Russ.Gypsy Soul [CD + Book]

Siberian Gypsies

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After their marvellous Road of the Gypsies and Gypsy Queens, Network have now brought out their third gypsy double, and it's every bit as good. Loyko--South-Russian, but self-exiled to Ireland--both kick off the selection and permeate it with their infectious virtuosity, but the 140-minute voyage we make here takes in far-flung musical realms. Have you ever heard what Siberian gypsies do with their folk heritage? The Siberian tracks here are amazing: the men sound like wolves in a high wind, the women penetrate the soul, untamed and abandoned to their emotions. Time and again this nomad music puts one in mind of flamenco--the same "cracked" tones, the same sulphurous atmosphere. And the prevailing virtuosity on the seven-stringed gypsy guitar sometimes recalls the style of playing you hear in Portuguese Fado. But there are other traditions on display here too: the urban gypsy style exemplified by Ilo (wide vocal vibrato, hot rhythms); and the "romance" theatre style derived from choral music of the 18th century. It's not generally known that at the time of Catherine the Great, gypsy music was all the rage among the nobility. If this music doesn't become all the rage in the record shops this winter, I'll eat my modem. --Michael Church

 

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