Bond - Born (2001)

Bond: Haylie Ecker, Eos (violin); Tania Davis (viola); Gay-Yee Westeroff (cello, double bass). Additional personnel includes: Carmen, Marta Sebestyen (vocals); Mark Wood, Ramon Ruiz (guitar); Pandit Dinesh, Michele Drees, Chucho Merchan (percussion); London Session Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Producers: Magnus Fiennes, Yoad Nevo, Gareth Cousins, Mike Batt. Engineers include: Rick Featherstone, Pete Lewis, Gareth Cousins. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Cubshack, Townhouse Studios, and Whitfield Street Studios, London, England; Oakleigh Music Studio, Strattford, England from November 1999-May 2000. BORN, the debut album by the sultry string quartet Bond, is many things but certainly not a classical record in the traditional sense. And that's the point. The group expertly mines the crossover territory mapped out by artists such as Vanessa-Mae and Adiemus, and despite the hype and marketing, Bond shouldn't be dismissed as merely a pretty girl group cloaked in classical music pretension. Along with their photogenic looks, the group boasts impressive classical and pop music credentials and canny commercial instincts. The result: a big, polished production that sets classically derived themes and traditional string quartet instrumentation in a variety of musical contexts. The album's opening track, "Quixote," is indicative of the group's method--an ultra-romantic theme abruptly explodes into a high-energy pastiche of techno-style beats, electronically enhanced vocals, and Middle Eastern-flavored colorings. The foursome shows its multitude of musical influences in the worldbeat stylings of "Alexander the Great," the Abba-esque "Dalalai," the atmospheric "Oceanic" (with vocalist Marta Sebestyen), and "The 1812," the group's lavishly produced reworking of Tchaikovsky's well-known overture. The album closes fittingly with a remixed version of the anthemic "Victory," an apt declaration of Bond's take-no-prisoners approach.

192 Kpbs

01. Quixote

02. Winter

03. Victory

04. Oceanic

05. Kismet

06. Korobushko

07. Alexander The Great

08. Duel

09. Bella Donna

10. 1812, The

11. Dalalai

12. Hymn

13. Victory - (Mike Batt mix)

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