NATACHA ATLAS

NATACHA ATLAS
GEDIDA (1998)
320 KBPS

Natacha Atlas' third album greatly expands upon the promise of her earlier work — on Gedida, her fusion of Arabic musical traditions and contemporary dance beats really jells, eliminating the more gimmicky dimensions of earlier records to strike a fascinating balance between old and new. While tracks like "Kifaya" and "Ezzay" magnify the cinematic aspirations of past efforts, Gedida also takes a number of fascinating left turns — a cover of Françoise Hardy's "Mon Amie la Rose" is hauntingly beautiful, while on the closing "One Brief Moment" Atlas delivers her first English-language vocal.

1. Mon Amie La Rose
2. Aqaba
3. Mistaneek
4. Bahlam
5. Ezzay
6. Bastet
7. The Righteous Path
8. Mahlabeya
9. Bilaadi
10. Kifaya
11. One Brief Moment