'Boonie Ba-Boona' a hit!
Peter | Modesto, CA United States | 05/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After listening to this album, I enjoy what I hear. Very different from the rest of the assyrian albums. Usually, assyrian singers always use the same cliche beats, and create music with a synthesizer. Boonie Ba Boona is different, giving the listener a feel of our eastern instruments, mixing in a western instruments to create a brotherhood of music. I love track 5 thats titled East And West. Shlimon sings about the east, and how we left it due to many reasons, and how adapting to the West was difficult. I finally understood what my grandparents and parents felt like when they first came here. The first half of the song contains eastern instruments such as the oud (lyte), nay (relative of the flute), and jouza (upright violin). Then the artist sings of the transition of leaving his country, and going to the west. That is when the eastern instruments are blended in with the western intruments, and as Shlimon sings about the experience of the west, the western instruments take over the melody. Track 1 is the most touching, and I admit I cant understand some of the difficult words, but I understand the general concept, if a son being raised in his homeland, and what the son does in return to his homeland. I applaud Shlimon Bet Shmuel for a job well done. I admit that I really wasnt into music that was pure folk, and about our omtaa (assyrian nation) , but after coming across his site, I remember listening to his old songs as a child, and it brought back memories. The tone of the CD is very calm and conforting. Its not the cliche omtaa songs that our artists like to sing, ex: Lets take up our sword, and fight fight fight...but it is about hope and freedom. The priceless right that most of us have become so used to, and take for granted. The last song titled: Psalm 150 was a very lovely way to end the cd. Praising the LORD, and Praising everything about him. The book of Psalms was written by the prophet David, in the form of songs. Shlimon has revamped a bit of the lyrics, but the melody is very unique and catchy. Hopefully this track "Psalm 150" and this cd was a small glimpse of what lies ahead. The future is bright."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1