M dM MMr 4MMML . MMMMM. xf . "MMMMM .MM Mh.. +MMMMMM .MMMM .MMM. .MMMMML. MMMMMh )MMMh. MMMMMM MMMMMMM 3MMMMx. 'MMMMMMf xnMMMMMM" '*MMMMM MMMMMM. nMMMMMMP" *MMMMMx "MMMMM\ .MMMMMMM= *MMMMMh "MMMMM" JMMMMMMP MMMMMM 3MMMM. dMMMMMM . MMMMMM "MMMM .MMMMM( .nnMP" =.. *MMMMx MMM" dMMMM" .nnMMMMM* "MMn... 'MMMMr 'MM MMM" .nMMMMMMM*" "4MMMMnn.. *MMM MM MMP" .dMMMMMMM"" ^MMMMMMMMx. *ML "M .M* .MMMMMM**" *PMMMMMMhn. *x > M .MMMM**"" ""**MMMMhx/.h/ .=*" .3P"% nP" "*MMnx _________________________________________________________ __/ \ (__ ___) \______________________________________________________/ ._RELEASE_INFO_________ . \______________________________________. . . . Artist >> Azam Ali . . Album >> Elysium Remixes 2 . . . .______________________ . . \______________________________________. . . . Style >> New Age . . Date >> Apr-08-2007 . . Street >> 000-00-0000 . . Company >> Six Degrees Records . . Media >> CDDA . . Size >> 51,6 MB . . . . . ._RELEASE NOTES________ . . \______________________________________. . . . Quality VBR Web rip. . . . . Note: Rip was not re-encoded in VBR, it s "as-is" from our . . source website! . . . . Enjoy! . . . . . . . . In a career which spans over a decade and includes eight . . collaborative albums and solo albums, Azam Ali has . . confirmed her place as one of the most prolific, versatile, . . and gifted singers on the world music stage today. Her . . dedication to defying cultural specificity in music, and . . her unwillingness to settle into one form of musical . . expression have earned her the respect of both her peers . . and critics worldwide. When one looks at her entire body of . . work, it is hard to deny Azam her rightful place among the . . best singers and composers in music today. . . . . Elysium for the Brave, Azam's second solo album, signals a . . new turn in her musical evolution. The album, her most . . ambitious work to date, brings together musicians from . . varied musical backgrounds performing in diverse . . permutations. Singing predominantly in English for the . . first time, the songs are based on lyrics written by Azam . . herself and reveal a poetic lyricism heard only in glimpses . . of her previous works. . . . . From the new CD's opening track, "Endless Reverie," it . . becomes immediately apparent that Ali has moved into new . . and exciting sonic territory. The frame drum pulse is . . familiar but the percolating synthesizer textures and . . haunting vocals sung in English take the song into a darkly . . beautiful place that exists between the worlds of . . electronic rock and global fusion. This fascinating . . terrain is also occupied by the tracks, "In Other Worlds," . . "In this Divide" and "Forty One Ways." While impeccable . . electronics and programming abound on Elysium for the . . Brave, they are balanced throughout the CD with traditional . . instrumentation. The gorgeous lafta and hand drums which . . propel "Spring Arrives" and the insistent ney flute which . . lends a haunting quality to "I Am a Stranger in this World" . . are brilliant examples of how organic and electronic . . instrumentation can beautifully co-exist. In fact, despite . . the mix of ancient and modern instrumentation, Elysium for . . the Brave is a highly coherent body of work that weaves . . together all of Azam's cultural and musical influences into . . a tapestry of atmospheric rock, electronic, and global . . sounds. . . . . Helping to seamlessly bring all of these diverse sounds . . together is a talented cast of musicians which includes . . King Crimson's rhythm section of Trey Gunn and Pat . . Mastellotto, Persian classical violinist Kiavash Nourai, . . and noted film composers Tyler Bates and Jeff Rona, the . . latter of whom is known for his collaborations with Dead . . Can Dance. Loga Ramin Torkian and Carmen Rizzo, Azam's . . collaborators in her latest musical venture, Niyaz, have . . also lent their talents to this project. Released on Six . . Degrees Records, Niyaz' debut blends ancient Persian and . . Urdu Sufi poetry, rich acoustic instrumentation, and modern . . electronics. Their CD has been hailed by critics worldwide . . as one of the most groundbreaking of its time. The album . . debuted at #1 on iTunes world music chart and remained . . there for numerous weeks, and it charted on Billboard's . . world music chart for four consecutive weeks, peaking at . . #12. Niyaz also entered WMCE, the World Music Charts of . . Europe, at #76 and was the only Iranian group whose CD made . . it into the top 150 of the best albums of 2005 . . . . . Azam is internationally recognized for her work with Vas, . . the critically acclaimed, best selling, world music duo . . she co-founded in 1996 with percussionist Greg Ellis. From . . 1997- 2004 Vas released four albums on the Narada label. . . Their music, which they described as "alternative world," . . focused mainly on the ancient relationship between the drum . . and voice. Their distinct cinematic sound blended . . influences of Indian, Persian, Western and other musical . . styles into a unique configuration that transcended . . categorization and cultural specificity. Though in their . . early days Vas drew many comparisons to Dead Can Dance, . . they patiently surpassed that comparison with each album . . they released, earning them their place in the musical . . hierarchy of bands whose innovation set a standard to which . . others to aspire. . . . . In 2002 Azam released her first self produced highly . . successful solo album, Portals of Grace, which featured her . . singing renditions of ancient Western European medieval . . songs. Billboard described this album by saying, "It's . . unlikely that this year will bring a more spellbinding . . vocal album than Portals of Grace." Azam's exceptional . . voice and emotive performances on this album earned her . . much critical acclaim and once and for all solidified her . . place as a highly respected singer in the World music . . scene. . . . . Azam Ali, who currently resides in Los Angeles, was born in . . Tehran, Iran and grew up in India from the age of four in . . the small town of Panchgani, a beautiful hill station in . . the state of Maharashtra. There she attended an . . international co-educational boarding school for eleven . . years, all the while absorbing India's rich music and . . culture throughout her formative years. The course Azam . . would eventually choose in her life would be very much . . influenced by her fortuitous upbringing in a school that . . emphasized the importance of the arts and spirituality, and . . aimed through moral and academic excellence, to produce . . promoters of social transformation imbued with the spirit . . of service to humanity. It is this objective that would . . take shape in Azam's music in the coming years. The . . Iranian revolution of 1979 changed the course of Azam's . . life as it did for many other Iranians. Unwilling to bring . . her daughter back to a country filled with uncertainty, her . . mother decided to give up her home, and together they moved . . to America in 1985 when Azam was just a teenager. . . . . Shortly after moving to the United States, Azam fell in . . love with the Persian santour (hammered dulcimer) and it . . became clear to Azam that she wanted to pursue a career in . . music. Though she had an innate gift for singing since she . . was a child and sang often at home and school functions, . . Azam had no particular interest in becoming a vocalist. She . . had her heart set on becoming an instrumentalist and so . . began studying the santour under the guidance of Persian . . master Manoocher Sadeghi, During the eight years of her . . extensive studies with Ustad Sadeghi in which she became an . . accomplished hammered dulcimer player, Azam began to . . realize that she was unable to express the full range of . . emotions she experienced through her instrument. It was . . during one of these lessons that her teacher heard her sing . . for the first time. Completely taken, he told her that her . . voice had a rare emotional quality about it which should be . . cultivated and nurtured. It was through his encouragement . . that Azam began to explore her voice as the vehicle through . . which she would finally be able to fully express herself, a . . voice which Billboard magazine would later describe as, "a . . glorious unforgettable instrument." . . . . While pursuing formal training in various vocal traditions . . like Western classical, Indian, Persian, and Eastern . . European, Azam's true passion has been to explore the . . immense potential of the human voice, specifically its . . capability to transcend language, cultural, and spiritual . . barriers when expressing pure emotion. When asked about her . . approach to singing Azam explains, "What intrigues me most . . about the human voice is its ability to make all things . . transparent through its power of transformation. The voice . . is not just a conduit for words. For me it is like an . . abstract dream in which everything makes perfect sense." . . . . "I am pertinacious in my need to expand. By nature, I am . . not one who can physically remain in one place for too . . long. I imagine that is the case because I have been . . transplanted enough times in my life that I am well aware . . of the influence the external environment has on the inner . . one, and how that can affect perception. So naturally, my . . music is going to reflect this inability to remain static, . . and this inability to identify myself with just one . . specific culture. I think of all the different music that I . . have done and will continue to do almost as photographs of . . my evolution, and just like photographs, in some I may look . . great and in some I may not. What matters to me is that I . . risk, I, trust, I strive, and let things unfold as they . . may." . . . . Azam's immense talent and ability to adapt her voice to any . . musical style have drawn the attention of many diverse . . artists and film composers. Azam has collaborated in the . . studio and on stage with numerous artists: Serj Tankian of . . System of a Down, The Crystal Method, Pat Mastellato and . . Trey Gunn of King Crimson, Dredg, Chris Vrenna formerly of . . Nine Inch Nails, Ben Watkins of Juno Reactor, Buckethead, . . Steve Stevens, film composer Tyler Bates, Mercan Dede, the . . world renowned Japanese group Kodo, Zakir Hussain, Omar . . Faruk Tekbilek, and Mickey Hart with whom she also toured . . for two years as a lead singer in his group Bembe Orisha. . . . . Azam's distinctive voice can also be heard on myriad film . . and television scores among which include "Matrix . . Revolutions," "Godsend," "Papparazi," the upcoming major . . motion picture 300, Children of Dune, Earthsea, Dawn of the . . Dead, Alias, and The Agency. . . . . . ._TRACK_LISTING________ . . \______________________________________. . . . >> 01 >> Endless Reverie (Banco De Gaia R >> 07:30 . . >> 02 >> I Am A Stranger In This World (L >> 07:23 . . >> 03 >> Endless Reverie (Holmes Ives Rem >> 08:08 . . >> 04 >> Abode (310 Remix) >> 05:37 . . >> 05 >> Endless Reverie (Jef Stott Remix >> 05:23 . . . . >> 34:01 min . . . .______________________ . . \______________________________________. . . . . .______________________ . \___________________________nfo_by_sp__.