Amira
reviews
The Guardian
Read the article here
The Sunday Times ' RECORD OF THE YEAR'.
(The critics of the Sunday Times choose the music that has exited
them most over the year 2005)
... Is there anything quit as serene as the
voice of this Bosnian artist? Recorded in Mostar... a town shose
history has been anything but idyllic... this gorgeous disc celebrates
the blues-tinged sevdah style...
Clive Davis, Sunday Times (december 2005)
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....Ein
Gutteil der Qualität dieser bezaubernden und luxuriös
ausgestatteten CD (Booklet) macht das feingliedrige Backing durch
Musiker der Mostar Sevdah Reunion aus. Amira widmet sich der urbosnischen
Tradition der Sevdalinke, jenen reich verzierten, zumeist urbanen
Liebesliedern, sowie den archaischeren, aber nicht minder emotionsstarken
Liedern Mazedoniens. Und haucht ihnen jugendliche Frische ein, ohne
ihren Spirit an vordergründige Modernismen zu verraten. Gerade
bei den Sevdalinke steuert Amira zielsicher zwischen den gefahrvollen
Klippen von popmusikalischer Verflachung und klassischer Verkünstelung
vorbei. Eine der schönsten CDs dieses Genres...
Richard
Schubert, CONCERTO magazine (june 2005)
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..
Dieses offenbart zwölf zerbrechlich-zarte Songs, die in ihren
besten Momenten so atemberaubend schön sind, dass man beim
Hören herbeisehnt, die Zeit möge stehen bleiben. Eine
dezent gehaltene, niemals aufdringliche Instrumentierung mit Akkordeon,
Klarinette und Fidel verleihen den Stücken melancholisches
Balkanflair. Vor allem aber bei den wie hingetupft wirkenden Pianosongs
wünscht man sich, dass sie nie, niemals enden würden...
Frank Schuster, FOLKER (February 2005)
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...
This is a fabulous record which gets even better with repeated listening...
Simon Broughton, SONGLINES (May / June 2005)
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...Anyone familiar with that timeless Portuguese emotion known as
saudade will detect a similar sense of longing and nostalgia in
the sevdah tradition of the Sarajevo-born singer Amira. Amid the
torrent of music coming out of the Balkans in the past year or two,
this session, recorded in the historic town of Mostar, stands out
by virtue of its simplicity and its aura of rapt melancholia. Not
that it's entirely introspective - the clarinet and violin are capable
of stirring joyous dance rhythms. But it is the more reflective
pieces that bring out the full purity of the vocals. The spare ballad
I Was So in Love with a Boy must be one of the most haunting performances
of the year.
Clive Davis, Times online (May 2005)
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Rhapsodic clarinet, searing violin and wheezing accordion sweep
and swerve around Amira's beautifully modulated imprecations.
And while the rhythms occasionally kick themselves into lurching
dance mode, the mood soon lapses back into epic melancholy. Amira's
tone of slightly stern maternal yearning seems somehow archetypally
Slav.
And if there are moments when you could wish for a touch more grain
and grit, they are more than compensated for by the sheer beauty
of a song such as Zajdi, Zajdi, where oriental piano and an oddly
Irish-sounding flute add exquisitely to her milkily ethereal flow.
Mark
Hudson, Telegraph / Arts (May 2005)
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...Amira si discosta da alcuni stereotipi ed imposta il lavoro con
grande personalità. Forse lei, almeno lei, non ha pensato
troppo alla commistione dei suoni ed alle diverse contaminazioni.
Ha cantato, suonato e composto in piena libertà senza porsi
troppi problemi e seguendo solo ed unicamente il suo istinto.
Alceste
Ayroldi, Jazzitalia (September 2005)
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Rosa is the debut CD by Amira (Amira Medunjanin), a young singer
from Sarajevo. Bosnia & Herzegovina's own song form is as emotionally
potent as Portuguese fado, Greek rebetika or the blues. It's called
sevda. Its songs - sevdalinka - are almost always erotic & tragic.
Amira's skill & passion (indeed, the very existence of a credible,
young singer of sevdalinka) have amazed her compatriots...
Doug Spencer, The Planet, ABC Radio National Australia, (August
2005)
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...Tandis que les musiciens font assaut de créativité,
Amira chante de toute sa fraîche âme, de cette façon
qu'ont les vocalistes orientales de moduler sans cesse, en quête
d'émotions justes et fortes. Elle va les chercher assez loin,
au-delà des simples démonstrations de gaieté
ou de tristesse. Ce n'est pas facile, ça. Mais elle trouve.
De quoi offrir à ses auditeurs des heures d'écoute
délectables.
Michel Doussot, Routard (August 2005)
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NEW
SINGER FOR NEW GENERATIONS
Ahmed Buric, Dani (April 2005)
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THE BEST SINGER OF THE BEST SONGS FROM BALKANS
Senad Avdic, Slobodna Bosna (June 2005)
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...Accordéon, clarinette, violon et aussi piano tissent de
belles mélodies sur lesquelles la voix aigue de la jeune
chanteuse est d'une grande pureté.
Samizdjazz (August 2005)
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...Amira houdt zonder meer een grote belofte voor de toekomst in.
Haar muzikaliteit is groots, haar stem heeft een veelheid aan kleuren,
haar gevoel voor timing is perfect.
Saskia Törnqvist, Het Parool (September 2005)
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...Une autre voix nous a touché. Elle vient de Bosnie, pays
voisin blessé en recherche d'identité.
...Rien de triste, cependant, car dans les Balkans, la musique est
toujours là pour redonner force et courage et faire danser
la vie !!
Médiathèque (September 2005)
