CD Review: Xylouris White's 'Goats'

Xylouris White
Goats
Other Music Recording Co.

Xylouris White is a group formed from George Xylouris and Jim White. George is a very talented Greek lute player with one vocal song on the new album, Goats. Jim White is a percussionist from Australia with a penchant for creating rhythms characteristic of goats traversing rocky hill-sides. The lute adds an element of surprise to the entire album with diverse tunings, playing styles, and an unabashed ability to create diverse and engaging tunes. There are nine total tracks, but only one contains vocals and George is the vocalist. The entire album is around thirty-five minutes in length, but it should not be ignored. The triumphant silences and sounds of the opener, "Pulling The Bricks," intrigues the listener with its divergent sound. The minstrel-like lute sounds of many of the tracks suggests a Medieval presence, too. Overall, Xylouris White is a great duo that knows how to entertain humans and goats with ease. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Kompania's 'Round Trip'

Kompania
Round Trip
CHARA

The Greek group, Kompania, releases an excellent new release aptly-titled Round Trip. The album touches on music beyond the traditional rebetiko fanfare with vibrant oud, baglama, zills, davul, darbouka, slide guitar, bouzouki, accordion, and guitar. There is still a good amount of Greek music here, but the instrumental repertoire opens up the tunes to influences across Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of the Middle East. The Greek vocals are emotive, mournful, and happy throughout. In fact, the vocals are so powerful at times they tend to take on a life of their own. The vocal arrangements are diverse and appropriately match the instrumental sections. Vocals are attributed to Katerina Tsiridou, Sotiris Papatragiannis, and Dimitris Kranidas. The metallic bouzouki sounds are bright and cheery. The percussion is sparse, but precise. The entire package is enlightening and full of life with varied vocals and sounds that create a whirling atmosphere of sonic delight. Nothing is wrong here. Round Trip begins and ends with Kompania. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Turkey's Cigdem Aslan Releases 'Mortissa'

Cigdem Aslan
Mortissa
Asphalt Tango

Turkish-born singer, Cigdem Aslan, presents us with a debut album of rousing smyrniac, rebetiko, Balkan, gypsy, and Greek-themed compositions. There are also Sephardic, Turkish, Kurdish, Bulgarian, Roma, and Ladino leanings. Cigdem's voice is timeless and youthful. The thirteen songs are lively, refreshing, and upbeat. Most of the songs are reinvented from the 1920s and 30s. Mortissas are women that are independent and do not behave as society expects, which gives Cigdem's album a fitting title. Not exactly a rebel, Cigdem stays true to Mediterranean, Grecian, and Turkish roots with memorable rhythms, vocals, and melodies. There is even a Central Asian tone; especially with the qanun and baglama. At any rate, Cigdem Aslan creates beautiful songs that deserve to be heard around the world. Start listening today! ~ Matthew Forss  

CD Review: Banda Magda's 'Amour, t'es la?'

Banda Magda
Amour, t'es la?
Self-Release

Banda Magda is a quirky, bossa-nova-tinged album of delicate little pop songs with a breezy, folksy, and brass-inflected repertoire that is never boring. Magda Giannikou leads the vocal section with almost a French café sensibility that spans the European continent without fault. The musicians involved in the project come from a variety of world regions with Argentina, Greece, Japan, and USA origins. The colorful songs contain strings, brass, percussion, guitars, marimba, piano, and other assorted instruments that give the music a playful and textural feel. This is dreamy chic French pop music with a little classical, jazz, South American, and North American melodies and rhythms. Each song is unique and well-worth repeated listens. Fans of French pop, European pop, creative contemporary music, and world fusion will find comfort in the vocals and instruments showcased on Amour, t'es la?. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Greater Alexander's 'Positive Love'

Greater Alexander
Positive Love
Greater Records

New York-born, Greece-raised, and currently located in Michigan, Greater Alexander (Alexander Vlachos) brings us scintillating folk tunes with classy guitar stylings and various instruments that come together to form an engaging type of music. Greater Alexander's vocals are akin to Jack Johnson and Paul Simon. Moreover, the musical arrangements are not too unlike the aforementioned musicians. The sweeping folk guitar tune, "Baby Steps," contains a steady beat and wistful vocals that are free-flowing. "Feel Of Summer" is another breezy and sauntering tune on guitar. The acoustic guitar is refreshing and sparkles with folksy charm. Moreover, the whistle medley is another sign of folk-isms winning out. "Everlasting" incorporates a little piano accompaniment with backup vocals and wispy lead vocals that are soft and light throughout. "Let It Be Me" is another fun song with acoustic guitar-driven elements and vocals akin to Australia's Xavier Rudd. Twelve songs in all are included on the album and all of them fit a folksy vein. Part of the folksy fusion could be due to the global influences. Anyone familiar with Jack Johnson, Xavier Rudd, Paul Simon, and similar artists will love Greater Alexander. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Ljuba Davis Ladino Ensemble's 2-CD 'East And West'

Ljuba Davis Ladino Ensemble
East And West [2-CD]
Self-Release

The Ljuba Davis Ladino Ensemble brings us an exciting 2-CD set of Sephardic music with lively instrumentals and joyous vocals. The Ladino qualities are inherent throughout, but there is a good deal of Mediterranean, Greek, and Arab musical influences contained throughout both CDs. Both CDs contain identical songs in identical order, but the first CD contains vocals by Ljuba Davis, while the second CD contains one vocal track by Avram Pengas. The group consists of Ljuba Davis on vocals, Avram Pengas on vocals and bouzouki, Rachid Halihal on oud, Nadav Lev on Spanish guitar, Ossama Farouk on hand percussion, and Marty Confurius on string bass. The rousing group is very fun to listen to and steeped in Ladino glory. This is music for the Klezmer, Jewish, Ladino, and Mediterranean music fan! ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Choban Elektrik's Self-Titled Release From The Balkans By Way Of Brooklyn

Choban Elektrik
Choban Elektrik
Self-Release

Choban Elektrik, which means 'electric shepherds,' is a rousing recording with Balkan gusto and instrumental tunes that are steeped in Bulgarian, Macedonian, Albanian, Greek, Armenian, and other styles. The use of Hammond organ, rhodes, electric guitar, accordion, piano, synth, bass, drums, kanjira, marimba, riqq, pandeiro, and violin, make Choban Elektrik stand out from the crowd, due to its folksy, psychedelic, and funky dance grooves that eloquently bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary. The rock guitar elements of "Moj Xhemile," represent an almost Saharan rock guitar arrangement--but this is not an African music recording. This only solidifies Choban Elektrik's uncanny ability to use different rhythms, styles, and instruments in their creative purposes for a meaningful and memorable result. Though, this is mostly an instrumental effort, Eva Salina Primack adds her vocal talents on "Moj Xhemile" and "Cobankat." This is a perfect album for fans of Balkan folk, rock, psych, and dance without all the brass that is typically associated with Balkan music. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Nisos' 'Nisos'

Nisos
Nisos
Kania Brothers Entertainment

The Czech Republic-based band, Nisos, is a lively, contemplative, and folk-based, world music group that incorporates a plethora of styles from Turkey to Greece. The Greek influences are found in the instruments and rhythms. Furthermore, the band name means "island" in Greek. It appears their musical influences from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Israel reflect the folk traditions inherent in these distinct cultures. However, Nisos attempts to combine them into a sort of fusion that sounds natural and very appealing. A variety of pleasant instruments are utilized, including the lyra, santuri, buzuki, saz, clarinet, kaval, oud, guitar, lute, trombone, trumpet, kanun, and double bass. The music is only around half-an-hour long, but the quality makes up for any time deficiencies. The vocals and instruments are worth their weight in gold....or "Mana" (my favorite track). ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Bidaia's 'Agur Shiva'

Bidaia

Agur Shiva

Self-Release

The Basque regions of Spain and France are relatively underrepresented in today's global music family. Thankfully, Bidaia, which means "voyage", is out to change all that. The group is essentially Caroline Phillips and Mixel Ducau with a few additional musicians. Mixel is from the Basque region, while Caroline is a US-based singer/songwriter of Persian and Greek origin. Both musicians lend vocals on a few tracks, while others are completely instrumental. Caroline plays the ahotsa, zarrabetea, and hurdy gurdy. Mixel plays the ahotsa, guitar, albokak, bamboo clarinet, and hornpipes. The hurdy gurdy is a nice accompaniment that adds a little Scandinavian charisma to the French and Spanish-tinged songs. Almost half of the songs are purely instrumental. The vocal songs are sung in the Basque language. The driving folk rhythms are a bit Scottish, Irish, and Andalusian in tone without any direct comparisons to the aforementioned genres. Nevertheless, Agur Shiva is a lively album with folksy rhythms, traditional instrumentation, and a plethora of Basque charm to go around. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Nitza's 'Ageless' Music

Nitza

Ageless

Musaic

The world beat and new age sounds of Nitza encompasses a plethora of similarly-related styles and influences. However, the primary influence is Mediterranean and Middle Eastern rock/pop with equal doses of contemporary and traditional instrumentation. As a singer, Nitza is equally adept at rock/pop and new age with the edginess, soul, and spunk of a budding musical auteur. The Greek-lyric song, "Se Thelo", is the only non-English song. The driving percussion of "Mesmerize" sounds like a pop/rock song from the Middle East. The varied instrumental repertoire include bansuri flute, shakuhachi, keyboards, oud, violin, bass, darbuka, bouzouki, cumbus, saz, guitar, and assorted percussion represent a global journey with a modern beat. "Lost" is a symphonic, Enigma-type track with Nitza's heart-felt vocals. As a whole, Nitza's vocals take on the embodiment of the late-Ofra Haza and Gwen Stefani. "Too Close To The Sun" is one of the better tracks based solely on a mix of melody and vocals. Nitza's music is a perfect mix of global beats and vocal melodies that border on global fusion and new age. ~ Matthew Forss