Paranoise - Ishq



1.A Call to the Enlightened Ones/Habiba Jaahratini (4:30) 2. Occurrence Currents/Wedding Song (4:40) 3. Ishq (5:23) 4. I Own (6:30) 5. Mondanabosh/Quacida An-Nabi (6:30) 6. A Dance With the Other/Jajouka Black Eyes (4:32) 7. History's Fractal Mountain (4:28) 8. I'm a User/Pilentzee Pee (4:07) 9. Superimposition/Kafi (3:41) 10. Overmind Over Matter/Allah Maula Ali Dam Dam (6:55) 11. Heliocentric Strum/Helalisa (4:34) 12. Have More/Kayamba Dance/Metahistorical Disquisition (8:26)

Total Running Time: 62:50

Sophomore efforts are a scary bit for most bands. It's certainly no secret that the dreaded second album is considered the primordial "make or break" factor for any band that has released a successful first one, whether the success is of a commercial or creative character. In the case of Paranoise, however, the situation becomes increasingly risky, because Ishq is actually the band's fourth album, but only the second that has focused on exploring the obscure confines of progressive world music, with the excellent and innovative Private Power being its predecessor.

And much in the same way that Private Power did, Ishq starts off with a Moroccan chant that immediately sets the mood for the entire album. Except this time around, the chant is backed up by an unsettling and foreboding tone that gravitates into a hypnotic acoustic passage before evolving into a threatening atmosphere that circles enchantingly around the listener. Once again, Paranoise has relied heavily on the trancelike quality of its world music samples and an often jagged rock focus in order to deliver its very own brand of music, and in the process has avoided the alluring trap of jaded repetition.

Not that the style on the album is a radical departure from the band's previous effort, but this time around, the music with which the band complements its samples is less raw, and the geographical origins of the world music included have been extended. The basic effect remains the same, however, with a band on the crucial verge of reaching perfection through a mastering of the humanly primitive; that is, of the primeval inner sanctum of mankind. The fusion between rock and world music that Paranoise masters is never less than breathtaking, and although I'd rather have a bit more rawness mixed in there, there is no denying that this is powerful music; capable of drawing a naïve smile from the listener on a track like "Ishq" and of sending one into tribal fits of activity with "A Dance With the Other/Jajouka Black Eyes."

Paranoise is admittedly not a band for everyone, as listeners who in the first place do not enjoy repetitive world music would probably just stay away from an album like Ishq, and listeners who concentrate on one branch of progressive rock specifically will hardly find anything related to sink their teeth into here. If you're not one of them, however, I beg of you, do yourself a favor and check out Paranoise. This is one of those rare chances that one is given to witness the way an entirely new style of music evolves, and even those who are not particularly interested in the band's left wing lyrical exploits will surely find merit in the band's unique musical approach.

-by Marcelo Silveyra

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