Customer Reviews

Human Condition

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this CD about three years ago, listened to it once or twice, but I wasn't listening to a lot of music at the time, so I set it aside (yet still within reach). In the last year or so I've listened to it dozens of times, and I'm still not fatigued.

Olga Helm's voice has a very honest sound, and the orchestration provides excitement at times, and quiet contemplative moods at others.

While I don't love every song on the CD, including the title cut, the whole is something that makes you feel while listening, the sine qua non of good music.

I am very happy that Shai no Shai is working on a new CD. They have a web site under construction at [...].

Edgy and ethnic, these songs are quite unlike anything I have heard before. How very unfortunate it is that Olga and her band seem not to have made any other recordings. This CD is a most wonderful and unusual creation!

Not often does an album of this calibre come along. Every song is so good that it almost sounds familiar the first time you hear it.

One of the best new bands to come along in ages! This CD is creative, innovative, and slickly produced. Reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux at her very best! I recommend this disc to everyone I know who is looking for something unique amidst the garbarge produced by our Top 40 culture -- something to inspire your imagination, your soul, and your feet. There's a purity here that I have not encountered in a very long while. This is the kind of music that makes you want to get up and dance around naked in your livingroom. I dare you!

I love the tapestry of music styles on this CD. Mid-East meets West meets Medieval meets Punk. We're not talking Enya-smooth here, this band is forging ahead with edgy, folky, age-y music. A must for a well rounded music collection.

This album may not be the easiest one to find in music stores, but it is definately the best buy. Shai no Shai is one of France's best kept secrets. They blend celtic music, without jumping on the bandwagon, and middle eastern sounds, without sounding monotonous. Human Condition has a rich variety ofstyles from the driving instrumental "Finvarra's Fire" to the hard hitting title track "Human Condition" to a more mellow "Strange Way of Behaving."

For musicians, the first thing that steals your attention is the percussion. Thierry Cote does an amazing job making the percussion more than just "a beat"-- it is a living personality within the music.

If one thing bad could be said about this album is that it is not easily available in most stores. But you are in luck, Amazon has it!

I bought this CD on a whim after sampling a few tracks at a record store listening station. The group is French, the music is in English, and the songs are like Irish/Celtic folk melodies played to middle eastern/ north african rhythms. I especially like This Is My Life.

First discovered Shai no Shai on French Canadian TV performing live. They were touring from France, promoting this disc. Olga Helm's vocals and performance were so striking in that brief performance that we went to great pains to track down this disc in the US. Everyone I've introduced this music to has loved it. (I'm buying more copies for gifts) Great percussion, vocals, violin. Hard to describe (for me anyway, since I'm not a reviewer) mix of mediterranean, irish influences. Not some fluffy new age band - really solid, great music.

If you like music which proposes a mix of different cultures, try this so unconventional record full of happiness, sadness and mystery. Instruments and voices invite you to travel over the world from Eastern Europe to Ireland. Enjoy !!!

Although this CD is work buying for track 13 SO FINE in and of itself, really the whole thing is very good and original.