Mounqaliba

Mounqaliba
Studio album by
Natacha Atlas
Released20 September 2010 (2010-09-20)
GenreWorld music
LabelWorld Village, Six Degrees Records
ProducerSamy Bishai
Natacha Atlas chronology
Ana Hina
(2008) 		Mounqaliba
(2010) 		Mounqaliba - Rising: The Remixes
(2011)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
The Guardian[1]

Mounqaliba (Arabic: منقلبة; English: In a State of Reversal) is a 2010 album by Belgian singer Natacha Atlas. Co-produced by Samy Bishai, it was inspired by the poems of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore.[2] In addition to original works, it also contains covers of Françoise Hardy and Nick Drake songs.[3] The album also features composers Zoe Rahman and Jocelyn Pook.

The album features audio clips from non-commercial film director, and activist Peter Joseph and self-educated industrial engineer and futurist Jacque Fresco through multiple tracks, as well as references to Zeitgeist: Addendum and a resource-based economy.[4]

Derek Beres named Mounqaliba on his list of the Top 12 Records of 2010 and Siddhartha Mitter listed it as one of his top 10 world music CDs of 2010.[5][6] Contrary to these views, The Guardian music reviewer Robin Denselow gave the album 2.5 stars in his review; citing purposeful limitation of her vocal range, reliance upon "an easygoing swirl of Arabic-tinged strings and jazz-edged piano" and "[being] annoyingly interspersed with spoken 'interludes' [by Joseph and others]" as the reason for the rating.[1]

In February 2011 Atlas and Basha Beats issued a remix of "Makaan" and "Batkallim" called "Egypt: Rise to Freedom" to commemorate the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.[7][8] A download only album of "River Man" remixes was released by Six Degrees Records in 2010. The album features 4 remixes of "River Man" by 310, Jef Stot and Makyo as well as Atlas' original version that appeared on Mounqaliba. Mounqaliba - Rising: The Remixes, an album of remixes from Mounqaliba, (including "Egypt: Rise to Freedom") was released by Six Degrees Records on 27 September 2011.[9]

  1. ^ a b Denselow, Robin (23 September 2010). "Natacha Atlas: Mounqaliba". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  2. ^ Franck Meslin (18 May 2010). "Singer Natacha Atlas moves to Condom". Sud-Ouest. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  3. ^ Franck Meslin (16 July 2010). "Atlas brings Arabic groove to folk fest". North Shore News. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  4. ^ Natacha Atlas (24 January 2009). "Zeitgeist addendum". Official Natacha Atlas blog. MySpace. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  5. ^ Mitter, Siddhartha (19 December 2010). "Siddhartha Mitter's top 10 world music CDs of 2010". The Boston Globe.
  6. ^ Beres, Derek (10 July 2010). "Postures GET UPDATES FROM Derek Beres Like 48 Global Beat Fusion: Top Dozen Records of 2010". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Natacha Atlas and Basha Beats Release Video Titled Egypt Rise To Freedom Mix". World Music Central. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Natacha Atlas adapts 'Egypt: Rise to Freedom'". PRI. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Mounqaliba - Rising: The Remixes". Six Degrees Records. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.