HECTOR ZAZOU

"If music cannot change the world, what use does it have?"

This is the question raised by Hector Zazou, one of the most innovative and unpredictable French composers, as the versatility of his career demonstrates: rock music (the band Barricades), French impressionist music (the duet ZNR) or traditional African music (three albums with Bony Bikaye)... Hector Zazou has a surprise waiting with each new composition. Whether it be for string quartet, wind instruments, classical voices or synthesizers, all illustrate his passion for the most unexpected inventions.
The album "Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses" (1991- is yet another successful experiment blending century-old a-cappella songs with shades of contemporary music performed by Zazou and occasional collaborators such as Jon Hassell, Manu Di Bango, Richard Horowitz, Ryuichi Sakamoto and John Cale. The following year Hector's "Sahara Blue" was released: the album, based on the work of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud and performed by the Sahara Blue Orchestra stars David Sylvian, Bill Laswell, Khaled, Dead Can Dance, Gérard Depardieu among other guests. Inspired by the musical folk traditions of the Northern Hemisphere, Hector's next adventure was "Songs From The Cold Seas" (1995), a literal journey through Siberian Shamanism, Scandinavian folk songs, Japanese ballads and Greenland mythology featuring an impressive cast of musicians including Värttina, Tokiko Kako, Suzanne Vega, Björk, Siouxsie and Jane Siberry. Released in 1998, "Lights In The Dark" – an exploration of ancient sacred Celtic music from the XIIth century featured some of the most beautiful Irish voices (Katie Mc Mahon, Breda Mayock and Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola), a gospel choir and guest appearances by Mark Isham, Carlos Nuñez, Caroline Lavelle or Peter Gabriel. A successful tour followed in France (Printemps de Bourges), Italy and Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival). Recorded with American singer Sandy Dillon, "Las Vegas Is Cursed" (2001) saw the return of Hector Zazou to electricity and experimentation (A flabbergasting baroque opera, a series of intriguing sonic scenes mixing electronic rock and altered chamber music (Keyboards Magazine).
This amazingly rich and eclectic career brings to light the pioneering aspect of Zazou's unique approach and confirms his position in the foreground of the world music scene.
In 2003 Hector Zazou composed an original soundtrack for Carl-Théodor Dreyer’s “la Passion de Jeanne d’Arc” while his new album “Strong Currents” was released, a collection of acoustic songs that was the fruit of several years of work (with Jane Birkin, Lisa Germano, Laurie Anderson…). Spring 2004 saw the release of “L’Absence”; an electronic twin of “Strong Currents”. He was then commissionned (by ciné-mix and Le Forum Des images in Paris)to compose another original soundtrack, this time for Robert Flaherty documentary “Nanouk Of The North”.
Hector Zazou has proven himself as a creative force behind several unsual projects, as a unique musical arranger and producer called upon for his constant capacity of innovétion. He has been commissionned to write pieces for strings ensembles (By the Balanescu Quartet), contemporary dance performances or for the opening night festivities of the 1998 football world cup.
Hector Zazou’s inventiveness as a producer has lead him to work with numerous artists among them Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo (Real World Records), Galician bagpipes player Carlos Nuñez,, Uzbek singer Sevara Nazarkhan (Yol Bolsin, Real World Records) , Italian band PGR (“Per Grazia Ricevuta”, released by Universal, was hailed as a masterpiece by the Italian press) and among others.
His most recent project, a CD/DVD titled Quadri [+] Chromies, result of a two years collaboration with French digital painter Bernard Caillaud is scheduled for release early 2006...
“In England they have Peter Gabriel, in America they have David Byrne, in France we have Hector Zazou” (Jean-françois Bizot)

-Sahara blue (Released 1992)
Crammed Discs/Sony
Arranged & Produced by Hector Zazou

Anneli Drecker, Lisa Gerrard, John Cale, Dominique Dalcan, Barbara Gogan, Samy Birnbach, Sussan Deihim, Khaled, Malka Spiegel, Ketema Mekonn (lead vocals)
Brendan Perry (lead vocals, bodhran, percussions)
Gérard Depardieu, Richard Bohringer (spoken words)
Yuka Fujii (introduction vocals)
Tim Simenon (beats & samples programming)
Bill Laswell (bass guitar, effects, beats)
Daniel Yvinec (bass guitar)
Keith Leblanc, Steve Shehan (percussions)
Kent Condon, Vincent kenis, David Sylvian (guitars) )
Daniel Manzanas (acoustic guitars)
Kenji Jammer (guitars & guitar effects)
Denis Moulin (guitar & percussions)
Nabil Khalidi (oud)
Ryuichi Sakamoto (piano)
Guy Sigsworth (keyboards)
Christian Lechevretel (trombones, trumpets, organ, keyboards)
Renaud Pion (clarinets, bass clarinet, saxophones, bass flute)
Elisabeth Valletti (harp & backing vocals)
Lightwave (Special effects)
Matt Stein (computer programming, loops)
Eric Henrion (additional drum)
Hector Zazou (keyboards, electronics, guitar)

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-Songs from the cold seas (released 1994)
"Chansons des Mers froides" arranged & produced by hector zazou

värttina, björk, siouxsie, suzanne vega, tokiko kato, jane siberry, lena willemark, catherine ann macphee, marina schmidt,
lioudmila khandi, elisha kilabuk, koomoot nooveya, wimme saari john cale (vocals)
tchoghtguerele chalchin (shaman song)
ale möller (mandola)
b.j. cole (peal steel guitar)
lone kent, marc ribot (electric guitar)
elisabeth valletti (harp)
noriko sanagi (koto)
jan johan andersen (khomou – mouth harp)
shakarine percussions group, sissimut dance drummers, aïnu dancers of hokkaido (percussions)
brendan perry, angelyn tytot, budgie (percussions)
ivan sopotchine (ethnic drums)
orlan mongouch (balalaïka bass)
sara lee, guy delacroix herpin (bass guitar)
harold budd, patrick morgenthaler (electric piano)
renaud pion (bass clarinet, keyboards, scottish pipes, clarient, flute, ewi)
mark isham (trumpet)
lightwave (sound programming)
the balanescu string quartet
hector zazou (programming, keyboards & electronic)
note :
a journey into the musical traditions of the northern hemisphere, three years in the making including travels in the coldest regions of the world, "songs from the cold seas", originally inspired by barry lopez's book "artic dreams" is one of hector zazou's most ambitious project. a creative and logistical challenge.
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Hector Zazou & Harold Budd – Glyph – Crammed 1995


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-Lights in the dark
Released 1998
Detour/Eerato/Warner
arranged & produced by hector zazou



breda mayock, katie mcmahon, lasairfhiona ni chonaola (lead vocals)
kristen noguez (harp)
papa d'jabate (kora)
noriko sanagi (koto)
mark isham (trumpet & trumpet arrangements)
andre compostel (hurdy gurdy & zither))
thierry robin (oud)
carlos nuñez (ocarina & flute)
ivan tchekine (flute)
didier malherbe (pekou)
hossam ramzay & pierre d'aquin (percussions)
brendan perry (percussions, berimbau, hurdy gurdy & backing vocals)
kent condon, jacques pellen (guitar)
françoise debout (bass & theremin)
germain de loing (indian violin)
richard bourreau (violin)
caroline lavelle (cello)
ryuichi sakamato (piano)
peter gabriel (backing vocals)
john b. (loops)
hector zazou (sounds)
silap' (choir) jean-paul elise, thierry françois, donovan jones, edouard lavanne, jean-marc reyno, aliou sangare
the wiltshire souls (english spoken words)
all compositions traditional (except amergin music by hector zazou).
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Hector Zazou & Sandy Dillon - 12(las vegas is cursed)
released 2000 cd
Crammed Discs
arranged & produced by hector zazou

sandy dillon (vocals)
marc ribot (guitars)
porl thompson (guitars)
justin adams (guitars)
christian lechevretel (trumpet & trombone)
renaud pion (clarinet, flute, saxophone)
daniel yvinec (double-bass)
bill rieflin (drums)

all compositions by sandy dillon & hector zazou except "her eyes are blue a million miles" by captain beefheart, "excuse me" by lisa germano & hector zazou, "sombre(le submarine)" by hector zazou, "squawk#2" by steve bywater.

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-L'Absence (released 2004)
arranged & produced by Hector Zazou

Nicola Hitchcock, Caroline Lavelle, Emma Stow, Edo, Lucrezia Von Berger, Asia Argento (vocals)
Laurence Revey & Caroline Crawley (harmony vocals)
Harold Budd, Medor Mader (piano)
Lone Kent, Marco Lamioni & Ronnie Bird (guitars)
Philippe De La Coix Herpin (saxophone)
Vieri Bugli, Mauro Tabbrucci (Violins)
Marcello Puliti (viola)
Damiano Puliti (cello)
Bill Rieflin (drums & percussions)
Hector Zazou (all other instruments & electronics)

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Bark psychosis - Hex (1994)

Bark Psychosis: Graham Sutton (vocals, guitar, melodica, piano, Hammond organ, samples, programming); Daniel Gish (piano, Hammond organ, keyboards); John Ling (bass, percussion, samples, programming); Mark Simnett (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Louisa Fuller, Rick Coster (violin); John Metcalfe (viola); Ivan McCready (cello); Phil Brown (flute); Del Crabtree (trumpet); Pete Beresford (vibraphone); Neil Aldridge (triangle, programming); Dave Ross (Djembe).

Engineers include: Nick Wollage, Mog, Mike Long.

Recorded from March to November 1993.

Of all the bands branded with the nebulous "post-rock" tag, England's Bark Psychosis achieved the rarest balance between group musicality and post-production programming. Recorded with a large ensemble of musicians but pieced together with a computer and a sampler, HEX is a seamless tapestry--a miraculous album that never forfeits its supernatural aura to the sterility of digital design. Graham Sutton and Daniel Gish elaborate on such timeless models as A.R. Kane's 69, The Blue Nile's A WALK ACROSS THE ROOFTOPS, and Talk Talk's LAUGHING STOCK, filling HEX's wide-screen canvas with emotional song-craft and technological refinement.
HEX favors the elegant and understated, presenting an extraordinarily filmic backdrop against which piano, guitar, and vocal phrases, wisps of instrumentation, and Mark Simnett's percussive cascades fall like December snow. The secret tensions that underscore Bark Psychosis' shimmering quiescence first manifest themselves in John Ling's sinuous, dub-modulated basslines, occasionally erupting in such rapturous displays of bittersweet beauty as "A Street Scene" and "Eyes & Smiles." Other breathtaking flourishes include ribbon-fine feedback, quenching showers of vibes, and Del Crabtree's electrifying, Miles-style trumpet. Alas, even Bark Psychosis couldn't top HEX. The group disbanded, with Sutton finding fame in the drum-and-bass arena as Boymerang.
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Terje Rypdal - Odyssey

ECM 1975
"Odyssey" was a recording that Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal made with his road band. While it is usually categorized as fusion jazz, it utterly unlike the virtuostic overplaying typical of that genre. If it is reminiscent of anything, it is some of the work of Miles Davis, in that musician's downplaying of "chops" in favor of spare soloing inside fairly skeletal frameworks.
These pieces tend to be built on similar lasts: a repeated bass vamp; organ or synth laying down chords; drums essentially for coloration; and a kind of counterpoint or call-and-response between Rypdal's biting electric guitar tone and Torbjorn Sunde's trombone.

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Susumu Yokota & Rothko - Distant Sounds of Summer

Lo Recordings 2005
With 'Sakura' Susumu Yokota earned himself a lifetime of indulgence, free to mine ever more obscure territories safe in the knowledge he had left behind an actual-factual masterpiece. Then this comes along. A collaboration between Yokota and the fabulous Rothko, 'Distant Sounds of Summer' is without a shadow of a doubt the most readily accessible output from either artist and (best of all) neither seems to have compromised their artistic integrity. The kind of expansive music that could bring out the Keats in anyone, the blokes are further bolstered by the mellifluous tones of Caroline Ross on vocals; adding a wonderfully human touch to the aural paroxysms. Opening with 'Deep In Mist', a padded hip-hop beat is gently washed over by delicate piano and ponderous bass that is sugar sweet without even threatening to become saccharine or cloying. As if this weren't beautiful enough, Ross then delivers a vocal which seems to beam in direct from some angelic crystalline plain, weaving ethereal calm around a palpable depth which can't help but coax you ever deeper into the music. Elsewhere a similar beatific veneer is given to the insistence chants of 'Waters Edge', 'Sentiero' combines Yokota's love of traditional percussive elements with surging tides of honeyed soundscapes, whilst 'Reflections and Shadows' even manages to get away with the dreaded dead-pan vocal prose without seeming like introspective clap-trap. Aren't the nights drawing in...
Website: LoRecordings.com
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Rachel's - music for Egon Schiele

Music for Egon Schiele is the second LP from the instrumental group Rachel's. It was released in February 1996 on the Quarterstick label.
The album was composed as the score to a threatrical production by Stephan Mazurek, titled Egon Schiele, about the life of painter Egon Schiele which was staged by the Itinerant Theater Guild at the University of Illinois Chicago in May 1995.

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David Sylvian - Blemish (2003)

David Sylvian's 2003 solo album, his first since Dead Bees On a Cake. It was the debut release for his own Samadhi Sound label. David set aside a month to write and record the album while taking a break from the project that he and his brother, Steve Jansen, are currently working on. He has created an impromptu suite of songs for guitar, electronics and voice. The compositions were crafted from improvisational sessions captured live in the studio. Working almost entirely alone David has created an emotionally raw, minimal work, of immediacy and stark beauty. Although there are elements in his previous body of work that hint at the direction taken here the CD, entitled simply 'Blemish', appears to cover new ground in style, content, intensity of emotion, and in the seemly open ended nature of the compositions themselves. Adding to the intensity and air of experimentation is the presence of Derek Bailey. Three of the pieces included on 'Blemish' were written with, and feature, the legendary free-jazz guitarist. The final track of the CD features a haunting electronic arrangement by Christian Fennesz.
Website: davidsylvian.com
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Plat - 'Biraefni' - [2003/MP3/192]

Four lush, melodious tracks by two Icelandic multi instrumentalist producers. Biraefni is their debut release and combines abstract electronic structures and beautiful melodies with live drums and guitar. On top a final massive bonus remix by the Funckarma bros. is included. Their treat is a rough change of mood in comparison to the original, with a more extreme complex rhythm section, not to miss. Limited on 650 for the world.

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Helios - Eingya

Type Records, founded by John Twells and Stefan Lewandowski of Britain, is offering stiff competition to indie-electronica contemporaries like City Centre Offices and Morr Music. Over the course of almost three years, the label has issued ambient post-rock, minimalist electronica and twee pop that are consistently subtle and heartfelt.
Eingya is a remarkable sophomore album from Keith Kenniff�s Helios project. Kenniff has also recorded a full-length as Goldmund, in addition to a handful of remixes and compilation appearances as Helios, where he often contrasts his smoothly polished ambient-leaning productions against the edgier experimentations of his peers. With Eingya, he has further refined the sparse, moody, melodic aesthetic of his Unomia album. His use of tiny samples, tones, field recordings and lulling percussion places him in company with the ambient Robert Fripp, German avant-electronic composer Arovane and John Twells�s alter ego Xela. In lieu of vocals, he intersperses these fractured soundscapes with guitar loops and delicate piano musings.
Melancholy and earnest, Helios ranges from the hopeful warmth of �Halving the Compass� and �Sons of Light and Darkness,� to the ruminative hiss of �The Toy Garden� and a lively rock buildup on �Paper Tiger.� Eingya never gets too dark but remains polished yet effortless. In all the album�s restraint, however, Kenniff hones, rather than expands, his style. Whatever Eingya lacks in innovation it makes up for in nuance. It�s a solid addition to the canon of ambient pop electronica.

Website: Type Records

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Eivind Aarset - Connected

The two years since avant guitarist Aarset's last opus, Light Extracts, have been filled with several major shifts in direction. Up until now (at least outside his native Norway), his name's been, err, connected mainly with jazz 'n' bass trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer. Yet, apart from last year's triumphant appearance with Molvaer at the ICA (performing a live soundtrack to Lang's Metropolis), he's been using new, younger collaborators to push his work in fresh directions. Connected bears the fruits of those endeavours.
Two key names in the aforementioned change in direction have been Dhafer Youssef, the Parisian-based singer and oud player on whose album Digital Prophecy he made a major contribution, and fellow Norwegian electronica man-of-the-moment, Jan Bang. It's the latter who makes the biggest impact on Aarset's sound here. While only appearing on a couple of tracks, both his and fellow boffin Raymond Pellicer's digital trickery have led Aarset to tone down his dance-oriented leanings and get a whole lot more subtle in his approach.
Whereas Light Extractstook you from vertiginous loops to sheer noise terror, Connected's delights emerge in the details. Glitchy wobbles and shimmies worry at the periphery while Aarset's guitar, rather than screaming for attention, morphs from spy-movie twang ("Connectic") to muezzin call allowing both bass and drums (courtesy of Marius Reksjo and Wetle Holte) to explore the groove, or giving way to the delights of Hans Ulrik's bass clarinet ("Electro Magnetic in E") and saxophone ("Feverish").
Eivind moves in both directions away from the nu-jazz cul de sac that also pigeonholes Molvaer. He does this by embracing both electronica ("Family Pictures 1 & 2"), and returning to more traditional jazz and blues forms. "Blue In E" is a lovely study in string-bending ease while stand-out track "Silk Worm" takes label boss Bugge Wesseltoft's funky template and adds Aarset's own distinctive, yearning bleakness. In between all this there's still time to pay respect to world fusion (with Dhafer Youssef on "Nagabo Tomora") and the usual beaty mash-ups that we've come to expect from our Scanadinavian friends.
In doing this the guitarist transcends any preconceptions thatthe instrument comes burdened with, and has given us a work that soothes, upsets and excites in equal proportions. Yet again, it seems as though Jazzland is living up to its boast of giving us a new conception in jazz. Matched only by Rune Grammofon's stable of Norwegian young guns, Aarset, along with labelmates Sidsel Endreson, Wesseltoft and Audun Kleive is making sure that all eyes (and ears)remain firmly fixed on the north. Essential.
(Chris Jones)

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eivind Aarset - Light Extracts

label: jazzland 2002

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but in this case it's inevitable. You're faced with a vision of subterranean neon lit architecture embraced by subtle digital shading from grey to white. Very cool, very Scandinavian. But before you run off muttering stuff about "icy fjords" under your breath, remember that every once in a while you do find that perfect opus that combines cool with warm, chic with groovy and, dare I say it, jazz with new. For this is no ice-locked stately ship of sorrows, but a vibrant arctic blizzard, bursting with flurries of sonic invention.
Aarset's Electronique Noire have taken up the baton passed by fellow artists such as Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvær and others involved in the Norwegian jazz electronica underground. The results are stunning. Stylistically this album sits nearer to Molvaer'srecent attempts at fusing Drum'n'Bass with Hasselesque tone poems, than to Aarset's last outing: the eponymous Electronique Noir. The more Milesian fusion tendencies and heavy rock histrionics have been almost entirely exorcised in favour of forms that fit more snugly into the amorphous world of today's electronic pioneers. As Molvaer's Solid Ether (which featured Aarset) proved last year, jazz of the ECM school could break out of its polite restraints and plug itself into something more contemporary. This album, on Wesseltoft's Jazzland imprint, carries that promise to the next level. Breakbeats collide with glitchy little loops and every once in a while the whole thing erupts with a sonic squall to equal the most intense Ornette or Miles. "Self Defence" sounds like digital warfare, and "ffwd/slow motion" shows you where Roni Size would be today if he had a true jazzer's sense of dynamics.
Like Electronique Noire, there remains a sense of 21st century alienation and despair in these grooves, with their clattering rhythm and ominous bass clarinet interjections (from Hans Ulrik); but these are always matched by an aching harmonic beauty. The opener "Emphatic Guitar" with its gently pulsing chord figure has an almost somnambulant vibe, gently cross-fading into the skittish "Wolf Extract", wherein Aarset, having lulled you into a false sense of security proceeds to connect you to a world where nothing sleeps and time zones melt into the ether. Arabic drones mix with junglist rhythms while Aarset rarely takes a solo where a denser wash of noise will do just as well. His tones vary from sheets of fiery pain to Hank Marvin-inspired twang in the space of one number ("String Thing").
This is true music for airports, motorways and car parks: edgy, with a sense of utterly modern momentum that propels you to the calm finality of the closer "Tunnel Church". Peace is finally attained: But at what price? Aarset asks so many questions within the space of eight tracks, that you cannot help but feel as though the answers will be a long time coming. This is not comfortable listening, but you will find a comfort of sorts within its glacial heart. Mesmerising.

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Eivind Aarset - Electronique noire

1998 ( Jazzland)
One of Norway's most in demand guitar players, Eivind Aarset, is a regular member of Nils Petter Molvaer's group, and appears on the trumpeter's landmark albums "Khmer" and "Solid Ether", which first introduced the sound of the Norwegian jazz underground to Europe. Eivind has performed on over 150 albums with musicians as diverse as Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ute Lemper, Ketil Bjornstad, Mike Mainieri, Arild Andersen, Abraham Laboriel and Django Bates.
In the last few years he became progressively involved in Oslo's jazz underground scene and worked with keyboard guru Bugge Wesseltoft.
In 1998 Eivind Aarset released his debut album as a leader "Electronique Noir" hailed as "One of the best post Miles electric jazz albums" by none other than the The New York Times as well as America's leading jazz magazine Jazz Times and the UK's Jazzwise.
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Website: jazzlandrec.com
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Vincent Gallo - When

Warp records 2001.

The album contains the track "I Wrote This Song For the Girl Paris Hilton" which got its name from a friend of Lukas Haas. Gallo had yet to meet Paris Hilton but would she would later appear in his short film "Honey Bunny".
The song "Yes I Am Lonely" was used in the video game Phantom Dust and is played during the ending credits of the game. The track also appears on Phantom Dust Original Sound Tracks.
The song "So Sad" recorded during the "When" sessions but not present on the album is notable for it was released as a vinyl 12" single cut at 78 RPM (and 45 RPM on the other side).

Vincent Gallo (born in Buffalo, New York on April 11, 1961) is an American movie actor and director, producer, screenwriter, and musician. Although he has had small roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies. Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, is considered his most notable film. In the 1980s, Gallo worked as a figurative painter in New York City, performed in a rap duo and played in a band called Bohack. In the late 1990s, Gallo played in a rock band called Bunny, and in the early 2000s, he released several recordings.
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Kayo Dot - Choirs Of The Eye

Releases information:CD Tzadik #7092 (2003)

Kayo Dot. One of those new prog bands out there today, but alot more different... Out with the repetitions. Out with retro prog and thier clones and say hello to the unique world that is Avant-garde music. Strange, dark, beautiful, wierd and abstract are the words I mostly use when I talk about Kayo Dot and at times it isn't enough. It's kind of hard to explain in words, but that's why I'm here and that's what I'll be trying to do in the next few minutes.
First of all, let me start by saying that even if they are in the Prog metal genre they clearly are more Avant-garde than other prog metal bands. Led by some maudlin of the Well members and other more people along the way. Toby Driver has clearly becomed more matured in his songwritting since maudlin of the Well disbanded, but it still carries some resemblance to maudlin of the Well.
The first time I heard them I was left with my mouth open and very disoriented. I didn't knew what to think. Was it bad? was it good? Did they ever repeated a single rift? Man, this is hard stuff to swallow. The second time I heard them I became more interested in their music, but still didn't feel like I understood completly what they were trying to do and I still thought that they never repeated a single rift! After some more listens and getting more used to their sound I actually liked the abstract feel to their sound and the mix between metal and post-rock and yet not sounding clearly like both was a very interesting thing for me. I've heard previous Avant-garde bands and I appreciated them far more easily than this one even if we're talking about one of the hardest genres to get into.
Indeed this is an aquired taste and clearly not for casual prog listeners. This band can make dissonant sounds into art. They can go from ambient like post-rock to full blown distortion guitar, screaming vocals and just plain noisy and done with such a finess that its mindbogling. They use every instrument they play very well and it all makes part of the strange heavy, dark and gentle atmosphere. The vocal parts doesn't have chorus or hooks you can sing to. There are other parts that are poems and Toby Driver recites them in a very soft voice like in The Manifold Curiosity.
Overall, this is a masterpiece of progressive music from start to finish. Not ment to be for everyone for the complex and very difficult nature of the music, but if you're willing to give this album a try, be sure to pay a lot of attention to it and don't give up if the first, second or third listen is too much or too hard for you.
And thus I'll leave you with a frase that helped me alot in understanding Kayo Dots music, I'm sure it'll be helpful for others too: It's not about "getting it" ; it's more about "feeling it"
5/5 A masterpiece of progressive music.(Ruben Dario)
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Website: kayodot.net
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Tujiko Noriko - From Tokyo to Naiagara

	Tujiko Noriko
		From Tokyo To Naiagara
			Tomlab

When it comes to wrangling free-ranging electro-fuckery into fluttering pop-songs, there's a definite, clearly-defined holy mystic trinity, far and away, far and above everyone else, like glittering stars in a clear night sky, princesses of marrying distressed audiology and soothing lullaby, singing sweetly to a growing army of sentimental geeks who've had their fill of masturbatory dudes jacking their glitch up in show-off fashion. These three kings of tone/tonalism, organic/electro, experimentalism/songform straddling are, in alphabetized rank: Björk, Haco, and Tujiko Noriko. In such a statuesque sisterhood of monumental electro-pop iconography, Tujiko is babe-in-the-woods amidst this tall timber. Already on her fourth album in four years, the still-starting-out Tokyo-based songsmith sires the sweetest pop-songs from the most ersatz of faux-exotic synthesizer presets and the regular gear-shuddering hisses of the out-electro set, lacing these openly emotional songs with layered vocals. Tujiko's voice has a graceful, sentimental, warm-and-nurturing kind of quality about it. Where Björk and Haco both follow the caprice of their powerful pipes off up to high-wire heights, Noriko doesn't have those one-name icons' "swooping" abilities. Instead, she uses her vocals to emphasize an already-existing atmosphere; so that, even when they are multi-track'd and pushed to the front of the mix, they feel like they are enveloped within the song, bedded down within the fried circuits and flickering fluorescent lights and such. This gives Tujiko a hard-to-describe high quality quality in which it seems like she is at one with the music she's making. Maybe kinda like those robo-sexual scenes near the end of the "Revolutionary Girl Utena" spin-off movie where the animated babe and the car and the implicit erotic imagery and the revolution-girl-style-now overtones all merge into one disconcerting moment of animé liberté. Of course, evoking cartoon images in metaphoric description of Tujiko's craft seems well off the mark, as the utterly emotional, human quality to her electro-poems and digi-lullabies is the greatest thing about this entirely great artist.
by Anthony Carew
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Website: tujikonoriko.com
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Mayte Martín-Tiempo de Amar, Virgin, 2002
Critics' reviews:

"A born artist. [...] An important number of cantaores of the younger generation have been influence by her. Her image is closer to that of Camarón or José Mercé than that of a typical woman cantaora, and she sings flamenco with moving sweetness and deep knowledge of the essence." (José Miguel Gamboa and Pedro Calvo, Guía libre del flamenco, 2001)

"The best female flamenco voice of her generation, undoubtedly; the most complete 'cantaora'. She sings everything, and she sings everything well. At this rate, this 'cantaora' [...] will add her name to the great ones in history." (Ángel Álvarez Caballero, La discografía ideal del flamenco, 1995)

Download: mediafire
Genre: Flamenco
Website: mayte-martin.com

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