This site too slow? Try a mirror  --  Subscribe to the Guide  --  Find artist:
the Ectophiles' Guide: * Guide Home* What's new* * Alphabetical* Genre* Commentator* Location* Random artist* Search* Contact the editors* Credits

Stellamara


Country of origin:

U.S.

Type of music generally:

Gothic ethereal from traditional/world sources

Status:

Most recent release, The Golden Thread (2009)

See also:

Stellamara's site

Comparisons:

Dead Can Dance, The Changelings

Covers/own material:

Adaptions/arrangements of traditional materials

General comments:

Against shimmering electronics, brittle dulcimers, dolorous bells, and percolating poly-rhythms, Sonya, the lead singer's, voice unfurls. Like Lisa Gerrard, her vocals are a bewitching mix of Eastern and Western vocal styles, and while the group (a duo, with Jeffrey Stott handing other duties, including guitars and oud, an African harp-like instrument) is influenced by the same liturgical music, there's a different feel. With Dead Can Dance, I feel the music is almost escapist; with Stellamara, there's an anthropologic reverence, that's not so much *academic* as it is *resonant* with history. Part of this is due to the fact that the lyrics are taken from actual medieval texts—there's a song in Croatian, a Persian song, and musical forms from Serphardic Jewish music. (ethereal_lad@livejournal.com)

Recommended first album:

Star of the Sea only album we've heard

Recordings:


Star of the Sea

Release info:

1997—City of Tribes Records, 3025 17th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, U.S.A.—cotcd-017

Availability:

U.S. sources that carry indie labels

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended if the description sounds good to you

Group members:

Sonja Drakulich—voice, bendir, riqq, zills, keyboard samples
Jeffrey Stott—oud, darbuka, bendir, hammered dulcimer, guitar, bells, keyboard samples

Guest artists:

Gary Haggerty—violin, viola
Susu Pampanin—darbukas, riqq
Marika Hughes—cello
Michael Emenau—bells, gongs, sampling, programming guidance

Produced by:

Sonja Drakulich and Jeffrey Stott

Comments:

Please see general comments above.

Why the ads?
the Ectophiles' Guide: * Guide Home* What's new* * Alphabetical* Genre* Commentator* Location* Random artist* Search* Contact the editors* Credits

DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2011-07-01 14:23:27.
Please request permission if you wish to
reproduce any of the comments in the
Ectophiles' Guide in any context.

The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music is copyright © 1996-2004 by the editors.
Individual comments are copyright © by their authors.
Web site design and programming copyright © 1998-2004 usrbin design + programming.
All rights reserved.