Customer Reviews

Secretly Famous

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Moreno Visini, a.k.a. The Spy from Cairo, presents his latest album Secretly Famous, a consolidation of tracks each focusing on a distinct type of Middle Eastern music. From an adaptation of traditional Jordanian music, to an optimistic rendition of Moroccan music to a tribute to the Egyptian orchestra compositions of the renowned Mohamed Abdel Wahab, the tracks embody a pan-cultural sampling of styles ranging the emotional gamut from haunting beauty to fierce passion. Guest vocalist Ghalia, respected for her rapturous singing throughout Europe and Arabia, lends her talents to three of these exquisite songs. Highly recommended, especially for multicultural music collections. The tracks are "Nayphony", "Kurdish Delight", "Ana Arabi", "Kembe", "Jennaty", "Leila", "Oud Funk", "Blood and Honey", "Sun Disco", "Saidi the Man", "Reggada", "Ala Shan", and "Indian Dope".

I heard about Spy from Cairo after hearing the song Jennaty on KCRW. That led to listening to all the songs on his myspace for a week, then actually buying the cd. For the first time in a long time, I actually liked an ENTIRE album more than the 3 or 4 singles I heard previously. This album is so rich and complex, but totally relevant. Should be in every global electronic music lover's repertoire.

Fusion done well! Authentic & appealing Arabic music and instruments just lightly touched with synthesizer, but richly accented with beats and bass lines that increase appeal to Western music listeners. For fans of belly dance, rai, dub, trance, & hypnotic sufi (yes, all together!). All tracks good. Listen for it on WRUV-FM, Burlington, VT - the radio voice of the University of Vermont.