Those Whom the Gods Detest Review

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(More customer reviews)Interestingly, Nile's new album came out the same day as Slayer's new World Painted Blood. I had pre-ordered both and was excited for the dual-release day! Having been a Slayer fan for more than two decades, I have to say I was most excited about their release. However, after the first listen, I am far more impressed with Nile's newest work!
Nile continues to broaden their scope and deepen their skill with each release. Those Whom the Gods Detest blazes as fast as any Nile album to date while somehow adding more. Vocal ranges have improved, the lyrics are fascinating, and I detect additional instruments beyond their norm. The notes even explain the history and meaning behind every song.
If you're a metal fan and you're only buying one new album this month, choose Nile over Slayer (Araya forgive me).

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With six critically acclaimed albums and several world tours under their belts, Nile have raised the bar for extreme metal bands musically, lyrically and conceptually. Their withering live performances are nothing short of legendary, gaining them the respect of fellow musicians, critics and fans worldwide. On Those Whom the Gods Detest, they have brought the Middle Eastern sound that sets them apart from their peers to the forefront of their assault. Their trademark swarming guitars, relentless drum blasts that push human limits of endurance, and vicious vocals are mastered in a way never before heard, giving them a more concise and balanced attack than ever before!--This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

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Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 (2CD/1 DVD Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)The long-awaited release of: "Egypt 1978" is over. Was it worth a 30 year wait? For me, yes it was, good or bad this package is an accurate document of a legendary event, The Grateful Dead playing right in front of The Great Pyramid and right next to The Sphinx. The 3 record set was due for release in early 1979, to help pay the 1/2 Million dollars of debt that this vacation cost the band. Jerry Garcia, wasn't happy with the tapes and the plan was canceled.
Over the years many tapes have circulated from audience and soundboard sources. I saw a lavish bootleg CD set at a record collector's show in 1996. This Box contained 8 Cd's, a hardshell book, a poster, stickers, the works. The vendor, wouldn't go under $80.00 for the package, and I passed on the deal. The tapes that I have heard, were high-quality sound and good to not-so-good performances by The Dead.
This set of two CD's {3, if you buy it from The Grateful Dead Website} and a DVD of 13 songs, and a short home movie of band and friends in Cairo, and on The Nile. This is a nice package, of an event of legendary proportions.
30 YEARS OF BAD VIBES:
The band didn't play well in Egypt, The equipment did weird things in the 110 degree heat, No: "Blues For Allah" performed, The amps melted together in the sun, The piano was outta tune, Billy could only drum with one arm, Donna was singing 'Flat' again, No hash was allowed to be smoked on stage, only behind the amps, No: "Dark Star" performed, not enough Stella Beer, after the crew stole all of it, The King's Chamber deep inside the Great Pyramid wasn't successful for use as an echo effect for the concerts, sand in equipment...ETC, ETC, ETC.
THE MUSIC:
After 30 years of rumors like that, you will have to be the judge of this package. The music here isn't better or worse than any other Live Dead CD's available already...It is DIFFERENT from other things, that you have already heard before. And that is the reason that it was released in the first place. The Grateful Dead plays DIFFERENTLY under a full eclipse of the moon next to the massive paws of The Sphinx than it does in Winterland back in San Francisco. Everything that makes this group special IS here, but on: "Rocking The Cradle" the music takes on new shapes and forms, textures and colors are unique to this recording.
"Ollin Arageed" featuring Hamza El Din and the Nubian Youth Choir, melts into a sparkling; "Fire On The Mountain". "New, New Minglewood Blues" features a wonderful solo from Keith on "Outta-Tune" piano, that lays waste to almost every other keyboard player anywhere. "Stella Blue" is a tune, that I have never payed much attention to, here on this CD, it is amazing! Some of this is lackluster, but I have found more GOOD than BAD here. A Grateful Dead Show contains peaks and valleys, there is serious detail to flow and dynamics within every concert, and when that doesn't work out...well, it doesn't work out all the time, such is LIFE.
THE FILMS:
The DVD contains 13 songs from the concerts, and a feature called; "The Vacation Tapes" of band, crew and friends in Cairo and on the Nile. These videos are not shot by a professional film crew and are of homemade quality {jerky camera movement, fuzzy & out-of-focus zoom-ins and outs, cameras way off target.} Had the band produced some video by a professional crew, the results could have been amazing, as is these curios are interesting and show a little insight into the world of The Grateful Dead. The DVD is interesting but not essential.
I Like this Set, and have been playing the CD's, in rotation with other GD music since it arrived at my door. I have less use for the DVD, but I will give it another try a few months down the road. The booklet is fine, and the package with the fold-outs, is nice as well. A book about this entire event is still available, it is entitled: "Truckin' With The Grateful Dead To Egypt" by Robert Nichols. This book was published in 1984 with the band's approval, it is an interesting read, and it includes many photos and graphics that I have never seen anywhere else.
This set of music and visuals is a welcome addition to the growing bulk of live performance work available from The Grateful Dead.
Four Stars !!!


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Grateful Dead, Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a 2 CD/1 DVD set that marks the 30th anniversary of The Dead's historic concerts at Giza, featuring more than three hours of rare and previously unreleased music remastered in HDCD, plus over 100 minutes of extremely rare, previously unseen concert and behind-the-scenes footage.

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100% Arabica Review

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(More customer reviews)Granted, this work doesn't have the strongest plot. The characters are stock, rather than complex or dynamic. The film ended two minutes too abruptly, possibly in order not to film violence. Still, this was a worthy film that I'd recommend to many others due to its novelty. I'm an African American and I'd say few Americans who know about French banlieu life. It was fascinating to see life in a Western community of color, outside of an American context.
The percentage of Arabs in France is much higher than the percentage of Arabs in the US. This film is filled with Arab men who are just jaw-droppingly hot. A viewer could be pleased to see this film just for their aesthetic alone. There's a video series called "Wassup Bro?" that viewers who like this movie should also see.
If you watch carefully, this movie had as many Blacks in it as it had Arabs. The only American movie like that is the gawt-awful film "Forbidden Fruits." Though sometimes you see American films with Black and Brown characters, usually a film in the US is either mostly Black or mostly Brown. Few films would ever portray US Blacks and US Latinos as bosom buddies. One exception is the documentary "Paris Is Burning." It was amazing to see person-of-color unity in another country. At first, it seemed like this unity depended upon the groups staying away from each other romantically. However, at one point, you see a Black man dance with an Arab woman.
What was portrayed about rai in France will remind many of the early days of rap in New York burroughs. At one point, a mother implies that she dislikes her children's taste in music, but then she is seen jamming to it in private. Later the father does the same thing. I imagine that happened a lot in the late 1970s in the Bronx and Brooklyn too. I love hearing the nasally, twangy vocals in this rai music. At one point, a cheb was singing a slow song and audience members were swaying as if it were the most up-tempo jam. That did seem like an error.
The villain in this film is a zealous Islamic clergyman. Here in the US, portraying a Christian clergy member as the bad guy would be a risky move in a film. I was very surprised that a Muslim clergy member could be portrayed this way. If religious tensions are a big problem in France, then I'm shocked that this movie could get away with that representation. I'd say most American films focus on either men, women, or children separately. This film had almost equal numbers of men, women, and children in it. It didn't treat the three groups as if they lived in separate spheres.

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In this light-hearted musical comedy with a message, a North African pop group called Rap Oriental uses music to triumph over the bigotry and violence in 100% Arabica, the housing project on the outskirts of Paris that they call home. The band and their devoted fans are pitted against religiously conservative elders who want to stop the music. The film features Khaled and Cheb Mami, two real-life stars of rai music--a combination of North African sounds and western-style rap. The pair offers a message with a beat as they rock, groove, and ultimately soothe their 'hood with their unique sound.

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