The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

Natacha Atlas

Mish Maoul | Beggars UK
By MICHAEL FREEDBERG  |  June 6, 2006
2.0 2.0 Stars

060609_atlas_main
MISH MAOUL: Atlas's voice is there, but not the songs
The voice is still there — that marvelously tipsy contralto, the sound of a woman loving herself — but not the songs. Atlas’s 1990s CDs had it all, vocal intoxication in an exotic but then not so exotic setting, half Arabic and half European pop and American soul, supported by orchestration and rhythms equally intoxicated if not more so. Belgian born, of Egyptian and Jewish ancestry, Atlas had gotten her start in the aptly named studio ensemble Transglobal Underground, and her transglobal vision was taken to the limits on her first solo CDs. Very few tracks on Mish Maoul go anywhere at all. Most barely achieve the expected cultural-clashing beauty. Fans will like the solos on the qanun, an ancient Egyptian harp-like instrument, and the ticklish percussion on “Wahashni,” a gothic song in which Atlas’s sad, almost scared vocals echo themselves. Nearly as fetching are the bass and qanun of “Hayati Inta” and the funky cha’abi rhythm of “Haram Aleyk.” Elsewhere, Atlas spends too much of her out-of-bounds energy stooping to the all too pedestrian sounds of hip-hop, bossa nova, new jill, and loungy jazz.

On the Web
Natacha Atlas:
http://www.natachaatlas.net/

  Topics: CD Reviews , Natacha Atlas
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

[ 11/09 ]   Miley Cyrus + Metro Station  @ TD Garden
[ 11/09 ]   "Folk Sessions"  @ Tommy Doyle's @ Harvard
[ 11/09 ]   "Open Mic"  @ Steve’s Backstage Pass
[ 11/09 ]   Infinite Ensemble  @ Sally O'Brien's
[ 11/09 ]   "Makka Mondays"  @ Phoenix Landing
ARTICLES BY MICHAEL FREEDBERG
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   DANCE MARATHON  |  March 04, 2008
    A full brigade of House Nation citizens turned out for Victor Calderone’s marathon spin session at Therapy last Saturday.
  •   HOUSE HEADS  |  February 19, 2008
    The lounge at 33 Restaurant & Lounge on Stanhope Street in the Back Bay may just have Boston’s tiniest dance floor. The upstairs restaurant isn’t much bigger.
  •   SANDER KLEINENBERG  |  January 22, 2008
    Kleinenberg’s 28 selections were made by names not well known — the classic strategy by which a DJ projects his own sound, one unmistakable for anyone else’s.
  •   FLOWER POWER  |  January 14, 2008
    As I write this, I’m listening to the newest Jeanne Mas CD, The Missing Flowers .
  •   SUBURBAN HOUSE  |  January 07, 2008
    At Rise the Saturday before Christmas, DJ Deka played a four-and-a-half-hour set.

 See all articles by: MICHAEL FREEDBERG

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group