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 Stilo - Lisboa Avenue [Konador - 2007]The homecountry of this quintet may be Poland, in their music they are true worldcitizens. Their fourth album is jazzrock/fusion spiced up with balkan, klezmer, African and middle-eastern influences. The five members, Janusz Żukowski (reeds), Wojtek Stasiak (guitar), Tomasz Żur (bassguitar), Jarek Cieślak (drums) and Zuza Kuczbajska (violin), get some extra exotic help by Iranian nay-player Mohammad Rasooli as well as Genoveva Faisca (vocals) and João Bengala (Portuguese guitar) from Portugal who recorded their parts in the titletrack in that country. Other than the recordings of the city of Lissabon everything else is recorded in Poland. Apart from the contributions from the Portuguese and Iranian musicians, which are immediately identifiable, the sound of Stilo is quite balanced and consistent. The great instrumentalists play together in such a way that the diverse sourcematerial melds into a consistent and powerful sound.The first two tracks, Mazura Boomerang and Oxalis, are carried by the drive of the drums, with seductive violin leads and themes that take you to the Balkans. In Oxalis also the Iranian ney takes over as well as taking the pace down to prepare us for the more romantically inclined Światła Dunaju. In Latimeria percussion takes the lead. The following short intermezzo Kwak Song takes a more Asiatic turn, with some strange sounds and a more confusing atmosphere. The music is largely instrumental, but in Most Karola we get some vocals in Polish before a riff commences that reminds me of Smoke On The Water. We get some time to relax in 52 and then the beautiful crystalline sound of the Portuguese guitar brings us to Lisboa Avenue, where we also get some more vocals, but this time in Portuguese. The last tune (Azoia) is instrumental and has some light rock influences. The outro consists of Lissabon streetrecordings to make the circle full.World music is a 'genre' susceptable to lots of cheesy interpretations or bitter critique, but technically it's the best term to describe this music. Traditions from all over the world are found but the total ends up 'homeless', but far from aimless. Bitterness or cheesiness remain far away because Lisboa Avenue features some fine musicianship and a seductive energy that radiates from the dynamic mix.  
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|  | | Stilo - Lisboa Avenue | The homecountry of this quintet may be Poland, in their music they are true worldcitizens. Their fourth album is jazzrock/fusion spiced up with balkan, klezm...
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| | | Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding Wall... | Back in 2024, I got my first taste of Absurd Reality, and I was so impressed by how crude and nasty its take on walled noise was. Behind the project is South...
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