“"Voices of Artsakh" music ensemble conquers new stages worldwide day by day,” Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the Council of Europe, noted, after attending the concert of the music ensemble held at Kehl, Germany.
As the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Panorama.am, the muscic ensemble launched its European tour with the above-mentioned concert, giving a unique change to the audience to get acquainted with the ensemble’s artistic activity and evaluate it.
Mr. Hovhannisyan underscored that "Voices of Artsakh" music ensemble conducts two-fold ctivity: firstly, it aims at bringing Artsakh music and culture to worldwide recognition, and secondly, voicing about the Artsakh people’s wish and right to live and create in their fatherland peacefully.
Nazo Derkevorkian’s tonir holds meats and potatoes.
By Sam Hiersteiner Globe Correspondent
On a recent night in Nazaret and Lena Derkevorkian’s backyard in Lexington, the tonir is humming. The semi-subterranean wood oven, one of only a few in the area, looks like a brick missile silo in miniature, sending up a blast column of heat and smoke that greets visitors before its owners have a chance.
Nazo (as Nazaret is known) and Lena are hosting a dinner party for a dozen longtime friends, including well known members of Boston’s Armenian-American community like Carolyn Mugar, the activist and philanthropist whose father founded Star Market; Noubar Afeyan, the biotechnology entrepreneur and investor; and Anthony Barsamian, the first Armenian-American president of the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
The Derkevorkians have hosted barbecues for this group many times, so the flow of the night is well established. An hour before dinner and despite steady rain, the crowd is clustered near the tonir listening to Barsamian give community updates and recount his last Armenia trip. A collective bellow sounds when he unveils a bottle of Armenia’s famed Ararat brandy, silky at 20 years of age and reputedly a favorite of Winston Churchill’s.
“The tonir was the central gathering place in Armenian villages until electricity and natural gas spread in the Soviet era,” says Nazo, a physician who was born in Aleppo, Syria, and educated in Armenia, before immigrating to the United States in 1990. “Every time I use it, I think about how I wouldn’t have survived here without these friends.”
If the tonir itself wasn’t enough evidence of how seriously Armenian-Americans take their barbecue, Nazo builds the case by plucking sizzling ground beef kebabs from a separate grill. He wraps each in a thin sheet of lavash, the unleavened flatbread that appears at every Armenian meal, and pulls it off its skewer to distribute.
The beef is simply seasoned (recipe follows), but the mingling of charred meat, fat drippings, and bread is elementally pleasing. Simultaneously, a platter of beef and bulgur wheat dumplings called kibbe, grape leaves filled with rice and vegetables known as yalanch, and savory pastries called boreg are unveiled.
For the uninitiated, vibrant flavors like these feel more Mediterranean than Eastern European, even though Armenia is tied to the latter in most people’s minds. It parallels the overdue, recent revelation that Jewish food is not all borscht and brisket, which Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, and Michael Solomonov have helped drive. Armenian-Americans in Boston have something similarly revelatory underway, thanks in part to David Bazirgan of Bambara in East Cambridge, Seta Dakessian of Seta’s Café in Belmont, and Nina and Raffi Festekjian, attendees of the Derkevorkians’ party who are opening a Lebanese-Armenian restaurant in the South End this summer.
“Many Armenian-Americans that came to the Boston area after the 1960s were from Lebanon and Syria, and to a lesser extent Turkey,” said Dr. Khachig Tölölyan, a Wesleyan University professor who is the founding editor of Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies. “They have as part of their lives a constant orientation toward communities, and good food in this case, from the Levantine countries they lived in before.”
With the crowd focused on noshing, Nazo slips back to the tonir. To cook in it, a metal contraption that looks like a tiered dessert tower is used. Above a fat catching bowl at the bottom are three levels of skewers crossed through a vertical metal column. Nazo has threaded enormous marinated pork chops and a boneless lamb leg on the skewers and piled potato wedges in the bowl. With help from Raffi Festekjian, who also has a tonir in his backyard in Lexington, he lowers the whole rig into the oven.
Twenty-five minutes later, the pork chops and potatoes are done (the lamb leg will go back underground for a bit). Nazo and Raffi cover two platters with rounds of lavash. After removing the pork from the oven and placing it on the platters, they drape another later of lavash over the top, ensuring not a drop of smoky, rendered fat goes to waste. The crowd, unfazed by the fact that they’ve already eaten a full meal off of the grill and the platters, senses a breakthrough and heads upstairs.
Lena Derkevorkian’s ability to stun and delight may eclipse her husband’s. Her 15-foot dinner table sags under the weight of traditional Armenian dishes and bottles of Zorah Karasi, the buzzworthy Armenian red wine aged in amphorae. It is imported by a crowdfunded company that is donating a share of proceeds to the Armenia Tree Project, a reforestation initiative founded by Carolyn Mugar.
“We can never eat or drink alone,” Lena says. “Or enough.”
Following an opening blessing by Barsamian, Afeyan speaks up to nominate Mugar for the role of tamada, an ancient term that means toastmaster. The tamada is an entertainer and a facilitator, as well as a guardian of an idea that carries special weight in a community that has suffered immensely in its history: Meals together are sacred.
“I have never done this before!” says Mugar with relish. “I will start with a toast to our hosts and the women around this table. I wish you the spirit that you impart to other people.”
Each of a dozen toasts leads to new conversation. People open up about their family histories, which uniquely combine the pain of genocide and the promise of the American Dream. Almost everyone has barbecue stories to offer, and Nazo uses his toast to announce that a group of the men around the table will build Mugar a tonir at her house in New Hampshire. The gathered become especially animated talking about their plans to organize relief for war-ravaged Aleppo, a city that, for many in the diaspora, including natives Nazo and Lena, stands for the safe haven it provided for those who escaped the Armenian genocide.
The unmistakable feeling of warmth and kinship lifts up an already delicious parade of dishes: Armenian dolma, vegetables stuffed with beef, bone marrow, rice, and herbs; manti, a small dumpling served over labne-style yogurt and topped with sumac; tomato and cucumber salad, also with sumac; hummus; the tonir potatoes, which are faintly burnt, crispy, and luscious; entire additional platters of kibbe, yalanch, and boreg; and the meats, of course. Thanks to the fast cooking time, the pork chops and lamb leg are juicy and smoky. Nazo serves them with unique toppings, including thinly sliced onion, herb, and sumac salad, a lemon-driven chimichurri, and grilled, peeled sweet peppers.
Near the end of most barbecue feasts of this size and scope, people float away, figuratively and literally. But in unison, the crowd starts to murmur about Aida Bejakian’s legendary desserts. She is Lena’s sister and has been sitting quietly at the end of the table for most of the dinner. Tonight, she has brought her tantalizing version of kadayif, the popular Middle Eastern dessert of shredded phyllo wrapped around semi-soft, semi-sweet cheese. She smiles as people throw their heads back with delight, and then offers a barbecue story of her own:
“A few years ago, we had a family barbecue and my mother-in-law fell and broke her leg. We called an ambulance and we were all worried, but everyone was also sitting there smelling the kebabs cook and feeling really hungry. As they are wheeling her to the ambulance, my husband Sam rushes up and gives her a plate of kebab and dolma, and he gave all the paramedics one, too. They left, but then came back 10 minutes later and asked for more food for the people at the fire station.”
Amid roaring laughter, Carolyn Mugar intervenes one final time as the tamada: “A toast to endless Armenian hospitality!”
The Bargain Hunt presenter, 75, on his legendary colour, wheeling and dealing in his childhood, and why he’s not ready to retire just yet…
BYROSIE HOPEGOOD
07:00, 25 JUN 2017
TV
David is back on our screens (Photo: Rex)
David Dickinson is ambling his way across his living room, a mug of steaming tea in each hand. He may well be famous for his extensive antiques knowledge and his cult following – equal part grannies and daytime-telly-watching students – but for most people, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of David is that tan!
"The funny thing is," he says, handing me one of the cups of tea, "I’ve done adverts for tea, beer, McDonald’s… but I’ve never been asked to do a tanning advert. I’d definitely say yes."
We’re not so sure that David’s somewhat atomic glow is something people will aspire to. Although to be fair, in real life he’s less of a Wotsity hue, and more a perfect match for the well-brewed cuppa in my hand. But he’s warming to the subject, so it’s best to let him roll…
"I was on Big Star, Little Star recently with my grandson, and the presenter was angling to get him to say what sort of tanning products I use," he says, sipping his skin-tone tea. "Jonathan Ross calls me the orange man. But I’ve got olive skin from my Armenian heritage, and my real secret is getting as many holidays in as I can."
His wife of 47 years, Lourne, lets out a squeal from the sofa, where she’s been nodding along enthusiastically.
"He’s an absolute sun worshipper. I wheel him out in the morning, and he just lies here like this…" she mimes David supine on a sun lounger, mouth agog and arms limp by his side.
Hmmm. Can it be true? Or is his bathroom bursting at the seams with bottles of St Tropez? There’s only one way to find out, and we ask to pop to the loo. David guides me through to a library room, floor-to-ceiling with leather-bound tomes, taps a button on a book and a secret door pops out. There’s no fake bake here, but it’s clear we’ve underestimated this man – who knows what else is hidden behind secret doors.
Naturally, David’s house, a converted barn in Cheshire, is packed to the rafters with bobby dazzlers: a huge ceremonial sword above the fireplace, a snow leopard rug on the floor, big twee paintings of girls in pink bonnets, and photos of a younger David with a magnificent black mullet alongside his glamour-puss wife in her cabaret singing days.
Back in the sitting room, he’s seated in what is essentially a throne: an enormous, winged tapestry chair that could, quite frankly, only be found in David Dickinson’s house. Fair enough. He is the king of antiques, and this is very much his castle.
But things could have been very different. David once served three years in Strangeways Prison for fraud (‘I took a wrong turn and had a rap over the knuckles,’ he says vaguely), then many years later, at the age of 57, he was living a very ordinary life buying and selling antiques when he met a TV producer at his daughter’s barbecue, who declared that David was ‘the real life Lovejoy’.
Enter a little TV show called Bargain Hunt and David was catapulted to stardom. The viewing figures crept up until they overtook This Morning as the most watched daytime TV show. Suddenly, David had an overwhelming number of fans, receiving up to a thousand letters a week at one point. The show was popular with students because ‘it was on at the time they fell about of bed’.
Nowadays, David can’t get on an aeroplane to one of his tan-top-up holidays without someone yelling, 'You won’t get any bargains here!’ He’s even (sort of) healed the sick."We were in Barbados last week," he says, running a hand through his demi-mullet, "when a man came over a bit gingerly and said that I was his idol. He’d been in a serious industrial accident and said it was because of me he’d got better. He was lying there under sedation, then I popped up on the telly all, “Hello, how are you?”’ David pauses to wave manically and grin like the Cheshire Cat. ‘Apparently, I was giving him the message that he was going to beat the illness. Of course, I wasn’t really, but he believed it."
Lourne, who has been rummaging in kitchen cupboards, is making her way back with a plate of choccy biscuits. She nods seriously as she places them on the coffee table.
"He has a lot of big fans," she says. "He was doing the shopping in Marks & Spencer’s recently, and women kept banging their trolleys into his to get his attention!"
David sips more tea thoughtfully. "Sometimes you go on holiday and you’re on a beach in the middle of nowhere, and someone comes along and goes, 'Well, what are you doing here?'" he mimes an OTT double-take. "And you think, 'P*ss off!'"
He’s now back in the limelight with a new antiques-themed gameshow, Name Your Price. But before his rise to fame, David tells us that life wasn’t always so easy. Adopted as a baby, David grew up in a family where money was tight.
"Coming from a working-class background has helped keep me down-to-earth," he says. "I remember well not having any money, but now I’m older and I’ve got a foot in both camps. I’ve been very lucky all my life, always making money… Maybe I’ve got natural trading ability within my DNA. By the age of 14, I was buying wheels and selling them to other kids for their go-karts."
It’s this start in life that colours his attitude to some troublesome children from a local estate. One young boy smashed one of David’s windows, and, furious, he rang the police. But by the time the police got there, he’d cooled off and thought, ‘What the hell am I doing?’
Instead, David enlisted him to help in the garden. "I got to know him during that time, and I gave him a bike that my son didn’t seem to care much about. The kid couldn’t believe it, it was like he’d met God and God had said, 'Here, have this.'"
David on I'm A Celeb in 2005(Photo: Daily Mirror)
David and Lourne have their own children, Rob and Katrina, both in their 50s, and they are doting grandparents to three grandkids.
David has already said (twice) that he can’t talk for long today, as they’re busy packing for a trip to Malaga (obviously). But here’s a man who likes a chat, particularly if it involves as many diverse and lengthy tangents as possible.
The conversation swings wildly from the time his son was a chef on a cruise ship (‘The obese Americans were rattling the buffet hall doors at one minute to midnight, desperate to get in!’) to what he thinks of foreign aid (‘The African leaders are over here buying crocodile-skin shoes on Bond Street while the rest of them starve!’), and the wealthy Saudi business partner who’d arrive for dinner bearing extravagant gifts (‘He’d come with a set of crystal glasses and embroidered towels, and I’d say, “Christ, Iman, can you stop this? We’re having fish and chips!”’).
But all those miniature tanning oils won’t pack themselves, so eventually it’s time for us to leave. At 75, David’s not getting any younger, but with the rate he holidays and appears on our screens, he’s showing no sign of slowing.
"At the moment I feel fit and active. I enjoy what I do and I’m obviously well paid, so it would be silly to stop. But fame is a fickle friend," he says, leaning back in his tapestry throne. "However, if you’d asked me that question 20 years ago, I would have said the same thing – and the work just keeps coming."
Glad to hear it, David. We don’t know where we’d be without our regular dose of tantastic antiques.
David on his new show Name Your Price(Photo: ITV)
"This show is a classic gameshow with antiques thrown in. I scoured the country for really unusual and interesting items. I tell the story of the valuable item, along with a couple of made-up stories about some cheap-as-chips items. The contestants then have to guess the bobby dazzler from the duds to win a big cash prize."
How did you spend last Sunday?
We were at home, sitting in the sunshine with a glass of something nice.
Gym day or lazy day?
When I was going to the jungle for I’m A Celeb…, I did about a month at the gym to get ready. Now people ask, ‘Are you a member of a keep fit gym?’ and I say no. Now I tell Lourne, ‘That’s my gym [points to the neatly-mown lawn].’
Running errands or pampering?
I don’t have a to-do list, but I know what needs doing. Lourne lets me think I’m the master of my own home… Any girls who know what they’re doing let their man think they’re in charge, but we know we’re not really.
Hungover or fresh as a daisy?
We have a nice glass of wine or a cocktail on the weekend, although sometimes we say we won’t drink anything for a few days. It’s too easy to drink every night when you open the bottle.
Lazy lie-in or up with the lark?
Lourne gets up really early, but if I’m not working I’ll get up at 9am. When I was on Strictly, Bruce told me he’d stay in bed all day on Sunday after the show. I thought, ‘Really, Bruce?!’ but now I completely understand. I’m comatose by Monday.Weekend away or Sunday brunch at home?
When I’m not filming, it’s a nice treat for us to have a good meal, a cocktail and a movie at home. I’m very lucky with work – I stay at five-star hotels four nights a week, so it’s nice to be at home.
In continental club competition in Europe was a short pause. It seems that recently hosted the final of the Champions League, and now is about to start the next campaign will be given. In the first qualifying round of the participating teams with the lowest rating. One of the pairs formed Armenian “Alashkert” and “Santa Coloma” of Andorra. With the score Caucasians beat pireneytsev?
Europe. UEFA Champions League. Qualification. First round. “Alashkert” – “Santa Coloma”. Account in the series 0: 0 , 19:00 GMT“Alashkert” Armenian Championship – one of the most compact in the world. The tournament involved six teams. Club “Alashkert” of the town of Martuni wins the championship of the second season in a row. The last drawing “Alashkert” spent 30 matches: 19 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses. 64 points, which is seven points more than the silver medalist of the “Gandzasar”. In addition, the champion in the most formidable attack (59 goals) and best goal difference, goals conceded (33).
“Santa Coloma” “Santa Coloma” – a ten-fold champion of Andorra. This team won the last four championship mountain state. Last season, “Santa Coloma” priority in the preliminary part of the event (48 points in 21 games) and championship round (12 points in 6 matches). On a score “of Santa Coloma” he was declared the winner.
Statistics and personal meetings A year ago, “Alashkert” and “Santa Coloma” met at the same stage of the tournament. Armenians won at home (3: 0) and drawn at a party (0: 0).
Forecast “Santa Coloma” scattered among five commands of the first qualifying round. But this does not make it a favorite on the “Alashkert”. Sure, Armenian football players, at least to repeat his achievement of a year ago. Grab hosts handicap (-2).
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has spoken of his desire to win the UEFA Champions League in 2017/18 and stated a club like Manchester United belongs in European football’s top competition.
The midfield Armenian discussed his ambitions for the forthcoming season during a Q&A session with followers of his official Facebook page, in which he also spoke about a determination to improve following an encouraging debut campaign that yielded 41 appearances, 11 goals and three trophies.
“The Champions League is where Manchester United belongs and we are all happy to be playing in this great competition again. For the new season we definitely want to fight for the title. For the Super Cup, it should be a fantastic game against Real Madrid!” Mkhitaryan said.
Speaking about his ambitions for the coming season, the midfielder said he would love to score more goals and give more assists and help the team win as many trophies as possible. “I will give my best!” he said.
Asked to describe Jose Mourinho, Mkhitaryan said “Jose is a winner. He works so hard to win every single game and to make sure that we are all ready to give 100%. He gives us emotion, and motivation. I have learned a lot from him and will continue to do so.”
Mkhitrayan said he loves hearing his chant from the stands. “I love it. It’s great that our fans made a song for me and it gives me a lot of motivation when I hear it in the stadium!”
The Armenian said lifting the UEFA Europa League trophy in Stockholm was his favorite moments of last season. “We worked so hard to win this competition and it was truly special to be able to do it. Now we are really looking forward to being back in the UEFA Champions League,” he said.
The midfielder said it would be an honor for him or any other player to win the Europa League Player of the Season award, but added that “at the end what matters is the team.”
Mkhitaryan said he has thought about developing a football academy in Armenia. “I’ve thought about it and would love to develop the idea in the future to teach my football philosophy to Armenian children,” he said.
Where does Mkhitaryan see himself after the career? “I haven’t thought about what I will do after my career, I still have many years left as a player,” he said.
Mkhitaryan said his “tip for success is honestly to believe in yourself whatever you do and work hard. Anything is possible in life if you are confident, positive and hard working.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has set an early target for Manchester United of winning further titles after lifting two trophies last season.
Ahead of the Reds' return to action with pre-season training commencing on July 8, Mkhitaryan hinted in a Facebook Q&A that he and his teammates will be going for domestic glory from August.
United won the UEFA Europa League and EFL Cup last season, as well as the Community Shield. Success against Ajax in the Europa League final means United will play UEFA Champions League football next season.
That, said Mkhitaryan, "is where Manchester United belongs."
"We are all happy to be playing in this great competition again."
But while it's fantastic to be back in elite competition, Mkhitaryan told ManUtd.com that "for the new season we definitely want to fight for the title."
The first trophy available for Mkhitaryan and United is the pre-season clash between Champions League and Europa League winners.
The Armenian said, "for the Super Cup, it should be a fantastic game against Real Madrid!"
United will play the Spanish giants twice during the summer. The first match will be during their pre-season tour. José Mourinho will line up his side against Barcelona and Manchester City as well in the International Champions Cup.
The Reds also play LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Sampdoria and Valerenga IF. It'll be a busy summer with eight games in three different countries. Meanwhile, Mourinho will be hoping to be welcoming a number of new signings during or before that period. Victor Lindelöf has already been signed for £30.7m from Benfica while Alvaro Morata, Ivan Periśič and Chelsea's Nemanja Matić have all been heavily linked to the club in recent weeks. However, it's only June and things could quickly change as has been shown throughout the start to this transfer window with the case of Antoine Griezmann.
La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
mardi 20 juin 2017
L'épicerie fine arménienne ouvre aujourd'hui
by: Jacky COURTIN
Un petit coin d'Arménie s'est installé rue Diderot. L'épicerie Erevan
est un concentré de saveurs, du basturma au caviar noir sibérien.
L'épicerie fine arménienne ouvre aujourd'hui
Vanik Ayvazyan, cogérant : « Nous préparons également des sandwichs à la demande
avec nos produits ».
(Photo NR, Patrick Gaïda)
Au fond de la petite boutique de 40 m2, entièrement rénovée, un
discret tableau représente le majestueux mont Ararat, emblème de
l'Arménie, bien que son sommet appartienne aujourd'hui à la Turquie.
Attachés à leur patrie, Vanik Ayvazyan et Arsen Leputyan ont tout
simplement baptisé leur épicerie de la rue Diderot, du nom de la
capitale de leur pays : Erevan.
« Nous avons déjà une boutique à Issy-les-Moulineaux dans les
Hauts-de-Seine et nous avons décidé d'en ouvrir une seconde à
Châteauroux car nous nous sommes aperçus qu'il y avait une communauté
arménienne, géorgienne, ukrainienne et russe », explique Vanik
Ayvazyan. L'objectif, bien sûr, est aussi de faire saliver les
Berrichons avec des saveurs typiques non seulement de l'Arménie « mais
de tous les pays jusqu'à la Baltique comme ces conserves de poissons
qui viennent de Lituanie ».
" Qualité
et propreté "
Dresser un inventaire de la boutique, c'est un peu le casse-tête sans
l'aide d'Arsen Danielyan qui fait office de traducteur : « Nous sommes
pour expliquer la nature de ces produits et notre devise, c'est la
propreté, la qualité et des produits d'origine ». Vanik Ayvazyan et
son ami sont fiers de sortir une boisson fraîche et légèrement acre,
le tan, fait à base de yaourt, ou encore le lavach, pain traditionnel
arménien.
Pour dresser une table surprise, il y a le choix : « Pour commencer,
du caviar noir sibérien, légèrement salé, ou du saucisson de porc
fumé, ces sauces aux mirabelles à la géorgienne Kemali ». Plus
surprenant, ces confitures de noix vertes marinées : « Ça n'existe pas
en France ». Pour trinquer, avec modération, l'épicerie Erevan
regroupe une large gamme d'alcools et de bières arméniennes et russes
: « Nous avons aussi le cognac Ararat qui est la boisson officielle du
Kremlin ». D'autres opteront pour la vodka, « celle avec des pigments
vient d'Ukraine ».
L'épicerie dispose également d'une petite vitrine de souvenirs
artisanaux et aussi religieux de l'église grégorienne. En partant,
Arsen Danielyan vous le dit : « Charles Aznavour, c'est le meilleur
Arménien du monde ».
Épicerie Erevan, 19, rue Diderot,
à Châteauroux. Tél. 09.83.85.18.43
ou 07.61.93.51.37. Courriel : erevanrussieAgmail.com
Ouvert du mardi au samedi,
de 9 h jusqu'à 22 h.
The Independent - UK
Saturday
NOMAD'S LAND;
Azniv Korkejian's upbringing has taken her from Syria to Saudi Arabia
to America, where her soft and distinct vocals have set her apart from
other artists, Andy Gill says
by ANDY GILL
Bedouine, Bedouine
???????????????
Download: Solitary Daughter; Nice And Quiet; Summer Cold; Heart Take Flight
In an era of increasingly synthetic, programmed music, Richmond,
Virginia's Spacebomb Records collective operates with a refreshingly
analogue sensibility. Describing themselves as "a unified crew of
arrangers and musicians, artists, scribes, vibe-gardeners and business
men who feel it takes a village to produce a record", Spacebomb apply
a detailed attention to the mood and meaning of each song, using a
huge complement of local musicians to realise the lush, distinctive
orchestrations devised by arranger Trey Pollard for Matthew E White's
meticulous productions.
Whatever a "vibe gardener" does - perhaps something akin to Bez's
indefinable contribution to Happy Mondays and Black Grape? - I think
every record label ought to have one, given Spacebomb's aesthetic
hit-rate. Certainly, the label has developed a signature sound that's
equally effective for smooth soul outings like White's own albums and
his cover-versions collaboration with Flo Morrissey on Gentlewoman,
Ruby Man, and more folksy, singer-songwriter projects such as Natalie
Prass's eponymous debut album.
It's the latter category into which Azniv Korkejian's equally sublime
debut falls. Born in Aleppo of Armenian descent, Korkejian has every
right to the sobriquet Bedouine, her nomadic upbringing having taken
her from Syria to Saudi Arabia to America, where she eventually
settled in LA as a sound-editor - skills employed here in the montage
of street-noises at the end of "Summer Cold", a re-creation of the
Syrian streets of her youth. But it's her voice that immediately grabs
you, a warm, grounded delivery oozing devotional calm on the opener
"Nice And Quiet", where lines like "When I'm on my way, I keep my feet
nice and quiet for you" have the enigmatic charm of hermetic tribal
spirituality. There are obvious affinities with the likes of Norah
Jones and Katie Melua in Bedouine's tone and timbre, anchored here by
loping bass and lightly brushed with tints of oboe and strings, before
the crisp restraint of Smokey Hormel's guitar break brings the song
home.
It's a simply lovely start to the album, reinforced by the languid
"soon-come" message of "One Of These Days", a plea for patience as
regards both love and money. Its anti-materialist tone is taken up
later in "Heart Take Flight", where fingerpicked acoustic guitar and
what sounds like the crystalline high tones of glass harmonica
accompany her ruminations. "Any more than what I have would be too
much for me to feel free," she muses, an attitude reflected elsewhere
in the nomadic instincts and drifting sensibility of "You Kill Me" and
the repressive dread afflicting "Mind's Eye" ("I'm trapped and I can't
find my way out of graven doubt").
The centrepiece of the album, however, is the impressive "Solitary
Daughter", an affirmation of self-sufficiency and rejection of worldly
distractions which in both its poetic locutions and vocal delivery
seems to channel Laura Marling. "I'm not an island, I'm a body of
water/Jewelled in the evening, a solitary daughter," sings Bedouine
over a delicate web of fingerpicking, strings and occasional distant,
yearning horn, adding warily, "If picked at by noon, by midnight I'm
mined". It's the standout track on an album heralding a talent as
intriguingly fully-formed and distinctive, in its own way, as Marling,
Mitchell and Bush.
This review appeared in yesterday's Independent Daily Edition