Customer Reviews

Magic Box

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

 

 

Bel Canto of Norway have developed their own sound, originally commited to arty, etheral synth music, which has developed in a pop direction. This album has many Indian influences, not only on the "Bombay" track - something they have been into at least since "Shimmering, warm and bright". Arctic serenity with a sprinkle of indian hot spice.

Anneli Drecker has a great vocal range and her expressive acrobatics on asian sounding melodic minor scales and other stunts leave lot of room for her to display her vocal strenghts here. Her style is a "Kate Bush meets Enya" - not quite as strange an Bush, and not quite as even-pitched as Enya.

The album received average critical acclaim in the press, perhaps used to greater original leaps from this band, but the CD grows on listening like most really good albums. It contains everything from silently drifting songs like "Sleepwalker" to flirty uptempo "Freelunch in the jungle" (shame about the comical pronounciation here - she says "ice" instead of "eyes" and "spies" instead of "spice"), and sky-soaring yearning in "in Zenith". If you haven't heard the band before you'd most likely find it refreshingly exotic like an arctic ice chilled cocktail.
If you are familiar with Bel Canto before it's also well worth buying since it's written and performed by the same steady hands as before.

The problem with this album is that the few Bel Canto fans that exhist, have already built a vision in their minds of what this band should sound like, and when Bel Canto deviates from their first albums, all darker and "colder", the fans cry "foul". I first heard Bel Canto when somebody played Majic Box for me...and I loved it. Now that I have gone back and bought the earlier albums, I have found that I love all their albums.

_Magic Box_ is the fourth album by the unique Norwegian group Bel Canto. There is definitely a change in sound -- gone is Bel Canto's dark, shiver-inducing style that crafted albums like _Birds of Passage_ and _Shimmering, Warm & Bright_. Here, the group often bases songs more on a trip-hop/techno foundation. Still, surprisingly, _Magic Box_ is musically very organic and the overall sound is unmistakably Bel Canto. It carries on with their instrumental inventiveness, marrying world influences with atmospheric experimentation, and the uniquely lovely vocals of Anneli Drecker.

The songs "Paradise" and "Big Belly Butterflies" (weird name, neurgh) are absolutely comfortable alongside other Bel Canto favorites -- Drecker's voice is gorgeous (almost playful on the latter), the instrumental canvas is rich, and the atmospheres are seductive. A few of the other songs took some warming up to, but I found them endearing before long. "Sleepwalker" is worldly with a dreamy exotic atmosphere. "FreeLunch in the Jungle" has twittering vocal phrasing that I find amusingly strange, plus a compelling layers of percussion, both electronic and acoustic. "Bombay" fuses Punjabi dance music with Drecker's dexterous vocal melodies. "In Zenith" is carries something of an Indian flavor, with hauntingly keyboards and violins. "Kiss of Spring" is a joyful piece lit by chiming steel guitar and scuffling percussion, over which bouncy vocals sing friskily. "Rumour" has an infectious instrumental hook and a catchy chorus too.

If you like previous Bel Canto albums, I can't see any reason why would wouldn't like this. If you're new, try and hunt down _Birds of Passage_ or _Shimmering, Warm & Bright_ to start things off.

I found out about Bel Canto from a music magazine that included a sample CD of little-known artists. One particular issue had the track "Rumours" from this CD. I was instantly hooked. Looking back now (I bought this new in 1996), I kind of draw alot of comparisons vocally to The Cocteau Twins. Anneli Dekker has a similar range as Liz Frazier, but you can understand what she's singing (not that that's a bad thing for the Cocteaus!).
If you like this group, I recommend checking out Lida Husik, esp. the album "Blue Green Fire".

I haven't heard the other albums, but as an outsider found this one truly addictive! Of my 200+ CD's, this one stayed in my CD player on repeat mode the longest. Every song is worth listening to. Reading these reviews makes me with I had it here with me!

The Cocteau-esque "Paradise" is probably the best song on this album. The catchy/poppy "rumour" and "didn't you know it" are danceable... but all things considered I find this album to be weeker than their previous efforts. Sometimes I wish Anneli would hide her lyrics a little more (Like Liz Frazer), because often times the *dumb* or *pretentious* lyrics ruin the songs for me... (sorry!) I still enjoy this album, but would recommend "Shimmering, Warm, and Bright" for new listeners. Thankx

I find "Magic Box" very haunting in its soaring rhythmic beauty. I can listen to it over and over and still find myself mentally drifting out onto some distant iceberg in the Arctic Sea. I like all kinds of music, and this CD is one of my favorites.

All of the Bel Canto albums are great. Magic Box deviates from the style of the other two, but it's a fantastic, definitely my favorite. It's upbeat, fun and unique as are all the Bel Canto CDs.

i love bel canto but i don't like this CD. this has none of the creativity that their older albums had.

ANNELI DRECKER'S VOICE IS BOTH SENSUAL AND HAUNTING. ALONG WITH COCTEAU TWINS, BEL CANTO HAS REMAINED ONE OF MY FAVORATE BANDS. I AM NEVER DISSAPOINTED. I'VE OWNED THIS CD FOR 3 YEARS. I STILL LISTEN TO IT EVERY DAY. MY FRIENDS HAVE PICKED UP ON IT ALSO.I'M MAKING BEL CANTO LISTENERS OUT OF EVERYONE! I'D LOVE IT, HOWEVER, IF THEY WENT ON TOUR. I'D LOVE TO HEAR ANNELI LIVE.