Le Grandi Voci Della Canzone Italiana [Import] Review

Le Grandi Voci Della Canzone ItalianaThis is a splendid collection of some of Carlo Buti's best songs.The voice is secure, accurate, but most importantly marvelous both in tone and technique. There are several other wonderful CDs of Carlo Buti favorites, and this one ranks high on the list.It is not an exaggeration to say that he never disappoints.One of Italy's finest popular tenors.Enjoy.

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Onda [Enhanced, Import] Review

OndaMuch of Fiamma Fumana's music is founded upon Northern Italian traditional folk music, with many a nod to Scottish folk music as well. FF seasons these traditional sounds and themes with contemporary ideas - for example, waiting around in airports between flights, in "Check In" - and modern sounds - perhaps most notably, Medhin Paolos's electronica, which is laced throughout their albums; but also Lisa Kant's vocals, which sometimes strike a traditional, soulful stance, just as they at other times strike a modern rock pose. It is this amalgam of the traditional and the modern which is FF's defining characteristic.

Onda is a superb album. Lisa's vocals display remarkable virtuosity on each and every song. She simply has a beautiful voice, at times gentle and soothing, at other times, bursting with good-natured energy.Another distinctive feature of FF music is the often unexpected and delightful presence of Alberto Cottica's piano and acoustic guitar, which are often subtly interlaced throughout the electronica. Lady Jessica's pipes and whistles and Alberto's accordion are also defining sounds.

I mentioned before that Onda is bursting with good-natured energy. Let me add that this characteristic is indeed one of the things that makes this album so much fun: it is genuinely upbeat. While it is in many ways "modern" music, there is nothing cynical about it. On the contrary, it is a celebration of human perseverance, comradery, and talent. These latter items define FF's philosophy. If you read around on their website, it becomes very clear that these are very smart, good, and talented people who want to preserve great music, along with an emotional connection with the past, but who also want to bring these traditions forward to effect positive change in the here and now. If this all seems too heady, don't worry: this album is extraordinarily danceable and sing-along-able. Anyone with half a soul won't be able to resist smiling and tapping a toe. (Side note: For anyone who has seen FF live, their studio albums are NOT a letdown. I saw them play in Bloomington IN back in '06, and immediately purchased all their albums, and have not been disappointed by a single track. For anyone who has not seen them live, do so if you can - they're amazing.)

One more thing: If you listen to some Fiamma Fumana and like it, do an Amazon search for "Contatto." "Contatto" is Lisa Kant's remarkable solo album; but since it features her Fiamma Fumana cohorts providing instrumentation, hearing it is almost like discovering a lost FF album. See my review.

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Product Description:
Fiamma Fumana Mixes Electronic and Contemporary Grooves with Traditional and Pop Music.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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La Disparition Review

La DisparitionKeren Ann is one of those gems that are kept out of the spot light mainly because there is only a small audience for the magnificence she brings in her music. She doesn't get plastic surgery and doesnt try to fit into any type of music genre.
Her first album, 'Biographe de Luka Philipsen' was definitely a surprise hit that I stumbled upon by mistake (trying to find alternative versions of 'Aeroplane' by Red Hot Chili Peppers, I accidentally download miss Ann's version of the song). 'Biographe' contains some very good songs that fall on scales that are not repetitive in the music biz.
'La Disparition' is not as powerful nor unique as 'Biographe,' however the album continues to prolong the unique and subtle energy of the very talented Keren Ann. The beauty of Keren Ann's music falls on the simplicity of the songs... often imagined as a young girl emotionally driven and singing out of her bedroom to the world around her.
The theme from 'La Tentation' is heard again in the final song 'La Dispiration.' A very cute French song, the melody sounds like a child's song rehearsed in pre school. 'Au coin du monde' sounds like Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" on guitar. Other songs are mellow and fall in the 'Biographe' tradition.
Overall the album is good but not as good as the previous hit. Recommended songs include: 'La Disparition,' 'Aielleurs', and ' La corde et les chaussons.'

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Product Description:
2002 Follow Up Release to the Highly Succesful 'la Biographie De Luka Philipsen'.--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Deep River of Song: Georgia [Original recording remastered] Review

Deep River of Song: GeorgiaTo a certain extent, in terms of historical purposes, I feel that almost all the Lomax recordings are essential documents. Having said that, they all attain various degrees of musical success. What I mean is, some you'll want to hear over and over again, and others you'll feel you can do without.
This is one of my favorite discs in the Deep River Of Song Series.
I have noticed that this website doesn't bring up every disc in this series with just a "Deep River Of Song" search. In the interest of helping people find these discs here, I'll name every other disc in the series.
South Carolina
Bahamas 1935
Bahamas 1935 Volume 2
Mississippi: The Blues Lineage
Mississippi: Saints and Sinners
Black Texicans
Big Brazos
Black Appalachia
Virginia and the Piedmont
Alabama
Now, onto Georgia. First and foremost, this disc is an essential purchase for Blind Willie McTell fans. From a handful of excellent performances to some commentary and small interviews interlaced with the music, he once again displays his full wealth of musical and emotional power. Just hearing him talk about parents in the fields singing during the old days will be enough to get you all choked up.
There are also a couple good tracks of some of the music from one of the Georgia Sea Islands.
If you are wondering which few discs to pick and choose from the Deep River Of Song series, I would definitely recommend this be one of the ones you choose to buy.

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Dead Man Walking [Soundtrack, Import] Review

Dead Man WalkingThis isn't exactly a review of the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack -- you can find that under one of the other listings for that CD.Rather, it's a Eddie Vedder/PJ-centric review of this particular Legacy Edition version of the CD.The Legacy Edition of the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack is a bit different in that it includes Eddie Vedder's "Dead Man," which was originally left off the original soundtrack (and the movie) because it conflicted with Bruce Springsteen's eponymous tune.Not exactly a reason to go out and buy this CD, since "Dead Man" can already be found on PJ's "Lost Dogs" album.Likewise, while the Vedder duets with undisputed master of Quawali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, "Face of Love" and "Long Road" are pretty awesome, the complete extended versions are on the Dead Man Walking Score (not soundtrack), along with some other tunes featuring Nusrat, so you should buy that instead.

The reason to buy this Legacy Edition package is that it includes a DVD of the "Not in Our Name" charity concert denouncing capital punishment at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1998.Politics aside, the concert includes Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett (accompanied by cellist John Hagen), Ani DiFranco and then a very cool set by Eddie Vedder with Jeff Ament, John Densmore (from the Doors), David Robbins (Tim Robbins' brother, who did the movie score), along with Nusrat's nephew, Rahat Nusret Fateh Ali Khan and Dildar Hussain (on tabla).Nusrat died in early 1998, so couldn't make it here, and the acoustic mini-set by Vedder and Co. is something of a tribute concert.First, Vedder plays the Cat Stevens tune, "Trouble," a nice plaintive tune with Ed on vocals and acoustic guitar.Pretty cool.Then he does "Dead Man" with Jeff (who's on acoustic bass) -- this is such a great song and apparently one of PJ's favorites.Finally they sit down with the rest of the players for "Long Road" and "Face of Love."Everybody's pretty chill, sitting cross-legged out on a rug spread onstage, and the group tunes have great interplay between Rahat and Eddie.Eddie's even doing the Nusrat parts near the end.Of course, Rahat is no Nusrat, so it's not quite as good as the score, but it's live and pretty inspired.Parts of the mini-set used to be available on YouTube, but no more -- someone from Sony must have gotten upset -- so here's where to go for the music and the footage.

Ed clearly revered Nusrat and was influenced by his singing (e.g., "Arc" on 'Riot Act'), and it's a pity they didn't have the chance to collaborate more.But this gives you some idea of the potential, and this 30 minutes of music was well worth the (used) price I paid for the soundtrack.

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Afro-American Blues and Game Songs Review

Afro-American Blues and Game SongsThis is possibly the worst transfer of data into digital format that I have ever heard.I have a 30 year old copy of this album on vinyl that I carefully recorded in MP3 format.The quality of this home recording maintains the fidelity of the original recording infinitely better than this CD.I bought the CD hoping for a better digital format, not worse.I am sending back this opened and played CD to Amazon.com today.Let's see how they respond to a return that is based soley on the fact that it is an incredibly inferior product.One final note.The music of the original recording will make any effort you take to find one of the older vinyls well worth your effort.

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Salvatore Adamo en Chile [Live][Import] Review

Salvatore Adamo en Chile [Live][Import]If you whant 1 cd from Adamo, thats the one you have to get. You're live in de stade de Chile while playing this music.

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