Ayeshteni - Natacha Atlas

Advantages: lots of variety, quality performing
Disadvantages: too much variety makes it a bit of a mess

...Natacha Atlas' roots are in middle eastern pop. She has a haunting, rich voice that she really can use to great effect, and she does so on this album. Yes, there's arabic pop, there's also a lot of hindi, a bit of reggae, rap, R&B - you name it, it's probably on here... Listening to Something Dangerous, I get the feeling that it is trying to jam as many different styles as it can onto one CD, which is a shame, because all the tracks are really very good, but they don't always go together very well. However, if any album were to earn the title of 'world music', this would be it. There is no way you're going to like every song on this album unless you have truly wide tastes and you don't mind them being juxtaposed one song after another. I personally find the listening effect very jarring - as an album it was a disappointing first listen... Read review

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Advantages: Propellerheads' OHMSS remix
Disadvantages: Several mediocre takes on old songs

...out the big, brassy sixties Thunderball theme and, like Mcalmont, just goes for broke while sticking faithfully to the original. 7/10 FRWL by Natacha Atlas (Original Artist: Matt Monroe) A mildly diverting take on one of the lesser known themes. Atlas performs the song in a quiet, warbly manner and it's a pleasant if not quite essential reworking of the original. 6/10 OHMSS by Propellerheads (Original Artist: John Barry) The saving grace of the Album. Propellerheads' monumental take on the On Her Majesty's secret service theme is the one song here that sounds new, exciting, vibrant and worthy of release on its own. Great stuff. This is the only song on the Album that I still slip into my Walkman now and again. 10+/10 We Have All The Time In The World featuring Iggy Pop (Original Artist: Louis Armstrong) This one shouldn't work... Read review

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Advantages: Everything about the album except.....
Disadvantages: the strange little girl on the cover!

...! "Andy" by Amy. A real ballad song, lovely music and counter harmony singing. This is a lament and a tribute at the same time. Lots of slide guitar and bazouki. Absolutely gorgeous. The imagery in the lyrics is fantastic, the whole song is very atmospheric. Sample lyric: "Out to the fenced field sprinkled with horses, wild in resitance to the taming, will you break me?" "Faye Tucker" by Amy. And then we come to the last of the listed tracks. There is a hidden extra, a 2 minute song by Emily, I won't spoil the surprise by detailing it. Faye Tucker is a monster of a song that begins as a warbling ballad of the "wild west" style and then morphs into something else altogether. It is an angry protest song that last nearly six minutes and has a distinct bhangra sound to it, possibly due to the use of Natacha Atlas chanting vocals and the ngoni... Read review

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