise. Highlights: “Outside!,” “Run The Bands,” “FUN!”
Post a Comment
Read more