New Reviews: January 3, 2003
Reviews by Matthew J. Forss
Get It Together
Dub Station & Sonbeam
Dub Station Music
The Boston-based group, Dub Station, teams with Jamaica’s Sonbeam
for their latest addictive release of reggae music. Get It Together
features melodic, reggae tunes that contain stories about marijuana,
racial profiling, love, struggle and persistence. Overall,
North American r&b styles combined with Rastafarian melodies,
chants and raps appropriately describe the music of Dub Station
and Sonbeam.
Evocaciones
Juan Carlos Martin
Independent Release
Evocaciones is an enchanting album of contemporary music from the
Canary Islands. Styles of instrumental jazz, classical, pop
and folk music accompanied by male and female vocals round out
this wonderful album. Anyone looking for music from the Canary
Islands should find Evocaciones a delight.
Misterio
Roger Scannura & Ritmo Flamenco
Independent Release
Born in Malta and raised in Canada, Roger Scannura has found
himself creating Nuevo Flamenco music. His music is similar to
Afro-Cuban rumba with gypsy rhythms. His strong vocals and
masterful guitar playing represent the traditional roots of
flamenco music. Additionally, the fiddle, mandolin, keyboard
and percussion follow Roger’s guitar work. Fans appreciative
of all types of flamenco and guitar music will savor Roger
Scannura’s latest musical concoction.
Made In Breizh,br>
Dan Ar Braz
Tinder
Hailing from French Brittany, electric guitarist Dan Ar Braz
performs contemporary and traditional music of the Celts in
French Brittany. Over 70 musicians were used in the creation
of Made In Breizh. Instruments used include bass, guitar, drums,
fiddle, keyboard, flute, Uilleann Pipes, horns, organ, piano,
violin, viola, saxophone and various percussion. The entire
album has excellent instrumentation and melodies of old and
new tunes. Fans of bagpipes and Celtic music should obtain
Made In Breizh.
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.
