Vas - Feast of Silence
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Free Music Notes for Feast of Silence
Free Music Review: Dreamy and surreal
Hit: 4 Stars
I found Vas thanks to Amazon's penchant for suggesting based on other purchases, and am I glad! I was hunting for music to use in belly-dance class either for routines or warm-up. I had just ordered Greg Ellis' "Kala Rupa", having fallen in love with the copy my teacher used in class, and got a couple Vas suggestions. Impulsively I bought two and have been very happy, in class and in the car. The music is satisfyingly exotic to an ear trained in American music, yet vivid and accessible as well. 'Feast of Silence' is stunning, moody and alternately soothing and invigorating. Well worth the impulse!Free Music Review: Inspired beyond words.....
Hit: 5 Stars
Of all the VAS albums, this is my favourite, and an interesting evolution. The writing, song arrangements, production, the ambience, everything. And of course, above all...the beautiful angelic voice of Azam Ali. Every time I play this album for someone, they say "oh my God, who is that singer?" Greg Ellis' rhythms are brilliant here, very haunting and hypnotic, and not overdone as sometimes is the case with this type of music. The song Mandara floored me from the first time I heard it. The structure, the tension buildup, and the amazing vocal performance are just breathtaking.
Also great is Azam Ali's other project Niyaz, which has a more Middle-Eastern/Persian influence along with some electronic samples.
Free Music Review: Breathtakingly Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, a special thank you to Chelle, my best buddy on the net. She purchased this album for my birthday, from my amazon wishlist. I am forever grateful to have discovered Azam Ali, VAS & Niyaz through Chelle. ;-) Since receiving the CD in the mail yesterday, I've played it twice. Both times were mesmerizing and captivating. I absolutely LOVE "Feast of Silence". Nothing better could've come from this album, seriously. The tribal, ambient and wordly sounds in the recording are incredible, and I had to indulge by listening to the CD twice in a matter of 24 hours. A few, excellent artists come to mind when I listen to "Feast of Silence". These are them: (Loreena McKennitt, Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance, Diane Arkenstone, Ofra Haza). Because of Azam's remarkable, versatile voice, she can sing any style of music and do no wrong. I already have her "Portals of Grace" album, and the extractions from the "Elysium for the Brave" CD, but they aren't as great as this title from VAS. Azam Ali and Greg Ellis make a fantastic duo and I'm so proud of them for working together for so long. Hope they never stop! Greg is a very handsome man and so talented. Without his percussion work on the album, it just wouldn't sound the same. Just the cover photo alone sold me right away. I'm attracted to albums when they have attractive covers...so this helped me a lot in my choice for a wishlist item.
As I write in all my reviews, I look for sound quality. For "Feast of Silence", the sound is excellent. Unfortunately, the album is shorter than I thought, although...the songs are long. But all really great albums are too short. ;-) As I mentioned earlier, Azam reminded me of Loreena McKennitt and Lisa Gerrard (of Dead Can Dance) throughout the CD. And, I didn't expect Azam to sing such moving, versatile pieces of music. She can certainly put her own style into virtually anything she sings. "Feast of Silence" is a must-have for anyone's music collection. And at least I know to classify the album under "World"...as sometimes it's hard to classify such a masterpiece. There aren't any favorites on "FOS", because they're all super. The title track is just as stunning as the rest of them. I can't stress enough, how good this album is. You must have it!
Artwork is beautiful throughout the package. There is only 1 photo of the duo inside the booklet, but the entire layout has a beautiful design. The disc itself is a dark terra-cotta (almost brown) in color, with black "lacey" artwork in an Indian style. It's very nice. I don't know if the CD was only housed in a jewel case everywhere, but mine is. Visit the Narada site and check out more info on Azam Ali and her music (solo & collaborative). You won't regret it.
Tracklist:
01- Amrita (Churning the Sea of Milk) - 6:08
02- In Our Faith - 7:05
03- Mandara - 6:23
04- Izgrejala - 3:52
05- Moksha - 4:59
06- The Reaper and the Flowers - 4:22
07- Bardo - 10:16
08- Feast of Silence - 7:17
09- Kali Basa - 6:47
Free Music Review: Feast for the ears
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been listening to this one for several days now and must admit that I am impressed with it. It shows that this duo have grown quite a bit and it comes out almost as good to me as Ali's solo work. There are only a few brief moments on here that I just can't make it through (namely "the reaper in the flowers". sorry folks but this is boring). The Bulgarian vocal arrangements are particularly wonderful, as is the touch of Indian flavor on the third track. Azam Ali is reaching new levels as a vocalist on "Feast of Silence" and Greg Ellis is also coming up nicely...
Azam Ali also makes her English debut with this album, and does so fairly nicely. It's not a constant onslaught, as I had thought it might be, but it is there.
If you have not heard Vas before, and enjoy world music with deep classical undertones then this might be something you should check out. Azam Ali's voice is simply glorious.
Free Music Review: Time Enough
Hit: 5 Stars
I've followed Vas haphazardly for some time now, from the days when they were true minimalists, focused on Azam Ali's expressive voice and Greg Ellis's percussion work. The strong Medieval and Middle Eastern flavor was haunting as Ali created her own language to express emotions both plaintive and ecstatic. Their work gradually filled out and became increasingly complex and then, suddenly, they stopped recording. Sometimes the connection between love and creativity takes a long time to break and heal over.
Feast of Silence marks an overcoming of differences. Ali and Ellis work so well together that it's a bit of a relief to see that they have managed to find a new accommodation. Even more interesting it the fact that the music is a genuine departure for them in the midst of Ali's traditional stylings experiments like 'In Our Faith' appear. The music is mostly acoustic, but it dances on the edge with occasional electronic tidbits. In addition Ali steps over into the use of actual lyrics, revealing and underlying poetic spirit in work like 'Feast of Silence.'
For most of the cuts they work together. Each also has a track without the other - 'Moksha' (Elllis) and 'Feast of Silence' (Azam Ali). If I had to pick a favorite, though, it would be Izgrejaia, which is one long joyful effort. Joining the two leads are Tyler Bates one guitar and keyboard, Pejman Hadadi on tombak, Deepak Ram on bansuri, Cameron Stone on cello, Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, Naser Musa on oud and Brent Meyer on bouzuki. Far more musicians than they usually work with.
I hope this presages more albums to come from an innovative pair that have created their own musical niche.