Culture & pleasure

Arild Andersen - Hyperborean

2008-08-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

(1997)
Arild Andersen's Hyperborean is based on an Ancient Greek legend: according to the myth, the Hyperboreans lived beyond the north winds, where the sun god Apollo presided. Andersen has created an impressive song cycle that draws from contemporary instrumental, European jazz, jazz-rock and the distinctive ECM production sound. Andersen's playing is typically tasteful and the compositions are unpredictable and evocative, making Hyperborean another worthy addition to his catalog. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)
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Eberhard Weber - Stages Of A Long Journey

2008-07-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

(2007)
Stages Of A Long Journey is a crystal-clear recording of a 65th birthday concert held in his home town, Stuttgart. Guests such as Jan Garbarek and Marilyn Mazur play wonderfully, and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra flesh out famous Weber tunes such as The Colours of Chloe and Silent Feet. … A soundworld further enhanced by the vibes of Gary Burton. Yet Weber always leads from the bass, with a timbre that rings true in any context.
(John L Walters, The Guardian)

Part1 & Part2

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Kettel - Through Friendly Waters

2008-07-16T02:23:00.000-07:00

(2005)
After the mesmerizing, acoustic Volleyed Iron on U-Cover last year, Kettel returns to electronics, this time with an organic theme. Some of this music is reminiscent of Plaid’s Not For Threes, but it’s even more beautifully melodic. From the bleeps, piccolo, and piano on the delicate masterpiece “Pinch of Peer” to the subdued cello on the title track, this is a fine, sumptuous album. Other highlights are the squelchy “Shinusob,” and the lo-fi “Purple Jacket Trot.” The CD ends with two cuts from a live performance: “Whom” and “Mwoeb” are both drawn-out and almost ambient. This is the first release on new Dutch label Sending Orbs. Kettel, interviewed here in 2003, is still one of my musicians to watch. His music shows continued growth and maturity, with plenty of pleasant surprises.(Gridface)
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Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

2008-07-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

THE UNFORGETTABLE NHØP TRIO LIVE

(2007)
“This album includes the final recordings by the great bass virtuoso who forced America to revise its opinion about whether Europeans (and Scandinavians in particular) could swing ... They remind us of NHOP’s formidable ability, both as rhythm player and lyrical improviser.”
JAZZWISE, UK
Link

Line Up:
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - bass
Ulf Wakenius - guitar
Jonas Johansen - drums

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Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa

2008-07-11T04:14:00.000-07:00

This seminal disc now almost seems like the manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. (Thomas May)
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Gidon Kremer violin
Keith Jarrett piano
Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Dennis Russell Davies conductor
The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Tatjana Grindenko violin
Alfred Schnittke prepared piano
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra
Saulius Sondeckis conductor

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Nguyên Lê - Three Trios

2008-06-23T03:22:00.000-07:00

(1997)
Nguyên Lê is amazing. His guitar work is unique, inspiring, technically challenging, fired with soul, jazzy, rocking, and drips of fusion yet goes even further. You will hear world music (far-Eastern/Southeast Asian) scales and note treatments in attack, vibrato, and bends. Lê is of Vietnamese heritage but knows full well the world of jazz and rock.
He can play light-hearted, crystalline-clear tones, dreamy chordal sustains, wielding an endless barrage of effects and suddenly flat-out scream and wail like a banshee as if Ninja warriors had invaded the studio. I have never heard anything quite like him. I was deeply impressed first listen to this release. This is a guitarists’ guitarist kind of CD. Every jazz musician and fusion musician needs to hear this magic.
For references sake, I suppose you can hear echoes of Bill Frisell, Terje Rypdal, Steve Kahn( Blades era), Wayne Johnson, Kazumi Watanabe, and even Steve Tibbetts but . . . Lê is standing all alone in his total sound and delivery. My adored track was “La Parfum” for its simple elegance, beauty, and its power to transport me into bliss . . .
If you want the crunch go straight to his fiery boogie on “Straight No Chaser” and then sample the very fusiony “Dance of the Comet”. But really this is CD to be experienced in totality. You will discover sounds and feelings you will thrill to if you love great guitar-driven jazz. Highest of recommendations!!!
(John W. Patterson"All about Jazz")
Part1 & Part2

Line Up:
Nguyên Lê - el. & electroacoustic guitars, guitar-synth and E-bow
Marc Johnson - acoustic bass
Peter Erskine - drums
Dieter Ilg - acoustic bass
Danny Gottlieb - drums
Renaud Garcia-Fons - acoustic bass
Mino Cinelu - drums, percussions
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Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder

2008-06-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Talking Timbuktu

(1994)
Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders.(Derek Rath)
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Bonnie Raitt - Fundamental

2008-06-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

(1998)
Bonnie Raitt's marvelous voice, saucy grooves, and singing slide guitar are this album's fundamentals. But these 11 love songs are more than a back-to-basics exercise. Coproducers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake help Raitt create the edgiest arrangements she's ever had. Which explains the dry, in-your-face vocal sound of "Round and Round" and the near-naked framing of the best guitar solos, like Los Lobos' David Hidalgo's probing Jimmie Vaughan masquerade on "Cure for Love." Raitt herself plays a rippling African-style melody line on "One Belief Away." And the jittery guitar break and pumping piano on "I Need Love" threaten to knock the tune's tonal center to pieces. Her lyrics are crafty, too, whether she's calling down the furies as she opts for another spin on the flaming "Spit of Love" or feeling romance tug like quicksand in "Cure for Love." A little weird, maybe, but commanding, wise, real, and beautiful. (Ted Drozdowski)
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Eberhard Weber - Little Movements

2008-06-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

(1980)
Recorded 1980. At the time Weber's Colours group was one of the most highly-acclaimed bands on the international touring circuit. Colours combined a sense of jazz history (personified by ex-Charles Mingus saxophonist Charlie Mariano) with an awareness of the pattern-pulses of the minimalist composers (emphasised in Weber's writing for Brüninghaus's synthesizers) and the energy of jazz-rock (drummer Marshall had played with Soft Machine and Jack Bruce).
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Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer

2008-06-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

PASODOBLE
(2007)
Veteran Swedish bassist/composer Lars Danielsson aligns with blossoming young Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer for an affair that pronounces a sense of intimacy as an additional vehicle for vast expressionism. Glisteningly recorded at a Swedish studio, you can discern every detail and nuance throughout. Consisting of lovely melodies performed with a soft touch, the duo frequently engages in rapid unison choruses amid some movements that touch upon classical concerto elements. At times somber, the artists also generate peppery themes, often spiced with subtle overtones and flailing crescendos. As they integrate depth and finesse into these works spanning folk-drenched dirges, lullabies, and intricately resolved jazz motifs.
On the title track, Danielsson generates a soft rhythmic element by tapping his bass strings in support of Mozdzer�s buoyant voicings. And with the piece titled �It�s Easy With You,� Danielsson uses his cello as a sweetening agent for his partner�s nimble progressions. One of the highlights of this disc pertains to the musicians� ability to perform within, and maintain a level-playing field. The intuitiveness they generate along with the overriding aura of these works presents a colorific set of ideas and enactments. In sum, they seem to have attained a deep-rooted comprehension of each other�s traits and stylizations; not to mention a deeply focused mode of execution that offers a mark of distinction. Musical personalities contract, expand and become magnetized during the preponderance of this irrefutably satisfying endeavor.
(www.jazzreview.com)
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Nublu Orchestra Conducted by Butch Morris

2008-06-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

(2007)
A club, record label, band and movement all-in-one, the Nublu Orchestra is committed to developing and creating new sounds and music. The Lower East Side institution is comprised of talented musicians from jazz, funk, pop, fusion, Brazilian, R&B and classical genres, "but the music we make is none of these," comments Butch Morris, conductor of the Nublu Orchestra.
On the recently released self-titled album, Morris conducts band members from Wax Poetic, Love Trio, Kudu, Brazilian Girls and others, using signals of his own invention to relay real-time arrangements and compositions. The methodology unites musicians in their playing regardless of their technical, stylistic or cultural differences. The result is a free-form combination of avant-garde jazz, folk, funk and techno forming an improvisational hypnotic sound.
(coolhunting.com)
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Jonas Hellborg - The Word

2008-06-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

(1991)
A wild improviser, bassist Jonas Hellborg leans more toward rock than jazz. Drawing inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, Arabic music, and Lifetime, Hellborg began playing professionally in the mid-'80s. After some session work (including Pil's Album, Ginger Baker's Middle Passage and John McLaughlin), he released The Word on Axiom in 1991. The album features Hellborg's acoustic bass, drums and a string quartet. He remained highly prolific throughout the decade, recording most prominently for the Day Eight label.
(All Music Guide)
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Renaud Garcia-Fons - Navigatore

2008-06-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

(2001)
The most amazing double bass player of our times, Renaud Garcia-Fons is known for his overwhelming virtuosity, his Mediterranean melodic sense and his viola-like con-arco sound. A student of the legendary Syrian bassist François Rabbath, Garcia-Fons is not only influenced by jazz and classical music, but also by flamenco, new musette, tango, Bretonian, Andalusian, African, Latin American, Arabic and Indian traditions. His unique artistry led to many exciting and successful collaborations with other open-minded players like Rabih Abou-Khalil, Michael Riessler, Dhafer Youssef, Nguyên Lê, Gérard Marais, Pedro Soler and Michel Godard.In the tradition of his visionary album "Oriental Bass" of 1997, Garcia-Fons' joyful east-western synthesis comes to a climax on "Navigatore" that features 22 different players in a string of powerful original compositions. An epic and compelling ensemble music, "Navigatore" displays a wide spectrum of moods and grooves using even Spanish, Bretonian, Arabic and Indian instruments. Says Garcia-Fons: "Each composition tells a story - the story of a life, a round trip - somehow as if we would pass successively through several existences in time and place. In the sequence of these 12 compositions I have tried to evoke memories of imaginary lives which happened in the orient and the occident, yesterday and before yesterday. The double bass personifies a voice with different shadings - a voice of a being in transition.
Part1 & Part2

Chris Hayward flutes
Yves Favre trombone
Jean-Louis Matinier accordion
Kudsi Erguner ney
Karim Ziad gumbri
Rabah Khalfa derbouka, carcabas
Bruno Caillat tablas, dâf
Patrice Héral drums
Pierre Hamon bagpipes, recorder
Françoise Couvert violin
Franck Pichon violin
Bruno Sansalone clarinet
Laurent Malet fluegelhorn
Claire Antonini lute, târ, saz a. m.
Hakan Gungor kanoun
Dahmane Khalfa carcabas, tbel a. m.
Adel Shams El Dine rek
Jorge Trasante drums, bombo a. m.
Franck Tortiller marimba, gongs a.m.
Antonio Ruiz "Kiko" flamenco guitar
Philippe Couvert violin
Renaud Garcia-Fons 5-string bass

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Jon Balke - Statements

2008-05-28T03:53:00.000-07:00

(2006)
This is international, border-crossing jazz in full effect. … Statements has a distinctly elemental tonality, a graphic sense of ancestral cry. Adding greatly to this is the vocal/recitation of Miki N’Doye, Sidsel Endresen and Solveig Slettahjel whose minimal musings on the closing ambient invocation “Unknown” are arresting to say the least." Kevin Le Gendre, Echoes"
Part1 & Part2

Frode Nymo: alto saxophone
Kenneth Ekornes :percussion
Harald Skullerud :percussion
Helge Andreas Norbakken: percussion
Ingar Zach :percussion
Jon Balke :keyboards, percussion, vocals, sound processing
Arve Henriksen :trumpet
Sidsel Endresen: text recitals in English
Miki N´Doye: text recital in Wolof
Solveig Slettahjell: vocals
Jocely Sete Camara Silva voice
Jennifer Myskja Balke :voice

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Kudsi Erguner -Islam Blues

2008-05-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

(2001)
With Islam Blues the Ney (reed flute) virtuoso Kudsi Erguner has expanded the dimensions of the impressively successful Ottomania. It can be a new milestone in Erguner’s remarkable career. He has written film music for, among others, Martin Scorsese (together with Peter Gabriel) and Peter Brook, produced ballet music for the great choreographer Maurice Béjart and, in an acclaimed Salzburger Festspiele production, brought out the oriental influence in Mozart’s "The Abduction from the Seraglio". The son of Ney master Ulvi Erguner, Kudsi was born in Turkey in 1952. As musician, musicologist, teacher, author, and translator he has involved himself in the stimulation and revival of Turkish tradition, and again and again crossed musical borders with exciting results - which is natural for someone who has lived abroad (Paris) since his student days (from 1975 on).
In Islam Blues Sufism, the teachings of the wisdom and mysticism of Islam, plays an even greater roll than in Ottomania. Erguner has been involved in Sufism since his childhood. He visited Sufi brotherhoods and thus absorbed its teachings and music. By 1988 he had recorded Sufi music - "The Mystic Flutes of Sufi", a prelude to the dancing dervish ceremonies. This time the music is not only played - it is also sung; for Islam Blues two singers were added to the ensemble. Hymns of praise to the Prophet Mohammed, maxims, and love poems by authors from the time of the Prophet compose the literary texts of this album. Erguner leans on the practice of the "Zikr" rites: in these meetings the dervishes invoke the name of the Prophet while the music accentuates the ceremonially induced feelings of ecstasy. With his compositions Erguner translates the atmosphere of these ceremonies into the universal language of music, a music which remains very near to the source, and yet flows into the endless ocean of sound.
Besides Mark Nauseef, Erguner’s jazz guests this time are the great contra-bass artist Renaud Garcia-Fons and the exceptional guitarist Nguyen Lé. Lé is the son of Vietnamese parents and grew up in Paris. He is a masterful wanderer between disparate musical worlds. The Algerian multi-instrumentalist Karim Ziad, who took a "North-African trip through Paris" on his impressive CD Ifrika , takes over the drum part on the piece "Twins". There is a real symbiosis between the jazz musicians and the Turkish ensemble: while the immensely soft and tender sounding Turkish violin comfortably modulates almost like a jazz instrument, Nguyen Lé’s guitar and Renaud Garcia-Fons’ bass can almost pass as Oriental instruments. And Erguner’s flute, this story-telling reed flute - has long since been at home in both houses.
Line Up:
Kudsi Erguner - ney (reed flute)
Yunus Balcioglu - vocals
Halil Neciboglu - vocals
Bruno Caillat - double bass, percussion
Derya Turkan - kemençe (turkish violin)
Hakan Güngor - kanun (sitar)
Nguyên Lê - guitar
Renaud Garcia-Fons - doublebass
Mark Nauseef - drums
Karim Ziad - drums on track #7
Part1 & Part2
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Frode Haltli - Passing Images (2007)

2008-05-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

Frode Haltli, acknowledged as one of the most outstanding accordion soloists in contemporary music, is also an exceptional improviser and an authority on folk music. His second ECM recording under his own name brings all of these aspects of his musical character together. Repertoire includes a psalm from the western fjords, a lyrical waltz from Haltli‘s home village near the Swedish border, a Roma traveller tune that suggests Albert Ayler‘s sound-world... With a supporting cast including Irish-Scottish classical viola player Garth Knox (ex-Arditti Quartet) as well as Norwegian partners composer/singer Maja Ratkje and trumpeter Arve Henriksen, Haltli offers a radical new look at music from traditional sources.
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Michael Brook & U. Srinivas - Dream

2008-05-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

(1995)
U. Srinivas earned early renown in his native India as a child prodigy musician, performing Carnatic ragas on an amplified mandolin. During Real World’s Recording Week, Srinivas first recorded an album of South Indian classical music, Rama Sreerama (released by Real World Records), which Michael Brook produced. Moving forward from the success of that recording, Brook and Srinivas embarked on a joint ambient project based on sketches previously recorded by Michael. The resulting album, Dream, led several years later to a concert involving Srinivas, Brook and an international cast of supporting musicians staged in Srinivas’ hometown of Madras.
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Sinikka Langeland - Starflowers (2007)

2008-05-11T03:12:00.000-07:00

“Starflowers” is a fascinating ECM debut for Norwegian vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland. A folk singer from the forest lands near the Swedish border, Langeland explores in her work the relationship between man and nature. On this disc she sets verse of lumberjack-poet Hans Børli (1918-89), with help from an outstanding ensemble including trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. Altogether: a marvellous confluence of folk music, sung poetry and Nordic improvisation brilliantly marshalled in Manfred Eicher’s production.
Part1 & Part2

Sinikka Langeland: vocal, kantele
Arve Henriksen: trumpet
Trygve Seim: tenor and soprano saxophones
Anders Jormin: double-bass
Markku Ounaskari: percussion

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Ornament - Bleu

2008-05-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

(2004)
Australian dance label Psy Harmonics occasionally takes welcome detours into the ambient zone. The debut album Bleu from Melbourne duo Ornament (Simon Polinski and Joe Creighton) is one such release and is an absolute gem. It's warm, spacious and alive, with fully-fleshed arrangements and seductive textures. Neither is it the sound of ambient-downtempo you might expect from a psy-trance label. It's less bleepy and synthetic and often less busy too. The mastering seems to have deliberately softened the top-end sounds, creating the aural perception of bigger spaces and more rounded surfaces rather than sharp, well-defined edges. In places there's a classical logic to the album's flow. Two pieces have their own separate "overtures" which give you a main theme before going on to a more extended development of the same idea. Highlights include "The Jesse Tree", a slow and sexy 4/4 rock jam with guitar soloing that's extended but restrained. "To Love Is To Laugh" is based around an oddly touching narrative sampled from a documentary about Eskimos. Best of all is the breathtaking choral-based piece "Yehuvaroom". Its looped, chiming melody establishes a powerful sense expectancy and mystery to which string sounds and other melody lines are added, all bathed in carefully timed choral swells of exquisite beauty.
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Lars Danielsson

2008-05-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

Mélange Bleu

(2006)
The gentle attraction of beauty
“Mélange Bleu” by bass player, cellist and composer Lars Danielsson - the art of subtly blended colours
Lars Danielsson ACT-debut “Libera me“ left no doubts about his creative versatility. And yet: the bass player, cellist and composer continues to surprise. His latest ACT-release “Mélange Bleu” shows up a completely new dimension to this musician with enormous potential. Danielsson has surrounded himself with partners like pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer und guitarist Eivind Aarset, all of them specialists for mood music that often develops in before a backdrop of ambient inspired sounds, samples and programmed beats. Danielsson takes the same route on this recording, but adds a very personal touch, blending the electronic parts subtly with acoustic instruments and orchestral arrangements. Each musical ingredient is quietly and subtly integrated into a thoughtful and carefully crafted composition, Danielsson’s “Mélange Bleu” develops a gentle attraction through its lyrical beauty and finely honed details
Link

Libera Me

(2004)
Line Up:
Lars Danielsson - acoustic bass, cello, piano, guitar
Jon Christensen - drums, percussion
Nils Petter Molvaer – trumpet
Xavier Desandre Navarre – percussion
David Liebman – soprano saxophone
Anders Kjellberg – cymbals
Jan Bang – samples
Carsten Dahl – piano
Tobias Sjögren - guitar
DR Danish Radio Concert Orchestra conducted by Frans Rasmussen
Part1 & Part2

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Ibrahim Maalouf - Diasporas (2007)

2008-04-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

The origin and main influence of the trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is found in the deep roots of Arabic music: improvisation. Bringing around him Blues, Arabic, Jazz and Electro musicians, Ibrahim Maalouf intend to play his own way the cultural , traditional territory where belongs his father’s invention: the quarter tone trumpet.
Link(Mp3@vbr"extreme")

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Nguyên Lê - Tales from Viêt-Nam

2008-04-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

"For a long time, I had dreamt of a band mixing jazz musicians with Vietnamese traditional musicians, playing a music inspired by the songs my mother used to sing to me. Born in Paris from Vietnamese parents, I lost the Vietnames language when I began school. Only in Sept. 94 did I feel confident and experienced enough to begin "Tales of Viêt- Nam". It is a journey back into my childhood, a return to lost roots. But it also means the creation of an imaginary folklore that stems from a crossroads of contemporary influences".
Nguyên Lê

CHOC of the year 1996 (JAZZMAN)
Link

Line Up:
Nguyên Lê – el., ac. & fretless guitars, guitar-synth., programming
Huong Thanh – vocals
Hao Nhien – zither, dan bau, sao flute, sapek clappers
Paolo Fresu – trumpet, fluegelhorn
Simon Spang Hansen – saxophones, concert, bass & african flute
Michel Benita – acoustic bass
François Verly – percussions, marimba, keyboards, piano
Joël Allouche – drums
Steve Argüelles – drums, percussions
Trilok Gurtu – drums, percussions
Thai An – moon lute

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Brad Mehldau - Songs

2008-04-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

(1998)
Art of the Trio Volume 3 was easily the finest rainy-day album of 1998. Moody, pensive, and hopelessly romantic, Brad Mehldau's fifth album as a leader staked out a deeply personal, strikingly handsome territory. Aided by sympathetic playing from bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, Art of the Trio may not be the most exciting jazz album of the year, but it is certainly the most gorgeous. Mehldau's take on Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is offered with as much feeling as his cover of Nick Drake's "River Man," and both show the range of his influences. (S. Duda)
Part1 & Part2
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David Sylvian - The Good Son vs The Only Daughter

2008-04-10T03:15:00.000-07:00

(2004)
The latest release by David Sylvian is actually a collection of personally commissioned remixes of material from his critically acclaimed 2003 album Blemish. I usually have my suspicions when it comes to remix or tribute projects. It is a rare occasion when someone does a fair remix or reconstruction of a tune, thus taking it to territories beyond the confines of dance music. Despite my prejudices and doubts, this is truly a great album.
Surprisingly, what's most amazing about it is its cohesion. A group remix effort often comes across as dysfunctional material that is neither this nor that. For this particular task a group of innovative contributors was assembled, including Burnt Friedman, Yoshihiro Hanno, Ryoji Ikeda, Akira Rabelais, and Readymade FC, some of the most creative and globally respected individuals at the forefront of musical experimentation and sonic exploration.
The original Blemish was based on series of improvisations with guitars, vocals, and electronic sounds, but the immediacy of the situation, as well as the stripped arrangements, created a specific mood. The remixers went on rearranging the material, providing a beautiful tapsestry of sounds, bleeps, blops, hard edits, and distant drums. For the most part, the “form” of each track is established by seemingly random sound effects. Each remix is an accomplishment of its own, and these tapestries have proven great platforms for Sylvian’s voice, which sounds like Miles’ trumpet sound—warm and recognizable.
The opening track, “The Only Daughter,” which was remixed by Japanese minimalist artist Ryoji Ikeda, is reminiscent of Harold Budd’s work—a few naked piano chords or a simple but enchanting melody hovering in a spacious, haunting atmosphere. The two versions of “The Only Daughter” and “Blemish” (done by Ryoji Ikeda/Akira Rabelais and Jan Bang & Erik Honore/Burnt Friedman) do not hinder the album’s concept. To the contrary, these variations provide a rich landscape of sounds where the artificial and the natural bond seamlessly, which can also be said for the whole album. A personal favorite is “A Fire In The Forest,” remixed by Readymade FC, who adds a subtle pop flavor with his approach.
The Good Son Vs. The Only Daughter is a highly theme-oriented disc and a captivating excursion into synthesized organics. Beautifully packaged and designed (with artwork by Atsushi Fukui and design by Chris Bigg), it is a truly interesting work—just as good as Blemish, only different.
Link

Blog archive
David Sylvian-Blemish (2003)

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Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Tuesday Wonderland

2008-04-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

(2006)
In the beginning it was Sweden, then Europe and now it’s the world. The rise and rise of EST has been remarkable in recent years – in the USA they were the first ever European jazz group to feature on the cover of Downbeat magazine, while their intro to Japan’s top promoter was on the recommendation of Keith Jarrett. If any one is in any doubt about how original, absorbing and dynamic this band is, then get Tuesday Wonderland, their tenth album.
From the étude-like opening (‘Fading Maid Preludium’) that explodes into post Hendrix power-chords to the focused beauty of ‘Where We Used To Live’, this remarkable group is one of the few bands on the current scene that can be truly called sui generis – for evidence of this try the shifting tone colours of the title track. What is even more remarkable is that Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier could inspire such a wide range of moods.(Jazzwise)
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David Torn - Tripping Over God

2008-04-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

(1995)
Guitarist David Torn has been exploring the terrain between rock, jazz and mutated world music ever since first hearing Jimi Hendrix. His sonic voyages start with a rock sound, but using innovative looping and audio processing, Torn quickly transcends the limitations of that form. In 1994, he was lauded as "Best Experimental Guitarist" by Guitar Player Magazine Reader's Poll. Torn's music spans genres and blurs borders. His soundscape performances reflect his interest in textures, soundscapes and atmospheres.
Part1 & Part2
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Terje Rypdal - Double Concerto / Fifth Symphony

2008-03-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

(1998)
The Fifth Symphony is a work of considerable calm, often constructed using modal, polyphonic strands which become progressively more chromatic, and with some unexpected eruptions, recalling at times Kancheli or Vasks. There is a lushness to Rypdal's orchestral palette and harmonic vocabulary, however which suggests a somewhat Gallic orientation (the third movement even recalls Poulenc). The fourth movement, as with the Double Concerto, seems to me to be the heart of the matter, alternating a rhythmic bird-like, chattering polyphony with driving brass and thundering drums and, once more, a Kancheli-like calm with shattering explosions. Rypdal's voice is an individual one and he has much to say; he is, in addition, a superb orchestrator, and the Riga Festival Orchestra, whose clear, sharp sound is caught to perfection, does his music full justice. An extraordinary disc.
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Planète Sauvage - Planète Sauvage II (2008)

2008-03-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

Few months after their first EP released in November 2007, Planète Sauvage is back with their second album and first LP , more melancholic and darker, more ambitious by its length, by the structure and the complexity of its compositions.Each piece is a story, a journey between mind-blowing atmospheres and lyricism, taking us into a visual universe, a world of cinema as the band claims it in their different tributes to movies directors such as Cronenberg, Wenders and Bertolucci.
Still under space-rock, jazz, ambient, even classical influences, in this album, much more than in the previous one, appears a real originality, generous, touching and stiring the sense of true individuality.
A rare album, highly recommended!

Download (Mp3@vbr): rapidshare
Mirror: sendspace
Website: PlaneteSauvageSound

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Planète Sauvage (ep)

Tord Gustavsen - The Ground

2008-03-18T04:54:00.000-07:00

(2005)
The group here features Harald Johnsen on bass and Norwegian chill-out group Supersilent’s remarkable drummer Jarle Vespestad. Again, too, the music has something of the Svensson trio’s knack for simple but haunting, hook-based themes delivered as a close three-way embrace, though at a lower dynamic level and in a more slowly evolving way. Gustavsen’s tunes sound like a mix of romantic-classical rhapsodies and very slow soul ballads given a little jazzy push whenever they risk getting becalmed. … Gustavsen may not play many notes but he does make them all count, and Vespestad’s patient, multi-textured drumming is hypnotic listening.
(John Fordham, The Guardian)
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Stereophile, Recording of the month Jazzreview, Editor’s Choice Le Monde de la musique, Choc du mois Jazzman, Choc du mois Fono Forum, Empfehlung des Monats Piano News, CDs des Doppelmonats Stereoplay, Die Audiophile Gramophone Korea, Editor’s Choice Bells Award for International Jazz Album of the Year (Australien)

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Ulf Wakenius - Forever You

2008-03-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

(2004)
Now and again an album appears that, in its gentle simplicity and unassuming veracity, makes a strong impact as much by virtue of all the things it is not as by all the things it is. Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, heard on this session solely on classical guitar, clearly has the knowledge and ability to produce an album that highlights his formidable technique and rich harmonic knowledge. Instead, however, he has chosen to release "Forever You" , an album that is characterized by a quiet grace and unadorned melodism. But it takes an artist with a broad musical vision and stylistic depth to make a recording this pure, this chaste. As such it stands out as an instant classic, an album that in all its subtlety is more emotionally profound and evocative than the plethora of recordings that may be more immediately impressive for their displays of technique, but are nowhere near as compelling.
Wakenius, whose clear understanding of the tradition has made him first call guitarist in recent years for pianist Oscar Peterson and the late bassist Ray Brown, is an artist who, while clearly rooted in that tradition, is no anachronism. His modern lyricism and clear playing style has also been found in collaboration with artists as diverse as saxophonist Michael Brecker, keyboardist/composer Jon Balke, percussionist Trilok Gurtu and guitarist Pat Metheny. Accompanied on this session by Swedish bassist/cellist/pianist Lars Danielsson and Danes Carsten Dahl on piano and Morten Lund on drums and percussion, the mood takes, as its starting point, the ambience of tunes like Metheny's classic “Farmer's Trust” and “Always and Forever,” the latter a piece that Wakenius covers beautifully.
The programme is a blend of originals, standards and lesser-known tunes, starting off with Danielsson's elegant and tranquil title track before moving into the more Argentinean-informed ”Buenos Aires.” “Arirang” is a Korean traditional tune with a naive theme that provides a relaxed backdrop for Dahl's gospel-inflected piano solo, bringing to mind Keith Jarrett in his early days. Wakenius treats “All the Things You Are” as a solo guitar piece, demonstrating that with taste and a modest yet sophisticated conception, a well-heeled standard such as this can be given new life.
And while the music is what one should come for, it is clear that the whole effort is a labour of love for Wakenius, right down to the aesthetic packaging and simple but exquisite booklet. In a time where the future of music distribution through digital downloading is being bantered about, it's encouraging to find artists who still feel that, while the music is ultimately paramount, the beauty of presentation is an important part of the art.
Wakenius' record may not impress those who need overt displays of technique or sharp edges in their music, but for a sense of musicianship at its purist, where the essence of the material is key and the truth of every note is supreme, Forever You is an essential recording and clearly one of the best of 2004.
(All about jazz)
Personnel: Ulf Wakenius: acoustic guitar
Carsten Dahl: acoustic piano
Lars Danielsson: acoustic bass, piano, cello
Morten Lund: drums, percussion.
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Robert Fripp "Soundscapes"

2008-03-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England) is a guitarist, composer and a record producer, perhaps best known for being the guitarist for, and only constant member of, the progressive rock band King Crimson. His work, spanning five decades, encompasses a variety of musical styles. He is married to Toyah Willcox. Fripp was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (published August 2003).
In the late 1970's, Robert Fripp worked with a technique termed Frippertronics, in solo performances featuring audio loops created with electric guitar and interconnected tape recorders.
Fripp returned to recording solo in 1994, using an updated version of the Frippertronics technique that employed digital technology instead of tapes to create loops. Fripp released a number of records that he called "Soundscapes," including 1999, Radiophonics, A Blessing of Tears, That Which Passes, November Suite, and The Gates of Paradise. (Pie Jesu consists of material compiled from A Blessing of Tears and The Gates of Paradise.) On the Soundscapes recordings, the inner workings of the music are not as clearly laid bare as they are on Let the Power Fall, perhaps due to the greater possibilities offered by the new technology.
Soundscapes:
Fripp states on the Disicpline Global Mobile web site that Soundscapes: "has the aim of finding ways in which intelligence and music, definition and discovery, courtesy and reciprocation may enter into the act of music for both musician and audience". Because Fripp has also stated that the intent is for active listening by the audience, it can be argued that Soundscapes may not be considered as a type of ambient music, as it is sometimes described. The performances are improvised; they can be quite loud, lengthy, dramatic, soothing, eerie, and possibly alarming. Because Soundscapes are often held as part of a rock concert, they can prove somewhat taxing on an unprepared audience.
Another common Fripp quote regarding Soundscapes is: "this remains the best way I know of making a lot of noise with one guitar".

At The End Of Time
Churchscapes Live in England and Estonia
(2007)

Link

The Gates Of Paradise
(1997)

Link

A Blessing Of Tears
(1995)

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Arve Henriksen

2008-03-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

Born in 1968, Arve Henriksen studied at the Trondheim Conservatory from 1987-1991, and has worked as a freelance musician since 1989.
He has worked with many musicians familiar to ECM listeners, including Jon Balke (with whose Magnetic North Orchestra he has played extensively), Anders Jormin, Edward Vesala, Jon Christensen, Marilyn Mazur, Audun Kleive, Nils Petter Molvær, Misha Alperin, Arkady Shilkloper, Arild Andersen, Stian Carstensen, Dhafer Youssef, Hope Sanduval, the Cikada String Quartet, The Source and more. He has played in many different contexts, bands and projects, ranging from working with koto player Satsuki Odamura, to the rock band Motorpsycho via numerous free improvising groups with Ernst Reisiger, Sten Sandell, Peter Friis-Nilsen, Terje Isungset, Marc Ducret ,Karl Seglem et cetera. Today he is working with Supersilent, Christian Wallumrod Ensemble and Trygve Seim Ensemble.
He has composed music (commision) to Bale Jazz, Vossa Jazz, "My own private furry" (dance performance) and to "FRED" (theatre performance). He was «artist in residence» at Moers Jazzfestival 2006 and he has been a part of the European Jazz Launch project 2004-2006.
Arve says: "An interest in sound-making was there from the beginning of my work with the trumpet. I have spent many hours on developing a warm sound, for instance, but not only that. In my opinion, the trumpet has vast potential for tone and sound variations that we still have not heard. At one point, I think it was in 1988, Nils Petter Molvær lent me a cassette of shakuhachi flute playing. Then things changed."
Arve Henriksen began collecting recordings of Japanese music, with koto, biwa, shakuhachi and other instruments: "I let the music 'ring' and develop in my head. I was astonished by the sound of this flute..." The shakuhachi's roots in the tradition of Zen Buddhism fascinated the trumpeter, as did its "meditative and minimalistic expressive quality. "This has made me work with tone and sound making in a new direction.”
But his interest doesn’t stop with this. He has been inspired by all sorts of folk music, also the Norwegian. He is now interested to work with more contemporary and composed music. He has also spent time on electronics and different treatments on the trumpet. And during the last years has also been focusing on his singing.

DISCOGRAPHY
Strjon
(2007)

Arve Henriksen: trumpet, voice, keyboards and electronics
ståle storløkken: keyboards
helge sten: guitars and bow
Link

Chiaroscuro
(2004)

arve henriksen: trumpet, voice and electronics
jan bang: livesampling and samples
audun kleive: drums and percussion
Link

Sakuteiki
(2001)

Link

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Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams

2008-03-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

(1978)
The 1978 recording debut from reformed avant-garde composer and eventual ambient forerunner Harold Budd consists of four chamber works (written between 1972 and 1975) that use varying combinations of harp, mallet instruments, piano, saxophone, and female or male vocals. Two years before his fateful first studio collaboration with Brian Eno (who produced this album), Budd was creating hypnotic music in an acoustic mode. All of the works herein--including "Two Rooms," whose latter half is an adaptation of John Coltrane's "After the Rain"--sustain a similarly dreamy vibe. An important credo for Budd was to make music as pretty as possible as an antidote to the noisy avant-garde he had escaped from. One cannot fault him for the lovely sounds he creates here, although fans familiar with his more cinematic works might be caught off-guard. Regardless, the pleasant Pavilion of Dreams provides insight into Budd's past, and it offers the same somniferous effect as a gentle lullaby, making it perfect for late-evening listening.(-Bryan Reesman)
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Huong Thanh & Nguyên Lê

2008-02-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

Fragile Beauty
(2008)
Born in what was then Saigon, but resident in France for more than 20 years, Huong Thanh is one of the great female interpreters of traditional Vietnamese song, and an impressive composer. This is the fourth album on which she has collaborated with Nguyen Le, her guitarist, producer and engineer. It's another reminder of the duo's remarkable ability to mix ancient Asian themes and unexpected contemporary influence, all with an exhilarating, cool confidence. Huong Thanh's voice is clear and thoughtful, but still robust enough to match Nguyen Le's delicate and sensitive settings. As a rock and then jazz guitarist, he has played with the likes of Gil Evans and Ornette Coleman, but here his jazz influences are mixed with other global styles and sounds - from African talking drums to the Japanese koto, or from the Vietnamese zither to the muted trumpet work of Paolo Fresu or piano harmonies of Dominique Borker. Many of the songs start acoustic, but then the global experiments and jazz influences subtly begin to emerge, in what becomes an increasingly intriguing set.(Guardian)

Huong Thanh - vocals
Nguyên Lê - electric & acoustic guitar, synthesizer, computer
Mieko Miyazaki - koto
Hao Nhiên Pham - monocorde (dàn bau), 16-strings zither (dàn tranh), sao, meo bamboo flutes
Nguyên Van-Hong - backing vocals
Paolo Fresu - trumpet, fluegelhorn
Stéphane Guillaume - soprano sax, flutes
Renaud Garcia-Fons - pizz & arco acoustic 5-string bass
Etienne Mbappé - fretless bass
Alex Tran - percussions
Francis Lassus - percussions
Illya Amar - bamboo balafon (trung)
Dominique Borker - piano
Link

Dragonfly
(2001)

This is evocative world music, produced and performed on by the Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le. At times, though, it strays into his territory of western jazzy electronics and funk, infused with the sound effects and melodic associations of Vietnamese music. Huong Thanh is a vocalist rooted in the glottal manipulations, high, trilling sounds and soft mid-range intonations of the region's traditional techniques, and this is a project that imports her remarkable sound into a mix of contemporary global and indigenous contexts. Dix Raisons D'Aimer finds Huong gliding delicately through an undergrowth of Vietnamese flutes and zithers, before Nguyen's echoing samples and stealthily advancing tabla grooves modernise its atmosphere. The title track mingles the Vietnamese with the African, as Richard Bona's vocal chant intertwines with the leader's feline phrasing, and Ce Que Dit l'Oiseau, full of rustling percussion, finds Huong more mellow, sonorous and playful. Only marginally jazz-affiliated, but the textures are wonderful. Guardian - John Fordham Nov 2001
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Sickoakes - Seawards

2008-02-22T03:49:00.000-08:00

(2006)
Having had a flawless string of releases last year, Type Records is beginning their 2006 schedule with a bang, quite literally. A project several years in the making, Swedish sextet Sickoakes� Seawards is a startling, lovely documentation of the place where Mercury Rev, Explosions in the Sky, and Henryk Gorecki meet, with plenty of their own flourishes in place. Opening with the brief overture �Driftwood�, the album reaches its first stride on �Taking the Stairs Instead of the Elevator�, whose panoramic guitar vistas loom over precise, minimal drums as the approach of a simply chilling brass section turns the song down an entirely different path evoking a muted, though triumphant melancholy. �Oceans On Hold� slowly expands into a desert from a single grain of sand, with weathered drum patterns and spiraling whirlwinds of ascending melodies, while �Wedding Rings & Bullets In The Same Golden Shrine� swallows half the album over the course of its two parts, intently developing through Stravinsky-esque string themes and endless layers of guitar. This is truly music that seems larger than life and, at the risk of sounding trite, somewhere close to heaven-sent. At least we won�t have to worry about finding a proper score for the day the world ends, though � Sickoakes have done a stellar job with it already, and you�d do well to have yourself a listen."Tom Meluch, ATMSPHR"

Sickoakes are:
Mats - Guitar
Simon - Guitar
David - Bass
Jonas - Saxophone
Jacob - Saxophone
Joel - Trumpets and Trombones
Erik - Drums
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Stefano Di Battista - Round About Roma

2008-02-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

(2003)
Italian saxophonist Stefano Di Battista could spill a can of paint onto a canvas, only to find he has made a beautiful picture. In other words, every breath that passes through his horn is attractive.
His latest project Round About Roma creates an imaginary cinema score, with strings by the Symphonic Orchestra of Paris, that could have been a 1960s romantic film centered in Rome. Together with composer/arranger Vince Mendoza, Di Battista weaves jazz elements into these well-tempered tracks. Mendoza has created orchestral arrangements for jazz and pop music from John Scofield to Bjork. His most accomplished work being two discs for Joni Mitchell, including last years Travelogue with his string arrangements for Mitchell s re-interpretation of her beloved hits.
Two saxophonists, Art Pepper and Cannonball Adderley, have influenced Stefano di Battista s career. Both of these players incorporate an emotional approach in their playing. Where Pepper would reach for a clarinet, di Battista favors a soprano saxophone. His tone is more luscious than his two heroes, as is evident throughout this disc. Where the prior self-titled Stefano Di Battista (2000) with Elvin Jones and pianist Jackie Terrasson threatened to speak bebop throughout, this albums concept is pure amour. This isn t as much a jazz quartet with string accents as it is a small orchestra that includes piano/bass/drums/saxophone. Mendoza and Di Battista refrain from overlapping music, they intertwine and prudently have either the quartet or the strings drop out for an agreeable mix.
It is a stretch to call this jazz. Let s call it beautiful cinema orchestrations in the tradition of Nina Rota. If there is such a category, this is a near perfect album.

Personnel:
Stefano di Battista: Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone;
Eric Legnini: Piano;
Rosario Bonaccorco: Bass;
Andre Cecarrelli: Drums;
Vince Mendoza: Conductor, Arrangements;
Symphonic Orchestra of Radio France Les Archets De Paris.

Link
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Brian Eno and Peter Schwalm

2008-02-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Drawn From Life

(2001)
The first album in four years (since 1997's 'The Drop') for Brian Eno finds the legendary musician/producer paired for the first time with German DJ/percussionist J. Peter Schwalm. Longtime Eno friend Laurie Anderson provides vocals on one song, although most of the thirteen tracks are atmospheric, soundtrack-like instrumentals (some with strings). Believe it or not, Eno will be performing live in support of the album, with at least one scheduled date (at the Fuji Rock Festival on 29 July 2001).
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John Surman & Trans4mation

2008-02-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Coruscating
(2000)
A new chapter opens in the work of one of Europe's most consistently adventurous musicians. "Coruscating" features finely crafted and richly-melodic music for strings by John Surman, with the composer and his long-time associate Chris Laurence deployed as primary soloists and improvisers. The music heard on "Coruscating" was, in live performance, one of the big successes of ECM's 30th Anniversary Festival in Brighton and was also hailed as one of the highlights of the Bath Festival. Reviewing the material, The Times of London compared its sonorities to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten. Jazz, though, remains a crucial component of the material. Tracks such as "Stone Flower" reveal Surman's love of Duke Ellington. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Ellington's great baritone saxophone, Harry Carney, one of Surman's primary influences and a player to whom John has often been compared by the press.
Link

The Spaces In Between
(2007)

This is a total joy. If you thought Surman’s previous album Coruscating with this same line-up was good, this is even better. … The sound of the instruments and the way they combine is truly amazing. The throaty, guttural baritone finds an echo in the bass and cello and the soprano in the higher tones of the violins. The harmonies are fabulous, deep and rich, and evoke, for me at least, the English countryside through the seasons. As for the performances, they are quite perfect with Rita Manning’s solo violin on the title track an absolute highlight. This is simply the best record I’ve heard this year.
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise
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Solveig Slettahjell

2008-02-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

Slow Motion Quintet
PIXIEDUST
(2006)
Cool Norway seems to be the most efficient hothouse for new talents in Europe in recent years. Vocalist Solveig Slettahjell is by no means a new talent, but only now is her third solo disc, with her Slow Motion Quintet, being distributed outside of Norway. Slettahjell was a student of renowned Norwegian vocalist Sidsel Endresen, with whom she collaborated recently in Jon Balke's Batagraf ensemble (Statements, ECM, 2005). She recorded with the experimental all-female vocal quartet Kvitretten, with jazz singers EldbjÃ¸rg Raknes, Kristin AsbjÃ¶rnsen and Tone Ã…se, and teaches jazz singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
Her quintet members accompanied her through her two previous discs, Slow Motion Orchestra and Silver (Curling Legs, 2001 and 2004); the latter won the Spellemannspris, the Norwegian Grammy, in 2004. They are experienced players and leaders of their own ensembles. Pianist Morten Qvenild is a key member of In The Country, Shining and Susanah, and the Magical Orchestra, all outfits which released their music through Rune Grammofon. Bassist Mats Eilertsen leads his own quartet and is a member of the English-Norwegian quartet Food and percussionist Thomas StrÃ¸nenâ€™s Parish, as well as sax player HÃ¥kon Kornstad and pianist HÃ¥vard Wiik's trios. Trumpeter Sjur Miljeteig is a member of the popular electro-jazz outfit Jaga Jazzist. Drummer Per Oddvar Johansen has recorded with reed player and composer Trygve Seim, guitarist Jacob Young, pianist Christian WallumrÃ¸d, and even a quartet led by ECM's Rainbow studio master sound engineer, Jan Erik Kongshaug.
The maturity of the quintet's members and the restrained and subtle approach of Sletttahjell contribute to the success of this release. Slettahjell and her songwriter collaborator, Peder Kjellsby, collected eleven songs that deal with hope, faith, imagination and dreams. As Slettahjell sings in “Starpillow,” “to dream is to believe.”
The disc opens with a beautiful arrangement of the Emily Dickinson poem “Hope is the thing with feathers,” performed with a haunting autoharp intro by Qvenild, and it concludes with a leisurely electronic version of the Walt Disney classic “When You Wish Upon A Star,” done here as if Slettahjell is casting a promising spell upon her listeners. Of course, the pixiedust refers to the fairy in the Peter Pan story, Tinkerbelle, and that pixiedust, along with faith and trust, are the ingredients for the domestic fantasy that is drawn so beautifully in Slettahjell's lyrics on “Faith, trust and pixiedust.” Her cover of John Hiatt's “Have a Little Faith in Me” is no longer the desperate plea it was in Hiatt's original version, but a comforting promise. Her version of Billy Holiday's classic “Don't Explain” carries a more reconciling message than Holliday's own sober version.
Qvenild adds detailed electronic ornamentations that highlight the delicacy of the arrangements. Miljeteig's breathy tone, Johansen's caress of the cymbals, and Eilertsen's assured and economic playing, along with the fragile yet warm vocals of Slettahjell and her cohesive vision of Pixiedust, create a really magical listening experience. You may be convinced by her pledge that “anything your heart desires will come to you.”
Link
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Susumu Yokota

2008-02-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

Sakura
(1999)
Beautiful and brilliantly-executed ambient electronic music. It has just enough variety and subtle shifts of texture and timing to make this interesting to listen to, not just to send you to sleep like a lot of other ambient. The soft harp-like synths bubble away gently in the background, while splashes of sounds are woven subtly around with great timing, without becoming over-produced. It feels pedantic to describe the individual tracks of such a smoothly-flowing work, but I'll mention a few. "Hagoromo" shows off Yokota's skill for subtly off-beat loops. "Hisen" has an electric piano noise that could have come from Radiohead's "OK Computer". The slinky vocal samples of "Kodomotachi" and the jazz-tinged "Naminote" give the album extra dabs of colour, before it floats away with the ethereal "Kirakiraboshi".
Link

Skintone Collection

For over 20 years Susumu Yokota has been creating a diverse body of work which, since 1998, he has released on his own Skintone label. While this work is lazily categorised as ‘ambient’, that name really is a disservice. Yokota’s music is rarely happy to find space in the background and tracks have much more movement of ideas within them than ambient music strictly uses.
Being a compilation is possibly the only fault of this disc as a listening experience, and it is a minor fault at that. The diverse nature of Yokota’s music means that the tracks jump about stylistically a little. ‘Card Nation’ from 2001’s Grinning Cat is ominous atmospherics under piano, violin and vocal snatches punctuated by heavily reverberated clangs and hisses. ‘Illusion River’ from 2001’s Will is pretty Rhodes glissandos and opera swoons under a raw, harshly cut drum loop, the tension between the two aesthetics continually shifting the focus of the track and providing considerable forward momentum. Traditional Japanese instrumentation finds its place in tracks such as ‘Live Echo’ (from 2002’s The Boy And The Tree) and ‘Sentiero’ (from 2005’s Distant Sounds Of Summer collaboration with Rothko). These are seamlessly blended with classical western instrumentation and contemporary electronics to great effect throughout. Whether creating a contemplative mood in ‘Kawano Hotorino Kinoshitade 1998′ (from 1998’s Image 1983-1998) or splicing samples into abstract shards to be recomposed in ‘A Heart-warming And Beautiful Flower Will Eventually Wither And Become Dirt’ (from 2007’s Love Or Die), Yokota avoids cliches and keeps every detail serving the whole exquisitely.
Every piece on this collection is musically noteworthy in some way. Compiler Ben Eshmade, of the program ‘Chiller Cabinet’ on Britain’s Classic FM has done a good job of creating a reasonable flow across the tracks. As mentioned, though, it is hard to listen to the entire disc and not notice the joins between disparate works. However, the strength of the material means that this leads to a desire to hear the original works in their entirety, where the flow and continuity that is core to this music can be heard and fully appreciated. As a compilation which opens up Yokota’s work to new audiences, sending them in search of his back catalogue, this is a great success.
Link

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Susumu Yokota & Rothko- Distant sounds of summer

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David Darling - Cycles

2008-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

David Darling (born March 3, 1941) is a cellist and composer. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Bobby McFerrin and Spyro Gyra in addition to putting out several solo and small ensemble albums as well as albums of his compositions. Born in Elkhart, Indiana, Darling began studying cello at 10 and continued on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Indiana University. He took a position as elementary and secondary school instrumental ensemble director in Evansville, Indiana in 1966, and in 1969 joined the faculty of Western Kentucky University teaching music education and directing the community college orchestra. He joined the Paul Winter Consort in 1970, as well as taking a position with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and remained a member until 1987, when he left to pursue a solo career. In 1986 Darling joined Young Audiences, Inc., an organization that seeks to educate children about music and the arts through in-school programs. In the same year, he founded Music for People, which seeks to encourage self-expression through musical improvisation. In 2000 he recorded an unusual collaboration with the Wulu Bunun, a group of Taiwanese aborigines.Darling's performance and composition draw on a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz, Brazilian, African, and Indian musics. He currently lives in Goshen, Connecticut where he continues his active composing, teaching, and performing career. In addition to his work as a solo and collaborative musician, he has written and performed music for more than a dozen major motion pictures, including Wim Wenders's 1991 film "Bis ans Ende der Welt" (Until the End of the World), Michael Mann's 1995 film Heat (film) and the 1985 killer-doll horror film Child's Play. The popular Until the End of the World (soundtrack) features Darling's performance of Graeme Revell compositions alongside major acts like U2, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Talking Heads, R.E.M. (band), Lou Reed, and Elvis Costello. In 2002 David was nominated for a Grammy award for his album 'Cello Blue'. Darling is a tremendously gifted teacher of music improvisation and is a passionate believer in the ability of every human to learn to express themselves musically. He co-founded Music for People , an organization which runs "music for everyone" workshops that are inspiring everyone from musical novices to professionals. All musical styles are honored, from Bach to boogie woogie. In 2007 he recorded a 3-CD set with Julie Weber discussing his music philosophy.

Recorded November 1981
David Darling: cello, 8-string electric cello
Collin Walcott: sitar, tabla, percussion
Steve Kuhn :piano
Jan Garbarek: tenor and soprano saxophones
Arild Andersen: bass
Oscar Castro-Neves :guitar
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David Darling-Cello
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Robotobibok - Instytut Las (2003)

2008-01-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

Robotobibok (a blend of two Polish words for robot and skiver) was formed in 1998 in Wrocław, Poland. From the very beginning, their music has seemed to combine modern electronic music with the energy of improvised jazz. Strong and acoustic drums, double bass and trumpet intertwine with dreamy vibraphone, electric guitar and characteristic 70's analogue electronica.
The result evokes the atmosphere of 70's electric jazz and early electroacoustic experiments. The core of Robotobibok's music is their post-jazz rhythm section, ostensibly inspired by the newest electronica, but going further and building more intricate structures. Robotobibok also try to develop their own language in improvisation; individual instruments sometimes do solo, but none of them dominates in the end.

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Oystein Sevag - Caravan

2008-01-25T03:11:00.000-08:00

(2005)

“Øystein Sevåg is back where he has almost always been – in my ears. With a brew of sometimes amazing beauty, inspired by New Age, jazz, classical, and God knows what, he once again leads us into the essence of beauty.This is music that is full of space: space to reflect on what we are listening to and space to go on our own journeys. Øystein Sevåg’s music often has a touch of the religious about it. It is, without exception, extremely beautiful and appealing. There is every reason to be pleased that Øystein Sevåg has returned from his self-imposed exile…
People who liked Sevåg before will definitely like him again now.”- Puls (music magazine)

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Oystein Sevag - Bridge

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Nguyên Lê Duos - Homescape (2006)

2008-01-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

Where does jazz stop and world music start? The boundaries are getting more blurred by the minute. We're all postmodernists now, and many musicians under fifty reflect a range of influences beyond those traditionally associated with their own core style. Some, like French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le, are so polyglot as to be practically beyond category.
Le started out down the cultural miscenegation road with his first band, the multi-ethnic Ultramarine, whose 1989 album, De, was named World Music Album of the Year by the radical French newspaper Liberation. He's continued to mix it up ever since—prominent genre-benders he's worked with include Miroslav Vitous, Trilok Gurtu, David Liebman, Paul McCandless, Peter Erskine and Mino Cinelu. In the late 1990s Le became increasingly interested in Maghrebi music, working with Algerian singers Safy Boutella and Cheb Mami, and in 1998 he brought Maghrebi and Vietnamese musicians together on the album Maghrebi & Friends.
None of this, however, can prepare you for the galaxy of sound sources on Homescape, a series of alternating duets with Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu and Tunisian oud player Dhafer Youssef. Some of these sources are developed and explored, others are referred to only in passing, and they include—but aren't limited to—post-Hendrix rock, Milesian harmon-mute free improv, Maghrebi trance music, Ellingtonia, ambient, a Papua New Guinea vocal choir (sampled and replayed backwards), Delta blues, Vietnamese folk tunes, flamenco, Iranian modes, a Sardinian choir, Australian aboriginal ritual music, French chanson, Gregorian chant, and Indonesian gamelan/gong music.
Guitars, trumpet/flugelhorn and oud aside, the music is generated by loops, samples and overdubs, and the entire heavily post-produced album was recorded and mixed in Le's Paris apartment - since 2003, his friends and neighbours Fresu and Youssef have been dropping by to home-record. The duets with Fresu are typically in free-improv mode (the exception being Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn's lovely “Chelsea Bridge”), while the Youssef duets tend to be song or structure-based.
In the main sunny and joyful, though not without some darker and more abrasive moments, the fifteen tracks—average length three minutes, a handful six or seven—resemble a series of round-the-world postcards sent by Le, who mixed and post-produced everything solo, to his collaborators. As a soundtrack to an evening communing with the big bamboo, the exotic and the very exotic drifting in and out of the mix, it's rich, colourful and beguiling.
Chris May"allaboutjazz.com"

Nguyen Lê: acoustic, fretless, synthesiser, e-bow and Vietnamese guitars, computer programming and electronics.
Paolo Fresu: trumpet, flugelhorn and electronics.
Dhafer Youssef: oud, vocals and electronics.
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Eivind Aarset - Sonic Codex (2007)

2008-01-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

"Sonic Codex", the forth Jazzland album by Eivind Aarset, is perhaps the strongest album he has produced so far. This is no mean achievement, considering his debut as a bandleader, "Electronique Noire" was hailed by The New York Times as "one of the best Post-Miles electric jazz albums". That album's successors, "Light Extracts" and "Connected", also met with equally effusive comments from critics of many backgrounds, not just jazz. The album "Connected" gave the first clue to Aarset’s long-term goal of creating a truly unified body of work. "Sonic Codex" takes that concept, restates, elaborates, and then amplifies it to create a true masterwork that may well be a defining moment in both Aarset's career and the history of Jazzland.
Beginning with "Sign of Seven", Aarset ventures along a primitive melodic path laid out on log drum, before primordial forest breaks open into urban jungle, full of glitches and all manner of guitars and layers of Hans Ulrik's clarinets.
Ulrik follows through to "Quicksilver Dream", a track that shimmers with an ambient trippiness, yet also has a very clear intention to move to somewhere, not pace in repetitive circles.
"Drøbak Saray" is a soundtrack for a hot day in a space age Souk, like Terje Rypdal's guitar lost in William S. Burrough's Tangiers, both languid and tense in its movement.
"Cameo" presents a very different kind of music, more obviously adhering to a compositional form than the previous tracks, yet retaining a feeling of spontaneity that is common to the best jazz.
"Still Changing" presents further experimentation by Aarset on the genetics originally grown on Light Extract's "Empathic Guitar", and then spliced and recomposed on "Connected" as "Changing Waltz", this time with the addition of Tor Egil Kreken's banjo. The music becomes increasingly vast in its scope as the track progresses, before retuning to its original theme.
"Black Noise/White Silence" erupts, hissing and spitting, kicking and biting, like a series of spasms, before seizing control of itself, like a caged lion that has never been tamed.
"Family Pictures III" is yet another deliberate throwback, this time directly to "Connected," and with the two namesake pieces from that album makes a perfect triptych of three different views of a single sonic landscape.
"Sleeps with Fishes" uses the musical vocabulary found on tracks such as "The String Thing", but this time that twang that might accompany a James Bond or a nameless spaghetti western gunslinger has taken root in an aquatic world of sleeping, dreaming night.
"Return of Black Noise" is an echo from within the album itself, coming as a more direct, abbreviated version of "Black Noise/White Silence" - like a postmodern "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". It merges seamlessly with "Murky Lambada", which stands at the end of the album like a colossus. Initially sounding like a not-too-distant cousin of "Sign of Seven" with its tribal percussion, the lambada blurrily refocuses to reveal a deep and misty soundscape with its own textures, peaks and valleys, before exiting behind through veil of ambient hum and plinking kalimba, bringing the album cyclically to its beginning.
Throughout the varied textures and structures, Aarset's guitar provides constant interest, sometimes behaving as a narrator helping through densely layered textural structures, sometimes behaving like a carefully camouflaged animal, barely perceptible against a driving backbeat. As with the rest of his work, he demonstrates how the electronic and the acoustic can co-exist, each integrating and absorbing the other, not merely occupying the same space. He has created his own sonic world, and he continues not just to explore it, but also to chronicle it with an unerring ear for the right details, and a full understanding of how those details make up a much larger whole.
The album's title is a perfect summary of its hour-long contents: it is a Sonic Codex. It puts forward Aarset's rules of engagement with the listener, and very deliberately quotes and redefines the musicality that made up his previous three albums, "Electronique Noire", "Light Extracts", and "Connected", yet also points his way forward; it is an innovative present that simultaneously summarises the past, and predicts the future.
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Josh Roseman - Treats For The Nightwalker

2008-01-14T04:37:00.000-08:00

The biggest rising star on trombone (Down Beat Poll Winner 2003), Josh Roseman has been celebrated for his multi-stylistic musicianship and his powerful command of the instrument. His debut album "Cherry" earned highest critical acclaim, was voted among the 10 CDs of 2001 in German Rolling Stone, CD of the week in the London Guardian and Jazz Album of the Year in Ink 19 magazine. Wired Magazine read: "Thirteen eccentric players clash beautifully on one blindingly day-glow rant after another."
Where "Cherry" gave us multi-angled views of the tears of a clown, the follower "Treats For The Nightwalker" is a bit of funk genius from on high. From the textured, epic sprawl of "Sedate 2.0" to the M-Base-tinged futuristic drive of "Are You There," the disc is orchestral in scope, hard driving, an ambitious milestone for a journeyman hornplayer and notice for the progressive groove scene at large. Drawing on a huge range of influences, from Hermeto Pascoal to Squarepusher, King Tubby to Threadgill, Josh's new album was scored electronically for horns, strings and a very dangerous rhythm section in late 2001 with exacting detail. But the results reflect a turntablist's viewpoint as much as a composer's. Themes are teased until they break. Styles collide fabulously. The grooves sweat, having been pushed well over the edge in long preproduction and mix sessions. And in the midst of all this, you hear the holler of an extravagantly talented live working ensemble: The band is given free reign to paint broadly, fearlessly, in a very physical fashion. Roseman planned and executed the basic tracks for this second disc in between sideman tours with Charlie Hunter, Soulive, Dave Douglas and Dave Holland, and the range of his musical agenda translates clearly here. There are rhythmic elements designed to light up a room, compositional motives that are crystalline, fractal-like, insoluble and fascinating to the inquiring ear, and wild, organic solo work from a bunch of masters.
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Dino Saluzzi - Responsorium

2008-01-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

(2001)
" Like his "Cité de la Musique" (1995), Responsorium finds Saluzzi in an intimate trio with the mellow guitar of his son, José, and the expert pulsating bass of jazzer Palle Danielsson. Thoughtful and exploratory, the nine tracks recall both the audacious "tango nuevo" of minimalist Eduardo Rovira and the sadder side of "criollo" roots music. Though often regarded as abstract and cerebral, Saluzzi is led by feeling. ... Saluzzi's tangos are sequences of perfect fragments held together by a bandoneon closer to the church organ than the barrel organs of proto-tango. For some he is the officiating high priest of new tango, but while arguably the best act around, this still sounds more like a gorgeous preamble than the final word.
Chris Moss, Songlines"
Songlines, Top of the world
Jazzman, Choc du mois
Le Monde de la Musique, Choc du mois
Audio, Jazz CD des Monats
Part1 & Part2
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Dead Hollywood Stars

2008-01-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Gone West
(2002)
Go WEEEST! No. Gay propaganda as disco-pop this is not. Dead Hollywood Stars play country & western from the other side. The saloon is deserted, the dried bushes roll along Main Street, a door slowly creaks in the dry wind. There--a hesitant banjo riff. The echo of an automatic piano. The dead are waking up in the ghost town.
Dead Hollywood Stars succeed well at making dark ambient music based on elements from country & western music. Sometimes it's reminiscent of Neil Youngs soundtrack to Dead Man, other tracks lean more towards industrial ambient, and some tunes distort country music-sounds into melodic techno. Not only is Gone West based on an interesting concept, the result is really good
Note: Limited edition of 500 copies, sold with Junctions. Gone West is identical to the 2000 release, except for the last two bonus tracks. The titles of tracks 11 and 12 are inverted on the sleeve; the above track-listing is correct.
Link

Junctions
(2002)
"Gone West", Dead Hollywood Stars' first album released in 2000, had intrigued and seduced with its audacious mix of electronica and folk music. Unfairly under-promoted, this subtle UFO, who's got two already available tracks on the "Wagon Of Miracles" maxi, is reissued in a CD bonus format of a limited "Junctions" edition, the new fascinating release of the magical trio, Dead Hollywood Stars. Under this curious name are three exceptional people: John N. Sellekaers (Xingu Hill, Urawa, Ambre, Snog), Hervé Thomas (Fragile, Hint) and C-Drick Fermont (Ambre, Ammo). "Junctions" follows the "Gone West" line with more sound experimentation and textures' mix. Unprecedented crossover of blues (The Pure Voice and Back From Exile), of a deceptively groovy Black Lung (In The Abbey of the Psalms), of Megaptera (Noctuary) and of Front Line Assembly (Last Train To Aldebaran), we could easily classify this future classic with an Amon Tobin's or imagine it as the next Lynch's soundtrack, one of the track, Suburban Mystery, reminding us of the Twin Peaks soundtrack. Even if this album has an easy approach, it'll be better to let oneself carried by numerous colours of "Junctions" (you can easily go on a same track from a happy or tribal ambience -Singapore Sling- to colder spheres -Triangulating the Deamon or The Crying Indian-) and discover the richness of these fussy compositions that make of "Junctions" a precious and necessary album.
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Cuong Vu - It's Mostly Residual

2007-12-31T05:05:00.000-08:00

(2005)
Since much of what passes across a music reviewer's desk is the sonic equivalent of hyenas gnawing on the bones of long-dead jazz styles, the arrival of something new that's both original and great gives twice the reason to celebrate. Vu is capable of some intense, headlong improvisation, as is clear on the aptly titled "Expressions of a Neurotic Impulse" and "Brittle, Like Twigs," but his real strength is the extended, gorgeous lines that he unspools on the other cuts. The title track, in particular, offers a melody that seems to take measure upon measure to reach its culmination – it's stately, elegiac, and yet not in the least mournful; one could only describe it as the sound of someone looking back on a glorious love affair that has ended without bitterness. This is all a way of saying that Vu's playing has an emotional resonance that's rarely found these days without having to sift through layers of hokum.
"Edward Batchelder, Signal to Noise"

Cuong Vu - trumpet
Stomu Takeishi - bass
Ted Poor - drums
Bill Frisell - guitar
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Rokia Traoré

2007-12-26T05:16:00.000-08:00

Wanita
(2000)

When one gets lost in the West African country of Mali, the customary request for personal guidance is "Sila jira kan na," meaning "Show me the way." In the oppressively hot streets of the crowd- and dust-clogged capital city of Bamako, such entreaties from strangers are accepted as routine, since one market-swarmed street can resemble a dozen others. But in the sphere of contemporary Malian music, as in the world at large, the familiar appeal takes on a special poignancy, because the ability these days to offer confident direction is in increasingly short supply.

One of the finest records issued anywhere this year is "Wanita" (Indigo/Harmonia Mundi), the second album by Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré. The follow-up to her much-praised 1998 debut, "Mouneissa" -- which sold over 40,000 copies in Europe--the new release expands on the softly poetic but intensely persevering messages of a woman who is quietly but questfully altering the face of African music. On a planet seemingly rife with self-righteous anger, racial antagonism, and inter-family tension, she calmly petitions on songs like "Souba" for humility and reconciliation; and as modern societies increasingly exploit women via popular degradation while idealizing male brutality, she warns on "N'Gotolen" against the dangers of building either a boom economy or a cultural pecking order based on contempt for others.

"There is a trend for selfish individualism also in Mali, even though we're very far away from the situation with the United States or Europe," she says, smoothly shifting from French to her mother tongue of Bamanan, with sudden bursts of English. "But I'm singing this way because,from speaking with the elders in Bamako, there has been and still is a big human interest in the worth of family members, neighbors, and colleagues in our offices or workplaces. I'm very conscious that, with all the money some people have these days in the U.S. and other countries, there is an aggressive individualism that has catastrophic consequences. You can feel that this misguided individualism is part of this violent process today in many homes and streets. I'm telling on other songs on the album that if you have a conscience about the importance of life and your proper individual life, you can avoid the violence and killing. But the fact that we're allowing it to happen is still baffling to me," she adds sadly.

In Mali,whose hierarchical musical traditions are dominated by either the ceremonial drama of the often haughty male griots and jelis (storytellers) or of the vociferous jelimusolu (female praise singers), Traoré's own music is uniquely informal, personable, and tender. Her intimate-sounding acoustic accompaniment consists of balafon (wooden xylophone), kora (a highly resonant harplike instrument with 21-25 strings), ngoni (lute), and an occassional electrified bass, plus the guitar and percussion Traore splits with others during the lovely solo and choral vocals (the latter sometimes overdubbed by Traoré). The music grips listeners as it glides into a rich nether realm between tribal chant and folk chanson, prodding the spirit with ideas that are bluesy in their convictions but almost Asian in their plucked airiness. And because the subject matter is so boldly expressed, its passionate tug soon grows addictive.

A member of the Bamanan ethnic group, Traoré is descended from the noble warriors of the Traoré clan, but she is free by custom from the caste-oriented constraints of other tribes (like the Maninka) that relegate public vocalizing to the social strata of nyamakala (craftsmen). Unlike the Maninka ranks from which sprang such national musical stars like the magisterial Salif Keita or such so-called "divas from Mali" as Kandia Kouyate, Ami Koita, and Oumou Sangare, Traoré's grounding in music was casual and spontaneous.

"Besides singers from Mali, my influences are jazz, classical, and rock," she says. "I like Ella Fitzgerald, Tina Turner, and Joe Zawinul of Weather Report. And the bulk of the themes on the album are from everyday life--which means living with others, with its pros and cons. On songs like 'N'Gotolen' and 'Souba,' it just says that you need the others, the people that are in your background, and you should give them all the respect that they deserve."

As we struggle through a cusp-of-the-millenium era without progressive leaders, clamorous cowardice frequently passes for courage and selfishness for wisdom. In place of such decadent notions of what constitutes fit paths to fame and fortune, Traoré offers the title track of "Wanita," which she says is named for "an imaginary person, a sort of internal voice or conscience that gives me more and more will when the courage is not there anymore, so I will be able to get to the top of the tallest tree or mountain."

There's a potent sense of delicacy in the music that announces that human dignity must be a shared experience or it does not endure. And songs like "Yaafa N'Ma" (We must ask and grant pardon/All of you who count for me/Forgive me for to err is human") show great faith in the concepts that love is power and gentleness is strength.

"I have to think like this because I'm only 1 meter and 60 centimeters [5 fee, 4 inches] tall, and my weight is only 48 kilos [108 pounds]," she confesses with a laugh, "so I must believe this, or I would lose all the time."
Born Jan. 26, 1974, to diplomat Mamadou Dianguina Traoré and Oumou Traoré, his wife from the same clan, Rokia is the middle child of seven. She grew up playing beside the famed River Niger that bisects the city as it snakes its way through the central portion of West Africa, but she also spent portions of her youth in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France, and Belgium because of her father's diplomatic postings. She was first encouraged in her career by Jacques Szalay, director of the French Cultural Centre in Bamako, and then championed by Northern Mali guitarist/singer Ali Farka Touré during the period when she copped the Radio France Internationale prize as African Discovery of '97.

Of all the artists covered in this column over the past eight years, Rokia Traoré, who tours North America this summer, is one of hte most original and inspiring this writer has encountered. Her brave music on "Wanita" is a mighty sword of hope, as soft as a feather but as real as steel.

"The role I might play is dependent on everyone else who hears my music," she says. "I have messages to transmit in the music, but then it's your turn to feel it. The guidance we need, the essence or soul of life that we all seek, only becomes reality through our relationships with each other."
(2000 BillBoard Magazine)

Link

Bowmboï
(2003)

"An album is a wall to penetrate," says Malian singer Rokia Traoré, immediately establishing herself as a marketing exec's nightmare. The wall called Bowmboï, Traoré's third CD, is built from sounds unfamiliar to Western ears and lyrics sung only in her native Bamana, even though she's also proficient in English, French, German and Italian. "I asked myself if it wouldn't be better to do something easier," she says. "Maybe if you do something a little pop, it's easier to promote. I had a choice. But I prefer this." Thank goodness. Bowmboï is mesmerizing, casting its spell with virtuoso vocals, rich textures and startling diversity. If her 2000 album Wanita was her breakthrough, winning Traoré worldwide acclaim as a rising star, then Bowmboï is a stamp of the 29-year-old's growing musical authority.

Traoré's sound may be exotic, ethereal, otherworldly — all words trotted out to praise the good in the impossibly broad "world-music" genre — but her themes are universal. Déli is a meditation on friendship. The title track — named for a lullaby Traoré's mother sang to her — wrestles with child poverty. She even deals with politics, but insists she could never work in that language. She thinks of the complexity of Mali's relations with the International Monetary Fund as well as her country's cotton farmers and how they suffer because Western nations subsidize their own. Such topics "are not poetic," she says. "I may be thinking about the situation between developed countries and undeveloped countries, but you will never hear those words in my songs." So, on Kèlè Mandi, whose haunting admonitions make it a highlight, Traoré just sings about human interaction: "Give me a bit of what you are/ But do it with gentleness and tolerance."

Traoré's spare arrangements use a variety of instruments, including a calabash harp called the bolon, an African lute called the n'goni and, on two tracks, the strings of San Francisco's acclaimed Kronos Quartet. But the songs are really designed to showcase the range of moods and colors in Traoré's own voice. On Mariama, a stirring call-and-response duet with veteran Ousmane Sacko, she provides the velvety counterpoint to his rough edges. On Manian, a searching song about poverty in which she asks, "What have I done to deserve such a life/ Who have I offended in heaven?", she begins with a matter-of-fact resignation familiar to anyone who has spent time in Africa, then unleashes a spellbinding mix of urgent chants, mournful cadenzas and more quiet testimony.
She often sings as the outsider, a role she has played for most of her life. A diplomat's daughter, Traoré spent chunks of her childhood in Algeria, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. As a musician, she's had to fight for respect, since she was not born into the caste of griots, Mali's musician-bards. It's been hard "to make people accept you for who you are," she says. The outsider's refrain is a cry for acceptance, and she sings one now for developing nations like Mali, whose needs are often overlooked. "In Africa, we are not powerful," she says. "This music is just to say: we are not O.K. But — there is always a message of hope." Her most spirited missive is Niènafîng, a drum-driven salute to her homeland. "Who dares say that Mali
has nothing to offer?" she demands. After listening to Bowmboï, nobody would dare.
(Time)

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Sainkho Namtchylak

2007-12-20T04:51:00.000-08:00

Sainkho Namtchylak is an experimental singer, born in 1957 in a secluded village in the south of Tuva, an autonomous Russian state bordering Mongolia. She has an exceptional voice, spanning seven octaves and proficient in overtone singing; her music enmeshes avant-jazz, electronica, modern composition and Tuvan influences. In Tuva numerous cultural influences collide: the Turkic roots it shares with Mongolia, Xinjiang Uighur and the Central Asian states; various Siberian nomadic ethnic groups, principally those of the Tungus-Manchu group; Russian Old Believers; migrant and resettled populations from the Ukraine, Tatarstan and other minority groups west of the Urals. All of these, to extents, impact on Sainkho's voice, although the Siberian influences dominate: her thesis produced while studying voice, first at the University of Kyzyl, then in the Gnesins Institute in Moscow during the 1980s focussed on Lamaistic and cult musics of minority groups across Siberia, and her music frequently shows tendencies towards Tungus-style imitative singing.
After graduating, Sainkho worked with several ensembles: the Moscow State Orchestra; the Moscow- based jazz ensemble 'Tri-O' (since 1989); School of Dramatic Art under the direction of Anatoly Vasiliev (Moscow), various orchestras in Kyzyl although (incongruously) as far as I am aware she has not worked with the Sayaan Ensemble, the Tuvan 'folkloric orchestra'- a far less sanitised example of folk baroque than, say, existed in pre-independence Kazakhstan- that has housed many of Tuva's other important singers. However, for several years Sainkho annually invited foreign musicians to Tuva to promote Tuvan culture. In 1997, Sainkho was horrifically attacked by Tuvinian racketeers which left her in a coma for two weeks. Again, sources regarding this contradict- others maintain that she underwent surgery for a severe malignant brain tumour; regardless, 1997 marked an appreciable change in her life. Since then, she has been resident in exile in Vienna, and has also recorded more prolifically as a solo artist- although she has released over thirty albums in the past twenty years, only seven have been entirely solo. in 2005 Italian publish house Libero di Scrivere released a book of poetry "Karmaland". In 2006 in Petersburg was published a book "Chelo-Vek" (in Russian, "A Human Being") in Russian, Tuvinian and in English.

Stepmother City
(2001)
Sainkho Namtchylak walks on the edges of life. It would be cliché to say she plays music on the border between East and West, past and present. But she is one of those artists that exist outside of categories. The same could be said of any woman who combines Tuvan throatsinging, experimental jazz, classical, electronica, and Buddhism. Then again, she is the only woman on the planet that fits this description.
Her new album Stepmother City—to be released on Ponderosa Music by Harmonia Mundi in October 2002—demands to be seen from a spiritual perspective. The liner notes are the words of a Buddhist monk from the 5th century BCE. The CD is embossed with a maze of roads whose existential names like “Born to Discover” and “Your Inner Eyes” chart a city that lies somewhere between the heart and the mind.
Already known as Tuva’s most celebrated female vocalist, Sainkho takes her unique blend in a new direction. Transfixing audiences with her astounding seven octave range, Sainkho uses songs like “Tuva Blues,” “Let the Sunshine,” and “Lonely Soul” to explore lands that live beyond the confines of the East and the West. Sainkho courses between polar extremes, reflecting love and hostility. With her finely crafted overtone singing, knowledge of Siberian folklore, shamanistic ritual, and history in Russian folklore ensembles and free-jazz acts, Sainkho juxtaposes traditional styles of her Tuvan ancestors with the Western avant-garde, sailing from harmonious serenity to hissing, trilling, and wailing.
Based in Vienna far from her beloved homeland Tuva, Sainkho sculpted Stepmother City to reflect her ambivalent feelings about European metropoli. Calling herself “first and foremost a woman from the Steppes,” Sainkho’s first musical inspiration came from her nomadic grandmother, who would sing lullabies for hours. She grew up in a culture where people just sing when they feel like it—singing when they’re happy and singing when they’re sad. Denied professional credentials from a local college where her explorative nature led her toward forbidden male-dominated styles, Sainkho transferred to Moscow where she discovered Russian improvisation. She also studied vocal techniques of Siberian lamaistic traditions.
Audiences are astounded by the diversity of sounds Sainkho can produce with her voice, from operatic tenor to birdlike squawks, from childlike pleas to soulful crooning; which at various moments elicit comparisons to Zap Mama, Patti Smith, Billie Holiday, and Nina Hagen. Stepmother City blends the sounds of electric guitars and loops with folk instruments like the shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute), doshpuloor (three-stringed banjo), and igil (a Mongolian horse-head fiddle connected with the spirit world), creating a synergistic blend of past and present.
Sainkho claims that music and spirituality are related by desire, or the tension that yells to reawaken people. Eager to take part in the process of remembering what has been forgotten, Stepmother City presents itself like a map, proposing routes to connect Western physicality with Eastern spirituality. Its seductive beats and wild vocals are sure to shock and inspire.
New Link

Who Stole the Sky ?
(2003)
It's easy to understand why Tuvan Sainkho Namtchylak has been an avant-garde icon for a long time; she's remarkable at producing the unexpected. But unlike many in her field, she also possesses a strong ear for melody, which makes her music accessible to a much wider audience. Both those strengths are on display here, along with her feeling for the music and the throat singing of her native land (very notably on the title cut and "Ohm Suhaa"). She can take a traditional piece like "Kaar Deerge" and turn it into something resembling a Celtic ballad, stripped and completely gorgeous. Then she can turn around and make something rhythmically compelling like "Runnin' Tapes" or strange like "Digital Mutation." By exercising the different facets of her personality, Namtchylak builds her typical unusual album with Who Stole the Sky, running from the contemporary to the past easily and naturally, and even venturing into almost jazzy territory on "Electric City." She embraces the idea of taking chances, of using odd juxtapositions and instruments (such as ghaita), and of singing that ranges from the lush to the elemental. This is as much, if not more, of a musical future as all the genre-mixing beats you're likely to find. (Chris Nickson, All Music Guide)
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Renaud Garcia-Fons - Arcoluz

2007-12-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

French bass virtuoso Renaud Garcia-Fons has grown into a living legend, both for his breathtaking technique and intonation as well as his talent as a composer. A dazzling performer on five strings, he uses his instrument's entire range, thus dominating the music and making the bowed double bass sound rather like a cello or a violin. When listening to his percussive speed pizzicato or his sweeping arco flageolets, the breadth of his capabilities becomes evident immediately. As a composer Garcia-Fons likes to take the listener on a gypsy's journey through the Mediterranean area, especially Andalusia, then Brittany, Latin America, India, the Arab world and even into European classical music of the past. Although incorporating influences from far and wide, his compositions are always focussed and efficient and keep to the spirit of charming chamber music. As Nils Jacobson wrote about Garcia-Fons' last album, "Entremundo": "Each piece contains its own detailed narrative. Elements of the music might seem familiar, but just palpably so, and never in an obvious way. Just let the music ebb and flow, carrying echoes of places distant and not so far away. A beautiful experience."

"ArcoLuz", the first live album after six studio recordings on ENJA, powerfully captures the fire and emotionality of Renaud Garcia-Fons' vibrant concert performance. With the core trio of "Entremundo" -- including upcoming flamenco star-stringer "Kiko" Ruiz and drummer "Negrito" Trasante of Gipsy Kings-fame --, Garcia-Fons delivers seven of his thrilling Spanish-influenced pieces, four of them being brand new. His trio's highly inspired, forceful and expressive performance, caught at Germany's Schloss Elmau in summer 2005, is not only presented on a first-class CD recording but can also be seen on a 85-minute DVD video disc directed by Nicolas Dattilesi. With subtitles in four languages and bonus tracks included, the DVD is further proof for Renaud Garcia-Fons' and his trio's extraordinary musicianship and deep-felt emotions. "He's in a position to unite nations of music lovers" (AllAboutJazz.com).

Renaud Garcia-Fons: 5-string double bass
Kiko Ruiz flamenco: guitar
Negrito Trasante: drums, percussion
Part 1
&
Part 2
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Michael Brook - RockPaperScissors

2007-12-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

(2006)
RockPaperScissors is Michael Brook’s new album, his third solo offering. When not recording in his Lavanderia studio located in the Hollywood Hills, Michael and his co-producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger Rich Evans (of Peter Gabriel's band) traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria on behalf of this ambitious project, where they recorded local orchestral and choral ensembles. Into this mix, Brook introduced several vocalist/songwriters such as his former 4AD label mate Lisa Germano, Shira Myrow and Paul Buchanan from the Blue Nile.
Link

Website:http:www.michaelbrookmusic.com/
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Ferenc Snétberger - Nomad

2007-12-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Three masters of their art have joined to form the new Ferenc Snétberger Trio. With natural ease they bring together choice compositions, technical skills, improvisational drive and musical fantasy of the highest order.
Hungarian-born Ferenc Snétberger is among today's outstanding players on his instrument, one "who can display intensity and passion even at a quiet volume" (Cadence). Going for a synthesis of flamenco, classical, jazz and samba, he melts all these influences into a very personal style full of surprise, warmth, wonder and emotion. One of the leading jazz bassists of today, Norwegian Arild Andersen is famous for his full-bodied tone and his elegant playing. He has recorded dozens of great albums with the likes of Jan Garbarek, Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny and Don Cherry. Italian-born Paolo Vinaccia has been living in Norway for 25 years and is a household name on the most creative Scandinavian improvisers' scene. His imaginative and colorful playing could be heard with Nils Petter Molvaer, Bugge Wesseltoft, Terje Rypdal, Palle Mikkelborg and others.
A multitrack recording (24-bit, 96 kHz) engineered by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Oslo's Rainbow Studios, the trio's debut album "Nomad" hypnotizes the listener with breadth and clearness. When Snétberger, Andersen and Vinaccia start to play, it is like pure magic. Charming melodies, thrilling grooves, fiery improvisations, sudden turns and fragile moments evoke sceneries right out of dreamland. Founded in 2004, this unusual trio has quickly grown into a highly celebrated live act. Critics have called them "a triangle of pan-European inspirations, an amalgam of mysticism and joy of life, dream paths and clear laughs, trance and dance". The trio's music -- ranging from modern jazz drive and world beats to decent electronic sounds and vibrant lyricism -- catches the audiences by its sheer emotional power.

Ferenc Snétberger: acoustic guitar
Arild Andersen: double bass, electronics
Paolo Vinaccia: drums, percussion, electronics
Link
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Trygve Seim-The Source and Different Cikadas

2007-12-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

(2001)
As you may have guessed ..., this isn't exactly dinner jazz, but neither is it a dry, difficult academic exercise. The writing is vibrant, witty and often beautiful. Throughout the cast of players shifts, giving each piece a distinctive character. ... But these guys can make it up as they go along just as well as they can write it down; the two free improvisations are stuffed with ideas yet marked by a restraint and a sense of space rarely found in jazz (except maybe on other ECM records). The closing "Tutti Free" finds the whole 11 piece slowly expanding and contracting as one with a sensitivity and power that's almost unfathomable. Beautiful.
(Peter Marsh, BBC Online)

Øyvind Brække: trombone
Trygve Seim: tenor and soprano saxo-phones, clarophone
Per Oddvar Johansen: drums
Henrik Hannisdal & Odd Hannisdal: violin
Marek Konstantynowicz: viola
Morten Hannisdal: cello
Frode Haltli: accordion
Arve Henriksen: trumpet
Christian Wallumrød: piano
Finn Guttormsen: bass
Part1 & Part2
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Janice deRosa - Afro blues

2007-11-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

"A great singer and a Wonderful mix of blues & african music."
Recommended.

(1998)
Janice deRosa: lead vocal
Djeli Moussa Diawara: Koras, vocals
Michel Fernandez: Latin and African percussions
George Wolfaardt: doublebass
Sissokho Yakhouba: kora
Fabrice Angier: acoustic guitar

Link
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Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan

2007-11-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Endless Vision
(2005)

"Endless Vision unites Armenian virtuoso Djivan Gasparyan on duduk (an eight-holed, double-reed flute made of apricot wood, derived from the regional shepherd's flute) and Iranian master Hossein Alizadeh on tar and shurangiz (new Iranian lute). Their live 2003 outdoor performance at Tehran's Niavaran Palace was accompanied by a trio of singers (in Armenian, Azeri and Persian), Armen Ghazaryan (duduk), Vazgen Markaryan (bass duduk), and the Hamavayan Ensemble (vocals, oud, shurangiz, percussion).

Born in the Soviet Republic of Armenia and trained at the Komitas Conservatory of Yerevan, Gasparyan is responsible for elevating the duduk to classical status in Armenian traditional music. His career began in 1948 with the Tatool Altounian National Song and Dance Ensemble and the Yerevan Philharmonic; some listeners may recognize his work from the soundtrack of Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ. Gasparyan has recorded with Peter Gabriel, the Kronos Quartet, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and numerous others.

Alizadeh began his career in the late 1970s after studying Persian classical music at the University of Teheran's School of Music; he conducts the Iranian National Orchestra of Radio and Television, and enjoys an international reputation as a soloist and composer at home and abroad. This meld of Persian and Armenian songs unfolds slowly and dramatically; the musicians and singers give one another plenty of room to explore the delicate nuances of these complementary and evocative musical traditions, whose microtonal character is accented by the plaintive duduk and the extraordinary overtone singing of Hourshid Biabani, Afsaneh Rasaei and Ali Samadpour. Reflecting upon this remarkable performance ought to call into question the wisdom of perpetrating in Iran the militarist folly and human sacrifice that already haunt Armenian and Iraqi history. By contrast, as Gandhi observed when asked his opinion of Western civilization, "It would be an excellent idea." - Michael Stone

Link
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Planète Sauvage - Planète Sauvage (2007)

2007-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Planète Sauvage debut album « Planète Sauvage EP » stand out distinctly with its singular character, beyond the vogue and so, really modern.
By listening this four original compositions, you could perceive sounds and also images, like a movie constantly updated so, I think about W.Wenders, D. Lynch and R. Laloux of course, especially his philosophycal and psychedelic animation « La planète sauvage ».
Electronic and electro-acoustic, this EP is also a mix of musical genre, look like a travel accross the continents, a travel book full of pictures and souvenirs.

So, enjoy and « bon voyage ».

Recommended

Download (Mp3@320): rapidshare
Mirror: Sendspace
Genre: Ambient, Space Rock, World, O.S.T
Website: PlaneteSauvageSound

Tangerine Dream

2007-11-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone several personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only continuous member. Drummer and composer Klaus Schulze was a member of an early lineup, but the most stable version of the group during their influential mid-1970s period was as a keyboard trio with Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann. Early in the 1980s, Johannes Schmoelling replaced Baumann, and this lineup, too, was stable and extremely productive. Tangerine Dream's early "Pink Years" albums had a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock. Their "Virgin Years" and later albums became a defining influence in New Age music, although the band themselves dislike the term.

Atem
(1973)

The fourth album of Tangerine Dream, and the last before they would sign with Richard Branson's burgeoning Virgin Records label, Atem (meaning "Breath") ranks among their most enigmatic. The album is less static than the previous Zeit, but overall continues along the quiet, ambient pathways.
Not at the start, though. With an opening rivaling the majesty of Popol Vuh's "Aguirre," the first 5� minutes of the title track makes you feel like you are inside a huge, ancient, Egyptian temple. The sound, defined by a repetitive motif on Froese's mellotron (the instrument's first appearance with TD) and Franke's tribal tom-toms, is an all-encompassing sanctity and awe. The percussive pace quickens to a climax, but then dissolves into a void of white light. It is after this great opening that the remainder of the track goes to minus eleven, like having been instantly teleported to the surface of an alien terrain so remote, astronomers wouldn't even bother to put it on their charts. But even while so removed, prog and Kraut fans should recognize the territory well. It is the rock-meets-electroacoustic avant garde style also explored by peers Klaus Schulze, Cluster, and early Pink Floyd: minimal, usually atonal organ mixed with unsettling electronic sounds (e.g., humming reverberation, sizzling noises, trickling). Perhaps it is "Fauni Gena" that best encapsulates the meditative and mystical feel that pervades the album, beginning with an aria of flute mellotron and proceeding along to string mellotron, all surrounded by naturalistic sounds and occasionally whispered voices. The interesting thing about this track is how organic and synthetic it manages to sound at once. Listening to it, you could imagine yourself being in the Garden of Eden, or conversely in some futuristic simulation of an aviary or rainforest. The final track, "Wahn" (German for "delusion"), splashes some cold water into the listener's face, with prehistoric vocalisms and screams that at the same time have a clear studio reverb to them, before closing out with some more tom-tom and 'tron magic.
A minus that warrants mention: similar to the other earliest Tangerine Dream albums in the Castle reissue series, though this boasts "digital remastering" done in 1995, the sound remains substandard with significant vinyl buzzing, particularly in the opening of "Atem" where it most matters. It's too bad that the band hadn't quite made it to Virgin quite yet, where the original master tapes most likely would have survived in reasonable condition. Barring the sound, this is one that most prog fans should hear and most hardcore Krautrockers probably already have. It seems to be less talked about relative to the other albums they made around this time, such as Alpha Centauri, Zeit, and Phaedra. If you want easy listening, go with Frank Sinatra. But if you want something more challenging and exploratory from this period of popular music, then Atem is an inevitability.
(Ground and sky)
Link

Phaedra
(1974)

The watershed album for Tangerine Dream was this, their first release for Virgin Records, Phaedra. If Zeit was music recorded on Jupiter, this was music recorded on Pluto: icy, distant, alien. The beginning moments of the title track always manage to bring shivers up my spine, as we are gently blown by a jet stream from up above, until slowly descending down into a mechanical throbbing like something you'd imagine hearing in a mad scientist's lab or in the shadowy corridors of an H.R. Giger painting. Gradually, this throbbing speeds up, until an angelic mellotron choir parts the waters. Soon over this, enter a wavering mellotron string lead, swirling in and out like quicksilver, and in the hands of VCS3 manipulation, almost sounding like a Moog at times. This early climax, perhaps the most incredible section of the title track, then hangs a sharp left turn unexpectedly into a new terrain of pulsing sequencing that would become the band's signature for the remainder of the 1970s. This similarly builds slowly to a peak, before screeching to a halt altogether once it reaches its top limits. Then the listener is left alone on an immense, deserted beach, with only synth-gulls and lonely mellotron to provide companionship. The haunting disorientation of the children's playground in the distance is the icing on the cake. On my remastered CD, this is placed as the beginning of the next track, "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares," and as I never owned the original LP I assume that's where it should be — but for me it will always be the close of title track."Mysterious Semblance" is pretty much Froese and one of the all-time classic mellotron tracks: ten minutes of pure, unadultered 'tron beauty. To date, the only other track I've heard yet that equals it as a mellotron showcase is Popol Vuh's "Aguirre." Despite its foreboding title, it is for the most part a soothing, peaceful piece, and one that can't help but evoke the blue and white upper-reaches of the sky, especially with the windy bursts of white noise that augment the mellotron's song. The two remaining tracks, "Movements of a Visionary" and the Baumann-composed, quiet-as-a-whisper "Sequent 'C'" are also quite strong.Phaedra remains Tangerine Dream's most recognized and best-selling album today. Despite this, it also thankfully remains a challenging work to absorb, to the extent that I'm somewhat surprised it enjoyed the commercial success that it apparently did. In any case, we're talking indispensable stuff with this one. With the move to Virgin and improved production, Phaedra represents peak work from this band--a classic of ambient and electronic music that sounds just as great today as it did back then.
(Ground and sky)
Link

Rubycon
(1975)

The follow-up to the band's phenomenally successful debut, Phaedra, on Virgin Records, Rubycon is measured in two parts coming in at a very tidy and well-used 34 minutes.
The opening six minutes of "Part One" make for a warmer opening than that of Phaedra. Arising out of the murky depths of shimmering organs, Froese and friends bask the listener in lush swashes of keyboards, the musical equivalent of an aurora borealis sweeping away gently in the distant arctic. However, it is at around the seven minute mark and with the advent of echoing metallic sounds that a more ominous atmosphere begins to take over. Not soon after, the pulsing synth beats and string mellotron that are associated with the band's peak period arrive. Notice how when it begins the pulsing subtly expands from 4/4 to 5/4 to 6/4; I love bits like that. As this section of the piece picks up in dynamic, it reminds me a lot of something one might have found on Pink Floyd's Meddle, even with the same seabed organ sounds and backwards crescendo effects that were used to great effect on "One of These Days."
"Part Two" follows a similar structure to "Part One." It begins with a free-form, rhythm-less opening primarily comprised of audio warping that increases and decreases slowly in register. This dissolves into a void of vocals. At around five minutes, this prelude once again gives way to an echoing, sequenced bass pattern and processed string mellotron. These continue along a steady plane with all manner of effects whisking by, before eventually collapsing back into amorphousness at just under twelve minutes, then finally arriving at an end state of repose (flute mellotron).
This album paints a vast, abstract picture. I would say it is more accessible and less diverse compositionally relative to Phaedra, but by no means less mysterious or powerful. Like its predecessor, Rubycon is another classic Tangerine Dream work that is a must-have for those who want to experience the band on their game.
(Ground and sky)
Link
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François Rabbath

2007-11-07T03:16:00.000-08:00

"The sound of a bass definitely came as a revolution in the history of the contrebass, for the record divided that history into a "before" and an "after". The album marked the beginning of a new era for the instrument : it revealed new possibilities and new facets that had remained either unsuspected or simply unexploited beforehand.
Even thought this album was only the first opus recorded by François Rabbath, it already contained all the ingredients that would make him such a gigantic pioneer of the contrebass. Not only did he not disown the instrument's accompanying role - a remarkable accompanist -, but François Rabbath also made a great contribution towards giving the bass a distinct soloist's role, and that a early as the sixties.
Right from the very first track you can glimpse that this is not just a matter of technical prowess; the composer's intention is above all to take us into a singular universe in musis, and he does so by broadening the langage of the bass to encompass multiple styles without allowing the discourse to lose any of its coherence. It's all the more noticeable because we immediately lose all our references, indeed our prejudices or a prioris, and let ourselves be invaded by the bassist's formidable sound, notably with the bow. Without a doubt, the album's title coudn't be more appropriate.
It has to be said that the formidable technique developped by Francçois Rabbath - with no reference to any particular school - allows him unprecedented freedom and richness of expression on his instrument. Without ever becoming a demonstrative exercice, each piece on the record reveals a new facet of this Impressionnist playing, some new aspect that has forceful powers of evocation.
On the original sleeve, François Rabbath gave his own thematic index for the twelve pieces in this album, giving listeners some key indications so they could follow him through these successive tableaux or, rather, "short films".
Probably for the first time, this emancipationof the contrebass - or rather its new eloquence -was accompanied by intonation that had faultless precision, the fruit of an innovative technique that was both rational and rigorous. Some listeners will perhaps even wonder if this is indeed a bass when they hear the artificial harmony produced in the upper-treble register in "prelude à l'archet" or "bitume" and then there's also the extreme rapidity of the double-strings in "creasy course" , or the mysterious ponticello tremolos of "walpurgis".Others will be just as surprised simply to hear the instrument sing on all these compositions dedicaded to melody. And while I'm on that subject, melody, I'm particularly fond of "ode d'espagne" it's a moving composition for solo contrebass played pizzicato, and a precise evocation of the music of andalusia and the spain of de Falla and Albéniz.
Choosing to associate the contrbass with the drums was probably a first, and it turned out to be particularly efficient. The playing of Armand Molinetti, full of swing and finesse, serves the album magnificently: he polishes and punctuates the bass-lines with continual care, ensuring their legibility, and on each piece he seeks out the timbres and grooves that are the most appropriate.
There's nothing didactic or experimental about the "sound of a bass" , it directly addresses music-lovers in the widest sense of the term, which certainly explains the huge popularity this album enjoyed on release.There's no point in trying to put a label on this misic - everyone can find his own references in it - and anyway I believe it's better to listen to it as adiscovery, to just let yourself be carried away by your own emotions. François Rabbath is definitely one of those musicians whose style you can recognize right from the very first note, and it deservedly earns him a place as a particularly creative artistic genius, someone quite out of the ordinary, which is certainly why today, more than forty years after it was first released, this record - the quest for the universal cintrbass - touches and moves us so deeply."
"Renaud Garcia-Fons"

The Sound of a Bass & N°2 (limited edition)

Link (mp3@vbr"extreme)
mirror
Link
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Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook - Mustt Mustt

2007-11-05T04:15:00.000-08:00

1990
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is the undisputed master of Quaali (Sufi devotional music). This album, produced by Michael Brook (guitarist for Peter Gabriel), veers into contemporary territory, merging western influences and instrumentation with the brilliance of Khan's traditional artistry and spiritual passion. His extraordinary deep-throated vocal style, fiery and ecstatic, fuses devotional poetry with swirling harmonies of world beat rhythms, fluid extended guitar lines, synthesizer, bass, Indian tabla and harmonium. A world fusion classic.
Link
or
Link
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Senem Diyici

2007-11-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

A few good style descriptions of Senem Diyici Quartet :
"The bop of the Bosporus of the cat-like woman Senem Diyici, who sails smoothly from sweet meanders to sparkling dances, a chamber world music, acoustic and playful" Telerama

"Their music is a combination of traditional and classic Turkish music and European Jazz. The lyrics are based upon the poems of Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian poets from the 16th and 17th century. The result that comes from this musical message combined with the Indian rhythms of Ravy Magnifique, the jazzy harmony from Alain Blessing and Philippe Botta and the voice of Senem Diyici is marvelous. " El diaro de Mallorca

BIOGRAPHY (taken from press journal) :
She came to this world in the year of 1953, in the Oriental metropole of Istanbul. Senem was raised by a Kurdish mother and a father of Armenian-Azeri origin. They lived in Sisli, the European quarter of Istanbul,populated by many cultures, like the Greek, Armenian,Hungarian, French, Turkish, Jewish and Italian. These cultures became her roots, influencing her, feeding her, making her understand and live life as a citizen of the world to let her voice be heard.
Already at an early age, her father discovered the quality of his daughter's voice. He began to teach her the classical Turkish songs and stimulated her to listen to records and to the popular and classical songs on the radio. At the age of six he enrolled her in the children's choir of Radio Istanbul, where she soon became soloist in the choir. In the mean time the bond between Senem and her father grew tight. To Senem he was her role-model, her example; a man with dreams, pains and joys, which he tried to express in his poems and paintings.
When Senem was ten years old, she was sent to the National Conservatory of Istanbul, where she studied the theory and particular characters of the traditional Ottoman music for more than six years. But, of course as any youth at any time, Senem discovered the popular and traditional Turkish music,and began to refuse the classical teachings. Also in this period young Turks came to learn about American and English music. To Senem this was a real shock, so much so, that it changed her musical conceptions altogether. Against the advise of her teacher at the Conservatory, she recorded her first record in 1969 ('Nar Hanim' Melodi Musik Prod.). After this, Senem began to work as a professional singer and quit the National Conservatory. In 1971 she started to explore different areas of Turkey. At that time she merely wished to collect the spirit of her peopie, through traditional songs and music. Travelling with her tape-recorder, she met many people, sailors, city folk, countrymen and women, who gladly shared their heritage. She ended up with more than 600 traditional songs and ancient poems that became the basis of her actual work. The gipsy in her awakened, the travelier being open to cultures surrounding her, came free. She expanded her mind in an amazing musical and spiritual meeting with people she met on her way. Back in Istanbul Senem recorded her second album (1973 'Ham Meyva' - Yanki Productions), but felt the strong need to explore the music of the world and decided to leave her country.
That's how she got to Europe. Having travelled a difficult road and full of both beautiful and painful memories, she knew she now had the chance to expand her musical meeting with musicians from all over the world. Jazz entered her life. Her music took her to Germany where Senem continued working with Jazz musicians. After some time she went to Paris where she would meet guitar virtuoso and future husband Alain Blesing. Their collaboration translated her spirit and inspiration. Senem finally found what she had been looking for all these years: a strong, spontaneous, emotional and sparkling encounter between her traditional Oriental music and her love for the music of the West. An encounter, that led to the Senem Diyici Sextet in 1989, producing Senem's third album ('Takalar' - featuring Okay Temiz - Label La Lichère).

The Senem Diyici Quartet was founded in 1991, and consists of Senem Diyici (Turkey), Alain Blesing (France), Philippe Botta (France) and Ravy Magnifique (India/France). The Senem Diyici Quartet recorded 3 albums up to 1998 ('Geste/lest' Wad Productions/Artalent 1993 - 'Divan' Artalent 1995 - 'Tell me Trabizon' Buda Musique 1998). With their music they travel the worid, enchanting 'their audiences wherever they go.
To Senemn her music is like a bridge between cultures and peopie, fusing the old and new, always searching for the spirit and the story that is within every human being. ,It has become her own heritage, through which she transmits and shares universal love and nostalgia with her audiences all over the world.

"Gest/Jest"
1993 (SenemDiyici 4tet)

Link

"Divan"
1995 (Senem Diyici 4tet)

New Link

"Tell me Trabizon"
1998 (Senem Diyici 4tet)

Link

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Stockhausen, Snétberger, Andersen, Heral

2007-11-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

In 1997 trumpeter Markus Stockhausen and bass legend Arild Andersen started working in a duo context and added drummer Patrice Heral one year later to form a trio. On the other hand guitar virtuoso Ferenc Snétberger had been playing duets with both Stockhausen and Heral. Because of the good vibrations between all four of them it was a natural step forward when in 2002 Stockhausen, Snétberger, Andersen and Héral founded a pan-European collective working quartet based on their common artistic experiences.
Markus Stockhausen, son of classical composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, started his stage career at the age of four and was a regular member in his father's ensembles for many years. An experienced player in both classical and jazz contexts (e.g. with Ralph Towner, Gianluigi Trovesi, Michael Riessler), he approaches improvisation with a maximum of discipline and technique reaching for unmatched melodic invention. Hungarian-born guitarist Ferenc Snétberger is among today's outstanding players on his instrument. Going for a synthesis of flamenco, classical music, jazz and samba, he melts all these influences into a very personal style full of surprise, wonder and emotion. One of the world's leading jazz bassists, Norwegian Arild Andersen has recorded dozens of great albums as a leader and sideman, e.g. with Jan Garbarek, Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell and Paul Bley. Extraordinary drum artist Patrice Heral from France has been working in many multi media and world music contexts (e.g. Dhafer Youssef, Vienna Art Orchestra) and is considered by his colleagues as "Europe's Nana Vasconcelos".

"Joyosa"

Crossing the borders between jazz, classical music, world music, bossa nova and more, the quartet's debut album "Joyosa" presents a new amalgamation of today's sounds that is at the same time utterly elegant, full of joy and vibrating with vitality. But no matter what you call it: This tasteful, brilliant, highly sensitive music will speak to the unprepared listener's heart as well as to the advanced connoisseur's mind.

Markus Stockhausen trumpet, fluegelhorn
Ferenc Snétberger guitar
Arild Andersen bass
Patrice Heral drums, percussion

Link
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Esprit III Aspic project

2007-10-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

"We have devastated mind,
our releases are chaotic.
We certainly do not deserve the word "label".
But we still have a cool logo!
WE are just Aspic records"

Fuck music business, we are back in the underground !
or why we gave up putting music on plastic !

"Here is, in a few words (I will try) my questions :
- I have tried to release Cd’s the classic way, and to distribute also. I failed (Optical sound and aspic records). I discover that the business of music has no place for me. Or that I did not want to take part of it. To be clear, I discovered thing like : if I want my cd’s to be sold, I have to get in the business, not pressing only 500 cd’s. A review in some magazine has to be paid. If I sell the cd’s, the artist will never get money from it, but the distributors and shop surely will. At the end of the story, we gave more “promotionnal” cd’s than we ever sell. And I was disgusted and lose all interest in this (I will stop here, there is so much to say).
- If I release 500 cd’s, I have to give at least 200 copies to the media. 300 copies can be bought by “real” listeners. It cost me much, and I will - in the best case - get my money back.
If I put all this online as mp3, it cost nothing, and everybody can listen to it, not only 300.
- I definitly think the cd, as an object, is a piece of shit. No picture can exist with a small size like that. The sound quality is a lie (listen to your vinyls !!!). The plastic box gets yellow when old. Nobody touch the object anymore, read the liner notes, And it is fucking expensive !!! The prices have at least increase 200% since the time of the vinyl. The media said “it is expensive at the beginning, but when everybody will buy only cd’s, the prices are going to be normal again’. This never happened.
- I recently buy again vinyls. It is a pleasure to buy those objects. For example, the White noise b&w cover looks great. As a Cd, it looks like nice-price Cd ! Or the Tes vinyl, on Lex, with traces of pen !!! On Cd, it looks like a chicken scratch !
And at my record shop, they are cheaper than cd’s ! Can you believe it ?!?
- In record shop, I only can find some styles of music. Very hard to find, for example the last Lithops, Hecker (the one on mego), the Books, Kyo Ichinose…
- I am interested in too many sounds, I will never be rich enough to buy all I want. Soulseek is definitly my main purveyor. And do not tell me I download more than I can listen. Because I do listen to all my downloads !
- when I order directly to an artist, or a label, I am sure that the artist will get some money."
(Stéphane Fransioli "Aspic founder")

First serie (1999 - 2000)
5 cd, originally released as a subscription, from 1999 to 2000.

CD 01

Download: cd1 part1 & cd1 part2

CD 02

Download: cd2 part1 & cd2 part2

CD 03

Download: cd3

CD 04

Download: cd4

CD 05

Download: cd5

Genre: Electronic, experimental, post-rock
Website: aspicrecords.com

Lift to Experience

2007-10-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Texas-Jerusalem crossroads
2001(bella union)

There is no way to begin a review of this challenging album without quoting this telling opening passage from "Just As Was Told":

'This is the story of three Texas boys mindin' their own bidnis when the Angel of the Lord appeared unto them saying, 'When the Winston Churchills start firin' their Winston rifles into the sky from the lone star state, drinkin' their lone star beer and smokin' their winston cigarettes, know the time is drawin' nigh when the son shall be lifted on high'. We told 'em that didn't sound very Sunday-go-ta-meetin. 'What do you expect when the lord calls on the crippled, deaf and blind to lead the children of Israel into the promised land'. 'Children of Israel?', we asked. 'Don't you boys know nothin'?, the USA is the center of Jer-usa-lem"'.

Is this self-proclaimed "space-rock band from Denton, Texas", expecting to be taken seriously or is it merely yanking our chain? I would venture an opinion that Lift to Experience -- viz. Josh "Buck" Pearson (guitar, vocals), Josh "Bear" Browning (bass) and Andy "The Boy" Young (drums) -- is deadly serious about its debut The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads and equally serious about its being "a concept album about the end of the world with Texas as the Promised Land" and all that.

So how the heck did a space-rock band from Denton, Texas end up with an obscure British label established by former Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde? Raymonde explained,"When I heard the demos, I was staggered by the swagger, the effortlessness of it all. Surely they couldn't really be as cool as they sounded? A plane trip to Texas was next on the agenda, and my fate was sealed. A thunderous show (literally inside a tent during one of the worst storms in Texas history) convinced me that I had to put this record out, but also that I was undoubtedly in the presence of genius. We signed the band within two minutes of them walking off stage". The result is plain for all to see.

At its most accessible, Lift to Experience plainly evokes the grand albeit self-aggrandising big music of U2's Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. This trait is most evident in songs like "These Are the Days", "Falling from Cloud 9" and "Waiting to Hit". This musical reference point also calls in associations with the Velvet Underground and Joy Division (the roots of U2), as well as Jeff Buckley and Radiohead (the branches of U2). At once ethereal and earthy, the wash of sonic noise that saturates much of the music here easily conjures memories of such innovative noise merchants as Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Spaceman 3.

The fact that Lift to Experience is able to vividly evoke such a myriad of cutting-edge rock forbears and at the same time marry its sound thematically with apocalyptic and biblical imagery -- reminiscent of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and 16 Horsepower -- suggests that we are indeed witnessing an epoch-making artistic force in gestation.

Pearson's ties with the fire-and-brimstone bible-thumping brand of Christianity are clearly evident in this incendiary work -- his father abandoned the family to pursue the faith. Many of the songs are sung much like church litany, like the understated "Down Came the Angels", where the atmospheric background and echoey bass buttress Pearson's hymn-like delivery.

But what keeps this album edgy and provocative is the ability of the band to inject levity into the fairly sombre subject matter. In "Waiting to Hit", Pearson bargains with God -- "Lord, I'll make you a deal: I will if you give me a smash hit so I can build a city on the hill". On "These Are the Days", Pearson blows a kiss after intoning "blood on their teeth and lips" and he proudly proclaims Lift to Experience "the best band in the whole damn land and Texas is the reason".

This heady double album is in essence a seamless song cycle with movements that drift in and out with stream of consciousness meandering. Consumed as a whole, The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is an immense undertaking. Our rapt attention is mirrored by the band's own compulsion, as Pearson declares on the mutant hillbilly of "Down with the Prophets", "we sing these songs because we have to, not because we want to". And in the end, the full-blooded, epic, ten-minute "Into the Storm" closes with a statement of intent, a manifesto: "Follow me over the Jordan over desert sand (Rio Grande) / Follow me . . . Israel into the Promised Land / Follow me over the Jordan over desert sand (Rio Grande) / Follow me into Texas into the Promised Land".

Whatever your answer may be, there's no denying the power of this album. It is perhaps the perfect soundtrack for these chaotic and troubled times.

CD1 & CD2

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Terje Rypdal & the Chasers

2007-10-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

Starting out as a Hank Marvin-influenced rock guitarist with The Vanguards, Rypdal turned towards jazz in 1968 and joined Jan Garbarek's group and later George Russell's sextet and orchestra. An important step towards international attention was his participation in the free jazz festival in Baden-Baden, Germany in 1969, where he was part of a band led by Lester Bowie. During his musical studies at Oslo university and conservatory, he led the orchestra of the Norwegian version of the musical Hair. He has often recorded with ECM, both jazz-oriented material and classical compositions (some of which don't feature Rypdal's guitar).

Today, Rypdal is an important member of the Norwegian jazz community. His collaborations as guitarist and composer with other ECM artists Ketil Bjornstad and David Darling in 90s are also noteworthy. In those compositions he found a way out of jazz and classical compositions to a modern and more avant-garde unique style.

Chaser
(1985)

Terje Rypdal: guitar
Audun Kleive: drums, percussion
Bjørn Kjellemyr: basses
Link

Blue
(1986)

Terje Rypdal electric guitar, keyboards
Bjørn Kjellemyr electric and acoustic bass
Audun Kleive drums, percussion
New Link
Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Pan American

2007-10-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

For waiting, for chasing
2006(mosz)

Following on from the magnificent 'Quiet City' album for Kranky (to this day one of the biggest selling titles on Boomkat), Mark Nelson finally returns with a new album under the Pan American moniker - and it's another triumph of sublime understatement. "For Waiting, For Chasing" is underpinned by delicately caressed and manipulated Flugelhorns, Tibetan Singing Bowls and Chinese Cymbals, processed, weaved and loved into a throbbing mass of neon loveliness. Opening 'Love Song' unfolds with a gentle cacophony of whirrs - like crickets trapped in a jar - juxtaposed with the most ethereal layers of ambience tripping over each other to create a cloud of harmony; this is absolutely classic Pan American territory. Nelson never confines his music to simple ambience, moulding in noisier elements which work as a counterpoint to the warm tones of the Tibetan Singing Bowls and synthesized whisps - a conceit which manages to keep his work ever-contemporary when so many of his past peers have been stuck in an endless loop of repetition. A work of calming restraint, it's really impossible to fault this musician and his ability, with this album, to craft another perfectly-formed microcosm of bliss. Essential purchase.
Link

Quiet City
2004

Quiet City is the fourth album from Mark Nelson's Pan�American project and combines the computer-centric approach of The River Made No Sound with the organic instrumentation that marked Nelson's work in Labradford and the first two Pan�American albums. Three of the eight tracks were recorded with Charles Kim (Sinister Luck Ensemble) and feature upright bass, drums, trumpet and flugelhorn. �Nelson even sings a bit. �The rippling electronics and muffled beats of the first three Pan�American albums are still there; distended into elegiac, resonant, wavering, and ambient song craft. �The CD edition of Quiet City comes with a DVD that contains a video essay shot and edited by Mark Nelson and Chicago visual artist Annie Feldmeier.

As Bob Baker Fish noted "Pan�American's forte is in the studio, crafting together all manner of disparate sounds with a patience and eclecticism rarely sighted in contemporary electronica." Pan�American has released singles and contributed to compilations on labels across the world, done remix work for artists like PSI Performer and Kid 606, collaborated with the artist Thomas Demand and toured with Radian and Low. ��He has a release coming up on the brand new Mosz label as well. �The full-length video that accompanies the album is a visual meditation on the theme of the quiet city; suitable for focussed viewing or accompanying everyday activity —�an ambient video if it helps to think of it as that.

Mark Nelson: �Electronics, guitar, voice and mix
with Charles Kim: upright bass, tracks 4 and 5
Tim Mulvenna (Vandermark 5, Jeb Bishop): drums, 4 and 5
Steven Hess (Hat Melter, Bosco & Jorge, Aluminum Group): drums, 7
David Max Crawford (Poi Dog Pondering, Wilco, Stereolab): trumpet on 5, flugehorn on 7

Link

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

2007-10-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (b. Rajasthan, India, 1952) is an exponent of Hindustani music (North Indian classical music). Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (also known as V. M. Bhatt) is one of the most celebrated shishyas (disciples) of the sitarist Ravi Shankar. Born in Jaipur in Rajasthan in July 1952, he is the younger brother of Shashi Mohan Bhatt, who was one of the first three students to study with Shankar circa 1949/50; Shashi Mohan Bhatt is the father of sitarist Krishna Mohan Bhatt. Much of his formative musical education came from his family. His father Manmohan Bhatt taught and as a boy Vishwa Mohan Bhatt soaked up his father's singing, compositions and ragas.

Bhatt originally did not mean to pursue a career in music. He prepared for the security of the Indian civil service while studying sitar and violin. Around 1967 he found a Spanish Guitar left behind by a German student at his father's music school in Jaipur. Bhatt claimed it for his own and set about remodelling it. After experimenting with the instrument's structure, left and right hand techniques, various objects to produce the slide sound and strings, he modified the guitar with the addition of several drone strings and eight sympathetic strings, playing it like a Hawaiian slide guitar to get the sustained, sliding notes common to the vocal style of Indian classical music. Thus the 'mohan veena' was born, named after himself and Vina or Veena, the generic Sanskrit word for a stringed instrument. It is an instrument that appears to be a hybrid of a classical Spanish guitar and a sitar. The Mohan veena sounds somewhat like a Western slide guitar and is played with sitar mizrabs (wire picks) and a thumb pick and a polished steel rod for the slide. The combination of melody, drone, sympathetic strings and Bhatt's microtonal approach to melody, however, place it firmly in an Indian cosmos.

Although he had had established himself as a recording artist in India as early as 1970 and had toured and recorded with his guru abroad (including Shankar's ambitious Inside The Kremlin from 1989), his major international breakthrough came with the album A Meeting By The River, a collaboration with American slide guitarist Ry Cooder that would be awarded a Grammy award for Best World Music Album in 1994. It is for this album and other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists like Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck and Jerry Douglas, rather than his own unique take on Indian classical music traditions that Bhatt is best known, although exposure such as an appearance on the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival, which was organized by Eric Clapton, does allow for this side of his playing to reach a larger audience. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002.

He currently resides in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his two sons and his wife. His elder son Salil Bhatt is a renowed Mohan veena player (and also a player of the Satvik veena), while his younger son Saurabh Bhatt is a well known composer. His nephew, Krishna Bhatt, plays the sitar and tabla.

Ry Cooder & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt/
A meeting by the river

Link

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt & Simon Shaheen/
Saltanah

Link

Saradamani

Link

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

François Rabbath - Carmen !

2007-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

(1992)

Proto: Carmen Fantasy - Rabbath: Two Miniatures, Concerto No. 3
Rabbath: double bass, Frank Proto, Florence Bouchet: piano

This recording, recommended wholeheartedly, reunites the unique talents of Frank Proto (composer, bassist, jazz musician, pianist) with those of virtuoso bassist and composer François Rabbath. Rabbath combines a mellifluous and silky tone with supreme musicianship that is ideally suited to the works recorded here.

Proto composed the five-movement Carmen Fantasy in 1991 for Rabbath and used several of the popular arias from Bizet's opera in a lyrical and relaxed transcription. The Fantasy begins with a virtuosic Prelude for solo bass, leading into the Aragonaise including an improvisational passage that both performers play with relish. Micaela's Aria is treated as the slow movement of the Suite and Rabbath demonstrates the wonderful sonorities and expressive qualities of the double bass. The Toreador Song hints at Proto's love of jazz and the work ends with a lively and virtuosic Bohemian Dance.

The Two Miniatures for double bass and piano are atmospheric tone poems with an impressionistic quality well suited to the cantabile nature of the bass. Proto provides a simple but important piano accompaniment allowing the solo line to dominate. Rabbath and Proto perform with perfect understatement, producing a feeling of calm and serenity that demonstrates their exceptional musical rapport.

Concerto No. 3 is a romantic love duet between bass and piano and both performers play with great feeling and power. The one-movement work is divided into sections that are dominated by rhythmic vitality or lyrical interludes. This is an impressive performance in which Rabbath wears his heart on his sleeve.
"David Heyes"
"Double Bassist"

Link

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

-Serein-

2007-10-03T03:32:00.000-07:00

Serein was established on the 19th of October, 2005 as a venture for promoting musicians and their work online. A so called 'net-label', they release music in MP3 format under the creative commons license for free. Releases are grouped identically to how you would expect a record label's catalogue to be organised. In the music section you will find releases listed with a catalogue number (ser000) identifying each unique release. Within each of these are links to music files and artwork, with the option to download the whole pack as a compressed zip file.

They largely concentrate on releasing experimental, ambient and electro acoustic compositions.

www.serein.co.uk/

Recommended releases:

Nest/Nest
ser013 (2007)

The Welsh Serein-Netlabel has always been a good address for undogmatic electro-acoustic music that combines expanded experimentalism with a certain amount of catchiness. Those who like Ambient music without an esoteric aftertaste will probably know about the label. 1.000 Hours Of Staring, Herzog or Neuf Meuf are just three names you once read if you’re a faithful consumer of this blog. Catalogue number thirteen is the latest addition to the label rooster and comes off as an self titled EP of the duo Nest. A special release, because 50% of Nest is Huw Roberts, the guy who founded and runs Serein.co.uk. He’s accomplished by Otto Totland of critically acclaimed Norwegian ‘engineers of emotion’ Deaf Center. Both are classically educated piano-players. Does this fact make you guess what their collaboration will sound like? Not really.

First track Lodge start with intimate piano chords. The microphone seems to be place very close to the strings, you can hear the dull beat of the hammers. You’re part of an exclusive family music-event while decent electronic noises arise from the adjoining room. Horns and strings stalk from the last row to your ears and create a dense ambient layer. A saw tooth synthesizer swells and ebbs away. Someone holds his breath. The second track is entitled Kyoto, and indeed, the first thing that came to my mind was Japanese folklore. Due to some decently pulsing drones and field-recordings that sound like Emil Klotzsch’ Tiefe Berge-composition, Roberts plays the Welsh Harp. A few piano tones at hand, the song comes up with some interesting and beautiful harmonies between art school and Popmusic. Clever composition, moreover. Reminds me of the Eve Future-releases of German intellectuals Kreidler. Same for Marefjellet. Track three joins the close piano-sound of the first song with the Asian flavours of the second one. The sound of distant rain and haunting string-arpeggios in the back make you think of film soundtracks, Arvo Pärt and Tom “Moondog” Hardiner.

We’re starting the b-side with a ray of light. Charlotte is introduced with loose field-recordings and cautious synthesizer drones. Back for good, the piano rushes in with a strong harmonic motive (probably Totlands’ play) that is accomplished with processed strings and synthesizers. Sweet! Maybe the track most songlike. My personal favourite is Cad Goddeu, though. A strange amorphous Ambient composition of slowly smouldering soundlayers it is, with filtered strings fixed like swarms of midges in the heat of the afternoon sun, concentric loops of solemnly clarinet-tones and sketches of a shady piano. Once again, references go out to Marsen Jules (see Yara) and the Grand Signor of suspension, Ennio Morricone. Finally, Trans Siberian is a fine fade-out for the EP. The track is composed around a steam train-recording and features some relaxed piano chords and smooth synth-layers.

Roberts and Totland fuse twinkle-toed Chamber Music and experimental Ambient. Though I’d have like to hear some more gutsy sounds, their EP is unearthly beautiful, ignores all genre-limitations and proves the huge amount of musical knowledge, and, even better, intuition, both Roberts and Totland invest into their compositions. Chapeau! ( Review by R U Bored)
Link

Neuf Meuf /
It's cold in space
ser009

"So, what of the music? 'It's cold in space' says the title, but I'm hard pushed to find anything cold about this album. Listening to it seems the perfect accompaniment to the hot weather that's finally found it's way to British shores; gently plucked guitars lilting in and out of the sun drenched picture Neuf Meuf paints. Snatches of vocals and the rattle and whirr of percussion and field recordings will have you melting whether the sun is shining or not. There are darker moments here too, though. 'Unrest unsave', featuring vocals from 'Sepia Hours' plunges you into darkness and will leave you feeling quite unsettled, before raising the mood once again with the epic and enchanting 'goldberry dreamstream'."
Link

Tony Hymas - Oyaté

2007-09-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

1990(nato)

Tony Hymas is best known for his work with Jeff Beck on the Grammy-winning Guitar Shop album, and on many world tours as a cornerstone of Jeff's live band. Oyaté with its striking blend of Native American music and European jazz showcases Tony's talents as a composer and arranger.

Oyaté is a tribute to twelve great Native American Indian Chiefs. Great European rock and jazz performers such as Jeff Beck, Mike Cooper, Hugh Burns and Tony Coe (both of The Lonely Bears) join together with Native American luminaries like John Trudell, Carlos Nakai, Barney Bush, and Kevin Locke, to honor the spirits of Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Captain Jack, Geronimo, Sitting Bull and seven other great chiefs who contributed to the spiritual and political leadership of their tribes.
From the signature guitar sound of Jeff Beck on "Crazy Horse" to the gentle piano of Tony Hymas on "Say Tey Ti" to the inspiring flute of Kevin Locke on "Chief Song" (written by Sitting Bull), Oyaté rewards listeners with a variety of musical textures. The mixture of rock, jazz, modern classical and folk music will keep the attention of the listener as a serious musical concept, as well as an enjoyable listening experience.
Lyrics by John Trudell, Barney Bush and Tom Bee will provoke thought and discussion of the fate of the Indian tribes which were lead by these twelve great chiefs. Oyaté presents stories with insight into the lives of actual human beings who have survived great tragedy, and come out of it with a positive, spiritual attitude.
Recommended
Mpc@Xtreme: cd1 & cd2
or
Mp3@vbr"extreme": cd1 & cd2

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Terje Rypdal

2007-09-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

-Whenever I seem to be far away-
1974 (ecm)

Terje Rypdal- Electric Guitar
Jon Christensen- Drums, Percussion
Sveinung Hovensj�- 4 & 6-String Bass
Pete Knutsen- Electric Piano , Mellotron
Odd Ulleberg French Horn
Members of Sudfunk Symphony Orchestra/Mladen Gutesha - Conductor on Track 3

Even the starkly beautiful cover photo of this 1974 gem by Norwegian guitarist/composer Terje Rypdal is something of the music contained within.
Shown here are but 2 sides of Rypdal's ever evolving muse. Let's deal with the first two songs. "Silver Bird.." and "The Hunt". Listening to these I can't help but think what it might've been like if Jimi Hendrix hooked up with the rhythm section from Magma (the heavy throbbing fuzz-bass, rippling electric piano and insistent drumming) and got someone from a 70's vintage King Crimson lineup to have themselves a good 'ol time on a mellotron ("just play it reeeeeaaallllll spoooooky man") and for really conveying that lonesome, windswept Norwegian wilderness sound, stir in the stark, melodious French Horn. Does it work, you may ask. Most certainly!!! "Silver Bird--" begins with an unsettling theme with French Horn and the spookiest Mellotron work you ever heard this side of King Crimson or Morte Macabre. From there, the whole band roars in and blurs the line between improvised and written out passages. There are several distinct themes that are cued in and out by Rypdal, in a manner not unlike late 60's to mid 70's Miles Davis or Gil Evans. What a ride!! "The Hunt" is more "written out", relatively speaking, but still has enough little surprises to keep you on the edge of your seat.
And now the title cut. Here, we abruptly shift gears and wind up with the formality of a chamber orchestra in a piece written by Terje, although quite formal in structure, it nevertheless conveys vivid colors and haunting emotions. Throughout it all, Terje Rypdal's guitar work clearly shows the influence of Jimi Hendrix, and filters it through the eyes of modern classical composers and avant-garde jazz and rock sensibilities alike.

Any prog or fusion fan should definitely have this in their library!! Just bundle up real good and be careful climbing those fjords!
(Progressive Ears)
New Link in comment.

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Electronic Music (Three EP's)

2007-09-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Statskcartsa - Untie (EP)
2006 (boltfish)

The only release by Greg Haines under the moniker of Statskcartsa, based on tracks made in the summer of 2005, plus a Statskcartsa remix of CHEjU's 'Pachinko' as a bonus track.
Also contains remixes by CHEjU, MINT and Greg Haines.
This limited release has now been deleted.

Download: mediafire

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Lisbon (EP)
2006 (kranky)

The works of Whitman have veered from minimalist compositions that are reminiscent of the dampened sounds of the Arctic gale to the dark, unfettered thrashings of Krautrock. This document stands out from past efforts for the simple fact that, rather than following his tendency to rework compositions until every element is polished and impeccable, here he allows the original effort stand on its own, blemishes and all.
This having been said, Lisbon is a far cry from being muddled and rudimentary. To the contrary, this single forty-minute piece demonstrates a careful build from smooth, serene sine-waves, high stinging tones - sounding not unlike the shrill chirp of newborn birds - and long-held organ chords to metallic scraping noises, erratic single note guitar lines that pulse like blood, and delicious smears of pure sound.
The arc of this composition also warrants further inspection, for rather than opting for marked contrasts, and more or less abrupt shifts, Whitman nurses this music along ever so slowly, and, as a result, the ensuing tension is all the more palpable for the care that went into its development. Whitman also demonstrates power within this self-imposed confinement, planting within each phase a plethora of detail - from the muted percussive sighs and low frequency static vibrations of the earlier moments to the pockets of fuzzed out, decaying feedback that are splashed about the latter half. While perhaps not arising from a stern zealousness, one imagines that the care evident in the unfolding of these events is the result of the appreciation and awe Whitman felt over his recent surroundings in Galeria Ze Dos Bois, where this piece was recorded. Not surprisingly, an unencumbered imagination brimming with sprightly moods runs rampant throughout this charming album.(Max Schaefer)

Download: mediafire

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immediate Action #8 (EP)
(2002)

Telefon Tel Aviv is a Chicago-based electronic music group (relocated from New Orleans in 2001) primarily known for their work in the intelligent dance music genre.

Formed in 1999 by Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis, their first album was released in the fall of 2001 to positive reviews. In 2002 they released an EP under the Hefty Records Immediate Action label where vocalist Lindsay Anderson (from L'Altra) was added to the group.

Download: mediafire

Trygve Seim

2007-09-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

Different Rivers
2000(ecm)

Trygve Seim tenor and soprano saxophones
Arve Henriksen trumpet, trumpophone, vocals
Håvard Lund clarinet, bass clarinet
Nils Jansen bass and sopranino saxophones, contrabass clarinet
Hild Sofie Tafjord french horn
David Gald tuba
Stian Carstensen accordion
Bernt Simen Lund cello
Morten Hannisdal cello
Per Oddvar Johansen drums
Paal Nilssen-Love drums
Øyvind Brække trombone
Sidsel Endresen recitation

An extended band deliver a remarkable sequence of tone-trances, at times faintly suggestive of Carla Bley and Gil Evans, but based on very small melodic motifs, given strength and mesmeric fascination by progressive harmonic overlays and tonal variation. Ulrikas Dans is a six-note ascending figure that turns into a surging clamour of sound, Intangible Waltz like Carla Bley drifting through musical dry ice, African Sunrise like exuberant Gild Evans and For Edward and Breathe as still and focused as a yoga meditation. Wonderful.
John Fordham, The Guardian (Jazz CD of the week)

Download(mp3@320): rapidshare part1 & rapidshare part2

Sangam
2004(ecm)

Trygve Seim tenor and soprano saxophones
Håvard Lund clarinet, bass clarinet
Nils Jansen bass saxophone, contrabass clarinet
Arve Henriksen trumpet
Tone Reichelt french horn
Lars Andreas Haug tuba
Frode Haltli accordion
Morten Hannisdal cello
Per Oddvar Johansen drums
Øyvind Brække trombone
Helge Sunde trombone
String Ensemble
Christian Eggen conductor

For a composer whose work produces such fundamental tones, and sounds so eerily familiar, the Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim often seems to be discovering the possibilities of sound-making instruments for the first time. Though Seim’s albums rely on a broad sound canvas now almost routine in European jazz-influenced contemporary music, his work since the millennium has been remarkable for its exploratory freshness. … Sangam continues the line of development Seim introduced with 2000’s Different Rivers and 2002’s free-jazzier The Source. An 11-piece jazz ensemble is joined to a classical string group here, with the soloists including the imaginative trumpeter Arve Henriksen, clarinettist Havard Lund and accordionist Frode Haltli. … Seim’s subtle and sumptuous overlaying of textures creates a sense of constant evolution none the less, from the lonely musings of the clarinet against arco bass at the opening, to the stately ascent of the band against Henriksen’s first trumpet appearances. …
Eerily hymnal contemporary jazz from a unique ensemble long overdue for a trip here.
John Fordham, The Guardian

NEW Link:
Download(Mp3@320): rapidshare part1 & rapidshare part2

The Source
2006(ecm)

Trygve Seim tenor and soprano saxophones
Øyvind Brække trombone
Mats Eilertsen double-bass
Per Oddvar Johansen drums

This is more explicitly jazzy, with sax/trombone/bass/drums group the Source exploring a lazily animated, free-swing music influenced not only by Garbarek’s ghostly meditations but also by the more urgently quirky lines of Ornette Coleman. Trombonist Oyvind Braekke, a Coleman fan, has a bigger influence on this set than on previous ones, and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen and bassist Mats Eilertsen stir in fluid, restless undercurrents. For Seim stalwarts, however, there a re plenty of long trombone notes, spacey bass figures, whispering sax, cymbal washes and even some perkily assertive swing. This may be the most creative band at the sharp end of the north European scene.
John Fordham, The Guardian

New Link

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Ravi Shankar & Philip Glass - Passages

2007-09-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

(1990)

This historic collaboration brings full circle a process which began when promising young American musician Philip Glass met Indian master Ravi Shankar in Paris in 1965. That week Glass, studying with the great Nadia Bulanger, was earning pocket money doing notation and conducting a recording session for the soundtrack of Conrad Rook's film "Chappacqua." The score's composer, Ravi Shankar, was directing his ensemble from the sitar.
Ravi recalls, "From the very first moment I saw such interest from him -he was a young man then— and he started asking me questions about ragas and talas and started writing down the whole score, and for the seven days he asked me so many questions. And seeing how interested he was I told him everything I could in that short time."
"It was possible to graduate from a major Western conservatory, in my case Juilliard, " remembers Glass, "without exposure to music from outside the Western tradition. World music was completely unknown in the mid-60's."
"What the young Glass heard which lay beyond his conservatory hermeticity was RHYTHM, long out of fashion in the world of American academic post-Webernism, with its almost exclusive concern for harmonic organization. Indian music is based on melody, which would get you laughed at Princeton or Columbia, and rhythm, which, despite Stravinsky's efforts in works like "Le Sacre du Printemps" or "Les Noces" was considered "incidental" to constructing 12-tone rows and other serious contrapuntal matters.

So for someone to play for the budding composer an expressive, vital, respect-worthy music — based on 4,000 years of refining the interaction between the two forgotten elements of Western music— must have been mildly astonishing at the very least. He realized that one could construct music on a rhythmic, as opposed to a harmonic, base.
Also, unlike most of the composers Glass had met up till that time, Ravi Shankar was a player, a composer/performer, whose authority arose from intimate hands-on contact with the music itself, and the other musicians, with whom he regularly shared a vibrating column of air. Glass became a student of Shankar's, Philip Glass today acknowledges "I owe a lot to Ravi; he was one of my teachers. "
The movement Philip Glass helped to create was called "Minimalism," and the founding Minimalists are all fine performers. Whatever differences they may have had in the mid-60's, what they had in common was the dynamic re-assertion of the primacy of rhythm.
They chose different sources: Steve Reich was drawn by African drumming and Balinese gamelan (as well as Be-bop); Terry Riley by Northern Indian vocal techniques under the guidance of the legendary Pandit Pran Nath, as well as blues and jazz improvisation; and in the next generation, John Adams points to rock and roll as well as the early Minimalists, as his seminal influences.
Pandit Ravi Shankar went to collaborations with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Jean-Pierre Rampal and the much-publicized master/pupil relationship with Beatle George Harrison that served to introduce Indian music (and its inherent spirituality) to a generation of rock fans. Film scores such as the legendary Apu trilogy, "Charly" and "Gandhi" as well as additional cross-cultural excursions into other musical traditions, have enriched his palette, all the while he has remained pre-eminent in the classical Indian music which traces its history to at least 2,000 B.C.

Philip Glass, in part through re-emphasizing the role of rhythm in his music (influenced by non-Western forms including Indian Raga) has created a uniquely affective music for opera [Einstein on the Beach (1976), Satyagraha (1982), Akhnaten (1984), The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (1988) and Hydrogen Jukebox based on the poetry of Allen Ginsberg (1990)], film (Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima and The Thin Blue Line), ballet and concert hall.

Peter Baumann, founder of Private Music, (who had been a member of the Minimalist / Rock band Tangerine Dream and an admirer of all of the above) responded enthusiastically when the record company's President/CEO, Ron Goldstein, suggested in the summer of 1989, that they bring the now-famous Philip Glass back into musical contact with the ever expanding world of Ravi Shankar.

Unlike previous Shankar "collaborations" (actually elaborate sessions with masters of other musical traditions joining Ravi to "jam" on his own music) the Glass encounter was rare instance of classical music reciprocity, each composer presenting thematic material to the other as raw material from which these finished pieces were fashioned. Passages contains four such co-ventures: two Glass compositions on themes by Shankar (Shankar / Glass); two Shankar compositions on themes by Glass (Glass / Shankar) as well as one piece from each composer completely of his own devising.
(Martin Perlich)

Website: Philipglass.com

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Recommended
Pass= culturepas
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Tartar Lamb - Sixty Metonymies (2007)

2007-09-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

Toby Driver in the past two years has been quite the prolific artist. Releasing his debut solo album, a collection of intensely precise and planned compositions, in late 2005 on Tzadik was his first attempt to distance himself from the extremely epic release "Choirs of the Eye" that had made his band Kayo Dot a critical and underground favorite. Kayo Dot also released their second LP in early 2006; "Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue" was an experiment in the subtle and drawn out. Sure, "Choir"'s strong emotional crescendos were present in "Dowsing", but gone were their epic conclusions. These spots were instead replaced with explosions of noise or ten minutes of drifting guitar work. As Toby himself stated, he felt "Choirs of the Eye" was perfection in what it had attempted to do, so instead of following what most "metal" bands would've done and staying put in his popular musical formula, Toby tried to do something different.
With the release of "Sixty Metonymies", Toby has finally reached the full sound he has been hinting at since his solo release almost two years ago. A sonically sparse and repetitive listen that is referred to by its own composer as a composition built "in such a way that each figure can be heard as metonymical to each other", "Sixty Metonymies" is a dizzying recording that cycles through such a vast cycle of arrangements in such a short time that it'll certainly leave the listener bewildered upon first listen. Certainly Toby's other projects have also had this stigma attached to them, but moments like the intense full band explosion in "The Manifold Curiosity" left the listener some memorable or familiar portion of the song to latch on to on further listen. "Sixty Metonymies" is devoid of these trigger moments and almost completely removed from vocal performance. To describe it as "catchy" would be the overstatement of the decade.
On this recording Toby and Mia Matsumiya's excellent performance is accented by "extended percussionist" Andrew Greenwald and horn player Tim Byrnes of the group Friendly Bears. Greenwald's style of percussion is a fantastic addiction to the bizarre composition of "60 Metonymies". Rarely relying on the traditional, his implication of various objects such as stray metals flavors the more "compositional" parts of the piece with an urgency of modernism. While Greenwald's performance is one of a kind, trumpet player Byrnes is seemingly invoking the kind of playing that was a staple on Kayo Dot's "Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue" It gives the trumpet performance a sort of "we've already heard this" feel and while it isn't necessarily distracting it is somewhat disappointing. Toby's guitar playing is mostly focused on seemingly replicating a piano but his subtle implication of selected chord phrasing gives the piece a more varied feel. Toby is able to prolong an otherwise excessive repetitiveness by always casually advancing into more beautiful and interesting melodies. Mia finally seems to expose her prowess as the group's most experienced player. Her usage of various extended techniques is at the same time virtuous and restrained. Tartar Lamb once again shows her as a key player in any setting, not unlike say a musician like Eric Dolphy who even in his performances of other's works added so much to the playing that without him or her in Mia's case the piece would fall apart. Finally, while Toby's vocal performance is not featured very often when he does add slight breathing, whistling or the final monologue it is a breath of fresh almost childish air.
"60 Metonymies" is yet another emotionally and compositionally brilliant addition to Toby Driver's resume. It is obvious that Toby has mastered his own vision of minimalism with this record and it'll be interesting to see where he goes next. Conquering one's perception of the both the entirely bombastic and entirely reserved is not an easy task but one has to question where Toby will go from here. Kayo Pop? I'm sure like many of his gracious fan base, the next release associated with one of the most interesting composers of our time will not only challenge my sense of music but Toby's own. And that is where Tartar Lamb succeeds, they are not saturated in the idea of pleasing fans but instead just themselves. On the way to record this album Tartar Lamb performed a variety of shows across the north half of the U.S. I was lucky enough to persuade them to come to my home town of State College, Pennsylvania and after the performance Toby, Mia and I listened to an unmastered copy of "60 Metonymies". Where most artists would've grown bored or unimpressed with a piece they'd been working of for two years, Toby and Mia seemed just as fascinated with the recording as me. Pointing out subtle percussion parts, discussing each others' techniques, and even joking about the conclusion, it was obvious that the same devoted and massively appreciative fan base of Toby Driver is such because it reflects his same feelings towards his music. Few artists' work resonates in me the way Toby's does and Tartar Lamb is no different; emotional, interesting, and original.
(sputnikmusic.com)
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Mac & Mpc

2007-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Convert mpc files:

Mpc2aiff

mpc2aiff is a front-end interface for the command-line utility mppdec (by Frank Klemm), which will decode mpc files (musepack's mpeg plus; other supported extensions are "mpp" or "mp+") to aif format.
If you usually surf the web and share music, then you should know what is this format (or at least the mac-unplayable ".mpc" extension), a high quality compression algorithm based on MPEG.
mpc2aiff will convert these files to ".aif", suitable to burn to a CD or whatever other utility you give them (such as convert them to mp3).
Link

Play Mpc files:

Cog
free open source audio player for OS X

Currently it supports the following formats:

Ogg Vorbis
Mp3
Flac
Musepack
Monkeys Audio
Shorten
Wavpack
AAC
Apple Lossless
Wave/AIFF

Link

Arild Andersen Group - Electra

2007-09-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

2005 'ecm'

Arve Henriksen trumpet
Eivind Aarset guitars
Paolo Vinaccia drums, percussion
Patrice Héral drums, percussion, voice
Nils Petter Molvær drum programming
Savina Yannatou vocal
Chrysanthi Douzi vocal
Elly-Marina Casdas chorus vocal
Fotini-Niki Grammenou chorus vocal
Arild Andersen double bass, drum programming

A modern score for a new production of the Greek tragedy Electra describes Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen’s latest ECM release, but that doesn’t give the whole picture. Electra is another lush-sounding offering from the Scandinavian contingent, which, at times, blends Asian and Nordic influences in equal measure. … Featuring drummers Paolo Vinaccia and Patrice Héral, the shakuhachi-like trumpet of Arve Henriksen and some haunting vocals underpinned by Andersen’s bass and Eivind Aarset’s textural guitar, this is a truly magnifincent CD.

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Nils Petter Molvær

2007-09-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

Khmer
1997(ecm)

The five seconds of silence that precede the start of every ECM album are always telling. The anticipation; the lack of urgency at the start, heightened senses craving some recognisable sound. Yet rising from this darkened state, on Nils Petter Molvaer's ECM debut 'Khmer' was not a piano, or ride cymbal, or the pluck of a double bass string, but the droning twang of a dulcimer and the anguished wails of guitar feedback, Molvaer's whispering trumpet cutting a small yet determined path, cross-hatching little melodic marks. Thus begins the journey of one of today's most progressive musicians; a musician that subverted, by the sheer force and beauty of his music, the traditions of Europe's most revered jazz label, to produce an album of bold organic-electronica, recasting the acoustic electro-clash of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew for a new generation and a new century.
As the 1990s are perhaps best remembered for both the burgeoning grunge guitar scene and the incredible explosion in dance and computer-driven music, for a jazz musician to be looking over his shoulder at the past, or to be caught up in the present was to miss the opportunities that Molvaer seized when he created his new form of music on 'Khmer' in 1997. With solid jazz credentials under his belt, Molvaer embraced a new way of working, and with the detachment from any particular scene, aside from the sparseness of his native Oslo's cold beauty, his music possesses a clarity and directness that only increases its impact. Where the lesser artists simply added a break-beat under their '70s funk riffs or swinging jazz grooves, Molvaer took his electronic textures to new depths, without losing any live interaction or improvisation, retaining an expressive quality and freshness at every point in every song.
With the melancholy African sounds of 'Khmer' (the word itself meaning a dialect of Cambodian language) setting the tone, things continue with a disturbing yet compelling theme, 'Access / Song Of Sand I' featuring one of the album's hardest rhythms, coupled with one of its most cathartic chord-melodies, played by the master of guitar textures and NPM's right-hand-man, Eivind Aarset. The latter's guitar throughout this album makes that direct connection between rock, blues, grunge, jazz and ambient sounds that one minute remind you of a tortured Jimi Hendrix or the blissed-out, horizon-less sounds of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. 'On Stream' is the perfect example of this, with an insistent but muted percussion track below, Aarset's guitar spills fluid chords over which Molvaer pours his own personal stream of notes, the results achingly beautiful, yet melancholy. 'Platonic Years' suggests a lighter mood, a sense of travelling, a free momentum again driven by Aarset's simple strummed chords, as Nils takes the listener across another icy, melodic tundra. 'Phum' finds Molvaer carving a haunting solo line above the lowly whines of Roger Ludvigson's acoustic guitar, his effects pedals creating an otherworldly vista of notes. This feeling of weightlessness is all Molvaer needs to leap headlong into the chasm of 'Song Of Sand II', with its dark, brutal sounds accompany the thick dub bass and beats. This crushing end to NPM's first foray into a new sound universe then closes with 'Exit', a strange echoing whale-song cry, with a gently-thumping heartbeat of percussion leading the listener off into the night.
For all its rough edges 'Khmer' was and is an unparalleled success, for both label and artist, and saw ECM go one stage further and for the first in its history release two singles from the album. The most pertinent of these was 'Khmer: The Remixes' and featured three mixes by The Herbaliser, Mental Overdrive and Rockers Hi-Fi, each extracting something new from the sound tools NPM provided in the original. In this one prescient move, the single became the precursor to his next-but-one album 'Recoloured', that was based on remixes of his next full studio work, 'Solid Ether'.
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Solid Ether
2000 (ecm)

'Solid Ether' saw Molvaer gain a higher profile, as he found himself rightly cited as one of the leading Norwegian musicians in the new electronic movement that was gaining pace in Northern Europe at the time. Alongside Molvaer, the likes of keyboardist and producer Bugge Wesseltoft (also the founder and boss of Jazzland records), French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, and Swedish band E.S.T., all shared a not-purely-jazz aesthetic; shifting the perceptions and limitations that had been stifling the music's growth for so long. In fact 'Solid Ether' saw Nils leaving the 'jazz' form further and further behind, as he employed more beats and bass lines that took drum and bass and jungle beats as the jumping off point, while retaining his ability to create haunting melodies and hypnotic grooves. The album also saw Molvaer utilising the increasingly sophisticated yet more malleable sound technology to create new layers of depth and sheen to his recordings.
The innate sense of movement, of an otherworldly time and place, of a rich sci-fi soundscape that is created by the lone voice of NPM's trumpet, supported and surrounded by ghosts from another sound-universe also continued. The title itself 'Solid Ether' tries to defy the normal laws of physics, by attempting to freeze the ephemeral. Yet the beat very much goes on with 'Dead Indeed', 'Vilderness I', 'Ligotage', 'Trip' and 'Solid Ether' all offering distracting, groove-laden forays into an alien suburbia; disjointed yet complex, fuelled with a sadness and joy that can only relate, ultimately, to the sadness and joy of the human condition. As before NPM is joined by a cutting-edge crew of sound-smiths; guitarist Aarset leading the way, but with bassist Audun Erlien, sound-sculptor Paal Nythus a.k.a. DJ Strangefruit, and live-lynchpin, drummer Rune Arnesen creating a vast array of fresh sounds. The one anomaly here is 'Merciful', a crushingly delicate duet between Molvaer on piano and singer Sidsel Endresen that is both pure and unapologetically poetic. Offering a sad yet compelling insight on human fragility, the two minute song, appearing once early on in the album and then at the end, in two marginally different forms, offers an unresolved sense of comfort to the listener:
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"Np3"

2002's 'NP3' seems to be something of a close of one chapter and the opening of another for Molvaer. Constructed through editing fragments of ideas, sounds and melodies 'NP3' lets more chinks of light through the wall of sound than on his previous albums. The pristine sound has mutated once again, stripped down and lean, the likes of 'Marrow', 'Frozen' and 'Hurry Slowly' are sinewy, virile creatures compared to the brute force of early songs. 'Axis Of Ignorance' turns the W. Bush sound bite "the axis of evil" on its head, NPM giving vent to his feelings post 9/11 of frustration and anger with a biting drum and bass attack of his own. The feeling of cybernetic, biodynamic forms and the streamlined feeling of cyberspace, as referenced in the title itself (the download revolution has not gone unnoticed in jazz circles either) is all part of NPM's continual search for something new yet organic, the fact that he's recently started playing to live art installations is also indicative of his need to interact in real time to events around him, musical or otherwise. Yet Molvaer's sense of the tender and poetic is still with him on the gorgeous piece 'Little Indian', dedicated to his daughter, the slow dub feel taken literally with baby steps. 'Nebulizer' the razor-sharp parting shot that also became the final battery of beats, almost vicious in its intent, the air-raid siren of Molvaer's trumpet sounds as the apocalypse begins, then the calming aftermath, a new dawn with hope springing up to replace despair.
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"ER"
2005

Finally Nils Petter Molvær is back with a new studio album!
The new album has been given the name "ER", and contains eight new compositions. From his debut album as a leader with "Khmer" to his latest live album "Streamer", Nils Petter Molvær is well known for his distinct sound and personal trumpet playing.
"ER" contains a wide spectre of music expressions from the soft and downbeat productions to the strong and powerful ones. Nils Petter Molvær has taken a new direction with "ER" even if the soundscapes will be recognised from "Khmer", "Solid Ether" and "np3". This time he has given more creative space to programmers like Knut Sævik, DJ Strangefruit, Reidar Skaar and Jan Bang. "It's important to use people in what they're good at."
We have heard vocal tracks also on Nils Petter Molvær's previous releases; in "ER" they have been given more space. In the beautiful vocal track "Only These Things Count" we can hear Sidsel Endresen's characteristic voice together with Eivind Aarseth on guitar, Magne Furuholmen on acoustic piano, Ingebrikt Flaten on acoustic bass and Nils Petter Molvær's trumpet in a strong and emotional ballade.
Common for the eight tracks is Nils Petter Molvær's strong visual melodies and his personal and distinctive trumpet playing, which is even more in focus than on his previous records. Some of the productions are slightly 'toned down' to give space for the trumpet and the melodic structures.
Nils Petter Molvær has once again gathered a strong team of musicians and contributors. Eivind Aarseth, Sidsel Endresen, Magne Furuholmen and Ingebrikt Flaten are already mentioned. In addition Rune Arnesen, Erik Honore, Helge Nordbakken and Elin Rosseland participate. DJ Strangefruit, Knut Sævik, Jan Bang and Reidar Skaar have, as mentioned, all played a very important role in the production of "ER".

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David Darling - Cello

2007-09-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

1992 (ecm)

David Darling is a classically trained cellist who began his career as an elementary and secondary school teacher and conductor of band and orchestra. He later taught music and served as conductor and faculty cellist at Western Kentuky University. Then from 1969 to 1978 he played with the Paul Winter Consort, an extrordinarily progressive band for its time whose sound blended jazz with Brazilian, African, Indian and other world music. Since he left the Consort he has dedicated himself to a solo performing and recording career, and to teaching music and improvisation.
In 1986 he co-founded Music for People, a non-profit educational, network that teaches and fosters improvisation as means of creative self expression. For the past 10 years, Darling has also enriched the lives of thousands of young people through in-school programs in his work with Young Audiences, Inc..
Darling has collabarated on performances and recordings with dozens of musicians, among them Bobby McFerrin, Spyro Gyra, Peter Paul and Mary, Oregon, Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, and the innovative dance ensemble Pilololus. Among Darlings film credits are his contributions to the movies "Until the End of the Earth" and "Far Away, So Close" by Wim Wenders as well as "Nouvelle Vague" and "Heat".
David Darling's 1992 CD "Cello" on ECM features multi-layered voices of acoustic and electric cello and combines the spirit of "Adagio" classical music with the flaoting quality of Gregorian chant. Other ECM recordings include the solo release "Dark Wood" and collaborations "The Sea" with Ketil Bjornstad, Terje Rypdal, and Jon Christiansen, and "Window Steps" with Pierre Favre.

New Link

Michael Brook

2007-09-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Djivan Gasparyan & Michael Brook
Black Rock
1998(realworld)

With these recordings, Djivan Gasparyan and Michael Brook have fashioned a unique musical hybrid.
The duduk is prominently featured, as one might expect, but a surprise is in store for those not yet appraised of Gasparyan's vocal capabilities; his singing is vibrant and assured, its timbral colours neatly dovetailing with the warm, slightly nasal tone of the duduk. Both instruments are displayed to best advantage against the varied arrangements drafted and performed by Brook, with help from the English engineer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Evans.

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Michael Brook/ Dr Hukwe Zawose
Assembly
2002 (realworld)

Tanzania had a made-to-measure musical ambassador in the person of Dr Hukwe Zawose: educator, instrument builder, cultural conservationist and - most importantly - a charismatic singer and musician of singular abilities who introduced the music of his people (the Wagogo, of central Tanzania's arid Dodoma region) to an international audience. Despite two decades of concert performances around the world, Hukwe remained an enthusiasm shared mostly by the inner circle of world music aficionados.
Peter Gabriel, founder of Real World Records, is a Hukwe fan of long standing who felt the time was nigh for Dr Zawose's sound to reach a larger audience. With this goal in mind, he tapped the Canadian producer/instrumentalist Michael Brook to collaborate with Hukwe. The project would build upon traditional Tanzanian music and Hukwe's unique talents with arrangements and textures that could prove enticing to a broader spectrum of listeners. Assembely is the product of this collaboration.

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Michael Brook/ Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Night song
1995(realworld)

The potent relationship between Nusrat and Michael Brook reaches compelling emotional heights with the sequel to 'Mustt Mustt'.

A true classic. Nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award.

"A work of great beauty...an album for the ages, defying genre and solidifying Khan's stature as one of the world's pre-eminent singers." Billboard

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David Sylvian

2007-09-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

Approaching silence
1999 (venture)

This album contains three compositions (two of them long form) created exclusively for two independent gallery installations. Two pieces,'The Beekeepers Apprentice' and 'Epiphany' originally accompanied the 'Ember Glance' installation, a multi media work made in collaboration with the artists Russell Mills and Ian Walton, and exhibited in Tokyo, September 1990. 'Approaching Silence' accompanied the multi media work 'Redemption' installed at the P3 Gallery, Tokyo 1994. The CD was compiled and released in 1999.

Download: rapidshare-part1 & rapidshare-part2 (mp3@320cbr)

Sylvian/Czukay: Flux & Mutability
1989 (virgin)

David returned to Can Studio, Koln in 1989 to record a companion piece to 'Plight and Premonition'. Once again, the album consists of two long form, drone-based compositions, and features contributions from Marcus Stockhausen, Jaki Liebezeit, and Micheal Karoli.

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Sylvian/Czukay: Plight & Premonition
1988 (virgin)

On Holger's invitation David spent a few nights working in Can studio with the legendary bass player which saw the production of this evocative album. Two long form, drone-based, instrumental compositions, this album has remained a firm favourite of David's. Originally released in March 1988 David produced a remix of the entire album as a bonus CD with the instrumental compilation 'Camphor'.

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Friends Of Dean Martinez

2007-09-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Lost Horizon
2005 (Aero recordings)

A bright and sunny album from Friends of Dean Martinez? -- not likely -- but Lost Horizon is the closest thing to an "up" album that the boys have yet put out. Where 2004's Random Harvest was all twilight and settled dust, Lost Horizon is all dawn and evaporating dew. The back story attached to the tunes is still dark this time out, but there's a sense of contentedness and hope as well. Even dirge-tempo numbers like "All in the Golden Afternoon" and "Departure" have a sense of new-day optimism coupled with their Western desert melancholia. In keeping with Friends of Dean Martinez's usual mode of operations, achingly beautiful melodies glide over parched and barren arrangements -- mixing the gorgeous with the gritty and delivering the Old West atmospherics that fans of the band require and expect. Like all of the band's previous efforts, Lost Horizon plays beautifully as the soundtrack to a Cinemascope Western film -- elongated forms kicking up dust on a landscape of perpetual sunset -- and is suitable for filing somewhere between the film music of Ennio Morricone and the cowboy paintings of Frederic Remington.

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Random Harvest
2004 (narnack)

Just a year after they issued On the Shore, Friends of Dean Martinez returned with Random Harvest, an album that finds them at their most powerful since A Place in the Sun. However, Random Harvest is darker and more rock-oriented than that album and, indeed, than any of their previous work. The heavy guitars and winding keyboards that run through the album nod to classic rock like Led Zeppelin and the Doors while still staying within the confines of the band's widescreen Southwestern sound. What's more, the album is also Friends of Dean Martinez's most thematically cohesive work; instead of being just filmic, Random Harvest could actually work as a soundtrack, ideally to a smart, stylish horror movie like 28 Days Later. An eerie tension seeps into all of the album, beginning with the taut, jazzy "So Well Remembered" and ending with "Nowhere to Go," which begins as a bittersweet ballad and, without warning, turns into a rock monster with guitar tones that would make many a metal band jealous. But even within this louder sound, Friends of Dean Martinez are masters of restraint; "Ripcord"'s intense guitars stop short of wanky indulgence, and the very spooky "Winter Palace" does a lot with minimal percussion, organ, and a delicately plucked acoustic guitar. As consistent as the whole album is, Random Harvest's middle stretch is truly outstanding. The title track's icy strings and buzzing bass and guitars combine into something both gorgeous and menacing, like a cross between stoner rock and the atmospherics for which Friends of Dean Martinez are better known. The 11-minute "Dusk" is no less impressive, an appropriately dark and rolling epic with vaguely Middle Eastern guitars that reference Led Zep and the Deftones' prettier moments as well as their own work. "Lost Horizon" reintroduces the Southwestern theme into this more amped-up sound and draws the album near its end with a sweeping, shimmering majesty. Random Harvest is a fascinating, beautiful album that proves that even though Friends of Dean Martinez may no longer be on the cutting edge of hip, the band just keeps getting better as it goes along.

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Under the Waves
2003(Glitterhouse)

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A Place in the Sun
2000(Knitting Factory)

A Place in the Sun marks another departure for Friends of Dean Martinez, who travel further away from their somewhat kitschy-sounding early work with each following effort. On their second album for Knitting Factory, the band aims for -- and achieves -- the filmic expansiveness of Rachel's, the Dirty Three, and Godspeed You Black Emperor while retaining their essentially Southwestern sound. The results sound like the soundtrack to a spaghetti western set in modern-day Arizona, especially on the epic title track, which remains compelling yet subtle over its nine-minute duration. "White Lake"'s scorched guitars, "When You're Gone"'s simple, spacious folk, and the Bill Frisell-like cover of "Summertime" testify to the band's increasingly wide musical range, while the brooding "Broken Bell" (which features the Tosca String Quartet) reveals Friends of Dean Martinez's growing emotive power. "Siempre Que" and "Nothing at All" recall the group's loungey/retro roots, and song titles like "Aluminium" and "Pistola Agua" show they haven't lost their sense of humor, but A Place in the Sun deals more with their potential and ambitions than it does with their previous successes.

Download: mediafire

The Shadow of Your Smile
1995 (Sub Pop)

A post-modern fusion of Santo & Johnny, Dick Dale and the Ventures, with a heaping side order of Tex-Mex border music. Whether or not the musicians are playing this straight or not, they're playing it very well, and the result is good fun, even if it's totally uncharacteristic of the material offered by the Giant Sand/Naked Prey axis in the past.

Download: mediafire

Like what you hear, buy it! And support the artists that really need it.

Oystein Sevag - Bridge

2007-09-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

1997(Siddhartha Records)
Produced by Oystein Sevag
All music composed by Oystein Sevag

The London Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Terje Mikkelsen
Oystein Sevag - piano, flute, keyb.
Maria Sevag - violin, viola
Eivind Aarset - electric guitar
Paolo Vinaccia - drums, perc.
Lakki Patey -acustic guitar
Petter Wettre - saxophone
Ole Marius Melhus - bass guitar
Ottar Nesje - drums, percussion
Sergio Gonzalez - lat. percussion
Zotora Nygaard - didjeridoo
Bendik Hofseth - saxophone
Sonia Loinsworth - overtone voice
Uli Pfleiderer - lute
Stefan Lilig - indian percussion
Ulrike Clara Vogt - recorder flutes
Miriam Rudolph - violin
Beatrix Hulsemann - viola
Ute Petersilge - cello

What makes Bridge unique is how seamlessly it blends neoclassical instrumentation and compositions with the dreamy ambience of space music plus choice elements from Rock, WorldBeat and Jazz using a constantly shifting palette of 68 musicians that include a complete string orchestra, Grand Piano, acoustic, electric and bass guitar, various flutes, recorders and saxophones, Indian, Latin and regular percussion, and synthesizers.
With languid and circular melodies as unapologetically gorgeous as bassoonist-turned-New-Age composer Bill Douglas; with misty atmospheres reminiscent of landsman Jan Garbarek; with the Metheny-esque opening "Seed" sustaining an endless arc of development suggestive of Pat's concluding Offramp track; with Grand Piano interludes recalling Raphael's celebrated Music To Disappear In II; Bridge condenses classically-honed sensibilities into bite-sized capsules full of magic and romance, perfect for listeners who prefer the adagios of most symphonies to their sizeable remainders.
Now add ambient percussion grooves, throat singing, soaring e-guitar solos, didjeridoo growls, lyrical cello ballads, smooth-Jazz saxophone against string chorus while envisioning Claude Monet's blue bridge spanning the famous lily pond in Giverny. Today's Bridge is similarly impressionist to the core, albeit hip to the cosmopolitan influences which, in Monet's days, would have been represented by the pleasure quarters in Paris, now upscale night clubs.
Heartfelt, buoyed on silence and space, Bridge also delivers on pure sonics. Recorded in Sevåg's own Siddhartha Studio as well as Abbey Road, various German and Norwegian studios and on location in the Ebringen Berghäuser Kapelle, all instruments exhale with elongated sustains, Øystein's Grand Piano is velvety voluptuous, his wife's violin surrounded by cavernous spaciousness, the bass guitar taut yet warm. In short, an album of many happy returns, for both your raw listening pleasure as well as proud occasions of audiophile camaraderie when showing of truth of timbre and ambient retrieval becomes -- temporarily -- more important than following the embedded emotional threads into utter oblivion.

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Ryan Teague - Coins & Crosses

2007-09-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

2006(Type recordings)

With �Coins and Crosses�, the follow up release to last year�s �Six Preludes� EP, Ryan Teague continues to fuse elements of classical composition and ambient electronica in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to Labradford. As good as �Six Preludes� was, at points the electronic and the classical elements of Ryan Teague�s music seemed uneasy bedfellows, at times the two musical styles seemed almost at odds with one another. Not, so with �Coins and Crosses�, which sees Ryan Teague hone his sound to damn near perfection. The electronic and the classical elements to this album compliment each other beautifully. Take, for example, the title track �Coins and Crosses�, on which the background electronic fuzz and the meandering harp picking of Rhodri Davies combine in a very pleasing fashion. Or take the beginning to the track �Accidia�, a background drone combines wonderfully with mournful string arrangements. These are just random examples; the entire album is of this quality. This represents a sizable evolutionary leap for Ryan Teague, and is also a stunning piece of music.

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Ryan Teague - Six Preludes

2007-09-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

2005(Type Recordings)

With Six Preludes, Cambridge based Ryan Teague explores the potential for integration between crackly electronica and orchestral instrumentation. It`s an area ripe for development, though one that`s by no means virginal, given Murcof`s previous visits on 2002`s Martes and its partial successor Ulysses.
Teague`s sonic palette is more varied, however, and he clearly feels less constrained to add beats at every turn - only a minority of the six preludes succumbs to a regular percussive rhythm. His writing for strings is also richer and less predictable, with the result that this music is not easy to file away as " beats plus strings " or other, similarly dismissive descriptions.
The string section of " Prelude I " bears the sort of melancholy gravitas last heard to such impressive effect on Asa-Chang and Junray`s Hana. The initially confident impulse of the violins is waylaid by electronic treatments and gradually mutates as a woman`s voice sings wordlessly in the distance. Later, the methodical percussion of " Prelude III " recalls Victor Gama`s rainforest creations while strings pulse like Steve Reich`s Desert Music.
Combined with the crackle and dust of contemporary glitchery and a shortlived pitter-patter beat towards the end, this hybrid becomes more than the sum of its parts. Teague exercises an admirable degree of restraint throughout. He avoids overburdening his music while allowing it to negotiate transitions and foreground activity in a way that consistently engages the attention. Some of these pieces succeed in achieving a notable degree of beauty, but when surveyed as a whole they feel just a little slight. They are, after all, a collection of preludes. Their promise, however, makes me impatient to hear how Teague is going to expand upon these ideas.

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Sevara Nazarkhan - Yol Bolsin (mpc & mp3)

2007-09-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

2003 (Real world / virgin)
Arranged & Produced by Hector Zazou

With such a monolithic history, modernity can be easily sidelined. Yet, Sevara, the pop star, is no stranger to popular music trends. With samples, electric guitars and keyboards Yol Bolsin didn't fully begin to flower until record producer Hector Zazou, from France, immersed himself in the tastes and smells of contemporary Uzbekistan. Sevara jokes that she forced Zazou to eat, drink, and dress Uzbeki – and always central to this experience is pure tradition. For the album's doutar-playing, Sevara borrows the hands and experience of Toir Kuziyev, a master of instrumentation. The results are a collection of evocative songs recorded in Tashkent and Paris and finally mixed in the Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire. Yet Yol Bolsin remains outside time and essentially Central Asian.
(Real world)

Another new great album carried out by Hector Zazou and Real world. Fusion of traditional Uzbek music and electro-pop ambient, this is a wonderfull album thanks to the melodies and the biwitching voice of Sevara Nazarkhan, and all supported by Hector Zazou very inspired in his electronic, original and respectful arrangements which gives us to hear whole emotional capacity and universality of the Sevara Nazarkhan's music;
highly advised !
(Maxime)
Recommended
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NEW
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HECTOR ZAZOU

2007-08-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

"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)

2007-08-29T09:23:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

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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