On their first album, NYC-based band Pharaoh’s Daughter sought a fusion of traditional Middle Eastern sounds (with slightly more emphasis on the Hebraic side of the equation) with American folk-rock songs - the results were eclectic and engaging, if a little weighted-down with hippie-ish naiveté. On Exile, their latest platter, their fusion has been darn near perfected, with all the elements of Old and New World sounds and styles refined into a nearly seamless, individual style. In the course of the (many) high points of this disc, the Daughter recall the Paul Winter Consort and such eclectic 60s outfits as The Incredible String Band, Kaleidoscope and especially The Pentangle, as this time out PD also bring to the table the modal sounds of medieval music. Other similarities to Pentangle include a subtle mix of "standard" (electric & acoustic guitars, violin, accordion, bass) and non-Western instrumentation (sitar, oud, riq, hadgini); the delicate but un-wimpy, possessed-girl-child vocals; the pensive, a little-universe-unto-itself ambiance of the songs and vocals. Call them Great Folk Music, Ancient To The Future. Basya Schechter has a captivating voice all her own, though echoes of Pentangle’s Jacqui McShee, Ricki Lee Jones and Sue Garner. This time out, her lyrics have toughened up some: they’re a refreshing intermingling of the Sacred and the Profane, of the Devotional and the Sardonic. Whereas some "World Beat" outfits feel the need to make with a lot of self-conscious, gee-whiz-look-at-us pyrotechnics, the Daughter’s subtle, low-volume approach is most refreshing, not to mention extremely captivating. Good show!