Customer Reviews

eXtraOrdinary Rendition

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This is the first full length studio album from rupa and her band, the april fishes. Featuring songs in french, spanish, hindi and english arranged for guitar, cello, accordion, trumpet, upright bass, and drums, eXtraOrdinary rendition pushes boundaries and crosses borders with songs that are at the same time political and romantic. This album was originally self-released in San Francisco and has been re-mastered, re-mixed, and re-released by world music label Cumbancha. Along with improved sound, this edition features a fold-out poster and translations of all the songs along with a postcard back that can be addressed and sent directly through the mail. The album also features respected SF Bay Area jazz bassist and composer Marcus Shelby on two tracks and the artwork of beloved muralist Mona Caron who has also painted live on-stage with the fishes. Que bueno !

Rupa and the April Fishes' "Extraordinary Rendition" is a glorious mix of gipsy, tango, and Indian music. Rupa Marya, who grew up in France, India, and in the Bay Area, brings together a spicy polyglot of delicious music. Her debut album makes one hungry for more. Rupa and her ensemble have been compared to the Pacific Northwest lounge group Pink Martini and the gipsy punk Gogol Bordello, but they're more like Lo'Jo, the French performance art collective. When Rupa and her band performs live, the muralist Mona paints (her artwork is on the album)

"Extraordinary Rendition" opens with the sounds of San Francisco. The song "Maintenant" is an insistent tango about embracing the present moment. "Poder" is a sober Spanish song,drawn from Rupa's experience as a doctor, about a Mexican woman dying from cancer because she feared being caught. "Une Americaine a Paris" is about facing anti-American prejudice in Paris,so it's hardly a cover of George Gershwin's famous song. "La Pecheuse" is a haunting ballad with a deep,jazzy groove. "Mal de Mer" is equally haunting. "Yaad" is the strongest song,with an Indian sensibility. One hopes Rupa will delve into her Indian heritage more in subsequent songs. The closing song,"Wishful Thinking",is a ballad about desiring the forbidden.

"Extraordinary Rendition" is one of 2008's best albums. If you fish for great music... you'll be a lucky pescatarian with this!

I stumbled upon a review of this disc in, of all places, the Christian Science Monitor. Although I listen to classical music almost exclusively, the album sounded too intriguing to pass up: a woman of East Indian heritage; born in the Bay Area; lived in southern France; sings in French, Spanish, English and Hindi; and a physician to boot!

Well, I've had the album for a week, and it has rarely left my CD player in that time. This is exceptional, imaginative music making of the highest order, and I agree with all the positive things the other reviewers have said about it. But to add a couple of points, I don't think anyone has commented on Rupa's voice, which I would describe as soft, intimate, sensual, even otherworldly at times. She is also capable of rousing, high spiritedness. Rupa a very idiomatic singer of French, in a true bal musette style. If I didn't know otherwise, I'd easily take her for a native speaker. The band is terrific and the arrangements, imaginative. Rupa writes her own, very thoughtful lyrics, often in a metaphorical style. To the extent they are political, they are lightly so--more about how politics affect human relationships. The reviewer who called her music "agit pop" (sic) does it a disservice; it is much too subtle and imaginative for that. Nor do I agree that one of the songs is about facing anti-American prejudice in Paris. That's the starting point, but to me, it's really about the artificial boundaries that separate people.

With all of the different styles she embraces, you might wonder if this is just a multicultural hodge-podge. Not at all; the songs have a coherence about them, which makes them sound like different facets of one musical personality, which of course they are. Although she doesn't sound like him, she reminds me of Jacques Brel in spirit. If he is listening to Rupa, wherever he may be, I know he is smiling.

Charming artwork. If you want to find out where Rupa got the name, "The April Fishes," or why she sings in foreign languages, go to The April Fishes website--sorry, but Amazon review guidelines don't allow mention of actual URLs in reviews.

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P.S. It is now two months since I wrote this review, and I just visited a Border's Bookstore in Chicago. I was surprised and delighted to find this album playing in the music department, and one of the salespeople told me it was a great staff favorite. In the few minutes I was there, another customer, obviously interested, approached a salesperson to ask what it was.

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P.P.S. We are in the middle of a World Music Festival in Chicago, and Rupa gave three concerts here over the weekend. I was lucky enough to hear two of them, on the same day. The first was an open-air concert at Navy Pier, one of Chicago's major entertainment venues. Rupa started with a large crowd and ended with an enormous crowd as more and more people were enticed by her music. Sales of the CD were brisk, and only a few of the evening concertgoers were able to get a copy before they were completely gone.

In the evening, she was preceded by a group from New York playing psychedelic Peruvian music. They were very good and were well received, but Rupa brought the house down--loud cheers after every number and two standing ovations at the end.

You would think from the whispered, sultry tones on the CD that she is the kind of performer you would find draped over a piano lid in a smoky cabaret. She is in fact an electrifying and very physical performer who can whip an audience into a frenzy. No phony theatrics here--she just sings and plays her heart out. She appears to be someone of great personal warmth as well, and has an obvious affection for each member of her band. Speaking of whom, I was going to throw a compliment in the direction of Isabel Douglass, the accordionist, but each of the band members is so good it would be remiss for me to single anyone out.

So grab this CD, hope that there will be another one soon, and keep your fingers crossed that Rupa come to your hometown.

I think Rupa and the April Fishes are terrific. They are full of energy, the music is great, and the lyrics are meaningful. Since my French is so so, I appreciated the inclusion of the English translation that came with the album. Rupa is a great entertainer, and the band that supports her is great; what a diverse group that puts together some great music.

This music is good for every mood, when you are sad, it makes you smile again. When you are happy it makes you feel like partying. This world music is, sweet, funny, sometimes sad, hilarious, and diverse. It has many styles from gypsy to chanson. Just listen and enjoy! If you like to party, don't forget to go and watch them play!

I highly recommend this album for many reasons. First off, I applaud Rupa and the April Fishes for promoting a global community and bringing attention to issues of self, language, and identity to the forefront. But most importantly, it's just a beautiful, beautiful album. Rupa's voice reminds me of a silken paintbrush, using various languages and tones to brush smoky or vivid images (depending on the song) across the mind's canvas. It may come off a little too carnival-esque, gypsy-ish to some people, especially more "modern" listeners who are used to lots of electronic adjustments, but I love the organic, instrumental vibe of this album. The more mellow tracks are beautiful no matter what kind of music listener you are. Rupa's voice is just amazing in "Maintenant", "Les Abeilles", and the haunting "Yaad". The more folksy tracks "Une Americaine a Paris" takes a little getting used to, but I embraced the accordion sound :)

I don't buy albums frequently. I usually do it to simplify my life because a particular album has several tracks I listen to frequently, but this is one of the few albums I recommend as a whole, as a complete auditory experience. Highly recommend it on so many levels.

Rupa and the April Fishes mixes different languages and instruments in a most harmonious way. Most lyrics are French, instruments include cello and trumpet. Very upbeat at times resembles klezmer music.

This is a most unusual CD. I loved it the first time I heard it and had to have the CD. It has French, Brazilian, Argentinian and Caribbean elements, presented in a great way. The singer Rupa has a melodious voice, the beat is contageous, great music in all.

Passionate, eclectic, exotic, danceable, masterful. One of my favorite recordings of the year.

Highly recommended recording. Run, don't walk to see Rupa & the April Fishes in concert.

I think the Norah Jones crowd would like this - it is a little edgier & more varied, but, like Jones' music, comfortable.