Badi Assad

Wonderland
(2006)

Wonderland is something like the musical equivalent of a photographic negative: an oddly inverted place which--as one might guess-–bears more than a passing resemblance to the world Alice visits in Lewis Carroll's masterpiece. Badi Assad's second release on edge/Deutsche Grammophon--a collection of her versions of other artists' compositions--brings new meaning to the term "cover," by concealing sobering political and social messages under alluring and often jubilant melodies. She addresses domestic violence with Asian Dub Foundation's "1000 Mirrors," transforms the cold shimmer of Tori Amos's "Black-Dove (January)" into a subdued meditation on rape, and movingly laments child prostitution on "O Mundo Ê Um Moinho" ("The World Is a Mill"). It is a testament to Assad's artistry, however, that Wonderland's most captivating piece is probably her collaboration with Chico César on "Zoar" ("Buzzing"), an atmospheric march through shadows and light that is by turns ominous and whimsical. And, of course, always hiding behind Assad's enchanting voice is her stellar guitar work, which shines in a beautiful interlude on the album-opening "Acredite Ou Não" ("Believe It or Not") and conjures the dark gravity of flamenco's Soleá on "Distantes Demais" ("Too Far Away"). So it seems likely that long-time aficionados will be eager to fall, like Alice, into Wonderland's rabbit hole--and new fans will find it a challenging work that rewards repeated listening. --Brent Kallmer