Zohar - Onethreeseven

Zohar - Onethreeseven (2001) World dance albums are a dime a dozen these days, as studio nonmusicians cut and paste exotic sounds into hip, trendy, and generally vacuous international tapestries. The Middle East-influenced Zohar escape this morass of mediocrity via their organic blend of live and sampled sounds. Zohar's composers/performers are both synthesists and musicians. The jazzy Arabic trip-hop of "Midnight at the Bazaar" is indicative of the group's approach--blending mystical Middle Eastern sounds with modern technology and styles, all the while retaining a sense of spirituality. Zohar implement a wide range of instruments, including piano, trumpet, Chapman stick, bendir, and drums, and combine them with a varied group of male and female Arabic vocalists to create compositions rich with aural textures. Some of the dreamy trumpet playing even recalls Jon Hassell. There are several moments of repetition that could have been edited down, but the group generally succeeds in its quest to create modern "soul music." Onethreeseven follows Zohar?s first album, Elokainu, which, if released on a small scale, back in 1999, became an underground favourite in London clubs such as China White, Momo or Megatropolis. Benefiting of a wider release, Onethreeseven is likely to reach a much wider audience. Zohar offer here an array of contemporary beats and ancient forms of singing. Incorporating Jewish Cantors, Arab Meuzzins, Byzantine chants and operatic voices, Baron Cohen and Kremer work on the singularity of vocal techniques and their spiritual or religious meaning. For the connoisseurs, this album refers to, and features, some of the biggest names in the Middle East, including Pierre Pinchik on the beautiful opening track, Ehad, Oum Kalthoum (Angel), Bimi Mint Abba (Harmony) or Zavaha Ben on the title track. It is not necessary to know anything about any of these cultures to enjoy this album though, as the power of the vocal performances and the precise production prove to convey the deeply emotional significance of this record brilliantly. Zohar mix the complex Middle Eastern musical instrumentations with western influences, ranging from jazz or classical to hip-hop and drum?n?bass, and create some magnificent waves of chilled music, sometimes reminiscent of the peaceful ambiences of a Zero 7 or any of the Buddha Bar series. Highlights of this album include the stunning opener, Ehad, the magnificent Elokainu and The Merciful One, both tracks offering some of the most intense singing heard, as well as Angel and Maroc. With Onethreeseven, Zohar transcend the notion of World music, allowing access to ancient forms of music by wrapping them up around contemporary structures. Although the contrast is strong, Zohar don?t disfigure nor destroy the intrinsic emotional or spiritual message of these traditional melodies.

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stonkerman (2007-05-26)

thankyou!

grimhood (2010-01-30)

Thanks for this up man...this is one awesome music to listen to I love it and so shall I SEED it as long as I can..thanks :-)