| Steam Subtitled Hamam: The Turkish Bath, this evocative soundtrack to the film combines melodies of Sufi dervish trance ceremonies and Turkish music from the 1900's with contemporary Middle Eastern influences and groove-oriented ambient trance music. Outstanding vocals by Rosie Wiederkehr enhance selections by the groups Transcendental and Agricantus from southern Italy (instruments like derbouka, qraqeb, monotsapunto, kawwal), and the Romanian all-female ethnorock group Secret contributes their unique blend of vocals on Tavla. Many tracks here are highly recommended for belly-dancing |
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| Steam soundtrack by Transcendental, Agricantus, others The soundtrack for Steam is a collaboration among various Italian musicians and a Turkish director, with the Romanian all-female ethno-rock group Secret contributing the sliced-and-diced Balkan chorus on "Tavla" (track 13). (The liner notes are not all they should be, but they're better than most.) Aldo De Scalzi and Pivio are two composers from Genoa whose group, Transcendental, seeks to blend trance music with Mediterranean instruments and traditions. Agricantus is a group from Palermo with similar aims -- in 1996 they went to Mali and recorded their album Tuareg in the desert "with nomad musicians and their instruments." The album is a series of mostly short, dreamy segments with non-jarring transitions, so it unfortunately lends itself to not being listened to. Try not to zone out completely, at least once, because it repays attention. The percussion is to die for; the voice of Rosie Wiederkehr soars and dips like an eagle on the wind. At least stay alert for "Glizli Zaman" (track 7). No question it's film music. The first song, "Hamam," and "Hamam, Bosphorous version" (track 11), invoke such wistful, bittersweet nostalgia that their brevity is almost merciful. It's not steam, exactly, but this album sure does seem to fill the room with warmth. |
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| The compositions in STEAM are strongly influenced by traditional melodies of Sufi dervish trance ceremonies from the Konya region as well as Turkish music of the early 1900s, cutting edge Middle Eastern productions, and groove-oriented ambient/trance music. Several groups signed to the Italian record company CNI (Compagnia Nuove Indye) participated in making the score: TRANCENDENTAL, AGRICANTUS and SECRET. Outstanding performances were contributed by Rosie Wiederkehrthe voice in the main theme song of Steamand Faisal Taher (vocals), Massimo Silanus on violin, percussion by Zahir Xager, and Bob Callero on stick bass. The Romanian all-female 'ethnorock' group, SECRET, renders their unique blend of exotic vocals on the track "Tavla." |
| ARTICLES QUOTES ABOUT "THE SECRET" BAND |