Customer Reviews

Onethreeseven (Dig)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is, hands down, the best album of traditional Middle Eastern vocals in a worldbeat setting, rivaled only by Wally Brill's The Covenant (also really good). Included in the vocalists (sampled) is the legendary Egyptian woman singer Oum Khalthoum whose peak period dates back to the 40s and 50s.

The real advantage of an album like this is to bring these amazing vocals, accurately described by the group in the liner notes as "soul music" to a much wider audience. Few people, if any, would pick up a CD by Oum Khalthoum. For these guys to make this album is a powerful testament to the strength and spirituality of this music, still very much alive today.

As is true of the most sophisticated worldbeat/world fusion artists, Zohar branches out to embrace sounds outside the range of the region they focus on. In the track "Head and Bones" they incorporate sampled gamelan as a melodic rhythm element in their otherwise Middle Eastern-inflected atmosphere. And percussionist Simone Haggiag plays djembe (talking drum), native to West African music, in addition to the percussion instruments characteristic of the Middle East.

Well worth a listen.

I bought this album on a lark, just because it looked interesting, and I was NOT disappointed. The opening track, "ehad" is one of the most incredible songs I've ever heard. "midnight at the bazaar" is a great chill song. "elokainu" is one of those beautiful, haunting songs that gives you goosebumps. I love the whole album...it's simply intoxicating.

The music on this album isn't supposed to be middle eastern...it's dance/ambient/drum and bass with middle eastern influences. It's one of a kind. One of my best purchases ever.

I have to write this review (don't usually) since I think the reviews so far don't describe the music on this album well and the ratings absolutely do not do justice. The Amazon reviewer is closest to my own impressions, which is that this group has some major talent. This has held up well to repeated listening- very little of it is old almost a year after it's release, and I never have it far from the player.

Tomb Raider background music? Hardly. As far as "using" this music for dinner party wallpaper, I am failing to imagine that since it is far too interesting to listen to. But then, in my opinion, this is music for people who actually like to listen and experience it. (And not only between bites of green beans.)

These guys have a knack for working in the most unusual and unexpected voices, sound textures, and samples and surprising the ears with the combinations. Track after track starts off with what almost seems like an odd and/or eratic mix of elements and ends up flowing into a wave of undulating, mesmerizing sound that enigmatically captures the attention. Textures and rhythms rise and fall and weave in and out, and you don't even realize everything that's layered in until one or more of them lift so you can hear what's underneath. I have no problem finding spiritual qualities in this music, and I have no problem with combining that with heavy base lines and lots of percussion.

So hey, I love this CD, and I hope I don't have to wait too long for more. Several tracks are more than dance-worthy, but I like to listen to this in the late hours when I'm in the mood for some scintillating chillin'. Is it totally flawless? No. But even so, this first offering of theirs has me hitting the repeat button often. Cheesy it is not. Mediocre it is not.

Highly recommend this. Enjoy.

If you are looking for authentic Middle Eastern music, skip this cd. Despite the blurb, if you are looking for that "extra, spiritual dimension", skip this cd. However, if you are interested in fusion music - an ecletic mix of electronic, Western, world music with a Middle Eastern feel, this is an interesting cd. Use it for background, for exercising, for dance and you won't be disappointed.

I bought this cd on a whim after briefly listening to it at Borders and I was not disappointed. The music is not only beautiful but also has an almost spiritual quality to it. My favorite tracks are #5 and #7, although they are all good. Each song has intricate layers to it which makes the whole cd an amazing experience. I listened to the cd non-stop while I was on a trip in Africa and it seemed to fit the scenery and mood wonderfully. Each time I listen to the cd I feel as if I'm back there. Play this cd with candles lit or a time when you can really listen to it. I've played this cd for friends and they also agree that its wonderful. I hope there is more to come!

This CD mixes Middle Eastern chanting and flourishes and chord scales and progressions with Ambient music and Jazz touches. The results are GOLDEN. Close your eyes and be taken to distant places with ancient melodies. Old sounding, new sounding, with great grooves and EXCELLENT musicianship. I am anxiously awaiting a follow-up CD!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I'm in love !!
This cd contains everything a dance cd needs : passion, rhythm, soul, warmth, suspense, beauty, etc.
The Middle Eastern vocals and influences mix very well with the western dance rhythms and sounds. The voices are unbelievably beautiful (listen to "Ehad") and so are the hooks. The title track is the catchiest and slickest. All other tracks are more spiritual. I haven't found a single disappointment on this cd...maybe it's too shortw ith only 12 tracks....

I consider myself a world music efficianado, ZOHAR is a unique cd. The cd has a contrasting blend, of Jewish prayer (like in Ehad & Elokainu) to Arab cantoring. but it has a buetiful jazz blend mixed in with raw sounds. It's a good chillout cd.

I'm no musical purist, so when I say that the Turkish reviewer Serhat Erdogan is entirely correct, and that this CD sounds more like a midwesterner's fantasy of middle eastern music, my disappointment lies in how unimaginative this fantasy sounds. Darbouka ain't all that's missing, so is soul and anything like a cohesive musical theme. Ocal from Turkey, or the Laz artist from that region, Birol Topaloglu will raise a more righteous buzz than will tepid Zohar. Erdogan also mentions the group Arabandi, who I stumbled upon, made up of Israeli, Palestinian, Iranian, and Indian players who really take the well-developed foundations of Middle Eastern classical music and stretch it out like play-doh. Zohar wants to be a dance or "house rave" soundtrack, and they fail there too, as Erdogan is also right to point out DJ Cheb I Sabbah has done that with more invention and flavor. He's the Middle Eastern and North African (different musical styles) partybeat mixer to beat.

"Midnight at the Bazaar" is in fact an extended musical stereotype couched in smug lounge excess well short of camp. If all you were to learn of the variety of musical marvels to be found in Morocco were to come from Zohar's "Maroc" you would be unnecessarily impoverished. Go out and try Aisha Kandisha, Amouri Mbarq, El Houssaine Kili, Walid Mimoun, Raissa Tabaamrant, Ahlam or Argan for Moroccan Amazigh (Berber) beats and Atlas Mountain loops.

"Sketches of Egypt" hasn't got the lyricism of Miles Davis or the creative instrumental arrangement of Abdel Wahab. As for the Astoria reviewer who was justifiably impressed with the beautiful vocal samples on this CD, to remark that "Few people if any, would pick up a CD by Oum Kalthoum" is sheer ignorance. I worked for years at the northern California indie record store AMOEBA, in a large and busy World Music department. Oum Kalthoum's bin in the Egypt section was the best stocked of any World Music artist precisely because for many years (at least since the Israeli tv documentary about the Egyptian diva's life that generated so much interest when it played film festivals in the U.S.) music lovers of all ages were coming in and scooping up multiple CD's by Oum Kalthoum then coming back to try more! She worked with great musical directors, sang songs with deep meaning for everyone from working class folks to the slimy ambitious nouveau riche to the simply elegant in Egyptian life, and somehow managed to speak to traditionalists and musical modernists at the same time. This album by Zohar can make no such claim.

I don't know anything about middle eastern music. I found this cd at virgin megastore in new york, listened to a few tracks and bought it. It may not be totally authentic middle eastern music or anything, but it is a really good albulm to just chill to. this cd blends together jazzy bass grooves with techno and middle eastern singers and instruments. i'm definately glad i bought this cd.