Ceasefire

Amazon.com
Ceasefire is an inspired collaboration between Southern Sudanese rising-star rapper Jal and established Northern Sudanese singer and oud player Salim. Here the two find common ground within their music. Sudan is in a state of civil war, and while political clashes make for death and starvation, this musical union offers an optimistic alternative, one where the Northern Arabic melodies and rhythms fit hand in glove with the Southern African percussion and Jal's laid-back flow. When the duo digs most deeply into the hip-hop vibe, as it does on Jal's "Aiwa" and "Elengwen," it mixes hiccupping beats, smooth raps, and rich ethnic backdrops. Yet there are also some conventional Arabic songs (with both doing vocals) like the Salim-penned "Ya Salam" and the traditional-leaning "Lemon Bara" that provide their own perspective. Ceasefire will hopefully open the eyes of those on either side of the conflict as well as draw some attention from abroad. It also makes for exciting and innovative listening. --Tad Hendrickson

Product Description
For the first time, musicians from the north and south of Sudan come together to explore their common ground. Southern Sudanese artist Emmanuel Jal, one of the hottest rappers to explode out of the African music scene, joins northern Sudanese singer, composer and oud player Abdel Gadir Salim in a captivating musical collaboration. This incredible alliance of a renowned maestro with a young rapper produces music bursting with intricate melodies and a central message calling for peace in Sudan.

Ceasefire

Ceasefire,Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim,Riverboat,African,Christian Rap,Int'l & World Music,Pop

Average customer rating:

hopeful and haunting

Hope is an endangered species!

The Peace Call & Deft Grooves of Ceasefire

Makes me grateful for what I have

Ceasefire rocks

Ceasefire
Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim
Manufacturer: Riverboat
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Africa | International | Styles | Music
General | International | Styles | Music
Christian Rap | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Orientation

Emma's War

The Rough Guide to the Music of Sudan

Dimanche a Bamako

Boomerang

ASIN: B000AR9ZBI
Release Date: 2005-10-07

Tracks:

Alwa
Elengwen
Ya Salam
Nyambol
Lemon Bara
Gua
Hadiya
Bool
Gamearina
Asabi

Amazon.com

Ceasefire is an inspired collaboration between Southern Sudanese rising-star rapper Jal and established Northern Sudanese singer and oud player Salim. Here the two find common ground within their music. Sudan is in a state of civil war, and while political clashes make for death and starvation, this musical union offers an optimistic alternative, one where the Northern Arabic melodies and rhythms fit hand in glove with the Southern African percussion and Jal's laid-back flow. When the duo digs most deeply into the hip-hop vibe, as it does on Jal's "Aiwa" and "Elengwen," it mixes hiccupping beats, smooth raps, and rich ethnic backdrops. Yet there are also some conventional Arabic songs (with both doing vocals) like the Salim-penned "Ya Salam" and the traditional-leaning "Lemon Bara" that provide their own perspective. Ceasefire will hopefully open the eyes of those on either side of the conflict as well as draw some attention from abroad. It also makes for exciting and innovative listening. --Tad Hendrickson

Album Description

For the first time, musicians from the north and south of Sudan come together to explore their common ground. Southern Sudanese artist Emmanuel Jal, one of the hottest rappers to explode out of the African music scene, joins northern Sudanese singer, composer and oud player Abdel Gadir Salim in a captivating musical collaboration. This incredible alliance of a renowned maestro with a young rapper produces music bursting with intricate melodies and a central message calling for peace in Sudan.

Customer Reviews:

hopeful and haunting.......2007-01-23

Wow, what a great recording! My husband bought the CD for our 11 year old and it has become a family favorite. The music is full of African rhythms and African heart. It reminds me to pray for peace. We salute the artists and their message.

Hope is an endangered species!.......2006-04-18

Some wars in our world seem to have been and still be eternal and their cruelty is beyond our ability to imagine how men, women and even if not often children can sink and delve into such unhuman acrtivities. You can try to look for causes, motivations or even explanations, but you will only find pretexts, false pretenses, in one word nothing that can really stand the challenge of truth. Darfur in Sudan is one of these conflicts whose origin has long disappeared in our memory and whose end we cannot even conceive. But our worst feeling is the conviction that there is nothing we can do, that we are powerless in front of these two parallel instincts, that to kill and that to survive, to kill to survive and to survive to kill. This CD is a voice that comes up from human consciousness and its only objective is to ask for, preach even and for sure defend peace for Sudan, for Darfur, a peace that has definitely never existed for the human communities living in this territory, even in the memory of their oldest members. And here an adventure can start because it is the voice of a human soul. A voice that slams its words, raps its sentences, disentangles its blues, weaves the lace of its gospel, in Nuer as much as in Arabic, to African as much as Arabic music, borrowing all the styles that can intermingle in the vast auditoriums of the world to produce a feeling of estrangement that is so great that we finally feel at home, we finally feel we have reached the destination that had been ours for so long after a voyage that can only give man's soul the strength and the life it needs to reconquer its control over history and death. The power of this music comes from the long rivers of blood in which it was steeped with the vital hope and the unshaking faith that one day the springs of the Nile river will be reborn pure and clear providing children with the water in which they can relearn how to bathe and domestic animals with the desire to come and drink without taking the risk of a criminal bullet roaming around for a target.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Universit? Paris Dauphine, Universit? Paris I Panth?on Sorbonne

The Peace Call & Deft Grooves of Ceasefire.......2006-02-19

Southern Sudanese Emmanuel Jal and Northern Sudanese Abdel Gadir Salim are the epitome of contrast. First, they represent the opposite ends of their country's political/religious, the former a young Christian, and Salim a Muslim and an elder of his country's music tradition.

Jal, now 25, was one of the thousand of young children forcefully removed from their homes by the insurgent guerrilla movement pitted against government forces. In Salim's case, having been brutally stabbed and barely surviving the attack of an orthodox Muslim man enraged with Salim's impious music, violence is no stranger.

Musically speaking, whereas Salim, Emmanuel Jal is an example of African music diving into Western music, most specifically his strong commitment to Hip-Hop. Salim is a consummate singer and oud player of Sudan's Folk music. So, "Ceasefire" besides not being a casual title, it is also a great album.

Proof of it, for instance are Jal's hip-hop influenced "Aiwa" -with its insistent percussion and dead-on rapping- or "Elengwen"-where the elder Salim trades verses with Emmanuel Jal-or "Gua," where chant-like choruses and an Eastern-leaning saxophone speak gloriously to one another. There are, also, more traditional Arabic songs, "Ya Salam" and "Lemon Bara" stand out, or you can sway along with the gorgeous "Asabi."

This is a stunning statement of two great musicians who could easily have chosen to remain enemies, but fortunately for lovers of great music anywhere in the world, they did not.

Recently, Sudanese rebel leaders and government ministers met to agree on a peace deal designed to end Sudan's 21-year civil war. If ever they hit a snag, they should play Ceasefire. Peace will have a better chance.

Makes me grateful for what I have.......2006-02-17

I bought this CD after hearing a program on NPR highlighting Emmanual Jal. I intended it to be a gesture of support and wasn't expecting anything out of the CD. Once I put it in my CD player though, I couldn't get enough. The music is upbeat, and fun to listen to. Additionally the lyrics that i can understand (only 25% is in english) invoke a deep sense of gratitude for the wonderfull country we live in here in the US as well as a sense of moral obligation to help those living in less blessed conditions.

Ceasefire rocks.......2005-12-09

This album is simply brilliant. Why do the poorest people make the best music? More importantly, this album shows how music can help overcome internal strife and pave the way for future peace. It is so good to find an album like this that is musically and politically so uplifting. I wish them both all the luck in the world!

Average customer rating:

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

The Cycle of Unbelief
Ceasefire
Manufacturer: Facedown
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005CENU
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Tracks:

Spirit
Shift To Simple
Berlin
Outstretched Hand
The Untold War
On The Parlance Of Our Times
Typecast
Buried Alive
Carpe Diem
Diversity
Flesh

Customer Reviews:

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!.......2004-07-02

'We are the hollow men......' comes the voice of T.S.Elliot reading one of his poems. At this point you're double checking to make sure that you haven't been given a spoken word CD of classical poetry. Then the hum of guitar feedback slides in over the sombre voice and the next thing you know a beautiful punk bass line is upon you. The rest comes crashing in all at once;the drums on the bass, the guitars and the singer(Daniel Phelan) screaming "Your spirit, spurs me on...".

The first song doesn't ever really let up and sets the tone nicely for the rest of the album. The singing is nice and raw, sitting somewhere between hardcore screaming and punk 'singing'. The first song has the essential ingredient for a good hardcore punk song-some nice gang vocals.

The second song 'Shift To Simple' takes the vocals to a slightly thicker and harsher place but the chorus has some nice use of clean vocals (well, as clean as the vocals get on this album) in a great counterpoint to the guttural shouting of the lead vocals -"Money doesn't make amends and never will"

The third and fourth songs 'Berlin' and 'Outstretched Hands' contain the heaviest of the vocals, but let me re-iterate, these are not metalcore vocals, they mostly keep more to the hardcore punk side of things rather than the metal side.

The rest of the album continues on in much the same vein; raw vocals that shift from thicker hardcore style to guttural punk singing, the drums all the while popping tautly along and driving the songs at a good pace. For the most part the bass and guitars are neither crap nor outstandingly brilliant. They are quite able and adequate which in my opinion fits the hardcore genre pretty well.

I love this album. On first listen I liked it but, like with alot of hardcore albums, found that it lacked enough variety to hold my attention for very long. However, on further listening, and again like many hardcore albums, I got to know the songs and found that I loved it. Now I would say that the reasons I rate this as such a great album are due to three main factors;

1)This guys vocals are just so raw, emotional and honest. Now I know that hardcore and punk vocals are known for being rugged and raw but this is different. When Daniel Phelan screams there is, in my opinion, a depth of emotion evident that seems to be fuller than the sometimes two dimensional hardcore.

2)There is actually some variety. On first listen I thought -"yep, same old hardcore style-write one or two songs and then do variations on those to fill the rest of the album". But on further listening this is not the case at all. The reason I like this album more than alot of the hardcore I have is because it actually does have some variety. The vocals are always heavy and always rough but there is variety here.

3)The lyrics are great. I love punk and I love great lyrics. The lyrics here essentially fall into two categories - spiritual and social/political. The more spiritual lyrics are great for me, because they are a Christian band, but if you're not Christian, don't worry, they are not at all preachy. In fact, if you didn't know that they were Christian you probably wouldn't pick it.
The bulk of the lyrics are sociallly or politically minded and rise above the milieu of shallow, generic attempts at political lyrics attempted by most punk bands. Ceasefire offer something thoughtful and different.

Anyway...on to my gripes and the reasons I didn't give this five stars. (By the way, I am not one of those people who gives everything five stars, as too many people reviewing here seem to be EG-"This album was half as good as the bands other album but because their last album was so cool I'm still giving this five stars"etc etc).

1)My first gripe is the production. Production is a fine balance with any punk, however this Cd definitely falls on the underproduced side of things. They have recently signed to Solid State Records though (finally the label is getting some good punk/hardcore) so I have my fingers crossed that this problem will be rectified on the next album.

2)Still not enough variety. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of variety in bands and though I said that Ceasefire do have more variety than alot of Hardcore bands I would still like to see some more. Despite how good this album is, punk has forever ruined my attention span and towards the end of the album I find myself drifting off a little.

Like punk/hardcore? Sick of same old punk/hardcore that doesn't seem to say much and has two dimensional vocals?
Do whatever you can to check out this great Australian band. I can't recommend them unconditionally, as I'm sure not everyone will love them, but I can recommend them if you want some good, raw, thoughtful, honest and emotional(without being remotely crap and emo) hardcore.
Hope you enjoy it as much as me.

Better Late Than Never
Average customer rating:
Better Late Than Never
Scum of the Earth
Manufacturer: Boot to Head
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music | Vinyl Records | American Punk | British Punk | Emo | Garage Punk | Hardcore | Post Hardcore | Proto Punk | Punk | Punk Revival | Punk-Pop | Riot Grrl | Ska Punk | Straight Edge
ASIN: B000MRKBDC

Product Description

Track Listing: 1. Pathetic - 2. Satisfied - 3. Lock 'Em Up - 4. Filthy - 5. Perfect - 6. Shitedja - 7. Mediocrity - 8. Mars - 9. Search & Destroy - 10. Idol

Average customer rating:

Oppression, Toil and Friendlessness.
Ceasefire.
Manufacturer: Boot to Head Records.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000K2PAD0

Product Description

Australian Alternative Rock. Songs include; The Killers Hold Hands. Sister. Energy Crisis. Oppression, Toil and Friendlessness. Weakness. Selfish. Rooster.

Average customer rating:

Trickshot
Ceasefire
Manufacturer: Wall of Sound
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000007XWE
Release Date: 1996-07-29

Tracks:

Trickshot
She Don't Lie
Ghost Train

I'm Your Biggest Fan - Volume 1 - A Punk Rock and Emo Compilation

Average customer rating:

Ehh...

I'm Your Biggest Fan - Volume 1 - A Punk Rock and Emo Compilation
One Bye One , Felsway , MxPx , Incomplete , Blaster the Rocket Boy , Inklings , Crux , Coolidge , My Pet Rock , and Ceasefire
Manufacturer: Tooth & Nail Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000B414LY

Product Description

I'm Your Biggest Fan - Volume 1// A Punk Rock and Emo Compilation// 1. Too Late - Cootees 2:14 2. Missing You - One Bye One 1:52 3. Through a Soldier's Eyes - Felsway 3:52 4. Lifetime Enlightenment - MxPx 1:07 5. I'll Try - Incomplete 2:30 6. I'm Only Humanoid (Lost in Space) - Blaster the Rocket Boy 2:08 7. Slurpee - Inklings 1:56 8. Downpounder - Crux 1:54 9. Trapped - Coolidge 3:44 10. Deadbeat - My Pet Rock 2:28 11. Behind Closed Doors - Ceasefire 2:27 12. My Life Is Green - Roadside Monument 2:53 13. My Day - Exhaust 3:45 14. The Pirate Song - Thee Pirates 1:37 15. My Life - Spesial Guest 2:04 16. Responsibility - Ninety Pound Wuss 2:32 17. Society - Phatso 4:00 18. True or False - Shorthanded 2:21 19. Stop Shooting Up - Blah :51 20. Scared Am I - Ghoti Hook 3:37 21. Gemspa - Cowcatcher

Customer Reviews:

Ehh..........2005-08-25

I'll admit, all around, this compilation isn't too great. I totally back the idea of compilations, I'm a big fan of that. If you're a fan of MxPx, it's ideal that you should pick this up. Even though 'Lifetime Enlightenment' is on Let It Happen, this is the unedited original version, which I like much better than the Let It Happen cut. This disc also has a Cootees track available no where else. So try and pick this up. The Ghoti Hook track isn't so bad either.