Platonic Challenge Listening Post 7. Can a man and a woman be Just Friends? The question has launched countless novels, films and songs—some that make us laugh or cry and others that induce yawns. Bastien Lanza, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter, has turned this...
In the Presence of Presents Listening Post 6. From universal themes of love, life and parenthood to the particulars of Israeli life, always wrapped in pitch perfect arrangements, Rami Kleinstein’s musical gift is anything but small. The 12 tracks on Matanot K'tanot...
Fresh Gael Listening Post 5. If you’ve heard that Scottish Gaelic is an endangered language, then listening to Julie Fowlis might cause some cognitive dissonance. Her voice is so angelic it seems more likely that people would be studying just to be able to understand...
Country Road Listening Post 4. Sertanejo—Brazilian country music—is as dominated by male voices today as American country was in the 1950s. The outstanding exception is Paula Fernandes, who has built her popularity on her sweet-and-low voice, her songwriting and her...
A Master's Voice Listening Post 3. A commanding presence on the Italian music scene for more than 30 years, Fiorella Mannoia is an artist who seems to get better with time. A Te (For You), her latest album, is a tribute to the Italian troubadour Lucio Dalla, who died...
Love and Kisses Listening Post 2. Early in his career, Juan Luis Guerra was already a giant of Latin music, the national poet of the Dominican Republic and the man who put merengue and bachata on a world stage. Now, some 30 years on, he has a new album that matches...
Thank You Notes Listening Post 1. One of the great French-language singers of the twenty-first century, Québec-born Isabelle Boulay devotes her latest album to the work of her role model—and one of the masters of chanson française—of the twentieth. Like her...
