International music reviews

This first album by Fonky Family is just amazing, with incredible beats along with their witty lyrics. Tracks like "Sans Remission", "La Resistance", "La Furie et la Foi", "Sans faire couler le sang", they keep you listening throughout the CD. FF first started off on the "Bad Boys de Marseille" tracks of Akhenaton's "Meteque et Mat", and have picked up right where they left off there. Get this CD, an awesome piece of work by FF!!

this album is untouchable. the mcs in fonky family are french rap kings.

check out "cherche pas comprendre, "la furie et la foi," "les mains sales," and "aux absent." all those songs are hot to death.

French rap can't be beaten. Phat Cd, keep flowing, a must buy, espically if you know french.

hello! my name is bruno. this band is a great band! they realeased 5 cds, their first wasnt very popular, but their second was a smash hit here in brazil! and after that they became a important piece in brasilian bands! they are with out a doubt one of brazil's best bands ever! buy it, garantee you wont regret it!!! bye bye! bruno

I don't speak Portugese but found that language is totally unnecessary for extreme enjoyment. I was especially absorbed by the awesome bass lines and obvious talent that permeates every song. This is an impressive album that sends me on the search for more Skank.

Heard this band while in Rio, 1999. As soon as I heard the music I was stunned and immediately moved by the music. I speak Port/Spa/Eng but it doesn't matter if you don't speak Port. b/c the music is so cool and it will definitely impress you.

Goanna were probably the best of the Aussie Invasion that hit the US back in the early '80's. I bought an audio cassette of Spirit of Place in 1982 and it quickly became my favorite tape ever. There aren't any songs on this cd, tape, whatever. They are, instead, well-crafted, intense stories set to music. If you like the works of Harry Chapin, or Springsteen's "Nebraska," you might want to give Spirit of Place a moment of your time. You won't regret it!

Still heard regularly on radio in Oz, this album deserves dusting off and a regular outing - if you haven't heard it then listen to it and buy it - if you enjoy Icehouse you'll proabably like this earlier Oz Band. Its still clean, fresh and original. Only wish I could replace my tape of the second Goanna album - 'Oceania' - which is just as good as 'Spirit of Place'. Hope to replace it through Amazon soon!!!

An absolute classic from one of the greatest Aussie bands of all time. They don't come better than this and with Shane Howard's emotionally charged lyrics, it's a must in any cd collection.

This CD is awsome. The band members are also very cool. They are very nice. The songs on this cd are really great and should be heard by everyone. I bout 6 just so my friends can hear this cool band. I am going to spread the word at my college about them. The Song Rescue is a great song.

The Liquid Blue song "If You Gotta Ask" is the most powerful political song I've heard in a long time. This one could be the anthem for a change in the white house. ROCK THE VOTE!

What a great song and message!

It's no rare event these days when great musicians from opposite sides of the planet come together in a musical merging project. The "West Meets East" concept is not new; it's been going on since Debussy heard Balinese gamelan, since Bartok recorded Morrocan "Chleuh", since Reich studied drumming in Africa. And in the modern age of studio recordings, it is certainly not a new phenomenon -- just ask the Beatles, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John MacLaughlin, AfroCelt Sound System, Don Cherry, and even Ry Cooder.

This record sits easily with the aforementioned as a monumental cross-cultural musical merging. It is one of the finest available. I believe it even surpasses the legendary "Meeting By the River" of V.M. Bhatt and Ry Cooder.

In this record, Bhatt teams up with legendary Bluegrass banjo player Bela Fleck and erh-hu artist Jie-Bing Chen. Just as important, though in the background, are Ronu Majumdar on bansuri, Poovalur Srinivasan on mridangam, and Sangeeta Shankar on violin.

What sets this record apart from others is that it perfectly blends the various styles and instruments brought to the table without sacrificing the ethnicity and authenticity of any. And this I believe is the crucial asset in effect here -- because how often do these cross-cultural mergings turn into really a "Western" record with some exotic sounds? Usually, one party takes a backseat role to the rest.

Not so here. Each player adds their own unique element to the mix, and nothing is sacrificed. The end result is a truly unclassifiable genre of music of the utmost quality. No player is eschewing any part of their musical heritage to "fit" into the scope of the project: if you could fade out everything except Bhatt's mohan vina, you would be hearing excellent traditional-sounding Indian folk music. Tweak the faders to isolate Fleck, and you would hear bluegrass music with all its chromaticism, inflections, etc. Pick out Jie-Bing Chen's erh-hu, and you will most likely hear pentatonic scales straight out of the Far East. And yet, the end result is a perfectly-balanced amalgamation of the disparate styles that somehow sounds like these instruments have played in the same settings for years.

The best track on this record is "Earl in Shanghai," which illustrates this perfectly. When Chen begins the tune alone, the pentatonic melody sounds distinctively Asian. Then, Fleck enters, adding a Western chromaticism to the mix. When the track takes off with the added percussion, we are left with a real bluegrass foundation, with the same pentatonic melody in the top (with one added passing tone), all over a solidly Indian mridangam beat cycle. The overall result is of the utmost quality.

That being said, I believe this record surpasses even the legendary collaboration between Bhatt and Ry Cooder. This album is decisively more composed and rehearsed than the "Meeting By the River." While the Cooder/Bhatt meeting is undoubtedly great, there are several giveaway moments in the recording that show how quickly it was thrown together. It's really a jam session -- at times one person moves through a transition while another doesn't, the endings of the songs happen abruptly...it's a monumental record, no doubt, but this one is miles above it in terms of quality and professionalism.

Well, enough blathering on. For some of the most relaxing and beautiful world music you will ever hear, pick up this record. You will not be disappointed.

It pleases me that every review for this album is 5 stars.
This is great music.

Bela Fleck has got to be one of the most talented musicians around, and this album shows some of that talent. It is in the way he can switch between styles. Especially considering his intstrument of choice is a banjo, something not usually considered too "mainstream". This album is beautiful. If you like Bela's other music, you'll love this one.

Me encanta como ese joven cantante interpreta e rende homenaje a la tradicion romantica del bolero. Espero oir mucho mas de el.
Creo que sea una estrella por nuestra decada.
I am enchanted by the way this young singer interprets and renders homage to the romantic tradition of the bolero. I hope to hear much more of him, and think he is a star for our decade.

its incredible how the new generation is appreciating the bolero.music that i grew up with.especially this one (jorge lewis)i just got his first and his second album and i can not stop listening to them.thanks for continuing with the bolero movement and continue working the way you are doing.let me know more about this novel artist pls

a la verdad que yo misma no sabia el potencial de mi hijo. recuerdo cuando lo escuchaba cantar en el bano en republica dominicana, jamas imagine que lo llevaria a estos extremos.el siempre esta pensando en sus fanaticos

Pienso q es uno de los mejores cds q he escuchado haciendo esa mezcla de ritmos. La cancion q mas me gusta es NSSV, es una cancion suave pero pegajosa y adictiva, se acaba y vuelvo y la repito.
Estoy buscando "El sonido mostaza" pero no lo he podido enontrar por ningun lado, ese cd tiene a "Negro sol, negra Luna" es una historia de un polizon, excelente tambien.

AMAZING DEMOSTRATION OF COLOMBIAN TALENT. GREAT MUSIC AND MUSICIANS, SUPERLITIO SHOWS WHAT YOU CAN DO WHEN YOU MIX ALL TASTES AND MUSIC GENRES. ROCK-FUNK-SALSA-SOUL-ELECTRONIC, YOU'LL HEAR ANY GROOVE THAT I'M SURE IT'S GONNA MAKE YOUR BODY SHAKE, DANCE TO THE RYTHM, OR JUST LISTEN TO IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND CHILL.

BUY IT ! ! ! ! YOU WILL NOT REGRET. IT'S WORTH THE INVESTMENT.
APOYEMOS EL TALENTO LOCAL!

Con este CD Superlitio demuestra que en Colombia hay talento de sobra y que la calidad musical de nuestros artistas va mas alla del Vallenato o la Salsa. En ese trabajo se mezclan con total fluidez ritmos propios de la cultura latina como la salsa y el bolero con el rock mas puro, tambien hay muestras de drum n' bass y funk, y aunque parezca un exceso sonoro, todos los ritmos se integran, logrando una verdadera fusion, que adicionalmente recurre al ingles y al espa�ol sin esfuerzos.

1) Babylon: La manera perfecta de demostrar toda la energia de este grupo (9/10)
2) Que Vo' Hacer: Primer Sencillo, fuerza rockera y sabor latino (10/10)
3) Lo-FI: Recomendada absoluta, atencion a la parte dond estalla la cancion, ROCK ON!!! (10/10)
4) Mulata: Funk con sabor caribe, buen groove (8/10)
5) Circus: Rock, Funk...Fusion....Recomendada en vivo (10/10)
6) Perdoname: Si este trabajo fuera un LP este seria el final del lado A. Calmada y llena de sentimiento (10/10)
7) Foxy: Pura fuerza Latina, Otra recomendada especial (BTW, este seria el inicio del lado B. (10/10)
8) Mala Hierba: Misteriosa y pesada...latin music with a twist (7/10)
9) Chabetiza: Otra de las recomendadas en vivo con partes de percusion y salsa. (9/9)
10: Hous.Era: Party Tiempo...Volumen alto y a gozar. (9/10)
11) N.S.S.V.(Trip): Buen intermedio....(8/10)
12) Dub Punk: Recomendada #3, puro rock: rapido, in your face!! (10/10)
13) Camino: Esa es una cancion de referencia para los que quieran hablar de rock en espa�ol de ahora en adelante . (10/10)
14) N.S.S.V.: Increible manera de acabr ese cd...calmada y con todo el sabor de la banda resumido en 4 minutos y medio. (10/10)

Enjoy!

UNA LLUVIA DE ROSAS ES EL CD MAS PADRISIMO QUE AN HECHO PARA EL 2000. LAS CUMBIAS ESTAN BUENAS PARA BAILAR. MI FAVORITAS SON EL 1,2,5.

Este CD es super padrisimo. Las canciones son buenas para bailar. Yo lo recomendo a todos. Viva la vida loca! BYE

Este CD es super padrisimo. Las canciones son buenas para bailar. Yo lo recomendo a todos. Viva la vida loca! BYE

You don't have to be German to love the group! I'm a Black American Female. I fell in love with the group when I was living in Kaiserslautern, Germany and I didn't have a clue about German. It was my first time in the country. The first song I had ever heard from them is Smou. It was rockin'! Ever since then, I'm a big fan! I first bought this CD when I was living in Frankfurt. However, it got stolen and I've been looking for another copy ever since. I've found my treasure here and I'm going to be replacing what I lost. This is a hot CD for the group! Also highly recommended 4:99. AAAAHHHH Smou!!

Coming from Canada I am bombarded with American music (blah). Its refreshing to hear something new and unique in my beloved German language. I was introduced to the DVD version in Italy and was overwhelmed. The beats are fett and if you understand the lyrics...well it gives you a whole other perspective. Its too bad MTV (the American one) won't air this stuff. If you want the visual, get the dvd. Its amazing to see the performance in the cave in Deutschland. Some good picks are: Der Picknicker, Millionen Legionen und MFG (mit Freundlichen Gr?ssen). This is definitely a cd worth buying...

First of all - if you like Hip Hop, you should give these guys a chance. Even if you're not a die-hard Hip-Hop listener (like me), this album is so different, it's just out there by itself. Die Fantastischen Vier changed the Hip-Hop scene in Europe with their catchy tunes and lyrics using the German language like it had never been been used before. This album is somewhat of a 'best of', with an emphasis in their later work. But more important is that this concert is part of the MTV Europe unplugged series and was recorded in a cave! The sound is superb and the 4 artists are backed up by a wealth of classical instruments which gives songs like 'Millionen Legionen' a whole new (even better ) twist.
This album is awesome and ranks within the top5 CDs in my collection.

Does he really think he has a good voice? His voice doens't fit with the music, his sound is undefinable. The beats are nice, but as soon as he starts singing I get sick to my stomach. Just listen to the tracks and you'll hear what I mean. If you want to listen to real dance music try a Dancehall compilation. This is just disappointing to a music fan that loves to dance.

These tracks are hot, gotta request it on the radio, kevin and rupee's is de hottest thang these days whats next is rick ramdehal and his sexydancin and the way she was moving that thang

This song is SO sweet, so why can't I find it anywhere? Hardly anyone's heard of him which is sad.