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ACOUSTIC ARABIA (PUTUMAYO) |
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Of course, world music is nothing new to Putumayo, but it's a refreshing move to do something that has nothing to do with dance halls - at least no the dance halls with the thump-thump-thump of electronic beats. Indeed, with the sultriness of these acoustic songs arising from North Africa and the Middle East, one can easily see a olive- or dark-skinned beauty swaying to the music, winning your heart while the music wins your ears. In some ways, this is more stripped down than other Putumayo releases, but its wholly organic-sounding and vastly more old-school approach makes "Acoustic Arabia" an fascinating diversion for the label. Though it does this album justice to call it a diversion. It is a beautiful part of the Putumayor tradition. Ah, tradition is certainly the right word - traditional. Rather than the fusion of DJ beats with classic world flavors, Putumayo here focuses more strictly on those world flavors. Here is something more deeply ancient (though other releases from the label have plenty of the old personality of the various cultures represented in the compilations). Ancient may not be the right word. I hardly mean to suggest dusty, antique. But here are Arabian roots, here are foundations - those foundations without which no dancehall-flavored Putumayo tribute to Arabia could exist. It's something sensual, reverent, classic.-- review by Kristofer Upjohn
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