Nowhere

The sound is just so beautiful. This is the kind of music that is so soothing it could put you right to sleep. But the music is strong and has a message hear of what this family had to go through to survive and what they had lost when their families died when they refused to leave their Nazi Death Chamber. Sad but a must see (and listen)!

"Magnificent score reflects the country ~ Niki Reiser".......2003-05-07

Best Foreign Language Film winner of 2002 from the Academy Award people and nominated by the Golden Globe is "Nowhere in Africa", from director Caroline Link ~ is captivating to say the least. From Nazi Germany one family escapes in 1938 to a new beginning in Kenya ~ from the autobiographical book by Stefanie Zweig is truly an amazing story ~ but wait it only gets better with an award winning score by Niki Reiser, the Swiss Composer who leads the Baset Symphony Orchestra inclusive of sweeping strings and native chants. Very short (less than a minute) tracks of a child singing with harp accompaniment is haunting.

Highlights ~ "NOWHERE IN AFRICA", rhythmic percussion interwoven with the string section, wind instruments join the pulse sating journey ~ "LOVE SCENE", piano solo as strings close in with solace and meditation ~ "JOURNEY THROUGH KENYA", opening sounds of a hoe-down and chants blend within each passage and counter drum beats within the percussion section.

Hats off to Higher Octave Music for sharing this wonderful soundtrack with all the "film-score-buffs" who look forward to unique and global world scores ~ this album will sit on my top shelf for continual enjoyment in the next days and weeks forthcoming.

Tracks:

My Sword Hand's Anger
National Anthem of Nowhere
The Naked and Alone
Haul Away
Cheap Like Sebastien
Rafaga
Chances Are
A Rent Boy Goes Down
Fast Pony For Victor Jara
Justine, Beckoning
Jimmy Scott is the Answer
NoNoNo

From Amazon.ca

Sometimes you're in a Stereolab mood, sometimes a Latin Playboys mood, sometimes a Sea and Cake mood. And sometimes you're just the genius that hops fluidly between each disparate sound, making them all continuous--singing a Lorca poem in Spanish, playing in a haze of organ and guitar and fuzzy rhythms. That's Apostle of Hustle for you, the ensemble led by Andrew Whiteman, better known as Broken Social Scene's guitarist. Like BSS, Apostle is a giant mix-up, with spacey interludes of guitar, shuffling drums, and piano right next to a laconic vocal, a voice that gets shoved into choruses by suddenly driving guitars. The highlights on National Anthem are the rockers, "Justine, Beckoning" and the title track, both frontloaded with a wall of guitar that's infused with keys and horns as the vocals peek from behind an artful gauze. This is a visionary album, easy to consume repeatedly. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

National Anthem of Nowhere is Apostle of Hustle's follow-up to their debut album of 2004, Folkloric Feel. On the track, "My Sword Hand's Anger," Andrew Whiteman (also the lead guitarist of Broken Social Scene) "sings that he's `looking for a new technique,' but weighing this track from Apostle of Hustle's second album against material on their debut, it sounds as if he's already found it." - 4 STARS, Pitchfork Media.

Tracks:

Dance Wid' Me
The Secret
Hooligans
Skavez
Miss Congeniality
Clarence Thomas
Prison Of Love
Earthquake And Fire
All For You
Caravan (Skaravan)
Police Woman
Same O' Same O'
Train To Skaville
Nigel (Bonus Track)
Club Meditation (Bonus Track)

Customer Reviews:

The 1990s Best Ska Album.......2005-01-25

I heard Hepcat's first release during the Ska revival that plagued MTV and pop-radio during the late 1990s, when people were force fed crap like Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake, being told how those bands were playing a type of Jamaican music made popular in the 1970s by British bands like The Specials and Madness. Man, comparing that Circus-Music to anything of the 2-Tone era is insulting enough, but putting it in the same category as classic Jamaican Ska and Reggae pioneers like Desmond Dekker (King of the Ska), Laurel Aitken (Godfather of Ska), and the Skatalites ('nuff said...) is an insult to those legends! Luckily, the Ska revival also brought forth bands of such respectability as The Slackers from New York and Hepcat from Southern California. Hepcat, since hearing this album (originally released on the now dead MoonSka NYC lable), has been my favorite ska band, ever! This album still stands as a testament to the vocal talents of Greg Lee and Alex Desert and the early songwriting talents of David Hillyard, who went along to join The Slackers. The group takes its cues not just from Jamaican music legends, but also American Jazz legends, paying tribute to the likes of Duke Ellington in thier music. One of the most soulful, beautiful, and dynamic albums I've ever heard, it is a must for anyone who loves Ska, and especially for Hepcat fans who were never able to find this album, as the MoonSka version (which I'm lucky enough to have a copy of) has been long out of print. Do yourself a favor--BUY THIS! The fact that you're reading this review shows you got taste...now prove it.

This is a CLASSIC, rereleased.......2004-10-23

This album is one of the greatest traditional ska albums ever. It came out once long ago, but the label they were on folded and it became unavailable. If you like any traditional ska, if you like hepcat, SHlT, if you like music in general, this is a great album. Many of today's 'traditional' bands do not retain the moody flavor of O.G. ska straight offa the island. Man, I paid 200$ for a plane ticket to see these guys, which was 10$ at the door. Also, Hepcat broke up, formed Dubcat with Long Beach Dub Allstars, then got back together again because of all the fans' heartbreak. So do em the honor of buying this, who knows it could be the last chance (again)

Average customer rating:

A Tremendous Recording
Dark, dismal & depressing cello
Essential recording
Soft Cello for the soul and the mind.
Music to hear a hundred times or more

Cello

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Dark Wood
The River
Epigraphs
Eight String Religion
Musical Massage: Balance

ASIN: B00000DTFW
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Tracks:

Darkwood I
No Place Nowhere
Fables
Darkwood ll
Lament
Two Or Three Things
Indiana Indian
Totem
Psalm
Choral
The Bell
In November
Darkwood lll

Customer Reviews:

A Tremendous Recording.......2004-01-30

I've never heard cello music sound like this. It was first introduced to me by a friend. I don't find his work to be confined to being "New Age" or "Classical". It's very univeral.

Each recording layers intense drones and pluckings of the cello's voice which still have me guessing at how he could create such noises!

It might feel a bit dark and solemn upon the first listen, but its a lot more complex than that. David Darling is a magician of a craftsman, and this record never stops astounding me.

Dark, dismal & depressing cello.......2003-07-16

Buy this CD only if, for some reason, you need appropriate mood music for sipping absinthe or hemlock . . . whichever.

Essential recording.......2002-03-07

artist: David Darling
title: Cello
label: Editions of Contemporary Music
[released 1992] ECM 1464 (cd#511982)

Revisiting old acquaintances portends, sometimes, a pleasant journey. I still remember those long lost ECM LP's i had years ago ; for some time, i explore the current ECM catalog which contains many splendid silver discs.

There are things that, for mysterious reasons, did not resurface on the market, such as a fine atmospheric recording by french-horn player John Clark ("Faces" [1980] ECM 1176). Similarly, i regret an excellent album from Arild Andersen ("Clouds In My Head" [1975] ECM 1059). Alas, looks like several great ECM recordings from the LP era will never make it on cd. But, as a consolation, one thing is sure : In the bunch of recent recordings (those of the 'CD era') there are truly superb ones---many of them as remarkable as the first generations ECM's.

That leads us to this admirable recording, certainly one of the great albums on ECM in the 1990's and, indeed, from their entire catalog. Listening to David Darling's "Cello", i felt immediate images ; here the cinematic quality of the music emphasizes communication between musician and listener. The beautifully crafted sonic universe is rendered at no less than audiophile quality level, thanks to Manfred Eicher's production at Rainbow Studio in Norway (top engineering is a usual trademark of this label).

For this work Darling uses the acoustic cello and completes with the aerial and wonderful sonorities of the eight-string electric cello, to which sometimes he adds special effects such as the use of a digital delay. The recording has lots of space, an ethereal, vast and contemplative atmosphere, not unlike that of John Surman's "Upon Reflection" (ECM 1148). To my view, here is music to unfold the sky ; i imagine myself dancing alone, in a field, looking at the passage of clouds above my head, under the winds of a vast autumnal landscape. I don't want to sound esoteric---this music is neither esoteric nor is it really new age... It is pure and simple contemporary in good old ECM fashion.

David Darling succeeds in the presentation of his solo works (more compositions than improvisations, i guess): Darkwood 1 is much like the overture to a classical composition. In fact, the album starts on a mood that recalls the eerie pastoral response typical of the finest classical/folk works from Scandinavia or England. The sonic crossroads of "Cello" build bridges between different styles of music---folk, classical, jazz and world music. The result is an extraordinary sort of contemporary music, in my opinion... The album surpasses the abusive limitations of a definite genre.

"Cello" is all about atmosphere. Still, it is at once strange and melodic. Most of the tracks sound enigmatically distant and sombre like a late November afternoon. I can't think of another record that can bear comparison to this one.

Darling is a classically trained musician who played with the Paul Winter Consort in the early 1970s. He also played music with many notable jazz musicians, including Jan Garbarek and Ralph Towner. This CD shows to great effect the 'verbal' utterance and articulation of this wondrous orchestral and solo instrument. Another unusual and, indeed, essential recording by the ECM label. *****

Soft Cello for the soul and the mind........2001-11-26

Generally I don't beleive that New Age music has to be so Preachy as it tends to do.......after all, not everyone who listens to New Age music listens to it to Meditate or to Reap its universal messege of oneness......I personally dont agree with all that stuff........I listen to it strickly for the peacefullness and to escape from the Rock music sometimes.

David Darling is proving himself in my mind to do exactly what I buy his music for..........I find myself listening to "Cello" in my car in the morning before going into a stressful day of work.
I listen to his music on the way home from such a day also.
I leave it up to God to ease my thoughts and my restless spirit,
However......listening to this music is like taking an Asprin....
it at least gets you prepared for whats ahead and perhaps prevents more headaches to come.

I Own Six David Darling Cds.....the 2 Musical Messege Cd's.....
"8 String Religion"........"Darkwood"........"Cello" and "Cello Blue".
I Can't say I favor one over the other.
David also worked along with my favorite Piano music.....Michael Jones on an LP called "Amber".......I own that on LP but cant find it anywhere on CD..........I highly recommend that to those who enjoy David.

Music to hear a hundred times or more.......2001-04-28

I've had this CD for at least five years and it has never really left my pile of CD's that I listen to on a regular basis. It is quiet but tough and never vapid. There is grit here as well as serenity. I always liked the music in Godards films and several of the pieces here are dedicated to Godard and are very evocative of his films. The best CD I have heard by David Darling.

Music: