Niyaz by Niyaz

a Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

I first heard about this band because I was reading the blog of a friend of mine. She mentioned it as the music she was currently listening to. Being a fan of my friend's music and respecting her musical opinion I checked them out. I did a little Google search and found their website and listened. I was hooked immediately.

I've been known to have quite an eclectic taste in music. I rarely say I dislike a genre as a broad sweeping statement. (However I can say this about blues and I'll usually be right.) But one of the genres I really like, and I don't even know if this is a genre, but ambient, dreamy, far away sounding music. OK if that is a genre, that's not the official name of it. But I think you know what I'm getting at.

I would put Niyaz in the same arena as Dead Can Dance. It's ambient with a far off land sort of feel. There's definitely an Asian flair, most Indian to my ear.

Looking at the liner notes I see that the songs are based on Urdu and Persian poems. I know embarrassing little about these languages and regions but I love what I hear.

Azam Ali is the lead singer and while I don't speak or understand the languages in which she's singing I feel transported by her voice. It's beautiful.

If you like Dead Can Dance and other groups like this, I think you should give a listen to Niyaz. Also singer Azam Ali has her own solo albums too. The music is very similar so if you like one, you'll like them all.

Posted on November 22, 2006