This CD is all 31 flavors of “Fuck yeah!” 
You’re finding this out in the very beginning of the review because not telling you immediately would’ve been a crime on par with simultaneously kidnapping the Lindbergh baby and assassinating Abe Lincoln while dressed in a Nazi uniform.
Ana Alcaide’s La Cantiga Del Fuego is a musical depiction of the lives and legends of the Sephardic Jews of Toledo. Alcaide’s voice floats and dances effortlessly and seamlessly atop each tune. The songs are brilliantly arranged — one false move and this material could’ve easily taken a wrong turn onto Pretentious Boulevard. And the use of exotic instruments — the oud, Turkish ney, psaltery, lyra, and Alcaide’s own nyckelharpa — is original, innovative and inspired.
Aficionados of world music will immediately recognize the nyckelharpa as that evil Scandinavian cross between a violin and a hurdy-gurdy, the appearance of which usually portends a very unpleasant listening experience. (Seriously, the nyckelharpa has been responsible for more verdicts of “Invade” than yodeling.) But you read that right: Ana Alcaide has single-handedly elevated the nyckelharpa from this column’s sinister, pasty Bond villain into its brooding, handsome hero.
One more thing: According to the liner notes, Alcaide also has a degree in botany and has conducted extensive studies of both the Baja California’s mushrooms and the birds’ nests of Scandinavia. What have you done lately?
Verdict:
How good is this CD? Well, imagine Pat Robertson, naked and covered in bear grease, being backed by Mumford & Sons in a four-hour rock opera about installing drywall. Well, La Cantiga Del Fuego is the exact opposite of that.
