Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices featuring Lisa Gerrard - Boocheemish

  by John Clarkson

published: 17 / 7 / 2018

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Review

The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices (who are sometimes better known as Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares) first came to the prominence in the UK in the mid-1980s after they were discovered by the former owner of the 4AD label, Ivo Watts-Davies. It was not surprising that he found this Bulgarian choir so appealing and released two compilations of their work in 1986 and 1988. They have many of the hallmarks of his other signings of the era such as the Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and Dead Can Dance – an ethereality, an otherworldliness and, singing in their native tongue, a uniqueness of language. The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices would go on to work with Kate Bush on tracks on her albums, ‘The Sensual World’ (1989) and ‘The Red Shoes’ (1993), and now have returned with ‘Boocheemish’, their first album in two decades, which finds them working with former Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard on several of its tracks. Traditional folk songs combine with tracks written, arranged and produced by composer Peter Dundakov, and while some songs are sung a capella others use guitars and local percussive and string instruments. There is unfortunately, even with the presence of Gerrard, a much of a muchness to it, one set of dissonant and trembling vocals while initially compelling soon seeming much the same as the next. When ‘Boocheemish’, however, does hit the mark, it is extraordinary. ‘Mani Yanni’, while at one level shimmeringly beautiful, also has an unsettling melancholy and eerieness. ‘Unison’ pushes soloist Olga Borisova up against the echoing choir to stunning effect, and ‘Tropanista’ concludes in a jubilant, rapid-fire rush of harmonies. An occasionally breathtaking record from a group of musicians who inhabit their own unique and distinctive world.

Track Listing:-

1 Mome Malenko
2 Pora Sotunda
3 Rano Ranila
4 Mani Yanni
5 Yove
6 Sluntse
7 Unison
8 Zableyalo Agne
9 Tropanitsa
10 Ganka
11 Shandai Ya
12 Stanka