Uakti's second album continues their string of undefinable work. As usual, the group sounds vaguely like Philip Glass, J.S. Bach, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and a random representative of electronic music as they bang and blow instruments that they mostly invented themselves. Although some of their creations are truly strange, like the "aqualung" (which is played by running water through it), most are variations of the xylophone, tuned drums, the piccolo, and the fiddle. They use the discrete sounds of the percussion instruments to build a background of rhythm and counterpoint, while placing the winds and occasional fiddle with their continuous sounds in the foreground with a slow, droll melody. The effect, as on "Dança Dos Meninos," is like a toy symphony. Sometimes, as on "Trilobita," the pattern is broken by the omission of the normal melody instruments: everything is percussion, creating a sound that is fast-paced yet eerie, due to the low, hollow sound of some of the tuned drums. The title song continues the eerie mood with a very deliberate beat played behind thin wind instruments and a jangly, metallic enigma that sounds like a harpsichord played with a bow. Half the album is devoted to one song, titled "A Lenda." It evokes atmosphere with its sounds of running water (the aqualung, no doubt) and an instrument in the background that sounds like a bird or monkey crying in the distance. Still, it is a shapeless baggy monster of a piece, redeemed only by an interlude about three minutes in of incredible, ethereal beauty, sounding like a small organ accompanies by someone blowing over the mouth of a giant bottle. Unfortunately, the album is marred by its final track, an attempt to play Ravel's "Bolero" on percussion instruments. The idea is not objectionable in itself, but the drums used were largely untuned. However, Mapa is a fascinating album, even if the musicians have not figured out how to define their efforts successfully. ~ Kurt Keefner, All Music Guide
Marco Antônio Guimarães (Arranger), Artur Andres de Ribeiro (?), Carlos DeAndrade (Producer), Marco Antônio Guimarães (Director), Paulo Sérgio Dos Santos (?), Carlos DeAndrade (Engineer), Ines Beluzzo Brando (Keyboards), Decio de Souza Ramos Filho (?), Phil Yarnall (Design), Margery Greenspan (Art Direction)
Mapa (Hebrew: מפה, lit. map), officially called MAP - Mapping and Publishing (Hebrew: מפה - מיפוי והוצאה לאור), is an Israeli cartographic and book publishing company.
It was founded in 1985, under the name Sifrei Tel-Aviv (lit. Tel-Aviv Books) and went into the field of cartography in 1994. It eventually moved solely into cartography, becoming the market leader in map making for the public sector in 1995. It controlled close to 80% of the market in 2005.[1]
Mapa has been expanding its horizons since 1996, and now publishes books in all fields. It also exports some books. Mapa's workforce consists of appriximately 70 employees.
In April 2007, Mapa was purchased by the GPS company Ituran for US $13 million.[2]
