Sen

Sevara Nazarkhan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Real World
• ASIN: B0018QCXDW
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,646 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2007 album from the Uzbekistan Pop princess and former member of Sideris. 10 tracks including 'Korgim Kelar', 'Bu Sevgi' and 'Kuigai'. Real World. . --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SEN, September 16, 2007

By 

Stephen Reddy (Brisbane) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sen (Audio CD)

Sevara Nazarkhan is one of the most genuinely gifted singers that the world currently has to offer, yet she has such a child-like enthusiasm and is so completely unpretentious that her irrepressible, ever curious nature leaves everyone that encounters her utterly entranced.
'Sen' is a looping, shimmering, beats-laden gem that will rightly be acclaimed as one of the great world music releases of the year. This Uzbek singer is poised to become a global diva; electronica blended with Silk Route folk and dreamy vocals.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars POP music, not WORLD music, February 13, 2008

By 

Peter Manale "petman2001" (LOWELL, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sen (Audio CD)

If you liked Sevara Nazarkhan's previous world album YOL BOLSIN (a unique and stunning CD), be forewarned: she has completely thrown out her world music style this time around in favor of bloated, bizarre and bland pop tunes with little or no world-beat influences. Read the product desciption above very carefully: they are now marketing her as the "Uzbekistan Pop princess." Now, I am not opposed to pop music per se, but the songs here are mediocre at best (despite her appealing voice). If you want WORLD music, look elsewhere. If you're looking for good POP music, also look elsewhere. As Sevara tries to broaden her appeal to a larger audience, she has lost this listener.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sevgiolam, July 11, 2008

By 

Gary M. Meale "gmeale" (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sen (Audio CD)

Sen - Sevara Nazarkhan 2007 Real World Records [...]

The Uzbek people have a word for "love of the universe": Sevgiolam.

First of all I must admit I was prepared to love this music. The tracks are emblazoned upon my psyche through so much repetition (and pure love of her voice) and I can honestly say I adore this work beyond even my own expectations. To my mind Sevara and her production team have established a new reference point for transcendence through music. I believe this CD a departure into another realm entirely for Sevara. Her music - her way - is synergistic and sublime.

This is music so far beyond formalized language structure that a need or even attempt to follow spoken and whispered Uzbek vocals virtually become a non-issue.The near-hypnotic quality of her voice has the potential to speak to all people. Sevara is not merely a singer of exotic language with a pleasing voice. She is a powerhouse. Hers is a voice like a beacon navigating us through difficult times - communicating seemingly effortlessly across borders and cultures - she shares with the listener a rich and insistent chorus of her love of music - one might guess: her sevgiolam.

There is a considerable amount of multi-tracking and electronica layered into this work. Sevara has penned the music on all but two of the tracks. She and her team's tender care about these songs is evident as several seem to have evolved into almost a sentient touch. Overall the work feels like an embrace (or a shout to the universe), at its essence personifying a vital spark of humanity for which many have striven but few achieved.

Lest the reader think this reviewer's inherent bias has caused a review too given to hyperbole, decide for yourself. Only listen with more than your ears open. Open your mind and your heart, and by all means, read the words translated into English (they used to be found on the label's web site but it has undergone a renovation of late). It's a little easier to get into the mood and appreciate the sheer joy instilled by embracing this marvelous work, though a lot is lost in translation. The lyrics are posted here if your interest carries you that far: http://www.google.com/notebook/public/01729610678493639598/BDQKlIgoQuOimxK8j?hl=en

Producers (England's) Bruno Ellingham and (Russia's) Viktor Sologub for Peter Gabriel's Real World Records have worked some technical magic here to be sure. But all give a more than ample amount of credit to Sevara's voice, verve and dynamism. This is Sevara's soul on display...it is what she is. And like the soul, it is beautiful. You won't find much in the way of technical gaffs on this production. It is most lovingly produced.

The potential exists for this exchange to open the listener's eyes to not only what is possible, but what this in turn makes possible through music. She brings a little of Uzbekistan's rich culture to the world with a fresh voice and modern style. So it is to be expected she is not without detractors in her own land - though I suspect they are becoming fewer over time. It strikes me they would most likely come in the form of traditionalists aggravated over what she has done to the (very) long-standing Uzbek sound.

Sevara's voice, multi-layered and sensous, is sometimes reminicsent of ancestral chants and when she hits the high notes, as in the title track Sen, it sounds and feels just like heaven. A couple of Uzbek traditional songs are reworked here (Kugai and Kuyoshga) but Sevara and company manage to keep all tracks sounding fresh and alive.

Sevara Nazarkhan has never sounded better and that's not saying a little. Her transition from Uzbek pop star to top World Music artist is magnificently complete. I applaud her for remaining true to that which drives her creative energies. Not only her amazing voice and evolved spirit, but the integrity and frank boldness to present her art to the world from within the framework of her native Uzbek - inherently a truly musical language (as a quick survey of the blossoming Uzbek pop music industry can exemplify) in which there are constant references to "my soul" (or jonim).

So listen and listen again. You may just be pulled into this ancient soul and start to be more appreciative of Sevgiolam. Enough listens and one begins to see though altered eyes and ears...her adoring chant of "Sen" (translated as "you") - is not "you" the listener. More likely it is the "You" who hears us all when our hearts speak most truly.

The CD's track # 3 studio performance can be viewed below:

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