Postim kotikov: old songs by Thomas Anders and new soul star MiDi KvaKva
The first month of spring turned out to be nostalgic, but invigorating. New releases sent listeners on a journey "along the wave of my memory" in the past decades, without losing their relevance, however. We were pleased with veterans of various genres from jazz to eurodiscoe, and young talents. Izvestia — about the most interesting March music albums that you might have missed.
Thomas Anders
Sings Modern Talking: The First Album
The heart-rending girlish cry "Thomas, kitty, ai love yu!" that rang out in February 1990 under the roof of the Olympic Stadium still reverberates in the ears and hearts of Russians, except that the male half of the 1980s generation secretly prefers the brutally hoarse Dieter in Modern Talking, rather than the hairy-eyed "kitty" Thomas. Over the past decades, the legendary, beloved and hated German duo has managed to get together, break up again and finally enter the history of pop music. But in 2025, Thomas Anders suddenly decided to re—record - without Bolen — all six albums of the band. Here is the first one, released in its original form exactly 40 years ago in its full version, stretched over as many as three discs, with remixes and a non-stop mix.
Anyway, Thomas Anders is an almost perfect vocalist, and by his seventh decade, his angelic timbre had acquired some brutality. The arrangements themselves have hardly changed, except that the drums set the tempo a little faster, and the hypnotic reverberation, so beloved by Modern Talking sound engineer Luis Rodriguez, has disappeared. For some, it's a reason to remember their youth, for others, perhaps, an unexpected discovery in the field of pop music. In addition, the canonical discography of the band, alas, has disappeared from domestic streaming services, so Anders' sudden bout of nostalgia offers quite a high-quality replacement.
MiDi KwaKwa
Moonflower
A German diva with Ghanaian roots and a delightful name, MiDi KvaKva performs music that you would rather expect to hear from a native of the wild American south — languid soul, penetrating to the liver with her passion. The timbre of MiDi's voice and the way the material is presented make you remember no more and no less than Nina Simone herself.
However, with all due respect for tradition, MiDi arranges his songs quite modernly: not only neo-soul, but also the more modern intonations of the RnB of the XXI century are heard here. At the same time, unlike her more famous overseas colleagues, the girl stays closer to the British school, actively using acoustic instruments and not abusing computer special effects. Acoustic guitar generally prevails on most tracks, and it should be noted that MiDi demonstrates mastery of the instrument. And she is clearly not deprived of her compositional gift — we are witnessing the slow but sure appearance of a real star.
Vive la Fête!
Les Sauvages
This Belgian duo, created back in 1997 by ex-dEUS cellist Danny Mommens and the blonde beauty Els Pinoux, whom he met at a party, is for some reason relatively little known in our country, which is strange, given their chosen style of "1980s reanimation." However, they are quite famous in their homeland and in France, and even the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld was among the fans. The measured electronic beat, pulsating bass, sporadic explosive guitar riffs of Mommens and somewhat hysterical vocals of Els became VlF's trademark back in the early noughties, and the duo remains true to themselves today.
The band has not released a full-fledged album with new material for seven years (a rather weak collection of covers of other people's songs and an excellent "concert album" with their own do not count). And finally, an EP with five tracks (one of them is also present in the instrumental version). Once again, the aesthetics of cyberpunk, lyrics about "brave new world" and ecstatic dancing to the hooting of synthesizer batteries. The perfect soundtrack for a cold spring.
Uzoritsa
"Once upon a time there was a girl"
The Ufa Quartet has long and successfully combined the folk tradition of their native region and modern electronics in their work. In the new album, the members experiment with drum and bass and more exotic styles like afro-techno, combining Russian ditties and sad folk songs about the female part with these outlandish rhythms.
Flutes and flutes are organically superimposed on the sounds of "synthetic" percussion, but most importantly — the voices of the vocalists under the direction of the Honored Artist of Bashkortostan Polina Kobets. The eclectic approach in the case of "Uzorica" gives excellent results — the music is exceptionally beautiful, full of dance fervor at the same time.
Daniele Di Bonaventura, Arild Andersen
Roots
The patriarch of Scandinavian jazz, Norwegian double bassist and composer Arild Andersen does not need any special introductions.: For more than half a century, he has been an indispensable participant in various kinds of projects, which, however, tend towards the avant-garde. He played with such legends as Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Sheila Jordan, Carsten Dahl, Markus Stockhausen. Over the past few years, Andersen has been passionate about a new project, the Arctic Duet with Italian multi—instrumentalist Daniel Di Bonaventura, and after several years of live performances, he has released a studio album.
The composition of jazz instruments is unusual and minimal: Andersen's double bass and Bonaventure's bandoneon. The compositions themselves are both strict in a northern way and full of Mediterranean warmth and even, perhaps, almost Argentine passion, although both musicians clearly avoid the main bandoneon style, tango. And in the ten—minute title track, the chords of the introduction to Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" suddenly appear - the perfect music for evening trips outside the city.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
