Reviews December 28, 2012
The core of this album is a well-developed musical friendship between Stern and Harouna Samake, whose sterling kamele n’goni (young man’s harp) has graced recordings and performances by wassoulou diva Sali Sidibe, and, more recently, Mali music icon Salif Keita. Stern and Samake have a sound.
Reviews December 27, 2012
The result is astounding, not just for its technical brilliance, but its musicality. Gripper executes these pieces with the precision and attention to detail one might expect from a great classical musician, but there is nothing stiff about these performances.
Reviews December 26, 2012
Lyricism and simplicity are key to Tshikala’s aesthetic. The mix is never cluttered with unnecessary ornamentation. Clear, clean vocals—mostly expressing sentiments of true and undying love, and always in English—and strong guitar lines—sometimes clean, sometimes very crunchy—are front and center.
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Reviews November 21, 2012
I do, during the writing process, feel free. But it's everything after that makes you feel that the freedom was an illusion. When the system steps in, and the label, and the people that work with you and that are observing every step of what you do. They have to think about, "Where does this fit? Does this work as a follow-up song to the enormous success of his last song? What about American radio, specifically? Will display on top 40? Or will this play on alternative radio? Or is this too weird for any of them?" So you have those things, those questions, though severe observations that will come to your door after having written songs. You just don't know what to do about that. That's when you realize that the freedom is a bit of an illusion really.
Blog November 20, 2012
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