SWEET ELECTRA, WHEN WE ABANDONED EARTH (SWEET ELECTRA)
[DUNKELBUNT]
A NEW DAY; LAYA PROJECT REMIXED
ADDIS ACOUSTIC PROJECT
AFRO ROOTS WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL
AMADOU & MARIAM
ANTÓNIO ZAMBUJO
APHRODESIA
BALKANBEATS
BANCO DE GAIA
BOBAN I MARKO MARKOVIC
BOY WITHOUT GOD
CARLOS GOGO GOMEZ
CHOPTEETH
CHRISTINE VAINDIRLIS
COPAL
CUCHATA
DAMJAN KRAJACIC
DANIEL CROS
DEBO & FENDIKA
DR JAYANTHI KUMARESH
EARTHRISE SOUNDSYSTEM
EGYPT NOIR
EMILY SMITH
FANFARE CIOCARLIA VS. BOBAN & MARKO MARKOVIC
FEUFOLLET
FIAF PRESENTS WORLD NOMADS MOROCCO: MUSIC
FOOTSTEPS IN AFRICA
GECKO TURNER
GEOFF BERNER
GIANMARIA TESTA
GODS ROBOTS
GUARCO
HUUN HUUR TU
INDIAN OCEAN
JANAKA SELEKTA
JANYA
JERRY LEAKE
JOAQUIN DIAZ
JOEL RUBIN
JORGE STRUNZ
JOSEF KOUMBAS
JOYFUL NOISE (I GRADE RECORDS)
JUST A BAND
KARTICK & GOTAM
KHALED
KHING ZIN & SHWE SHWE KHAING
KITKA'S CAUCASIAN CONNECTIONS PROJECT PERFORMANCES AND WORKSHOPS
LA CHERGA
LAYA PROJECT
LES TRIABOLIQUES
LISTEN FOR LIFE
LOBI TRAORÉ
LO'JO
LOKESH
MAGNIFICO
MAHALA RAI BANDA
MIDNITE
MOHAMMED ALIDU AND THE BIZUNG FAMILY
MR. SOMETHING SOMETHING
MY NAME IS KHAN
NAWAL
OCCIDENTAL BROTHERS ON TOUR
OREKA TX
ORQUESTRA CONTEMPORÂNEA DE OLINDA
PABLO SANCHEZ
PEDRO MORAES
SALSA CELTICA
SARA BANLEIGH
SELAELO SELOTA
SHYE BEN-TZUR
SIBIRI SAMAKE
SISTER FA
SLIDE TO FREEDOM II
SONIA BREX
SWEET ELECTRA
SYSTEMA SOLAR
TAJ WEEKES
TARANA
TARUN NAYAR
TE VAKA
TELEPATH
THE NATIVE AMERICA NORTH SHOWCASE
THE SPY FROM CAIRO
TITO GONZALEZ
TOUSSAINT
VARIOUS ARTISTS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
WATCHA CLAN
WHEN HARRY TRIES TO MARRY SOUNDTRACK
WOMEXIMIZER
WOMEXIMIZER
CD Review

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Examiner, CD Review >>

Sweet Electra got their start in Mexico, but you’d never know it. The electro-pop concocted by the New York-via-Guadalajara duo carries not a whiff of south-of-the-border flavor.

Their latest album, When We Abandoned Earth, does walk with a worldly air though. Its subtle beats and subdued synthesizers sound almost European, like if Tiësto produced a chill-out album. DJ/producer Giovanni Escalera pulls sounds from all over the globe to create his rhythms. The techno blips on “Give Up (Part 1)” sounds like a Scandinavian rave in slow motion while the scratchy violin on “It’s Over” whisks you away to an eastern-European gypsy campfire.

Nardiz Cooke’s singing holds it all together, simultaneously sounding both intimate and far away. “Today I feel I don’t want to be a part of something,” she sings in “A Feeling” and that sense of withdrawal permeates the album. “Backyard” sees her crying into the void for an identity. When she breaks up with a guy in “It’s Over,” it sounds more like she’s breaking up with a part of herself.

The most powerful tracks are those in which she says nothing at all. The spacey echo of her voice is at its most haunting without lyrics to constrain it, sounding like someone who’s given up trying to explain. On standout track “I Am,” her wordless wails throw a little Ireland into the melting pot, lilting along like Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan.

Sweet Electra prove that global sensibilities needn’t be shoved in the listener’s face (I’m looking at you M.I.A. and Vampire Weekend). Though Escalera and Cooke incorporate a multinational spectrum of sounds, their quiet electro-pop remains instantly accessible. When We Abandoned Earth is not a lesson in the diversity of world music. It’s a lesson in its unity.

 03/24/10 >> go there

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