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://www.natachaatlas.net/
