New Reviews: December 2, 2002
Reviews by Matthew J. Forss
Tab Leh
Ragheb Alama
Mondo Melodia/Ark 21
Arabic pop music maestro, Ragheb Alama, brings us 12 new
tracks off his new album titled Tab Leh. Musically, Ragheb
sings upbeat pop music from Lebanon. Fans of Arabic/rai
music with a rhythm will certainly enjoy Ragheb Alama,
and his latest album Tab Leh.
Kale Kalore
Vera Bila & Kale
Tinder
Grammy Award winning musicians, Vera Bila and Kale from the the Czech
Republic, perform traditional gypsy music of the Rom-Pop style. Vera
Bila's heart-felt vocals and Kale's traditional instrumentation and
back up vocals precisely represent gypsy life and culture. An essential
album of contemporary gypsy music that should not be missed!
Matthew J. Forss is currently a full-time student at Lakeland College-Sheboygan,
Wisconsin. He is majoring in Biology and German Language/Culture. Since 1998,
he has collected numerous musical instruments and CDs from around the world.
Also in 1998, he wrote a paper on Mongolian Ethnomusicology, titled:
How Does Music Play An Important Role In The Life And Culture Of Mongolia?
Currently, he has collected over 100 CDs that represent dozens of different
countries. His general interests include ethnomusicology journalism and
researching the traditional/contemporary ethnic music of various cultures
from around the world. His specific, geographic areas of study include the
traditional and popular music from Central Eurasia (especially Mongolia, Uzbekistan,
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.) In November of 2000, he accepted the position of
writing world music CD reviews for this site.
