Customer Reviews

FRENCH CARIBBEAN

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An easy-going mix of biguine, merengue-ish extremely enjoyable tunes that get your feet moving. Five of the songs (half the album!) are among my all-time French Caribbean faves, and there are no dogs. You can't help smiling during "Parfum des Isles, a good-natured instrumental. The live Kassav cut, OK but not one of their best, is the only true driving zouk on the cd. The rest are more laid-back, but rhythmically more interesting and appealing, with an almost Brazilian feel. The four of us at work all love this cd, and it has held up well after repeated listenings. We recommend it highly.

A nice, smooth set of modern pop songs drawn from the French-speaking islands of Guadeloupe, Haiti and Martinique, lingering on the more tuneful and diverse end of the Caribbean musical spectrum. For someone like myself, who quickly tired of the manic, monotonous landslide of "soca" and "zouk" records during the 1980s, this disc came as a pleasant surprise. It's very listenable and engaging, a nice selection for someone looking for some accessible, poppish world music.

Just playing this CD sets you in a good mood!. The compilation is up-lifting and all time favorites!. It is the best of Putumayo's Colection

Standard French Caribbean music, all with a great beat! I play it in my high school French classes that I teach, and the teens love it too!

I have about 50 Putumayo compilations in my collection and this CD is absolutely the best of the entire lot. There is not a bad track on the disc. It is the epitome of feel-good music, highly listenable and danceable. While every song is outstanding, the favorite track in my household is #8 Kanpe Sou Yon Bit. Do we know what it means? Not a clue; but if you really want to check it out, the liner notes in all Putumayo compilations are informative and comprehensive. Whether you're a casual fan of world music or you want to add to a growing collection, French Caribbean is a wise purchase. Highly recommended.

I picked this Putamayo anthology up at a coffee shop last December, to get in the mood for Dominica and Matinique. The coffee was mediocre - you can guess the brand - but the selection of music, twelve tracks by different groups, was sleek and tangy, Afro-Caribbean rhythms with Gallic suavity. The Creole French CAN be understood...after listening carefully a dozen times...and the usual lyrics of love and sorrow are sauced with pungent satire of a neighboring society to the north. I don't suppose many tourists catch the drift...

Beautiful, hip-swaying, soulful music anyway. The sad thing is that I spent my twelve nights in the Caribbean searching the streets and bars for comparable music, and found... nothing but imported hip-hop on squawky speakers. I did have the pleasure of meeting "DJ Bling", however, in an empty "dance-hall" ten miles into the rain forest above Roseau. DJ Bling assured me that a busload of island girls would surely be arriving any moment. We shared two pitchers of rum-mango punch and I promised to mention him to my musician friends back home. I'm keeping my word.

Uplifting and exotic. A great compilation with a beat!