Members: Joachim Cohen, Olga Helm, Thierry Côté
This is a female-fronted group from France, and I think of the group as &Sinéad O'Connor meets Loreena McKennitt&. What this means is the vocal stylings and writing of Sinéad O'Connor, with the world-type music that Loreena McKennitt produces. (Matt.Bittner)
This group will probably remind everyone of someone different from song to song. For the eastern comparison, I thought of Bel Canto (specifically &Bombay&) rather than Loreena McKennitt. Shaï nO Shaï has a bit more energy than Loreena McKennitt. And the vocal quality I picked up (aside from Ms. Drecker of Bel Canto) was a touch of Sandy Denny. Go figure. (JavaHo@aol.com)
Damn, they're good. And strange! The music has all kinds of influences: one song will reminds me of Birds of Passage-era dancey Bel Canto but with Middle Eastern influences (the woman's voice even reminds me of Anneli Drecker's), while in other songs the lead singer's voice reminds me of Boo Trundle, who shout-sings her way through alternapop songs. The sound is poppy, but definitely harder-edged than most world pop. They sing in English for whatever that matters. Unlike Matt, though, I don't really hear Loreena McKennitt in this: she tends to have a more historical sensibility to her sound, while Shaï nO Shaï's music is very contemporary in sensibility and so it has quite a different feel. Sort of urban/smart rather than pastoral or something I can't quite put my finger on. Damn, they're good. And strange! (Neile)
Oooh, what a good call, folks. It's burstin' with flakes of Bel Canto, Renaissance, perhaps some Siouxsie Sioux, and I'm not even sure what else. What I do know is that I like it, and I can't for the life of me imagine what it was doing in the world beat section. Many thanks to those who've been talking it up; I'm rather pleased with the purchase. (burka@jeffrey.net)