May 25, 2006

Rajaton - Out Of Bounds

We have heard (and appreciated) many of the songs on "Out of Bounds" by Finnish mixed sextet Rajaton on previous releases. For example, the haunting Irish folk tune "Dobbin's Flowery Vale," the sassy, funny, latin-beat "Un-Wishing Well," "We Walk In A Fog" with its flawless faux horns, a manic cover of Lennon/McCartney's "Lady Madonna" and a gorgeous, floating "Butterfly" are all from the group's 2nd CD "Boundless," but these are not merely reissues. "Dobbin's," the wordless opening cut, has been re-arranged to touch us on an even deeper level, and Swedish Jazz legends The Real Group guest star on "We Walk In A Fog,"—and it's as good as you can imagine. "Vanishing Act" was recorded in Finnish as "Kivinen tie," "Salty Water" as "Venelaulu" and "Snow" as "Lunta" on "Kevat;" all feature spanking new English lyrics. Even the harmonic gem "Mita kaikatat, kivonen?" from "Nova" gets a fresh treatment. New songs include Anuna's Michael McGlynn's "The Wild Song" (originally written for Rajaton, but recorded first by Anuna), Mia Makaroff's jazzy pop "How Little" and a marvelous Sting cover, "I Was Brought to My Senses." If you were possibly kept from falling in love with Rajaton because they weren't "accessible" (you didn't understand Finnish), you are now free to hold in your hand a collection of this amazing group's finest works in perfect English, complete with the harmonies and arrangements that have been blowing us away for five previous CDs (and one hot DVD) now. Enough said! 9880 CD 16.98
Listen to "Un-Wishing Well"

Posted by acapnews at May 25, 2006 1:01 AM