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Snow on the Sahara (Epic)
Singer Anggun C. Sasmi dresses her music in a veil of Eastern exoticism, but at its core, the Indonesian superstar’s musical stylism is good-old, decadent American soul-pop. “Snow on the Sahara,” her Western debut, showcases the superbly talented mezzo-soprano’s tool. The record’s oft-overproduced quality sometimes provides Anggun’s tool with not a nice veneer, but rather a good shellacking. The heavily layered harmonies and overwhelming array of techno bells and whistles — literally — work, but the idea of culling Southeast Asian flavors with twangy guitars come off like the calling of a cobra. Thankfully, there is Anggun and her mesmerizing abilities, which shine through it all.
