This weeks book of the week is a music CD - and it is more than worthy of being considered one of the best CD's to be releases in many years.

La Llorona
Lhasa De Sela 
List Price: $16.97
Our Price: $12.99
You Save: $3.98 (23%)
Audio CD (August 18, 1998)
Number of Discs: 1 
Wea/Atlantic; ASIN: B000009MV1 

                     To hear a song sample, click on the song title below. 

De Cara A La Pared

You need Real Audio to play this

Reviews 
Amazon.com's Best of 1998  Lhasa De Sela has distinguished herself as a singer and storyteller with her debut album, La Llorona. The 25-year-old Montreal resident, who grew up traveling through Mexico while living on a school bus, sings of her tortured heart with the accompaniment of guitarist-producer-arranger Yves Desrosiers and a cabaret-style band. Already compared to that of Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday, De Sela's haunting voice is memorable on each of the 11 songs (only three are not original) that range in inspiration from Mexican ranchera to Eastern European klezmer. --Cristina Del Sesto 

 Amazon.com 
All rainbow chile, singer Lhasa de Sela's
Spanish-language, world music/alt-rock debut shimmers with honest emotionalism, with no trace of the posturing and whining that passes these days for deep, girlish thoughts. The girl's young, but she's equipped with imagination, confidence, and technique enough to take that husky, urgent alto anywhere she wants. And she goes there. Guitarist-producer-arranger Yves Desrosiers cloaks all this splendor in rapturous arrangements that include, among other elements, the sound of rain, flamenco-influenced guitar, and a slide bass of his own design. Even if you don't understand Spanish, you can't miss the point ... the feelings. Lhasa's just begun, but her stranger-than-fiction background and dazzling gifts already place her among music's top-rung storytellers. --Elena Oumano 

Customer Comments 
Average Customer Review:  Number of Reviews: 9

                     A music fan from BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA , November 24, 1998  TRULY AMAZING!! 
                     ONE FROM CANADA WHO HEARD THIS BEAUTIFUL SOUND A LA LILITH FAIR AND CANNOT PUT IT DOWN! I'M IN LOVE!! 

A music fan from minneapolis mn , November 5, 1998 
mesmerizing 
Ever since I bought it I can't stop listening.Haunting lyrics, beautiful poetry,soothing music with full band, including accordian horns flutes percussion,etc. Unique voice reminds me of Tanita Tikaram in Spanish. I have purchased 4 copies!!! Everyone's getting this for xmas! 

  A music fan from CANADA , October 4, 1998  A FAN FROM CANADA, A MUST FOR ANYONE WITH EARS!! This is the my favorite album of 1998!! I finally found this album in Montreal( where, I believe she is based) Anyway, it was a really difficult album to track down until of course, the lilith fair explosion! This album is precious. It takes you to a different land and makes you feel as though you've just gone on a warm sunny trip two borders south. While the entire album is EXCEPTIONAL, I'd have to say,'los peces' is especially wonderful. A great album to listen to in the dead of winter when the snow starts to fly. 

A music fan from New York City , September 8, 1998
Amazon reviewers are right! 
I often buy Cd's w/o hearing them first, sometimes good luck, sometimes bad. I love foreign
language music, and after reading all the Amazon reviews on Lhasa, I ordered it. You're right! She's wonderful. I was hooked by the first verse of the first song. I can see it will be addictive. Thanks! 

A music fan from Dallas,TX , September 1, 1998 
Lhasa at last!
After hearing a track by Lhasa on the Lilith Fair CD we searched everywhere to find more of this terrific sound. Unfortunately, no one we spoke to had ever heard of this artist! We were elated when we found out they had finally released a CD. Lhasa's music is original, distinctly recognizable, and adictive. 
 

Lhasa reaches well within your soul, she is superb!!!  I found Lhasa's "La Llorona" CD in a little shop in Toronto, Canada. At first the music seem dissonant, it had the make-up of music I knew from my childhood but yet it sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. It took me a while to train my ear to the melody but once I did.......oh, what sounds.  I like to sit in the dark, to hear it on rainy days, to appreciate it when I'm not rushed. Then it brings a recollection of past memories, of lived lives. It is as if Lhasa was singing to my inner-self and releasing someting......the world!
She sings with the soul of someone who has been searching the world over for love, truth, beauty, peace...."Por que el alma prende fuego cuando deja de amar" (because the soul sets itself on fire when it ceases to love).

                     I hope you enjoy Lhasa's music, mysterious music as much as I have.