press
Well... It doesn't happen very often, but this review has left us speechless for a moment.
Only once in a very while is a band lucky enough to be reviewed by a big eared listener like Seuras Og. He somehow managed to pinpoint some of the exact influences and intentions song by song.
Thank you for this At The Barrier.
We really want to encourage you to read the whole thing, so we've chosen a general quote to get your appetite up, but please read through until desert:
"But this is no sanitised curio brought out for chin stroking WOMAD bean munchers(*), this is rough, ready and raw, akin to Les Negresses Vertes at their most alarming, the vocals savage and untutored, the whole reminiscent of the streets in a mediterranean port that you probably should avoid, the smell of sweat, cheap perfume and drains that fully show just how long it has been since the Romans came. These, I should add, are all good things, with a hefty dollop of Balkan influence, some ska and anything else the cat brought in. Heady stuff!"
*WOMAD bean munchers, we love you though and hope to have the opportunity to come back to perform for you amongst the other WOMAD Festival-ers
Read it HERE
A little p.s. is needed to point out that we never intended to make a difference between Katia and Milka in the vocal/voice section, as Seuras suspects. That must be a typo in the press release and is not stated this way in the artwork with the CD. They are both equal front women and needless to say we're immensely proud to have them.
Our album Taisa by Mec Yek appears at #13 on the Roots Music Report world chart!!
Check out the full chart HERE!
"Stirring music that connects Eastern and Western Europe in an original way"
Mec Yek's new album Taisa got 4 stars in Lust for Life Magazine!
Read the full review (in Dutch) by Harry De Jong clicking the link on the right.
Mec Yek's new album Taisa got 4 stars in the Financial Times!
Read the full review by David Honigmann here!
"Virtuosity and emotion fit together wonderfully, and the kind of Roma music Mec Yek makes today has effortlessly made the step into the modern era without giving up any of its authenticity."
Dani Heyvaert honored Mec Yek with a great review for Rootstime
Read his full review: Here ! (Dutch)
"A fundamentally Belgian poetry, without doubt, with a delightful freedom".
Citizen Jazz on the first EP of 3'Ain in Citizen Jazz:
"3'Ain is a more dreamlike project, with influences from folklore that can be described as imaginary, so vast is the map of tenderness (...) A fundamentally Belgian poetry, without doubt, with a delightful freedom."
A great 3-star review of 3'Ain's debut EP by Norman Darwen in the English RnR Magazine!
Read the full review by clicking the link on the right.
3,5 Stars for 3'Ain's first EP from Gareth Thomas in the British Jazz Journal!
"The absence of drums contributes to a music that is open and uncluttered, allowing the listener to really appreciate the interplay and musical dialogue between Martini and Maris. But where some rhythmic backbone is required, Otto Kint steps in with his double bass, as in the percussive opening to Njord Puffin.
As an album 3’Ain is let down slightly by its lack of cohesion. Tracks end rather abruptly which can spoil the flow of the overall album ... However, as a series of musical vignettes, each track stands up well on its own."
But isn't that exactly what EP's are for? :)
Read the full review on jazzjournal.co.uk
Leading UK jazz magazine Jazzwise gave 3'Ain's debut EP 3 stars!
" This Belgium-based trio's five-track EP is boosted by the moodily animated presence of the scintillating Syrian trumpeter Yamen Martini; otherwise it's an engaging mix of Arabic-inflected melody, accordion-based Musette, Tango and improv."