Customer Reviews

Ollano

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

 

 

good for late night restaurant music, customers enjoyed it, less than 50 years old...

This chill-out electronica is for hipsters who like late-night parties and dates with a sensuous ambience. If this is your thing, you'll appreciate that this is not just a "one-hit" album, thanks to their classic song Latitudes. If you enjoy sultry electronica of this ilk, you'll want to check out Zero 7, Hooverphonic, Thievery Corporation, Heather Nova, Morcheeba, and Karsh Kale.

I love Ollano, the lead singer is like a French version of Sade. The songs on this album set a dark and romantic mood! But I heard the English version of the song Latitudes and thought that the lyrics was very basic and weak. Ollano should have just left that song in it's seductive French language, which is on the various artists CD New Voices4. Otherwise, I am looking forward to this group's next album!

This CD is a mature range of lounge melodies. The songs carry an extrodinary depth of lyrical jazz with carefully placed basslines. Evocative to say the least: the sets are sexy at times, mystical and curious at others. Pleasure for the ears, like a soft kiss.

Ollano has to be one of the pinnacles of the French trip-hop. And if that seems like a minimizing qualifier, there's still no mistaking that this is an album worth every track. The opener, "Antipodes," is classic -- a beauty all the way through. The whole album is full of moody, smoky pieces: part film noir soundtrack, part classic French torch songs. The vocalists are of particular note: their presence adds incomparable depth and texture to the album. "Un Autre Jour" and "Every Season" lighten the proceedings a bit, but the majority of the tracks are dense and dark, with judicious use of electric guitar and feedback. Stunning all the way through.

I bought this album in Paris back when it came out about '96-'98 and still have it despite many requests to loan it out. Really nice music on this one, I especially love the sampling of Henry Mancini's Pink Panther Theme from the track "Latitudes". Both of the singers on this album, Helena Noguera and Sandra Nkake, have gone on to do other things now since it looks like the only album that Jamaux and Collin did as Ollano. It certainly would be nice if they could pull off another album like this one. BTW, stay away from the English version, it doesn't do this album justice. I understood but few French words when I bought this but spending a few years in Paris solved that!

This is the kind of album you put on at dusk in summer. Listen and enjoy.