[.ca] Moonsung: A Real World Retrospective

From Amazon.co.uk:
Sheila Chandra's impact on the mainstream may have been fairly minimal--Grange Hill and Top Of The Pops appearances with Monsoon aside--but she has been creating music of originality and beauty since she was 16 years old. Residing for the past eight years on the Realworld label, her body of work for them makes up this retrospective. Chandra appears throughout as a voice alone, accompanied only by the occasional drone, and while this is sometimes as experimental as it sounds (in her sleeve notes she claims to "make albums I know I can't go out and buy") elsewhere this is much to attract the casual listener, albeit one who is prepared to work a little bit harder than normal. The extracts from ABoneCroneDrone and Speaking In Tongues are certainly testing, but a new version of Monsoon's "Ever So Lonely" still shows the pop sparkle that made it such a joy in the first place. Several moments even recall British folk song, a fact enforced by a closing version of the traditional "Blacksmith" that is not a million miles away from Steeleye Span's reading. --Phil Udell

Chronique amazon.fr:
"Moonsung A Real World" symbolise un remarquable renouveau dans l'esprit et dans le son de Sheila Chandra. Son art de transformer les sons en musique la place parmi les artistes les plus originaux de son époque. Grâce à des débuts précoces de chanteuse star du groupe Moonsung, au début des années 80, et grâce à ses trois albums solos, la musique de Chandra a évolué vers davantage de maturité et de profondeur. Moonsung A Real World est constitué d'une sélection de ces enregistrements et de deux nouveaux titres inédits. Que ce soit sur des morceaux mélancoliques a cappella, sur des mélodies inspirées de ragas indiens ou sur des ballades folk novatrices, la voix polymorphe de Chandra est un instrument incomparable qui fusionne merveilleusement l'avenir avec une longue tradition musicale. --Paige La Grone

Do you really want a "best of" CD?:
This is a "best of" disk. If you have other Chandra cds forget this one. It would make a great gift, though. It has (by my count) 5 cuts from 'weaving my ancestors" and only 2 new cuts. Insofar as I am concerned it is a ripoff. I agree with what others say about the sublime quality of her voice and the deeply spiritual nature of the music.

an amazing experience:
when I first purchased this CD, I was a little dissappointed because it was not the type of Indian music I was expecting. However, I gave it a chance and it's amazing. Sheila Chandra's voice is extremely soothing. There is an eclectic mix of her Indian and British roots. Song number 9 on this CD is a perfect example; there is a mix of traditional Latin and Hindi in the lyrics. This is truly a beautiful CD to fall asleep to or to just relax.

Spiritual Ease:
Sheila Chandra deserves to be heard. On "Moonsung," Chandra's simplistic droning form gives rise to an otherworldly voice. The space the sparse arrangements creates, allows Chandra's crystalline voice to breathe. I liken the whole of "Moonsung," to something in the neighborhood of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's spiritual Qwalli chants. Don't read me wrong--the sound is different, but Chandra's Indian raga style puts you in the neighborhood of spiritual chants, but just with some folk balladry mixed in for good measure. One of the more interesting tracks is "Speaking in Tongues III," in which Chandra pulls off this new age world music rebirth of bebop. It is what would happen if Ella Fitzgerald had been from India and sniffed a whole lot of incense. It truly is remarkable what Chandra can do with her voice as a primary instrument. The only fault I can find with this disc is that the CD's strength is also a weakness. The simplistic arrangements can give off a kind of "sameness" that hurts the album only ever so slightly when listened to all the way through. Bottom line, Sheila Chandra sings and shoots the moon. Turn off the lights, turn on the lava lap, and meditate while Sheila drones.

An Incredible, Soothing and Beautiful Journey:
When a friend of mine asked me if I would listen to this album I was skeptical to say the least, but I agreed to listen nonetheless. Oh, what rewards can come with so little risk. It turned out that I found Sheila Chandra's vocal range, style and tonality to be one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. The uniqueness of her Hindu background and culture of the British Isles collide to produce a sound like no other I have ever heard. I could be dreaming in Bombay or Dublin and never have imagined the balance demonstrated in this work. A must have for soothing the soul. If "Heaven" has a soundtrack, this album should be included on it. Only "criticism" is the track "Speaking in Tongues". While further demonstrating Sheila's incredible talent, it jars you back from the meditative state that the rest of the tracks work so hard to induce. Please be advised that this is mostly a collection (A "Best of", if you will), so if you own other Sheila Chandra works you may duplicate some tracks.

A must buy:
This is a masterpiece. Of course, it just a "best of" and the purists would say that one should get Sheila's complete works--I have no definitive opinion on the subject, owning just this CD of hers. Like another reviewer said it, it is technically perfect (Peter Gabriel is the man behind the "Real World" label), but also an artistic wonder. It is a beautiful work of art because it was inspired by what matters the most in life: love. Sheila is so sensitive that, to her, "Love is an Ocean." One of my very best CDs, along with Sinead O'Connor's "I do not want what I haven't got." If you like "a capella" songs, there is a great one on "Moonsung." There are connections from here to Sinead O'Connor and even to Barbara Hendricks's "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child\o1\c." \o1\c from "Sacred Songs" \o..\c