Stockfisch-Records

Carl Cleves & Parissa Bouas

Carl Cleves & Parissa Bouas come from Australia. Their fame Down Under is considerable.

Carl Cleves, originally from Belgium, has accumulated a bottomless bag of stories, rhythms, languages and guitar styles during his nomadic life, which has led him to perform in almost every continent, resulting in highly original songs. In Brazil where he was a band leader for seven years, he released 2 acclaimed albums. An excellent guitarist, singer and storyteller, Carl’s adventures have included stints as an antelope trapper in Uganda, relief worker in cyclonstruck India, radiobroadcaster and ethnomusicologist in Africa and fisherman in the South Pacific.

Carl Cleves & Parissa Bouas

- musical travelogue is distinguished by stunning vocals and unique instrumentation.

Reviews …

Parissa Bouas is an extraordinary singer and songwriter who finds an emotional context for every genre. In Brazil they named her ‘Patativa’, after a bird renowned for its singing. Daughter of a Greek sailor, she inherited his love of Latin music and honed her formidable percussion skills whilst touring throughout Latin America with an Andean Folkloric group. Parissa has written some classic, catchy songs that people sing around the country, such as “Mother’s Song” - which can be heard on this SACD „Out Of Australia“.

Stockfisch-Shop

"halos 'round the moon"

The singer/songwriter duo who bewitches us with the rule of three: their roots: Belgian, Greek and Australian, their music – akin to the Chinese symbol for listening which is made up of three symbols: head, ear and heart – holds delights for each. To the head: almost inevitable, given their international cultural background, that their art addresses the state of the world as a poetic whole. The ear picks up on the hymnic refrain “Aheyla” of the opening track as akin to hallelujah, and catches on the lyrics, “…when poets are priests …”; and what comes as a surprise to the listener’s ear: the deliciously buoyant, dreamlike quality of the melodies accompanying even lyrics with more serious and reflective themes.

It remains to the heart to recognize just what it is that makes these two exceptional artists cosmopolitan in the truly authentic sense – an influence more powerful even than the richness of their cultural roots: namely the eponymous HALOS 'ROUND THE MOON. “Halo” can refer to the luminous circle surrounding the moon, but also the radiance traditionally depicted in art as the halo of a saint. The music of Carl and Parissa bears witness to how music can be an opposite pole to facets of human life such as death, sadness, loss and transitoriness – harmony with nature being the prerequisite.

Through music, our human world – like its satellite – is not merely a bleak wasteland: it can also sometimes be a place of light, “When music is nectar the melody pure”: This music is a jewel, and an equal delight to head, ear and heart.


Super-Audio-CD Hybrid: SACD Stereo + CD-Layer
SFR 357.4081.2  •  total time 47:08

musicians

performing on "Halos 'Round the Moon":

Parissa Bouas  -  vocal & guitar  / Carl Cleves  -  vocal & guitar  / Ian Melrose  -  guitars, flute  / Ulrike Dangendorf  -  accordion  / Lucile Chaubard  - violoncello  / Heiko Ahrend  -  guitar  / Lea Morris  -  backing vocals  / Beo Brockhausen  -  soprano saxophone, percussion  / Alessandro Gulino  - electric bass  / Hans-Jörg Maucksch  -  fretless bass


"Out Of Australia"

Their new album on Stockfisch is called "Out of Australia"; while these three words certainly bear no small resemblance to the famous "Out of Africa", you don't have to be exactly a linguist to deduce that "Out of" is the trademark of an intensely emotional liaison with a country. The truth of this becomes more evident as each track of this CD unfolds.

Parissa's angelic voice comes close to an invitation; that is, one from water nymphs and ancient dwellers of the woods of mythology. Carl's warm voice and his guitar-playing make sure that the angels stay in safe contact with Celtic folk tradition. Dreamweavers the two are truly – sundancers keeping in safe distance from the abyss. Listener, when thou comest to Folk music, pray say: thou hast heard us singing as our native country bade us to sing.

Dreamweavers the two are truly – sundancers keeping in safe distance from the abyss. Listener, when thou comest to Folk music, pray say: thou hast heard us singing as our native country bade us to sing.


Super-Audio-CD Hybrid: SACD Stereo + 5.1 Surround + CD-Layer
SFR 357.4060.2  •  total time 49:50

musicians

performing on "Out Of Australia" :

Parissa Bouas - vocal, guitar, shruti box, percussion, cachichi / Carl Cleves - vocal, guitar / Lea Morris - backing vocals / Peter Funk - dobro, guitar / Dominik Jung - guitar / Lucile Chaubard - violoncello / Christian Struck - cor anglais / Beo Brockhausen - tambura, jew’s harp, swarmandal, mbira, hulusi / Lars Hansen - fretless bass, electric bass, upright bass


Reviews

"If you've seen Carl and Parissa live you will have a good idea what to expect: warmth, generosity, humour and fantastic musicianship. Parissa's outstanding vocals alternate between a tone that would cut glass, and breathy seduction, while Carl sings with a warmth, honesty and a healthy dose of cheekiness. State of the art in contemporary Australian roots music." James Rigby - The Cornstalk Gazette, Sydney

Beoga

"Their music can best be described as cross-cultural ... The under current of their songs points to the political situations in the world ... The upper current is poetic and is testimony to a rich imagination and a constantly renewed vitality." Fons Jacobs, Gazet van Antwerpen, Belgium

"Out Of Australia, consisting of twelve original songs, is a ruminating perspective on worldwide society. Coalesced by folk-based guitar constructs and emotional vocals, each track has a unique feel. A centerpiece, “The Bethlehem Bell Ringer” examines the plight of innocent victims in the Palestinian struggle. Parissa Bouas’s incandescent voice is heartfelt, and the hymnal chorus, no less than exultant. The use of a tambura (string drone instrument) adds a somber Middle Eastern tone. The plights of diamond mine workers (“Way Down In The Mines”) in Johannesburg, and ethnic genocide ("The Coniston Massacre”), are recounted without overindulgence. Framed by the steady guitar of Cleves, and his idiosyncratic baritone (not unlike Scottish troubadour Donovan), there is a consistent lyrical aesthetic.

Multichannel SACD is an ideal medium for this music. The understated nuances of the various stringed instruments are reproduced with clear acoustics, whether it’s a prominent rhythm guitar, or delicate lute. Tonal quality of the voices is flawless. The depth and texture of the vocals (in particular the ensembles) refine the musical eminence." http://audaud.com/2010/09/