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Sample Track 1:
"De Trei Ani Nu Dau Pe Acasa" from Sounds From a Bygone Age Vol.3 (Asphalt Tango)
Sample Track 2:
"Hora Ploiestenilor" from Sounds From a Bygone Age Vol.3 (Asphalt Tango)
Layer 2
CD Review
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Time Out Chicago, CD Review >>

Dona Dumitru Siminica, Sounds of a Bygone Age, Vol. 3 (Asphalt Tango)

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The world of beautifully androgynous singing voices—Antony and the Johnsons, Los Zafiros' Ignado Ellejaide—is a small one. But thanks to German label Asphalt Tango, it can add one more member: Romanian Gypsy singer Dona Dumitru Siminica. Captured on a rare recording in the early '60s in Bucharest, Siminica was revered in the local circuit of muzica lãutãreascã, or quiet suburban songs, which had him performing at wedding parties, restaurants and cafes. Often backed here by nothing more than an accordion, a bass and a rickety cymbalom, he floats above the accompaniment with cantorial wisdom and a spine-tinglingly spooky falsetto. Although little translation is provided, the swooning misery of Siminica is hard to misinterpret.—ML
 10/26/06
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