Reviews - 01 September 2008
Quebec - Various Artists
Putumayo (PUT 279-2)
Review by Evelyn Holtzhausen
Putumayo rises to new heights with this wonderful collection of tracks to honour the 400th anniversary of the French Canadian province.The music, as with most all Putumayo collections, is an eclectic mix of tunes, all necessarily with French lyrics sung, as celebratory songs ought to be sung, with enthusiasm, with energy and not least in a sense of fun.
Naming individual artists or listing the song titles, I assume, would be of little merit, as the artists here are, I would guess little known —even though local chart toppers they may be — outside the borders of Quebec. But I predict that as a direct result of this amazing CD, they will, in due course become a lot more internationally known.
The highlight for me is track 5, a wonderfully clean love song called Brulots, a sung with happy abandon by Chloe Stinte-Marie. It kicks off with determined acoustic guitar strumming, is joined a few seconds later by a thumping infections bass line then moves into a happy melodic pattern as backdrop to Chloe’s happy young voice. Track 4 Un Homme, (A Man) by Annie Villeneuvet, a local TV star apparently — is on reflection just as good. A bonus is the small booklet giving details on each artist placing them and the songs, in context. And what a pleasure it is to read about the artists as you hear them perform.
If there were a star rating for the
Putumayo collection this one would get a 10/10 for me. Well done and
thanks Putumayo for once again bringing such great new music into my
headspace. EJH
Performance: 5
Recording: 6
This review appeared in Audio Video SA in September 2008.
BACK TO TOP
