Welcome to our blog! Below are some of our favourite albums this month.

UP's Favourite Releases May 2008



Fleurs Noires / Orchestre de Tango / Milan Records

Contrary to the masculine-oriented Tango tradition, Fleurs Noires are an all-female ensemble from France and Argentina. A sensual album with an air of edginess, Orchestre de Tango is a debut album with distinction. Featuring original works composed specially for the orchestra, by composers such as Edgardo Acuña, Victor Parma and Gerardo Jerez Le Cam, Fleurs Noires who are all classically trained deliver a performance with precision and emotion, though perhaps a little too clean and polished in some areas. Nevertheless, the syncopated jazz rhythms and Debora Russ' playful delivery of her vocal part in Acuña's "Obsesivo" and the sensitive, robust and ruthless performance of "Maquinandos" (by Victor Parma) show off their skill with great finesse. Do find out more from their website.




Balkan Beat Box / Nu-Made (Remixes & Videos) / Crammed Discs

Nu-Made comprises mainly remixes from Balkan Beat Box's 2007 album Nu-Med. It still maintains the same fun, energy and versatility as the previous album, just with more hard-hitting beats that will definitely get you on your feet. DJs include a cast from Brooklyn (New York) and Italy. Probably the most outstanding would be a remix of "Digital Monkey" by newcomer Cheffy Chef. Balkan Beat Box are intelligent entertainers – captivating to watch live, they play intuitively combining and contrasting an array of styles to become one original set.
To find out more, visit their MySpace site.



Huong Thanh & Nguyen Le / Fragile Beauty / ACT

Fragile Beauty is the fourth album by Huong Thanh and Nguyen Le on the Act label. Saigon born Huong Thanh's sweet ethereal voice rings with lyrical Eastern melodies which glide through Nguyen Le's jazzy Western harmonies on his guitar. The song titles in the album embrace much of the romanticism that is common within Eastern poetry and Mieko Miyazaki's beautiful koto playing, adds to much of this delicate romanticism. Fragile Beauty comprises work songs, songs on nature, love and beauty. The instrumentation in this album is profound – Huong Thanh's duet with Renaud Garcia-Fonson an arco 5-string acoustic bass in "Go Cong Blues" is intense; the use of talking drums and congas by Alex Tran in "Weaving and Awaiting" with Nguyen Le's guitar solos are highly effective; as is the sax playing by Stephane Guillaume in "Plantation Song".

Fragile Beauty was number 2 in the World Music Charts Europe in March and April 2008.


MYO
--

We'd also like to recommend Ukrainian band Haydamaky's Kobzar; Iraqi-led group Ahoar's album Between Rivers (which you can read about in UP editor John L. Walters' review in the Guardian); Attention by Israeli funk band The Apples; and Finnish harmonica quartet Svang's new album Jarruta (see John's review in the Guardian).