Customer Reviews

Within My Walls (Dig)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this cd 2 months ago, having had it imported from Israel... I paid a bit extra but completely worth it.
I'm frankly addicted to this cd, along with the two others I have, though i don't speak more than a few sentences of hebrew... but i saw them twice two years ago, so you know where I'm coming from.

Thoughts, since nobody else apparently has gotten it yet:

All the Words: My least favorite track, I guess, for some reason I just don't like it too much.

Within My Walls - didn't like this as much as others, but wow, it's a beautiful, multifaceted song.

Scraps of Life - the violins and the melodies are gorgeous.

River Waters - if you've ever seen Idan Raichel in concert, you know what the percussionist can do with a simple bowl of water - this song will be incredible in concert. the combination of the water in the background and the sheer variety of everything happening at once this sound is stunning.

Other People's Dreams - This is the Mi'ma'amakim of this cd. Incredibly strong song, will be a staple without any doubt of all their shows. And the video is simplistic but very, very cool.

With My Eyes Shut: very straightforward, it just sounds, a bit... exotic.

Stay - also pretty straightforward, but the vocals lift it up.

Most of the Hours - I love this song, it's just such fun. the vibe kind of reminds me of "milim yafot" or "on shabbat" in concert. exuberant. even better, this is the most depressing song on the track... but without reading the lyrics, you'd never know. amazing contrast.

From the Day you Left - the intro sounds a bit like a more simple azini, unsurprising since they're both arabic songs... but it's a bold, beautiful song.

Every Day - actually understanding this song doesn't hurt, but it's just a beauty of a piece.

This Too Shall Pass (All Things Pass)- comparable to shuvi el beiti, i guess, very strong.

Locked in His Gaze - wow. i wish this song was the final one on the cd (and on the version i got, it was, since maisha was a separate single). such a strong ending.

Maisha - i'm not sure what to think about this song, i think it's the one in swahili, if i'm not mistaken... it's pretty, but i do not find it too remarkable.

If you have any interest in the project, BUY THIS IMMEDIATELY.
The replay value is INCREDIBLE, can be played over and over constantly and you'll ALWAYS hear something suddenly varied and seemingly new. I've listened to it daily for 2 months and just heard new aspects of it a few moments ago. It's that good.

This is a wonderful album.
Doesn't get old.

More outstanding songs! This new presentation by IRP is more consistently melodious and accessible than the previous work. It is not nearly as challenging,though, and I doubt it will hold up as well (I have listened to the Israeli original IRP a few hundred times at least and it is still surprising, beguiling, and new) but this CD really is lovely, with smooth, lush musical hooks. The Latin influence on Idan Raichel's inner ear (as opposed to the more spare Middle Eastern aspect) is evident throughout.

Once again, diverse musical styles and sounds are blended artfully, and musicians allowed to blossom with wonderful arrangements, rich production, and recording quality. I recommend the CD highly.

However! If the US version really is only one disc, you should spring for importing the Israeli version, which has a second disc featuring just one song. One stunning, Israeli-Brazilian song that already haunts my dreams.

I am a newly converted fan of The Idan Raichel Project. I first discovered Idan Raichel's music on a Putumayo compilation last year and just fell in love with the rich melodies and ethnic diversity he had to offer in his music. I recently got hold of his new album WITHIN MY WALLS. This is my first full length album by The Idan Raichel Project that I had listed to. I have not been able to stop listening to it since I got it on Thursday. The music is beautiful. I particularly get immense satisfaction out of his gentle vocals although I do love listening to Marta Gomez, Shimon Buskila,Amir Dadon, and Mayra Andrade's vocals. I love what Idan Raichel has to offer with his music. His music is not strictly Middle Eastern nor Israeli. Idan takes the beautiful melodies from both worlds and fuses them with folk music. The results is heaven for my ears. I enjoy all thirteen tracks on the album. There was not one track on the album I didn't like. WITHIN MY WALLS has truly converted me into a Idan Raichel fan.

Finally adding to their repertoire of songs, Idan Raichel and his band have finally come out with another album. Idan has once again created a masterpiece complete with spanish/arabian flavor, representing the wide variety of ethnic music within Israeli society. However, unlike the internationally released "Idan Raichel Project," I found that this album has taken on a slightly more soft rock style in several of the songs, and it seemed to have become a more hackneyed pop music-like style. Additionally, I did not find the "azini" or "mimaamakim" instant hit type of songs. However, overall, the music has still maintained its highly adept production and addictive sound.

With this new album, Idan Raichel and friends create a masterful collection of modern folk compilations with Israeli, Ethiopian, Spanish, and Middle Eastern singers and musicians. This album is a cultural treasure, and as much as it is music as art, it evinces cooperation that supersedes the political climates of the countries whose singers are represented in this album. It is as beautiful an album as it is a collaborative project.

I got this cd 2 months ago, having had it imported from Israel... I paid a bit extra but completely worth it.
I'm frankly addicted to this cd, along with the two others I have, though i don't speak more than a few sentences of hebrew... but i saw them twice two years ago, so you know where I'm coming from.

Thoughts, since nobody else apparently has gotten it yet:

All the Words: My least favorite track, I guess, for some reason I just don't like it too much.

Within My Walls - didn't like this as much as others, but wow, it's a beautiful, multifaceted song.

Scraps of Life - the violins and the melodies are gorgeous.

River Waters - if you've ever seen Idan Raichel in concert, you know what the percussionist can do with a simple bowl of water - this song will be incredible in concert. the combination of the water in the background and the sheer variety of everything happening at once this sound is stunning.

Other People's Dreams - This is the Mi'ma'amakim of this cd. Incredibly strong song, will be a staple without any doubt of all their shows. And the video is simplistic but very, very cool.

With My Eyes Shut: very straightforward, it just sounds, a bit... exotic.

Stay - also pretty straightforward, but the vocals lift it up.

Most of the Hours - I love this song, it's just such fun. the vibe kind of reminds me of "milim yafot" or "on shabbat" in concert. exuberant.

From the Day you Left - the intro sounds a bit like a more simple azini, unsurprising since they're both arabic songs... but it's a bold, beautiful song.

Every Day - actually understanding this song doesn't hurt, but it's just a beauty of a piece.

This Too Shall Pass (All Things Pass)- comparable to shuvi el beiti, i guess, very strong.

Locked in His Gaze - wow. i wish this song was the final one on the cd (and on the version i got, it was, since maisha was a separate single). such a strong ending.

Maisha - i'm not sure what to think about this song, i think it's the one in swahili, if i'm not mistaken... it's pretty, but i do not find it too remarkable.

If you have any interest in the project, BUY THIS IMMEDIATELY.
The replay value is INCREDIBLE, can be played over and over constantly and you'll ALWAYS hear something suddenly varied and seemingly new. I've listened to it daily for 2 months and just heard new aspects of it a few moments ago. It's that good.

This is a wonderful album.
Doesn't get old.

So glad I stumbled on this. It was thanks to Putumayo that I even heard of it. I instantly fell in love with the first album and possibly even more so this one. After buying this CD I really didn't want to listen to anything else but this for days. In the first album we are treated to a mixture of Ethiopian and Israeli rhythms, and in Within My Walls, fusing music styles from Africa, the Middle East and Spain/Latin America, Idan Raichel Project takes us on a musical odyssey around the world. I look forward to what comes next after these two stunning albums. If you like world music BUY THIS!

The Idan Raichel Project's sophomore album, "Within My Walls",is a bittersweet follow-up to its debut. Whereas its first album blended Israeli and Ethiopian music with trance/trip-hop, this sequel goes for more of a worldbeat sound. There are contributions from Moroccan singer Shimon Buskila, Cape Verde's Mayra Andrade, the Ugandan/Rwandan singer Somi, and Colombia's Marta Gomez. It's a smoother,glossier album, albeit with darker themes.

The title track, "Other People's Dreams", "Stay", and "From the Day You Left" are profoundly melancholy. They are songs of loss and longing. Despite the Idan Raichel Project's new pop-like gloss, their songs deal with isolation, unrequited love, and relationship problems. "All the Words" and "Every Day" are reminiscent of flamenco. "River Waters" blends the natural sounds of water with the lyrics. "Maisha" is about war, from a child's perspective. One of the most powerful is "Most of the Hours"--it sounds joyous,but its lyrics are among the saddest.

"Within My Walls" was recorded in apartments, hotels, home studios--in a sense, it's ambient music. There is an organic feeling to the album. The Idan Raichel Project is not sinking into a sophomore slump. "Within My Walls" touches the heart.

I have been listening to his music for a little while and the only thing I have to say is that the guy is amazing!.
There is a great convenation on lirics and melody that transport you to different cultures and places. I am planning to get onother cd of his to complite the range of amazing!

I really enjoy listening to this cd and play it often, it is very different than the 1st one that I've been playing for a long time. Different languages spanish and portuguese I believe I am hearing. A bit more mellow in certain ways. Highly recommend this for Idan Raichel fans.