Search - Various Artists :: Putumayo Present: Sahara Lounge

A sexy, mysterious album. Definately worth a listen.

J. Welty | Conway, AR United States | 07/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was initially attracted to Putomayo's Sahara Lounge because I was idling the minutes away in a record store and it had just been released. "Shiraz" pulled me into it. I found out later that that song, the opening piece, was the product of Ramin Sakurai, of Supreme Beings of Leisure fame. It's a great way to kick off what is largely a sensual, intimate-feeling album. While Silk Road Café feels like relaxing "store" muzak, this album has a less restrained feel. "Organic" and maybe even "earthy" describe it well, despite the obvious touch of electronica running through the songs. Other album favourites are "Fly" for its poignant melody and Ilhan Ersahin's stripped-down vocals. Since I like French-language music, I enjoyed "Lili s'en Fout" with its strong beat and alternating French and (Arabic?) lyrics. For the first week of owning this disc, I put all of the songs on my MP3 player and walked around a rainy campus silently, taking the combined effect in. It felt like I was in a trendy (yet solemn) music video, which was nice. Overall, the album is better suited to lovemaking than dancing, but that's why it's called "Sahara Lounge." Cozy up to it."

Good, but wish there was more included that was ACTUALLY fro

Nicoletta Carlone | Los Angeles | 12/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I really love the Putumayo series, they generally have wonderful compilations, and generally put together quite a nice set of music for the region they are representing with thier CD compilations. I like the fact that when you buy a CD, part of it goes to charity.



I liked many of the tracks on this CD, the problem is, its called Sahara Lounge, and a lot of the tracks are not even from the Sahara region. There are tracks from the US as well as the UK. There are also many, many from Lebanon and a sampling from a few other middle eastern/north african contries, but for the most part there is nothing from Iraq, Iran, Israel, Syria, also north Africa which contains most of the Sahara region is very poorly represented.



For the tracks that were put in, most of them are pretty good, and would make a nice backround for a hip middle eastern themed dinner, or music to play in an exotic lounge."

My favourite album of the year

Anja Be | Germany | 02/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are into chillout lounge type of music and have an ear for oriental sounds you will love this CD. However, lots of my friends who are not known to be great fans of arabic music loved this compilation as well. It is great for long train rides, for a relaxing breakfast or as background music for an evening with friends. My favourite song is the haunting Elama. The songs all blend nicely into each other, this is one of Putumayo's best compilations!"