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Yasmin Levy

There's an article in today's Guardian about Ladino singer Yasmin Levy, which my sister told me about as it irritated her intensely.

The article didn't irritate me, although it has a truly appalling sub-heading given to it by some idiot sub-editor (as far as I can tell, being idiotic is the main part of lots of newspaper editors' jobs). I also found the references to Levy's "impossible beauty" and "pillow lips" a little distasteful.

Interestingly, the journo who wrote it refers to our friend Natasha Atlas as an "Egyptian star".

Comments on the article please.
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Martin said…
I agree that the subheading is fatuous, but that's probably the fault of a hack subeditor rather than the journalist. Even so, describing Ladino as 'a language almost no one understands' was facile. As a longtime Yasmin Levy fan, I didn't find the actual article too annoying, though I agree that the references to her appearance were more worthy of Hello! than The Guardian. It was a relief, though, to see a serious interview with an Israeli singer, and in Jerusalem too, that wasn't hedged about with stuff about 'the conflict', and that accepted Levy's ambition to bridge Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures at face value.
Martin
18 January, 2008 17:05
Anonymous said…
Bob: I finally received and listened to OiVaVoi's second cd. I'm a bit disappointed. It does not equal the first one.
19 January, 2008 00:30
bob said…
I wrote a review of the Oi Va Voi album to post here, and lost it somewhere. Nowhere near as good as previous album. Sophie Solomon's departure makes a huge difference. A couple of superb tracks, but not that great.

(Incidentally, technically it is their third CD, as Laughter Through Tears was preceded by Digital Folklore, which has more or less the same tracks but also a couple of very good ones not on Laughter. Some day, along with some Natacha Atlas, I may upload them here!)

Back to Yasmin Levy. The journalist, John Lewis, if he is the same John Lewis that used to do music reviews for Time Out, used to write quite sensible reviews, and exhibited quite sensible poltics, although he rated Gilad Atzmon's musiK as one of the best alblums of its year. (Admittedly, on purely musical terms, it WAS stunning...) For other music on a BobFromBrockley tip, here are his reviews of Gaddafi: The Opera and Lily Allen.
21 January, 2008 09:54
Daniel of "Daniels Counter" said…
I have been listening to Yasmin Levy for three years now. I don't know who in the Guardian thinks to be cool and trendy (and is so not). Of course they over-slept a Jewish musical phenomenon, or rather Israeli musical phenomenon, for they should we boycott her? Then they come out with this beauty ethnic shit. The BBC has done much better. Already years ago she was nominated as best world music performer from the Middle East, and was a second runner another time.

I bet they will discover other Israeli Stars of today like Hatikva 6 in four years to come. And talking about Ladino, Levy is actually a little commercial, tryt Ghada Shabeir for another take on Ladino music that is less commercial, from neighbouring Lebanon.

Facit. Don't buy the Guardian for music reviews.
24 January, 2008 00:24
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