Music CD - Sophie Solomon: Poison Sweet Madeira

	Music CD: Poison Sweet Madeira Artist: Sophie Solomon List Price: $31.99 Our Price: $21.30 Your Save: $ 10.69 ( 33% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Umvd Import
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Tracks: 1. Holy Devil 2. Burnt by the Sun - Richard Hawley, Sophie Solomon 3. Poison Sweet Madeira 4. Lazarus 5. Light That Never Dies - Ralph Fiennes, Sophie Solomon 6. Hazy 7. I Can Only Ask Why 8. Meditation on Dvorák's Slavonic Fantasy 9. Pin Pricks & Gravy Stains
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0028947572190 Format: Import Label: Umvd Import Manufacturer: Umvd Import Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Umvd Import Release Date: 2006-03-13 Studio: Umvd Import
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Sweet Madeira on a Desert Island Comment: I heard Sophie on Desert Island Discs twice this week, yesterday as a guest and earlier in the week David Edgar chose one of her tracks for his Island. Then after listening to 2 more tracks on Women's Hour I have to agree with the Daily Mail she's "primed for solo stardom". The music is unique - intelligent gypsy mixed with cool,haunting and romantic beats. She has you dancing, laughing and crying. As The Telegraph says "If you haven't heard of her, you will". BUY IT, you won't regret it. Customer Rating: Summary: Something different! Comment: The music includes styles as russian folk, instrumental violin music and gypsy. It it truly exciting and passionate music for people who like to open their horizon and listen to something new. Customer Rating: Summary: Truly Madly Tasty! Comment: Prepare to be hooked. I love any album that "takes some getting into," but this has enough atmosphere and musicality to etch its way into any romantic's head after about three playings. This is very much for lovers of tunes and life. It reminds me, in different places, of such diverse pleasures as quirky old Stackridge (from Bristol, UK) and Shakti (the John Mclaughlin/Shankar/Hussein fusion of guitar, violin and tabla). There's jolly sawing, sensitive phrasing and baroque rocking. You can also feel, pretty consistently, the approval beaming in from Django and Stephane. There's variety here, then; certainly enough to delineate separate tracks and have you cueing around for individual delights that may subsequently take your fancy; but the whole disk is united by its mood of creativity and experiment around an authentic core, a distinctive style that beautifully combines elements of Russian, Continental, Eastern, Classical and no small measure of the avant garde - but all held together by a sense of real pleasure in the entertainment value of such forms as the Tango. This album also brings back joyous memories of a one-off Nigel Kennedy concert with the Kroke band one night in Richmond (on Thames) a couple of years ago. (It was a largely "corporate" do and the assembled tuxedos and gowns seemed initially readier for a bit of Vivaldi - but the sheer joy and originality grew on most after a while; and instantaneously so, in the case of our own company's then receptionist, a young Slovakian more usually noted for her disco prowess but at once enchanted by sounds she immediately greeted with joyous cries of "It's my music!") There's something about Sophie Solomon's tunes that has staid old English me wanting to shout the same thing. It helps that there's also a very decent pop sensibility at work, too (notable contributions from KT Tunstall and Ralph Fiennes included). Imagine being at a rock concert that suddenly presented you with a Cossack knees-up or transported you to a souk or synagogue, maybe put you on a bike through Paris or took you through the streets of London with incredibly good buskers doing string quartets and polkas on different corners. Then imagine all of the above shaken into a very tasteful cocktail with a unique flavour of its own. Poison Sweet Madeira is an absolutely delicious surprise, from the "world" (if you must) / symphonically rocking and reeling opening track, via various charms and tunes, to the terrific, Penguin (Caf? Orchestra)-flavoured finale. Also, please eliminate from the start any qualms about this being the latest "lovely young thing does the classical bit." It started, I suppose, with Vanessa-Mae and has continued with some distressing recent examples; but, honestly, this lady's writing and playing is way, way beyond such ephemera, so pardon the same breath, and all that. The artiste herself, certainly, looks very fetching on the cover. It's your ears, however, that are in for an authentic, accomplished musical experience. This woman can really play; plus she writes tunes your brain and heart want to hear. She's not afraid of austerity and has a way of playing that should help make some of the less immediate material here - yes, klezmer included - more popular. For us, the best example is the Light That Never Dies, an utterly classy track that has Ralph Fiennes reciting an imagist poem against music that would be a perfect soundtrack to the result of the animators of Belleville Rendezvous having a go at a Third Man remake... or something in that vein. Above all, what you get here is that rare treat of audible talent: fine, accurate technique, virtuoso, passionate playing and music that comes from deep cultural roots and achieves an effect that's at once old and familiar, fresh and intriguing. Fire up the samovar, get the vodka from the freezer, slice some spicy sausage, unwrap some chocolate and get down to this great, great album! More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Sophie Solomon's voice is her violin. Whether she's performing with the LSO or playing with her own band, her music is a thrilling combination of technique and passion that refuses to be confined by the conventional parameters of the instrument. Her unique musical vision reaches its full flowering on her self-composed Decca debut solo album Poison Sweet Madeira, an audacious mix of different styles and influences given purpose and unity by her extraordinary violin playing. Poison Sweet Madeira features guest appearances by Richard Hawley, KT Tunstall and Ralph Fiennes. 9 tracks. Decca/Universal. 2006.