CD Review: Canada's Dala 'Everyone Is Someone'

Dala

Everyone Is Someone

Campus Music/Lenz Entertainment

The Ontario-based folk duo, Dala, is taking the charts by storm with their award-winning album, Everyone Is Someone. The contempoary folk group is similar in sound to Shawn Colvin, Susan Aglukark, and Sarah MacLachlan. In fact, "Lonely Girl" is uniquely Dala, but it seems like a slightly stripped-down folk song ("Building A Mystery" comes to mind) in the vein of Sarah MacLachlan. The mix of folk instrumentation and pop tunes contains a weighty amount of instruments, including keyboards, mandolin, guitar, piano, drums, bass, harp, cello, banjo, strings, cow bell, hand claps, and something called icicle keyboards. The songs are tender, sweet, and catchy. The English-lyric songs describe love, happiness, Northern culture, and poignant stories backed by superb vocal harmonies and folksy instrumentation with a flair for neo-folk leanings on "Northern Lights," "Younger," and "Levi Blues." Dala is dala-lightful in every sense of the word. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Yarga Sound System - 'Live'

Yarga Sound System

Live

Sketis Music

Hailing from Northwestern Russia, in the Republic of Karelia, resides a band so engrossed with Russia's mystical and folk music, that Live is literally a soundtrack of Northern life. The electronic noises and sounds perfectly accompany a diverse repertoire of mbira, throat-singing, violin, kalimba, winds, loops, and dubs. It is not a particularly modern sound, but it does use some modern electronic wizardry to accent the folk elements. It is the ideal recording for listeners of aboriginal music, Scandinavian folk, and Russian folk with a slightly modern twist. Mostly instrumental, Live features something for everyone without any deleterious side effects. ~ Matthew Forss