Customer Reviews

Sweet Lullaby

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

 

 

I find the review stating this as an 'atrocity' a bit extreme, and it doesn't bode well when the information is in error. I do not mean the arguments for the recordings of other Deep Forest tracks as arguments for that become truncated, but specifically for Sweet Lullaby. The sample was not taken from Africa. It was a Baegu lullaby from Northern Malaita (Solmon Islands) titled "Rorogwela," in its original form it is an unaccompanied vocal sung by a woman named Afunakwa.
The recording has not been altered in any form except for the chorus where her voice is digitally multiplied. And the final chorus where the recording is joined by studio chorus. Her voice is her voice, and in contrast to "A Music Fan" I don't think she sounds like a munchkin!
As for the recording itself it was recorded in 1969 and 1970 entitled Solomon Islands: Fateleka and Baegu Music from Malaita, compiled by Hugo Zemp of the Ethnomusicology Department of the Musée de l'Homme and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
A piece by Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek called Pygmy Lullaby uses the same melody as this but is not the same verbal recording.
Deep Forest have come under attack by academic purists but they have consistently claimed that they are and present themselves as 'guardians of respect' when pressed on questions of sampling ethics they have made themselves out as would-be victims of academic purists (for example, Goldman 1995; Prior 1996).

I personally like the track, I think it has provided a means to expand a little of the history of the Solomon Islands to a wider population other than those in academia. I am not an ethnomusicologist but I am an archaeologist and having studied the Solomon Islands and its peoples, I think the track has helped preserve a small snippet of Baegu history (in terms of language especially) that would have otherwise have been lost (to highlight this the song itself is a good example. The song is said to be very old and hence the new generation of the Baegu tribe do not understand every word).

It's a subtle and successful mix of cultures and I think it works, afterall in this day in age a 'successful' mix of cultures is becoming ever increasingly hard to come by.

As a music fan, I love Sweet lullaby, I have fond memories that I've come to associate with it.

I luckily came across this album while undergoing a six month chemotherapy treatment.

After each monthly session of chemo i would have to go to bed and stay there for three days!( can you amaging staying in bed for three days solid :() This is the song i played over and over again.

I am not usually drawn to this kind of music ( R&B is my prefs) However, it spoke to my inner soul and calmed it. I felt so tranquil.

Three years later i am fit and well a single parent holding down a full time job while raising three chldren. with boundless amounts of energy. thank you "sweet lulaby" for all your magic :) ... The least i can do is pay my respects to this amazing album.

this cd is wonderfull, relaxing and great to own...with so many different ways this song is done, its interesting to hear how they come out..besides anybody could listen to it, but some people wouldn't like it.so decide...

This is one of the Best songs Ever released in the genre New Age, World Music, Electronic Ambient or whatever you call it. It's beautifully sang and gives you a sense of peace and relax, while at the same time makes you move at the beat of the song. It's hard to define which version is the best one, I love them all, but if I have to choose 1 I would peak the "Nature's Dancing Mix" but all of them has something to contribute to this magnificent production. Sweet Lullaby it's so beautiful that makes you cry of happiness and joy while you're dancing it. This is a must have to all good music lovers, and not only that, music with style and class.

I'd give this CD zero stars if possible. As an ethnomusicologist who has worked in Africa for a long time, I find the CD badly misrepresentative of the Aka, to say the least, and racist and insulting to be more accurate. It incorporates all the stereotypes of Africa in general and the pygmies in particular, including sampled voices that sound like munchkin voices, not to mention reference to the pygmies as "a race of little men". Though perhaps Deep Forest meant well, their intended global connectedness only proves the extent of their ignorance. I wonder what the Ba'Aka think of this music?