M'bem Di Fora

Lura | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: November 7, 2006
• Label: Four Quarters Records
• Genres: International/Africa
• ASIN: B0010WQ3IK
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,234 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intoxicating rhythms and piercing melodies from Cape Verde., April 8, 2007

By 

Marie deVarenne (Boston, MA and Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: M'Bem Di Fora (Audio CD)

Once a backing singer and dancer for Cesaria Evora, she established her reputation by breaking away from Evora's sad and soulful morna style and mixing in cool, thoughtful ballads.
She also has an impressive line in raunchy dancing, with such upbeat African-influenced rhythms as funana and batuque.
This album shows off her cool, clear vocals on a series of songs that are all very pleasant and easygoing.
Lura brings a street-wise, urban sensuality infused with the passionate root of mother Africa to her music.
Key to understanding her appeal is to see her onstage, where her warm, communicative manner, hip-swivelling dances and mellow voice make for a winning combination.
Perhaps most crucially, as part of a new wave of younger performers currently emerging from Cape Verde and its diaspora cultures in the US and Europe, Lura brings a fresh outsider perspective to the traditional music of her ancestral isles.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars because I am sure Lura/Toy Vieira will be even better next time, July 2, 2007

By 

Salty Saltillo (from the road, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: M'Bem Di Fora (Audio CD)

I really believe this record is an extraordinary achievement in Cape verdean music. If Lura's first major label international release, "With heart and soul", reflected her roots in the new Batuku style under the influence of the now legendary Orlando Pantera (she covered 4 Pantera songs on that record), here she spreads her wings further, in true Krioulu style, assimilating what she finds best in a broad variety of styles, both indigenous to the islands and from abroad. The result is spectacular, and much broader and deeper than her previous work. Her voice is getting much better with age (for an interesting view of how her voice has improved over the years, check out her vocals on Bonga's record, Mulemba Xangola). And as Lura is surrounding herself with a very talented and diverse set of musicians whose work on this record is very good. Most notably, Lura's keyboardist, Toy Vieira, really comes into his own as a songwriter on this record. He clearly has a great talent for songwriting and the Toy Vieira/Lura collaboration promises to be a very fruitful one. This record establishes Lura as the most interesting and innovative artist recording in Krioulu today. I look forward to giving 5 stars to her next release because it will undoubtedly be even better.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embodies a pure love of country life, despite its hardships., April 13, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: M'Bem Di Fora (Audio CD)

Portuguese singer Lura presents M'bem Di Fora ("I Come From The Country"), her second North American music CD album, which draws heavily upon her love of her countryside home, and the unique musical traditions of the Cape Verde islands. Cape Verde is a semi-arid island string of ten islands hundreds of miles from mainland Africa; each island has its own distinct rhythms, and all of them formed inspiration for Lura's lively music anthology. From the hope of people waiting for rain to return, to the ambience of midsummer celebration, to the song about a daughter who fell in love with a poor islander rather than fulfill her mother's dream of marrying a rich foreigner, the songs of M'bem Di Fora embodies a pure love of country life, despite its hardships.