Search - Alabina & Ishtar :: Je Sais D'ou Je Viens

Je Sais d'Ou Je Vien

PhoenixTree | Seattle | 05/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Out of Ishtar's three solo albums this is my favorite, because she gets back to what she was known for, Arabic-Flamenco Fusion. She sings in Arabic and French on this album with remnants of her Alabina-Flamenco style swathing her voice, and of course the inevitable pop sounds of the synthesizers. Its strange how she sings in both French and Arabic on this cd, even her French songs have a significant amount of Arabic lyrics as stanzas and even choruses, and even the title ballad; "Je Sais d'Ou Je Vien," (which is quite pretty,) has one line in Arabic. I wonder if this was politically motivated at all, maybe concerning the riots of Paris, because we all know that Ishtar lives in Paris. (but not the slums, of course.) Because it seems that only a Frenchman of Arab descent who could also speak Spanish might understand the lyrics of the Album fully. I only gave it four stars because i didn't like the last two songs, one a remix of Alabina which hardly features Ishtar at all, and the other a cover of a patriotic Egyptian song sung in French made famous by Dalida, 'Helwa Ya Baladi.' But worth the buy for any Ishtar or Alabina fans.

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Highly Recommended!

JW | Scottsdale, Arizona USA | 12/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sound and style of this album is a cross between Ishtar's solo offerings and her music with the group Alabina (her last name) with a funky reggae/hip hop and latin vibe. The singles Ragga Boom and Sawah are great. Sawah has a great rap from JMI Sissoko and is truly funky. There are a few songs in French, "Aime La Vie", "Dis Le Moi" and " Loin De Ce Monde Fou" that remind me of some of Ishtar's more dance-pop material from her first solo album La Voix D'Alabina, except these songs all still contain a little bit of a hip hop or reggae vibe. "Yalla" blends a rap with Ishtar singing pieces of the song "Alabina" and there is one really gorgeous ballad, the title track to the album, "Je Sais d'Ou Je Vien". If you are a fan of Alabina or Ishtar, you will love this CD. If you like world music (with an edge) then you'll like this CD as well. Ishtar blends many differnt types of music and languages, but she pulls it all off and the end result sort of a falls into a category all it's own. This CD definitely makes you want to get up and move!"