"Orient Noir - A West-Eastern Divan" - Various artists: Watcha Clan, Bi Kidude Baraka and more
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buy this record- Artist:Various artists: Watcha Clan, Bi Kidude Baraka and more
- featured artist:Watcha Clan, Maurice El Medioni, Bi Kidude Baraka
- region:Orient
- release year:2012
- style(s):
- Oriental
- country:Germany
- catalogue numberPIR2545
- formats:
- CD
Orient Noir presents a collection of tender oriental rhythms and mesmerising melodies, tastefully selected by the renowned music curator and collector Dr. Bertram Nickolay. Elegant Arabic-oriental traditions meet the rich heritage of Jewish-oriental music and create an east-west divan of 14 outstanding musical pieces.
Orient Noir leads the listener on a magic carpet ride over a colourful landscape of oriental culture that, even today, seems different and unexplored to us. The west and south coasts of the editerranean sea are connected by ancient bonds - maybe this is the reason why the sound of the Orient touches the Western world so deeply.
The musical kaleidoscope gives cultural insight into a region that has recently experienced a revolutionary awakening into a new era. Starting from the North African Maghreb via the Near and Middle East, the music enchants the listener with lively examples of how, much more than in Western culture, music is still deeply rooted in oriental culture and keeps flourishing at celebrations like weddings and religious festivities alike.
Orient Noir features a variety of Nubian Wedding Dances, Turkish-Sephardic chants, and Oriental Dance music from Lebanon, as well as typical patterns of popular music like North African Chaabi music and electronic instruments finding their way into today's oriental music.
Watcha Clan (Marseille / France) renew Ofra Haza's old Yemenite hymn and world pop-hit "Im Nin'Alu", Bi Kidude Baraka (Zanzibar) sings the melancholic Taarab classic "Pakistani" from Eastern Africa's shore to the Indian Ocean.
Also included: from Beirut / Lebanon: Ihsan Al-Mounzer; from Cairo / Egypt: Mahmoud Fadl, Salwa Abou Greisha, Samy El Bably; from Jerusalem: Ruth Yaakov; from New York City: Frank London and Susan Sandler; from Oran und Marseille: Maurice El Médioni; from Rabat und Ashkalon: Emil Zrihan; from Vladicin Han / Serbia: Boban i Marko Markovic. The Bonus title features Efendi‘s Garden's oriental Krautrock rarity from the 70s.
Quotes
"Elegant Arabic-oriental traditions meet the rich
Globetronica
heritage of Jewish-oriental music and create an
east-west divan of 14 outstanding musical
pieces.
"
"For a pleasant album of great music with an oriental sound, this compilation hits the spot"
musika.uk.com Nov 2012
"There's lively fun to be had in the meltdown of Arabian rhythms and Balkan grooves showcased by Frank London and Serbian trumpeter Boban Markovic's Doin' The Oriental, or Mahmoud Fadl's evocative The 2nd Night in Mohamed' Ali Street."
Metro
"Best heard smoking a sheesha on the streets of Cairo"
Will Stone (morningstaronline.co.uk) Oct 2012
"Ein Album voller sanfter, hypnotisierender Melodien und Rhythmen, die wohl kaum jemanden unberührt lassen"
Concerto May 2012
"Orient Noir versammelt zartfühlende Rhythmen und sehnsüchtige Melodien aus den Stunden vor der orientalischen Dämmerung, die uns auch heute noch wie ein fremder und magischer Ort leuchten können und doch sehr nahe gehen"
Society 2_2012
"A wonderful challenge to the ear and to the heart but one of those albums that keep giving something new in every listen."
musicosis.co.uk Oct 2012
"L’Orient comme influence, confluence fantasmée, sans frontières, religion, ni kitsch. La qualité des morceaux prime ici sur l’origine contrôlée. Un genre de compile tapis (trans) persan et volant, très haut."
-lesinrocks.com Dec 2012-
"Orient Noir leads the listener on a magic carpet ride over a colourful landscape of oriental culture that, even today, seems different and unexplored to us."
worldmusic.co.uk Oct 2012
"Fans of modern Middle Eastern and lounge music will enjoy this laid back combination of vocal and instrumental styles."
worldmusiccentral.org Sept 2012
"Ungeachtet aller kriegerischen Konflikte gedeiht an den westlichen, südlichen, nördlichen und östlichen Mittelmeerküsten traditionell eine fruchtbare musikalische Gemengelage, der mit diesem wunderbaren Album endlich einmal Tribut gezollt wird. Filigrane Rhythmen und sehnsuchtsvolle Melodien verschmelzen unter den Fittichen von Watcha Clan, Frank London & Boban Markovic, Mahmoud Fadl, den Klezmatics und vielen anderen zu einem ungemein facettenreichen orientalischen Klangkörper - der über die Gesamtlänge dieses Samplers zu etwas Magischem, ja, Erleuchtendem verschmilzt."
-Stutgarter Zeitung April 201-
"Auf 'Orient Noir' präsentiert Kurator Dr. Bertram Nickolay eine 14 Lieder umfassende Sammlung sanfter orientalischer Rhythmen und bezaubernder Melodien. Dabei spannt er in 64 Minuten einen weiten Bogen, um neben Stars der arabischen Szene wie Mahmoud Fadl und Salwa Abou Greisha spannenden, Grenzen überschreitenden Kollaborationen Gehör zu verschaffen. So vergnügt sich der nordamerikanisch-jüdische Trompeter Frank London mit dem serbischen Bläsermeister Boban Markovic bei 'Doin' the Oriental'. Eindrucksvoll ist 'I ain't afraid', eine von Marschtrommeln getriebene Warnung der Klezmatics aus New York an religiös Verblendete. Der Watcha Clan aus Marseille setzt in der von Ofra Haza populär gemachten jemenitischen Hymne 'Im Nin'Alu' behutsam neue Akzente. Beachtung verdient der Abschlusstrack 'The garden', eine Krautrock-Rarität aus den späten 70er-Jahren der hannoverschen Band Effendis Garden."
DFB Musica Sept 2012
"An entertainingly thought-provoking album."
An entertainingly thought-provoking album.
"Presenting an appealingly diverse picture of the dynamic music currently being made across North Africa and the Middle East, together with its exiles in far-flung parts of the world."
-Songlines Jan/Feb 2013-
