Customer Reviews

Heaven's Dust

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this CD because I heard an interview on Nat Public Radio with the singer. She wrote the lyrics without confining herself to an actual language. I was very intrigued and sort of expected some kind of mystical transcendent experience beyond words. I had overlooked the fact that someone singing in a made-up language sounds pretty much the same as someone singing in a real language you don't understand. I could have been very disappointed, but I wasn't. This is a great album, with rich textured layers of energetic and engaging sound. It's lively without being disco dance music; serene without being dreary new age meditation wallpaper music; varied without being inconsistent. The singer appears on most songs and has a rich mellow satisfying voice. If you like world beat music in general or mid eastern music in particular, you will surely like this CD.

I was hanging out at my local Borders checking out the new 6 Degrees Travel Disc when I heard the first song by Ekova which blew me away. Instead of buying that CD, I went and found this Ekova album which I'm happy to say is consistently good throughout. She does remind me a bit of the Cocteau twins, but with much more of a mid-eastern twinge. This is upbeat, danceable and hypnotic music. I like the exotic combination of instruments (mostly real instruments, not heavy on snythizier which can get irritating) and voices -- the lead singer's voice is the real selling point here, but I have to compliment her two musicians too -- they are excellent. In fact, this is one of the best world music CD's I've heard in a long time. If you like exotic blends with a beat, you'll really enjoy this music. I'm glad I stumbled across it. As an added bonus, the packaging is very attractive not just on this CD but on all the 6 degrees Traveller's series.

This is truly a brilliant debut album and very polished perhaps because of the classical training of the Anglo-French musician and vocalist Dierdre Dubois. "Ekova" has a hypnotic fast paced fusion sound. Which has a great Celtic-North African emphasis. So would appeal to anyone that enjoys "Baka Beyond" and "Afro-Celtic Sound System." I would have preferred to hear more from the Algerian and Iranian singers like on the songs "Sabura" which is a traditional Iranian piece and "Ditama" which is wonderful. There are moments when the album lapsed such as on songs like "Sebrendita. Which are very long without being particularly interesting or meditative since it is clear that Ms Dubois can do anything with her voice, this is unnecessary. The reference to the "Cocteau Twins" is very misleading. Dubois may manufacture her own lyrics but they are not operatic but Pagan Celtic. Some of "Ekova"s music is trance like such as the incredible "La nef des fous." Trance music is so rarely done well and yet "Evoka" are able to pull it off successfully. Other song's like "Taksim" would not be out of place on an album of classical Iranian music, so gifted are the musicians Mehid Haddab and Arach Khalatbari at reproducing the languid harmonies of their native lands My only disappointment is that the album is so SHORT or maybe it simply feels that way. Because the time rushes by when it's on. This album will not disappoint

I added Ekova's new CD, "Heaven's Dust," to my collection after learning that the band's vocalist, Dierdre Dubois, found inspiration and example in the likes of Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins. Akin to Lisa Gerrard and Elizabeth Fraser, Dubois' lithe and nimble voice penetrates and transports -- it serves as intrument and medium.

Dubois shares her interpretation of our world and its realities through a wordless craft. By emitting sound in a state of freedom and marrying it to her bandmates' equally interpretive instrumentation, the listener gets to "fill in the blanks."

Some songs on this CD resonate better than others, leaving room for growth on the musicians' next project. I hope to follow a prolific career with Ekova, and I look forward to more complex songs that penetrate deeper and transport farther. The CD's final piece, "Venus And One," approaches such complexity and foreshadows a promising future for this band.

Lead singer, American Dierdre Dubois, said, when she let go of language she was set free. What you hear on Heaven's Dust, except for two songs which are new arrangements of traditional Irish and Iranian lyrics, is what can only be described as tongues - some divine language channeled through Dierdre to form gypsy-hindi-celtic hybrids of lyric. Without the obstacles presented by the traditional use of words to form meaning as well as melody, Ekova are able to use their voices purely as instruments. I found "Heaven's Dust" to be more musically sophisticated then most fluffy, fantasy-like "New Age" albums. I'd rather classify Ekova's sound as world, or better yet, "other world". Quite tasty.

I too bought this CD after hearing about it on NPR's All Things Considered (a great place to hear about new and adventurous CDs). The sound of this trio is mesmerizing, to say the least. Sylistically, The closest comparisons I can come to this music is Dead Can Dance. Layer upon layer of sound is added until it all bursts forth in one rhythmic and sonic whole. I highly recommend this CD for anyone who is willing to be a little off-the-wall and try something different. It's hypnotic. It's sensual. It's fascinating.

Listen at work, and you'll find your mind operating on another plane.

I've driven the same way home for a very long time. Last night, with the influence still tickling my neurons, I drove up the wrong mountain road and didn't notice till the pavement ended.

Intriguing, exciting, elating ... this CD is worth your time and thought.

I, too, heard the piece on NPR about this band. It was beautiful outside, I pulled up in front of my house, but could not get out of my car. Rarely am I this motivated to hunt down and buy an album. Luckily, I found it easily and have played it several times in the past 24 hours. The music is tough to pin down -- it's a haunting blend of Mid-Eastern, trip-hop, exotic rhythms, smoky vocals. Fans of Loreena McKennitt, Dead Can Dance and Peter Gabriel's Passion will love it!

Thats as crazy as it gets!!BRAVO, EKOVA !!! (For those who appreciate this kind of music, I would also like to recommend Vas, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard, Stella Mara - Star of the Sea, Sorma - Mirage of the East , and, well, I guess, Agricantus. And should anyone have suggestions too, e-mail me at valklak@telusplanet.net ).

The blend of traditional and modern instrumentation is fraught with peril, but Ekova pull it off in a manner that is both refreshing and utterly stunning in its delivery. The songs range from moody and wistful, ala Dead Can Dance, to danceable and frolicking (reminding me of Rachid Taha). This album is a must have for fans of middle eastern music and eastern instrumentation - or those who just wish to experience something different and wildly beautiful.