Τίτλος: Mounqaliba Natacha Atlas The title of Natacha Atlas’ new album Mounqaliba translates literally from the classical Arabic as “in a state of reversal.” In a societal context, it means decline. It’s her reaction to cultural decay, spirituality displaced by shallow materialism. In many ways this is a scathing and intense album. It’s also a lushly, otherworldly beautiful one, the high point of Atlas’ career. Musically, it follows in the same vein as her previous cd Ana Hina (ranked in the top ten on our best-of-2008 list), a homage to Fairouz blending traditional Middle Eastern songwriting with a sweeping, orchestral grandeur inspired by western classical music. Atlas has always been a good singer, but on Ana Hina she became a great one, here, her gentle, airily nuanced, minutely ornamented, Fairouz-inspired vocals vividly span the range of human emotions from longing to hope to despair. The originals on this album are sung in classical Arabic, co-written by Atlas and her longtime violinist/collaborator Samy Bishai, along with a couple of surprising covers, backed by jazz pianist Zoe Rahman, a 20-piece Turkish ensemble and chamber orchestra. Τίτλοι   1. Intro 2. Makaan 3. Matrag Interlude 4. Bada Al Fajr 5. Muwashah Ozkourini 6. River Man 7. Batkallim 8. Mounqaliba 9. Le cor, le vent 10. Direct Solutions Interlude 11. Lahazat Nashwa 12. La nuit est sur la ville 13. Fresco's Interlude 14. Ghoroub 15. Evening Interlude 16. Taalet 17. Egypt Interlude 18. Nafourat El Anwar