Track Listing

1. De Cara a La Pared (Face to the Wall) - Lhasa, De Sela, Lhasa
2. La Celestina (Celestina) - Lhasa, DeSela, L.
3. El Desierto (The Desert) - Lhasa, De Sela, Lhasa
4. Por Eso Me Quedo (That's Why I'm Staying) - Lhasa, De Sela, Lhasa
5. El Payande (The Payande) - Lhasa, Traditional
6. Los Peces (The Fish) - Lhasa, Traditional
7. Floricanto (Floricanto) - Lhasa, DeSela, Lhasa
8. Desdeñosa (Disdainful) - Lhasa, DeSela, L.
9. El Pájaro (The Bird) - Lhasa, DeSela, L.
10. Mi Vanidad (My Vanity) - Lhasa, De Sela, Lhasa
11. El Arbol del Olvido (The Tree of Forgetfulness) - Lhasa, Argentina

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6219 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

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 those of Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday, De Sela's haunting voice is memorable on each of the 11 songs (only 3 are nonoriginal) that range in inspiration from Mexican ranchera to Eastern European klezmer. --Cristina Del Sesto

Amazon.com
Half Mexican American, half Jewish American and 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 Reviews

An Exulting Wailing Voice
After reading all the rave reviews for the past few years I decided to break down and get this CD. The art cover closed the deal. I was even more impressed to find out she did it. Where to begin describing something so unique and different? There is only one Lhasa de Sala, there is no mold so they'll be no copies. The only voices I've heard that remind me of hers are Linda Ronstandt on her excursions into Espanol and Edith Piaf. Listen to the opening track, "De Cara a la Pared" as she hauntingly invites you into her own cabaret, joining in as though her voice is a violin, softly, seductively enticing the listener entry into her world. The comparisons to the two above mentioned artists stop there and really do no justice to her brand of music created with Yves Desprosiers. This is really a collaboration as Desprosiers pens many of the songs with her and plays no less than eight instruments! He also is the producer. Of course the focus is the voice of Lhasa but the guitar and acordian work Desporsiers lend to the CD give it the sidewalk cafe sound. It is not just her vocals and the beautiful arrangements but the cutting lyrics that stand on their strength alone. Although the songs are all entirely in Spanish a non-Spanish speaker can understand the songs because the booklet is bilingual. To say that Lhasa's songs lament would be an understatement, the pain comes out in her voice even if you don't understand Spanish. There is a mysterious quality to the songs, a spiritual quality, music from deep within her soul, La Llorona cries out. I like to say which songs I particularly like but all the songs are strong and stand out with individual characteristics. If I had to pick one song it would be "Los Peces" because of it's theme, The Virgin Mary, and the simple poetic lyrics she so eloquently demonstrates. The CD is a triumph for a first effort and will probably be hard to match. Although considering the talent and her last words in her acknowledgments, "Viva La Evolucion", she probably will make another stunning piece of music. If you like Gypsyesque-Spanish music tinged with folkloric Argentinian and Mexican melodies, soulful interplay into categories undefined but refreshingly fresh, this is a CD for you. I suspect Lhasa has much more to say and those that heard this CD will be waiting for her sophmore effort. I should have bought it long ago.

Soulful, earthy Mexican folksongs with a European twist
Some of Lhasa's songs on "La Llorona" sound like they could have come from a Parisian (or Montréal) bistro as easily as from Mexico. Some songs feature accordion and klezmer. Lhasa de Sela is a Mexican-American who lived in Montréal until recently. She grew up travelling across Mexico and the United States in a schoolbus.

"La Llorona" (the Wailing Woman) is the name of a legendary Mexican woman who threw her children into the river in her anger and jealousy. The villagers found her dead as well the next morning, and her ghost continued to roam the earth, wailing for her lost children. That title is appropriate enough for this splendid, unexpected collection of songs (only three are not original).

Lhasa's voice is haunting, much like the mythical wail of "La Llorona." There is an urgency and passion in her singing. My favourite song has to be "De cara a la pared," a haunting waltz with unusual sound effects (rain, splashing, musical saw). I heard Lhasa for the first time on the Canadian TV series Due South, which actually introduced me to a host of lesser-known Canadian talent. I fell in love with the songs and rushed out to buy "La Llorona."

This is my absolute favourite Spanish-language CD in my collection. It is mysterious, uplifting, joyful, and energetic, like Mexico itself. If you're looking for something uniquely Mexican in flavour, something mysterious, passionate and soulful, or simply a change from the ordinary, look no further than Lhasa de Sela's "La Llorona."

Una artista seductora (a seductive artist)
I never waste my time writing reviews, but this is well worth it. Lhasa de Sella not only has talent, but also the insight to make it flourish in meaningful ways. When I hear her, I cannot but wonder why mediocre pop artists make it to the top of the charts in both Spanish and English and she remains practically unknown.

Esta muchacha tiene carisma, tiene talento y en su arte hay profundidad. Sin lugar a dudas, vale la pena no solo oir su música, sino también vibrar con ella, comprenderla como se comprende a un amigo. Lo único que lamento es que la mediocridad reine en los medios hispanos de Estados Unidos y otras partes del mundo y que no se transmita en ellos esta voz melodiosa que me tiene a mi a mis amigos bailando de regocijo.