Sirocco by Christophe Goze
- Priere
- Sirocco
- Ja Vidi
- Trance
- Dune
- The Traveller
- Desert Man
- For Your Love
- Life
- Keep On
- River of God
- So Many Men
Review:
If you've ever wondered how Sirocco is related to those enchanting eyes on the album cover, wonder no more. There is no relation. Sirocco literally means "a windstorm not experienced for many years". Being Christophe Goze's first album under his own label Anything Goze, the album title is a tribute to his achievements over his illustrious musical career.
Even though he has been producing for the better part of the last two decades and has released four individual albums, he first shot to famedom when he collaborated with French World Fusion DJ Francis Peyrat to create the band Radar. Radar's album "Nothing to Lose" released under the Bar de Lune label became a must-have for Arabtronica fans everywhere.
However, this effort is a little less revolutionary. Don't get me wrong, this album includes some beautiful tracks which you won't be able to shake out of your head. It's just that "Sirocco" is a compilation of Goze's work as a producer, remixer, TV commercial composer and a world musician. Since he has tried to compile the greatest pieces from his wide range of production skills, the album leaves a coherence that you would expect from an artist like Goze.
He opens the album with a soothing Arabian string ambience track before quickly handing the torch to the title track. The title track created huge tsunami-sized waves even before he came up with the album. "Sirocco" was composed for Goze's middle-eastern flavored compilation "Mystic Groove" and has been featured on 10 compilations, 2 documentaries, a movie and even a video game. His prowess with the guitar doesn't go unnoticed here when he weaves Spanish strings intermittently with Arabian flutes. Goze's fingers don't stop dancing with soaring strings in "Ja Vidi" where the belly-dancing folk drumbeat intertwines melodically with contemporary dance beats. "Dune" lends a dreamy atmospheric uplifting feeling perfect for those days when you're gazing out of the window at the light rain, the air heavy with the euphoric scent of the wet earth.
Fuse a plucked sitar with a wicked beat and add some ambience and you get "The Traveller" - a track that makes you want to get up and groove. "Desert Man" is more in tune with the Goze's style of production under Radar, a heavy Arabian beat with lilting dark vocals. Picking up the tempo after a short lapse is the Arabian jazz composition "Keep On". The big beat is laden with more strings, french vocals and an Arabian tambourine. It makes you wish this song would never end.
All in all, this album has some very memorable tracks and is a good addition to any Arabtronica fan's collection owing to its versatility in the different genres it stretches through. Alas, this becomes a double-edged sword as it also breaks the flow of the album numerous times. But if you dont mind a short intermission where you can smoke a little hookah to cloud your mind with the atmospheric sounds of Christophe Goze before heading off to groove to his "The Traveller" and "Keep On", this is definitely an album for you.
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