Azam Ali - Elysium for the Brave (9 tracks) +Album Reviews

An erotic and mystical muse

Craig L. Gidney | Washington, DC USA | 07/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Azam Ali, "Elysium for the Brave."

Azam Ali, vocalist of Vas and Niyaz, has always been a closet goth. Her wordless vocals tended toward the minor key. In her first English language album, she brings out the black nail polish with her dark, contemplative lyrics about war and unrequited love. The music she and her cohorts construct are dark ambient techno pieces liberally accented with the Persian and Indian music that she developed in both her other projects. Danceable rhythms sinuously percolate, while exotic instruments play against a tapestry of delayed guitar effects and swirling keyboards. The sorrowful chord progressions wouldn't sound out of place on a Siouxsie or Robert Smith album, and the compositions - courtesy of such collaborators as Axiom of Choice's Loga Ramin Terkian and Niyaz's Carmen Rizzo - meld traditional and electronic instrumentation seamlessly. The ace in the hole, of course, is Ali's beautiful, rich voice. She turns English into alien language, twisting vowels into odd and magical shapes. In the past, she's sounded like Lisa Gerrard here, or Sheila Chandra there. On this album, Ali sounds like herself. Erotic, mysterious and melancholy, it's not too early to call this the ethereal album of the year.

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Enveloping beauty of an album

Serge | North Brunswick, NJ USA | 08/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Azam doesn't take long to make a definitive statement on this album - the very first track is a beauty, a darkly shimmering, goosebump-inducing song featuring her signature vocals over a mixture of ethnic percussion and synthesizers (incidentally, this track also features King Crimson's Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto). Whereas the formula of mixing electronics with world music influences has gone so wrong in so many hands, here it shines, showing that it's an approach that only works when the influences are mixed naturally, not forced into an uncomfortable or superficial coexistance. Azam seems to have developed her own place in this genre-crossing terrain, rather than producing derivative work.

The album continues from there, showing the familiar facets of Azam from Vas and Niyaz, further maturing and evolving. "In Other Worlds" is another highlight, with a tasteful touch of trip-hop underlying the vocals. Indeed, this is indicative of the whole album - a certain element of minimalism allows the songs to breathe instead of burying them with unnecessary distractions. That said, there is quite a lot happening beneath the surface (as a quick glance at the list of contributing musicians would suggest), never boring the attentive listener. A work of beauty that demands more than just a single listening."

Musical Elysium

Crazy Fox | Chicago, IL USA | 08/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, Azam Ali's voice is every bit as rich and beautiful as the first time I heard it, on "Sunyata" when she was with Vas, but her music has become much more multilayered, complex, and satisfying. She reveals strong songwriting talent here in "Elysium for the Brave" with haunting, sophisticated lyrics of inner conflict and struggle--informed with a passionate (yet ambiguous) spark of transcendence alloyed with a refined sensuality. This was new, at least to me. Then, and a real strong point for me as far as this album goes, she integrates the sounds of contemporary electronica with the musical idioms of several different cultural traditions here in successfully subtle and compelling ways--never sounding fake or tacked on. Best of all, the vocals and the instrumentals, fine in and of themselves, function well in tandem, neither overshadowing the other and neither going off on its own tangent. I wasn't sure if I'd really like this CD or not, but it turned out to be a fine album that grows on you with each listening."

But in my isolation all truth is empty

incubus1 | 08/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If relaxation had a soundtrack Azam Ali's Elysium For The Brave would probably end up being it. Azam's voice is gorgeous yet never overdone. She doesn't beat you over the head with the fact that she could make an a capella CD and it'd be considerably better than a lot of CDs out right now. Instead Elysium seems to focus more on experimentation, leaving the vocals on the backburner. Usually hearing that would make me wary of buying a CD but with this one that is almost the best thing about it.

From the very beginning of Endless Reverie I was struck with the sheer beauty in this CD. Nothing is overdramatic, you're not left wanting more or less, the portions are perfect with nothing to spare. As for musical comparisons, well, in my eyes there are none that can do justice. Azam is in a league of her own. Lyrics always play a big part of why I end up liking an album, so if I can't understand them chances are that I won't fully enjoy the album itself. With Elysium For The Brave not once have I turned to the lyrics included to read along or whatnot, they don't matter. And that in itself is an acomplishment in my opinion.

When you think of middle-eastern influences, if you're anything like me, your mind automatically goes to snakecharmer music. Elysium has forever changed my views on middle-east music. The one thing that never fails is that I always feel comforted when I hear this CD. Be it the soothing vocals, the laidback approach, or just the presentation, if that's what Azam Ali was going for when she released this she surely acomplished her goal.

My favorite songs are Endless Reverie, In Other Worlds, Forty One Ways, From Heaven To Dust, and In This Divide. If you're at all interested in branching out musically from what you predominantly listen to Azam Ali is a good place to start. It may take a few listens to grow on you but you'll be greatly rewarded if you give this CD a chance. Whether Azam is singing or letting the music speak for itself, Elysium For The Brave never disappoints."

Pure and captivating.

Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 04/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Azam Ali was born in Iran, raised in India, and currently resides in the USA and she blends her polycultural influences beyond what the human mind can imagine. Known for her collaborations with a vast array of musicians, including members from Nine Inch Nails, the guitar virtuoso Buckethead, the Turkish world music composer Mercan Dede, and the Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, she also fronts two amazing bands: Vas and Niyaz. Elysium for the Brave is her second solo statement, which she has co-produced with Carmen Rizzo (Niyaz) and sees her taking her already amazing style several steps further.

This time around, she is supported by King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto whose amazing percussion work on the opening song "Endless Reverie", blended with Ali's impossibly beautiful vocals, is like the perfect combination of tribal beats and electronics, something we've never heard from Ali before. Another Crimson member, Trey Gunn, also appears on the album, and even co-wrote the mood-intensive piece "The Tryst", employing minimal guitar effects that underlie Ali's vocal lament. Her velvet vocals convey sensuality and heartfelt emotion, and are carefully placed atop an ethereal guitar theme. It is amazing to hear Ali sing in English -- her older fans know how moving she can get when she sings in Persian and Indian, but to see that she is actually capable of applying her talents to more "straightforward" pieces is nothing short of astounding. Unlike her works with Vas and Niyaz, there are a few non-Eastern songs on this album, such as the album opener and this one, where you'll get lost in the beauty of forlornly ringing guitar notes and dark mysticism.

That said, while the titles are in English, not all of them are sung in this language. Ali still uses lots of Persian and Indian lyrics in her songs. Her artistic strength mostly lies in crafting unique Middle Eastern pieces highlighting her vocals and it is hard to capture the intensity without using the region's language and instruments (as on the Indian dirge "Abode"). Her voice is so vulnerable and beautiful I don't even know how to describe it. Having discovered her on Mercan Dede's Breath album where she does her unique Persian-styled vocal melodies mostly going for wordless harmonies, I felt compelled to seek everything she participated in and was absolutely thrilled she experiments with the same style on songs like "I Am a Stranger in This World", which she co-wrote with Loga Roman Torkian, her partner in Niyaz; and the mesmerizing "From Heaven to Dust", an atmospheric elegy drenched in western beats and Indian percussion. "In Other Worlds" is one of the darkest songs on the CD -- it contains strummed acoustic guitars that slowly disappear under a wall-of-sound keyboards that blanket everything but Ali's wonderful voice. Though there is a vague Persian sadness incorporated into the song, this is yet another attempt to branch out and explore new territories.

The production and sonic quality of the album are mindblowing. An incredible amount of nuance and coherent body of work serve to heighten the unmatched emotional power of Ali's voice and compositional skills to a higher level. She has now proved that she is so much more than just a singer with a great voice; her understanding of melody, rhythm, and vocal arrangement leaves me speechless. Check this disc out even if you're remotely interested in world music that is unafraid to infuse electronics and minimalism into its tapestry."

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