The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #110757   Message #2335483
Posted By: freda underhill
08-May-08 - 03:05 AM
Thread Name: Review: Gurrumul, Indigenous Australian singer
Subject: RE: Review: Gurrumul, Indigenous Australian singer
no probs, zen. here's another review (from Australia's "Indigenous Times" Issue 152 - 02 May 2008)

Gurrumul¡¯ debuts at 21 on ARIA
By Amy McQuire
NATIONAL

THE debut solo album of Aboriginal singer/songwriter Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has hit the ARIA album charts at no 21. Mr Yunupingu¡¯s self-titled album ¡°Gurrumul¡± has already attracted critical acclaim both in Australia and overseas and has been instrumental in several media outlets labelling him the new voice of Aboriginal music.

But the singer, who was born blind and plays his guitar upside down because he is left handed, is not new to the Australian music scene.
He was a member of one of the country¡¯s most famous Aboriginal bands, Yothu Yindi and was the front man for the Saltwater Band.

But it is his debut album that has been causing waves, with it peaking at number one on the ¡°roots¡± chart on Itunes and number 5 on the mainstream chart.

In a review in the Sydney Morning Herald, Bruce Elder states that listening to the album means that you will ¡°instantly surrender to the greatest voice this continent has ever recorded¡±.

The Australian newspaper described the singer¡¯s voice as ¡°a sweetly spiritual instrument with a hypnotic tone¡±.