Search - Stellamara :: Star of the Sea

A masterful mix of the modern and the medieval.

Robert A. Saunders | Jersey Shore, USA | 01/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sonja Drakulich is a bewitching siren. I am longtime Dead Can Dance fan as well as historian of the Balkans. My two loves came together in this exquisite recording from City of Tribes records. Stellamara excels where others have but succeeded. VAS and Yahili are bands that live in the shadow of musical greats like Loreena McKennitt and Lisa Gerard, while Stellamara breaks out as group that is destined to eventually eclipse their tutors. I highly recommend this CD to anyone with an interest in the music of the Middle Ages, the Balkans or North Africa. I believe this album would also be accessible to a casual fan of ambient world music as well."

Ancient and ethereal music

08/12/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Against shimmering electronics, brittle dulcimers, dolorous bells, and percolating poly-rhythms, Sonya, the lead singer's, voice unfurls. Like Lisa Gerrard , her vocals are a bewitching mix of Eastern and Western vocal styles, and while the group (a duo, with Jeffrey Stott handing other duties, including guitairs and oud, an African harp-like instrument) is influenced by the same liturgical music, there's a different feel. With DCD, I feel the music is almost escapist; with Stellamara, there's an anthropologic reverence, that's not so much *academic* as it is *resonant* with history. Part of this is due to the fact that the lyrics are taken from actual medieval texts -- there's a song in Croatian, a Persian song, and musical forms from Serphardic Jewish music."

Stunning and fiercely exotic! One of my all-time favorites

Brianna Neal | USA | 10/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sonja Drakulich sings historical Galician, Persian, Judeo-Spanish and Croatian lyrics with microtonal eastern flair, often in multi-tracked harmony with herself, and above ambient drones both accoustic and electronic. Violin, oud and hammered dulcimer add their distinctive contributions, while deep drums effect a steady, resounding beat and darbukas (doumbecs) weave complex rhythms around it. These pieces, some exciting and fast paced, others mesmerizing and meditative, were written or arranged by Sonja Drakulich and Jeffrey Stott, and flow together seamlessly like rivers into the sea. There is plenty of improvisation, both instrumental and vocal, and the virtuoso hand-drumming of Stott and Susu Pampanin offers a passionate variety that no boringly repetitive elecronic beat could ever match. Whereas some attempts to merge ambient and eastern music merely result in the watering down of both influences, here everything stands out with resonant depth and pure sharp clarity. A must-have for any fan of world fusion music! If you like Stellamara, you'll also enjoy Vas, with singer Azam Ali and percussionist Greg Ellis, and the later work of the Angels of Venice and Loreena McKennitt."