Customer Reviews

Lullabies From the Axis of Evil

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

 

 

I wanted to like this CD, I really did, as I feel the concept is pure genius. Somehow, Robbie Robertson is able to "modernize" traditional native american music in a way that works (for me), and Deep Forest seemed to "modernize" African traditional music in a way that worked. But I could only tolerate a few tracks of this well-intentioned CD. Jazz and percussion just don't seem to mesh with the "lullabye" gist. I would love to hear this re-released without the Western influences and vocal translations.

I've really enjoyed this CD. It's not very often that children's lullabies can transcend their traditional purpose in order to make a statement about the commonality of human experience. The CD is an appeal to peace, rocking the listener gentley into a greater understanding of those who westerners so often denominate as "the other." These songs speak of the often ineffable ties that bind mothers and children across cultures, religions, and races.

Some of the people writing here don't seem to understand the concept of this album. The producer recorded the original vocals and then brought in guest artists and blended the two together in a way that enhances the original vocals and their messages. The original vocalists knew and approved of every step of the process and were very happy to share their culture with the other singers in this way! This is NOT a "world" music album - it's something altogether new and different.

This is a contemporary recording, made in collaboration with the singers and musicians from around the world. What results is new art music, not traditional folk music (something it was never intending to be and never became). Let the artists create, and don't try to pigeonhole them as "ethnic." This is a unique experiment in cross-continental music and you shoudl listen to the music and hear it for what it is.

I was slightly disappointed with this CD. I had thought that I would get to enjoy the songs in the foreign language only, but that is not true. Most of the songs have a verse of the original language followed by that verse sung in english. The music that accompanies each song doesn't make any sense. It doesn't sound like lullabies.

Still some of the sounds can still be enjoyed. The singers from the various countries are all great with one exception. The english-speaking woman on the first track has a voice so deep i can't listen to that song.

Like Paul Bridges, I really wanted to like this Scandinavian project. A bunch of deeply well-intentioned western artistes have got together to "add" their voices to those of women from "axis of evil" countries, with a third superimposed (or imposed) dimension being souped-up jazz/country/new-age instrumental accompaniments with the odd electronic reverberation. The result, although meant as an act of solidarity, is deeply patronising, and for my money constitutes a kind of imperialist cultural appropriation. I'm sure I can hear fans cry "lighten up!", and I'm sure many will disagree with me. But listen to track 10, which is left a capella and which is - for me - the best thing on the album. The Vahdat sisters alternate strophes of an Iranian lullaby, only at the very end adding an element of gentle counterpoint - magical! Again and again throughout this album tracks begin with the beauty of the original material, only to have it swamped by reductionistic western mush. What a shame! The whole thing is lavishly produced but, for me, it's wasted effort.

Really not lullabies per se. Kind of odd mix of songs that aren't particularly soothing. If you really want lullabies, try the Putamayo line for multi-culti music.

There are a couple of great tracks on this album and some wonderful singing.

But!!! There is little unity between the western and middle eastern singers and the musical accompaniment and is often intrusive. It sounds like it was recorded in the studio later and added in, as it often has little to with the song, the singer or the singers style. I wish they had just recorded the singers acapela. That would have been a great album.

The previous commentator made an assumption abuot this album and based her rating on her own disillusionment. Expolitive? Some extreme leftists accused Paul Simon of expoliting those African singers he worked with, but he gave those guys the break of their lives. Ask them if they felt exploited! I'll bet they were grinning all the way to the bank! This is what happens when we meet other cultures - a blending occurs that makes an introduction to the mainstream. Listen to the clips and decide for yourself.

I encourage everyone to listen to this album. Everyone. It's not only a collection of beautiful songs, sung by beuatiful voices -- it's also a reminder of what it is to be human: to love and care, unconditionally. Everywhere on our precious planet, parents love their sons and daughters. This album reflects that, in a careful mix between the traditional and the modern.

Of course, as the title signals, the album is also an answer to the dangerous attempts to simplify and evilize millions of people. People just like you and me.