Customer Reviews

Desert Speaks

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the tradition of Ofra Haza's Yemenite Songs, Yosefa Ha'Dari's work follows, but with a more modern twist. Imagine that a Yemeni had spent some time in Lebanese and German clubs, then come home with the technosound still ringing in her ears... that's this album.

If you're a fan of Arabic music, but can do without the wailing repetitiveness, buy this album. I've loved it.

Yosefa's The Desert Speaks....I've had this CD for several years now, and I still love it. Yosefa uniquely blends several ethnicities of music together. You can definitely hear each influence--Israeli, Yemenite and Moroccan. I have used two of her songs for Rope and Trapeze routines.

Her other CD (from 1993) was not worth the purchase!

I bought this album after I had a complete collection of Ofra Haza and I knew that sadly there are no more coming. Although she is a bit more commercial then Haza on her later albums, I listen to this album often. The title cut, The Desert Speaks is particularly good. Her voice may not be as strong as Haza's, but her music stands the test of time for me. The album is a good blend of the mideastern rhythms and Yosepha has a soaring voice.

...I first heard it while riding in a taxi cab in Seoul.

Enjoyable "world music," takes songs from a variety of sources and then applies modern pop music gloss. Closest referents Ofra Haza and rai. Not up to Don Was - Khaled standard in terms of either the hooks or inventiveness of the arrangements, still enjoyable "crossover" appeal. One song in English, brief translations of the Hebrew lyrics into English in the accompanying booklet.

After many years of owning this CD, I still listen to it regularly. I love to listen and home, dance to it (exercise you know). Her voice is pure and it still sounds fresh to me.

The Desert Speaks is a fantastic collection of music. Traditional middle eastern instruments are seamlessly blended with western ambient and dance beats, creating music that is both original and compelling. Yosefa has real vocal talent, and sings with an obvious love of the music. There is mystery and depth in her voice, and I find that I don't mind the fact that I cannot understand the lyrics.

The music itself is good enough that it could work even without the vocals. It has a thematic quality similar to what a good movie soundtrack can at times convey. I'm not saying this in instrumental collection that just happens to be accompanied by singing, only that the music is very interesting and rich.

If you enjoy world music, quality pop, ambient music, or even melodic dance, this is a great addition to your music collection. Yosefa deserves to be heard, and this album deserves to be more popular than it is.

Yosefa's The Desert Speaks is a rare masterpiece,
one of the very best modern female vocal CD's
ever to come out of the Mideast. It is on a par
with the best from Ofra Haza. It is a very
entertaining and interesting synthesis of
middle eastern and Israeli musical styles
both new and old. All twelve selections are
very good: uncommon indeed. It mixes traditional
Yemenite and Moroccan sounds of her parents' home-
lands with modern beats to produce a dynamic, exciting
sound that is easily appreciated by the Western musical
ear. Yosefa's crystal clear, beautiful, soaring voice is
almost as impressive as Ofra Haza's. The instrumentation,
including guitars, keyboards, piano, drums, sitar,
violin, sax, accordion, and flute is all tastefully
done and well arranged. There is a nice mix of acoustic
and electric instruments blending to produce beautiful
music. Overall this is a very impressive CD, although
sometimes hard to find, as it was not marketed much
outside the Mideast. Yosefa, where are you, apparently
there have been no more CD's from you since this 1995
masterpiece. Why? As there will be no more from Ofra
Haza, and you are the closest to her in quality of voice,
please give the gift of your gorgeous and rare voice to the world once again.