7/22/2013

Psarantonis - World Network Vol. 4: Crete – Son of Psiloritis

 

Artist:       Psarantonis & Ensemble
Album:     World Network Vol. 4: Crete – Son of Psiloritis
Year:         1991
Line-up:    Psarantonis (Xylouris) – lyra, vocals
                 Georgios Xylouris – eight-string lauoto
                 Achilleas Persidis – twelve-string lauoto
Label:       Network Medien

Our home is up in the woods and in the caves of the mountains!”

There is no place quite like the island of Crete. It is a place where the legend, the myth, the past and the present are seamlessly merged. In ancient mythology it is believed to be the birth place of Europe as it was Zeus, the supreme god and the protector and ruler of mankind, who disguised as a bull seduced and kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europê and brought her to the isle of Crete. The myth also tells us that the roots of Europe lie in the Middle-East. Due to its geographical location it has also served a essential sea route to Egypt, Middle-East and Anatolia thus becoming a true melting pot of cultures in Europe.

On the northern slope of Psiloritis, the highest mountain slope of Crete (2,456 m), the village of Anogeia can be found – the last village before the majestic mountains. To outsiders the people of Anogeia might seem as reserved and rather silent. Yet, there is also open-mindedness and rebelliousness among its people. Historically, Anogeia and the neighbouring villages have been home to the mountain rebels who have fought against the Turks during the Ottoman rule of the empire and the Germans during the World Wars.

Anogeia has also been the home of the island's most famous lyra players and particularly the Xylouris family which has produced some of the most well-known musicians of Crete. The most famous member of the Xylouris family is considered to be the composer and singer Nikos Xylouris who died too early of laryngeal cancer. His bother Jannis also works as a musician but the third brother has now taken the family crown as the leading musician. He goes by the name of Psarantonis and has dropped the family name since he felt that only his late brother Nikos deserves it. Thus Antonios Xylouris adopted his grandfather's name, Psarantonis in which echoes the rebellious past of Cretans and the people of the villages on the slopes of Psiloritis. The grandfather of Antonios was known for his active resistance against the Turkish occupation in the 19th century and thus earned him the nickname Psarantonis which is a combination of the name Antonios and the Greek word fish (ψαρα, psara) – the one who catches the Turks like fishes in the net.

In addition to singing, Psarantonis plays the principal instrument of Crete which is the threestringed fiddle lyra which is held on the thigh or the knee of the player. The strings are not pressed down against the neck as in the violin or the cello but grazed with the fingernails which allows fast and dynamic playing and the subtle use of ornaments. Normally, the lyra is accompanied by one or two lauotos; instrument similar to the lute with four or occasionally six double strings. On this record, Psarantonis is accompanied by Achilleas Persidis on twelve-string lauoto and Georgios Xylouris (the son of Psarantonis) on the more traditional eight-string lauoto.

The folk music of Crete bares some resemblance to its people: it might appear rough, harsh and monotonous at first but closer listening reveals the same unspoken magic which the whole island has. At the same time, the music of Psarantonis sounds almost ancient and rather strange, yet so familiar and new. People often refer to Psarantonis as the wild bard due to his looks, character and music. The dynamics of his music range from tender to temperamental, from gentle to wild, from almost a silent whisper and whisteling to moaning and screaming. His bow dances across the strings of lyra effortlessly. Even tough his repertoire includes performances of traditional Cretan folk music, the major part of his art is his own compositions and poems. His interpretations of traditional songs, his playing and singing are all very distinctive, independent and experimental by nature. This is also what makes him stand out as an artist to his own right.

If you are looking something which is old but new, strange yet familiar at the same time and something which captures the magic of Crete, this album is the perfect place to start your journey with Psarantonis.

Take a listen to the first track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPPOdW1Zyhc

Written by Παναγιωτιης

7/08/2013

Estradasphere - Palace of Mirrors

 

Artist:    Estradasphere
Album:  Palace of Mirrors
Year:      2006
Line-up:
              Tim Smolens: contrabass, electric bass, surf guitar, keys, mouth harp
              Jason Schimmel: electric & acoustic guitars, organs, lapsteel, keys, fuzz bass
              Timb Harris: violin, trumpet, electric & slide guitars, mallets, orchestral perc., mandolin
              Kevin Kmetz: shamisen, electric guitar
              Adam Stacey: accordion, piano, clavinet, rhoder, tack piano, melodica, organs, 
                                     synthesizer
              Lee Smith: drums
Label:   The End Records

Estradasphere is an interesting USA-based band of multi-instrumentalists that were most active in the early 2000’s. To best describe their style would probably be to compare it to those of bands such as Secret Chiefs 3 and Mr. Bungle – indeed, they are one of those bands that, when asked “what genre of music do you play?”, answer with: “all of them.” This of course makes for some wonderfully demented if not utterly insane musical experiences, but the album I will be talking about now is probably their most restrained and stylishly consistent one (although that’s not saying much when it comes to this band).

Released in 2006, Palace of Mirrors is the band’s fifth full-length album and at least for now the last one they made. The first thing that comes to mind when listening is that it is very cinematic. The album very much resembles a soundtrack, just without a movie to go with it. This does not make it feel incomplete, however, as the listener is free to imagine their own film to go along with the music. It’s actually quite uncanny how visual some of the songs are in this way. The amazing title track, for example, would of course be the main theme of the movie, heard alongside slow camera pans of the scenery in which the film will be taking place (the first 40 seconds or so would be heard on the DVD menu).

A few songs evoke the work of the great Ennio Morricone, which somewhat explains these soundtrack-like feelings I get from the album. But it’s not like Palace of Mirrors is only repeating film music tropes (although they are in there) – the band very much makes its own twist on things. The absolute standout track for me is A Corporate Merger, which starts off groovy but restrained, and in the end takes a sudden (and awesome) turn into metal in the last repeats of its main theme. Another very memorable track is Smuggled Mutation, which sounds like a metal band found themselves at the rehearsals of a violin virtuoso, and just decided to start playing along. The weirdness of Flower Garden of an Evil Man also reminds us that this is indeed no ordinary soundtrack album.
Palace of Mirrors for me hits a sweet spot in keeping its tone consistent while also exploring a huge variety of moods and musical styles. Just pop this into your headphones and transform any boring walk through town into an interesting cinematic experience.

The title track on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Io220_J2I

Written by Those Who Know 
 

6/24/2013

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation - Succubus


Artist:      The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation
Album:     Succubus
Year:        2009
Line-up:   Jason Köhnen - bass
                Gideon Kiers – drums
                Eelco Bosman – guitars
                Hilary Jeffery – trombone, oscillators
                Charlotte Cegarra – vocals
                Sarah Anderson - violin
Label:      Ad Noisem

She is perfect. A disciple who mirrors my own image. The essence of evil. A devil on Earth.

The Killimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble is a Dutch musical project formed in 2000 focusing on creating new music for already existing silent movies. The music of the group has been labeled often as dark jazz which is considered as a form the dark ambient genre bringing influences contemporary slow tempo jazz mixing them with the dark atmospheres of Film Noir movies and soundtracks and the mysterious and surreal vibes of the movies and soundtracks of David Lynch. The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is the alter ego of The Killimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble which focuses more on live improvisation still maintaining the drone and ambient elements in the sound.

On the 15th of January 2009 the band entered the studio to let some steam out and to get into the mood and groove before going on tour. They did a 75-minute long improvisation session which was wisely recorded. Being film enthusiasts the members of the band were viewing a 1969 movie of Spanish film director Jess Franco called Succubus which would deservedly also become the title of the recording of this session. The movie itself is about a female artist who performs in a nightclub as dominating erotic love queen who stages sadomasochistic murders. The general ”plot” of the movie is very vague and hazy but later it is implicated that the woman under the control of a mysterious man who might be the devil himself.

As the music relies mostly on free improvisation influenced by the immediate moods and effects of the movies, the album is not intended to be a new soundtrack to the movie but rather a love-letter and homage to the original film. Yet, the music here perfectly captures the sensual, erotic, murky and at times the surreal atmospheres and moods which the movie has. Thus, the record becomes a very mesmerizing and otherwordly experience where it is rather easy for the listener to lose himself into this hypnotic world of sound. The bass of Köhnen and the drums of Kiers create the musically pulsating backdrop on top which we hear the mysterious and tempting vocals of Cegarra which consist mostly of whispers and chants instead of traditionally sung verses. The trombone has also a lot room here to create that jazzy mood and also those fascinating drones.

Succubus is absolutely an engrossing musical experience which is full of the eroticism, surreal atmosphere and ominous connotations of its original source material. As the music was recorded on one take accompanied by the movies, it is recommended that the listener takes his time to sit down and listen the album on one sitting – preferably at night and in the dark to truely get to the proper mood.

You can listen to the album and purchase it digitally here:

Written by Παναγιωτιης

6/10/2013

Miguel Angel Cortés - Bordon de trapo

 
Artist:        Miguel Angel Cortés
Album:      Bordón de trapo
Year:         2006
Line-up:    Miguel Angel Cortés – flamenco guitar
                 Carmen Linares – vocals
                 Esperanza Fernández – vocals
                 Arcángel – vocals
                 Juan Antonio Suárez ”Canito” - flamenco guitar
                 Cepillo – percussion, palmas, jaleos
                 Julio Blasco – bass
                 Carmen Cortés – palmas
                 Raquel Enamorado – backing vocals
Label:       Karonte

The one common problem of instrumental albums is that they easily end up being musically uninteresting, self-indulgent demonstrations of the performers technical proficiency over his instrument. You are also more likely to find an instrumental albums like this if you happen to play the particular instrument which the album focuses on. No where is this more evident than in the world of the guitar. Maybe it is because I have been playing the guitar in various forms for over ten years now and have grown bored most of the music which relies heavily on the instrument. Yet, there is no denying that there is a vast amount of guitar virtuosos who are making instrumental albums where the guitar is playing the lead role and the other instruments are merely on supporting roles. This does not only go for the electric guitar but I have noticed a similar trend of mundane technical acrobatics in the flamenco guitar scene as well.

The flamenco guitar has two distinct dimensions to it: There is the accompanying element which is yet divided into the accompaniment of dance and the accompaniment of singing. Then there is the element of solo playing. Every professional flamenco guitar player has done the demanding duties of accompaniment before moving to pursue the stardom of a solo guitar player. Thus one learns the almost endless intricacies of the rhythmic dimension of flamenco as well as the harmonic and melodic conventions. To exaggerate by generalizing I would say that most flamenco guitar players are divided into accompanists and solo players. While most flamenco guitar players continue to work with dancers and singers among their own personal artistic endeavors, the majority of them are profiled either as soloists or accompanists. Then again we are blessed with guitarists such Miguel Angel Cortés who is recognised as a master of both of these fields.

Miguel Angel Cortés was born in Granada in 1972 to a flamenco family with a large history of guitar players. It is not strange then that Miguel Angel would continue the family tradition by picking up the guitar himself at the young age of eight. By the time Miguel Angel was 14 he was already doing tours all over the globe playing for many distinguished dancers. In 1990 he began to work with one the most famous flamenco singers of all time, Carmen Linares with his brother Paco Cortés, who is also unsurprisingly a guitar player. In the most recent years Miguel Angel has rose to the public attention by providing his imaginative but rock solid accompaniment to such great singers as Estrella Morente, Esperanza Fernández and Arcángel not only doing shows and tours with them but recordings as well.

Speaking of recordings, in 1998 the first solo album of Miguel Angel Cortés was released titled Patriarca. I have not personally heard the album and it seems that it has remained more or less unknown among even in the flamenco circles. However, eight years later Miguel Angel released his second album Bordon de trapo which finally has brought his skills as soloist and the maturity as a composer to a wider attention. This album perfectly showcases the versatility of Miguel Angel Cortés: what Bordon de trapo offers us is the technically proficient playing with the whole variety of flamenco guitar techniques including rasgueados, picados, alzapua and Miguel Angel's trademark staccatos. Yet, at the same time the album treats us with great melodies, harmonies and compositions in general not forgeting the various different flamenco styles present here and the unique treatment they are given. In addition to all this, three frequent collaborators of Miguel Angel, Arcángel, Carmen Linares and Esperanza Fernández appear here providing vocals for couple of the tracks making Bordon de trapo a even more rich listening experience.

I bought Bordon de trapo myself in the early 2011 and even after two years I find myself coming back to it on a regular basis. The album is merely 33 minutes long but due to its limited running time it never gets boring and I might play the album through twice at one sitting. Bordon de trapo is an album which captures the beauty and dynamics of the flamenco guitar with a modern touch while also respecting the traditional roots of flamenco. It is a work of love for the guitar which serves the music, never falling to just express the technical supremacy that one truly dedicated to the instrument might have. I you have the chance to witness Miguel Angel Cortés performing live it is strongly recommended you do that since that way you are likely to witness the full potential of this amazing guitarist. Meanwhile, Bordon de trapo is definitely worth your time and money. Olé Miguel Angel Cortés!

Here is a theme from the album demonstrating the capabilities of Miguel Angel Cortés as a player and a composer:


and an other where you can hear and see him play masterfully for a singer:


Written by Παναγιωτιης

5/27/2013

Ustad Vilayat Khan - Raga Bhairavi

 

Artist:         Ustad Vilayat Khan
Album:       Raga Bhairavi
Year:          1991
Line-up:      Ustad Vilayat Khan - sitar
Label:         Indian Archive Music

It occured to me one day that even tough our blog has been up and running for eight months now we have not yet written about any true Hindustani classical record. Surely, a vast majority of aural explorers have gone the phase in their musical lives where they have shown some kind of interest towards Indian music. Be it through the hippie phase with a psychedelic flavor of the Beatles or the spiritual and musical connections of Mahavishnu Orchestra, there are many of us avid musicians and listeners who have found at least at certain point of yours life the music of Indian fascinating.

I am no exception. In my late teens, I was overly captivated by Hindustani classical music. Going through my own hippie phase when I was listening to artists such as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd I slowly started to moved towards progressive rock and jazz fusion. I remember watching The Monterey Pop and Woodstock festival documentaries over and over. Altough I always marveled at the psychedelic guitar acrobatic freak outs of Jimi Hendrix, the part which left the most bewildered and overenthusiastic to pick up my guitar was the concert of the Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.

Ravi Shankar is without a doubt the most well-known musician of Hindustani classical music around the globe. When I was contacting the only sitar teacher in my neighbour hood while I was seriously considering taking the sitar and Indian classical music up, he advised me to listen to certain artists. One of them was Ustad Vilayat Khan. Along with Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan is one the most recognised sitar maestros of Indian. For some reason the media and fans have for some reason set up Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan as rivals but personally I do not see the reasoning behind this. Like many of the professional Indian musicians, Vilayat Khan was born in to musical family dating back to the 16th century. Wanting to originally to be a singer it was however his mother who saw more fit that Vilayat Khan was to bear the family torch of sitar playing tradition. Thus, Vilayat Khan was taught from very early on in the family style called Imdadkhani Gharana.

The master recorded for 65 years making his catalogue almost impossible to go through in one lifetime. The record which I bought (I think it might have been on a completely random basis) is a recording of Raga Bhairavi. To aggravate, a raga is ”the tonal framework for composition and improvisation in Indian classical music”. The Bhairavi raga heard here is traditionally an early morning raga. The scale resembles the Phrygian mode in the western system of musical modes.One interesting notion to be made with this record is that has no tablas (the Indian percussion) nor does it have a drone provided by the tanpura. This is somewhat a personal trademark of Vilayat Khan as he fills out the silences with the strokes to the chikari strings in the sitar. I personally do not have the competency to evaluate in great detail the performance of Ustad Vilayat Khan on this record as Indian classical music is overly complex to the uninitiated ears. What I understand, Vilayat Khan was a traditional interpreter of these kinds of grand, basic ragas. He is also undoubtedly a virtuoso of his instrument but here there is no unnecessary showcase of the virtuosity to be found.

This record is a very pleasant and soothing solo sitar record and if you are interested to broaden our taste in Indian classical music, the musical stylings of Ustad Vilyat Khan are the perfect place to start.

Considering the vast recording career of Vilayat Khan I found it too time consuming trying to dig up an audio sample from this particular record. Please enjoy another performance of the same raga:


Written by Παναγιωτιης

5/13/2013

It-Clings vs Pneumatic Detach - The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness

 

Artist:       It-Clings vs Pneumatic Detach
Album:     The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness
Year:        2007
Line-up:    It-Clings (Squid) – words
                 Pneumatic Detach (Justin Brink) – music and programming
Label:       Bugs Crawling Out of People

These texts contain the raving confessions of necessary evil. What you are about to hear is unpleasant, and unsavioury, these deeds and thoughts come from what people call a degenerate mind, a mind that is twisted and full of filth and rage.”
- It-Clings


I have previously mentioned my habit of occasionally picking up records quite randomly based on some minor detail about the record (be it the cover art, the name of the artist or the album or the line-up on the album). On the other hand, I find certain subgenres of music so intriguing to a level where I use the vast amount of information provided by the internet to seek out records of various subgenre. One of those very specific subgenres of music that has been fascinating me for a long time, is spoken word. And I am not referring to albums which consist primarily of speech such as recorded stand-up shows, readings of poems or other literature, radio broadcasts, interviews et cetera. The records which I am after are those of which are the marriages between spoken word performances and music. Normally, these are projects where a musician and a writer come together to create an original work.

I remember a couple of years ago I was going through the catalogue of Ad Noisem (a Berlin-based record label and a distribution channel for in-house and other labels' releases). They have kindly catalogued their releases by genre and luckily they have listed spoken word records there. Thus, I checked out the few records which had this genre tag and came across the album of today's post which masterfully named The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness by It-Clings vs Pneumatic Detach. Maybe the spoken word genre does not interest you to an extent which it does me but certainly the title of the record will catch your attention. Let me assure you that you are not likely to come across any record quite like The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness any time soon. The album is a collaborative effort of It-Clings, an angry Canadian spoken wordcore artist titling himself as ”rock n' roll supergod It-clings, Kings of the Jews, Saviour of all mankind” who does not write poetry but rants which criticize everything and everybody, and Pneumatic Detach, a one-man project of Justin Brink who works on an Industrial sub-genre called Power Noise, where thick and harsh rhythms are mixed with electro-industrial noise.

As you might have expected The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness is not your regular cup of tea; as a matter of fact I would goes as far as calling this album one the most bat-shit crazy and intense albums – and coming from me that is saying a lot. Musically, this album represents the subgenre of Industrial, Power Noise also known as Rhythmic Noise which is a fusion between noise music and various styles of electronic dance music. Pneumatic Detach summons up distorted noises, drones and resonances to create either more abstract dark ambient-like soundscapes or electronic rhythms parts which are occasionally very catchy and even danceable. All potential melodies are here secondary to the rhythmic patterns and ambient soundscapes but at time one can recognise something reminiscent to riffs constructed of the noise rhythms. Surprisingly enough, every time I play this record I find myself enjoying the music quite a bit even though I am not a huge fan of either noise music or industrial music. The music on The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness is just so otherworldly, twisted, weird and yet enthralling that I cannot help but to feel deeply absorbed by it.

The one element which sets The All Too Logical Descent Into Madness apart from every other album I have ever listened to and makes it a true and unique aural obscurity is certainly the texts provided by It-Clings. Try to imagine the iconic American stand-up comedian Bill Hicks and the psychopaths of the psychological thrillers such as Se7en, The Silence of the Lambs and the Saw franchise coming together to share their view on life and people and you get a picture what is in store for you. The maniacal rants of It-Clings revolve around cynical and nihilistic views on modern society and on the people who inhabit it. As the album progresses these rants develop more into disturbing rambles – as the title of the album suggests - about brutal violence and both physical and mental pain afflicted to people. The second half immerses itself almost like in a torture pornoesque tales and while that not might definitely for everyone, the first half of the album has actually very interesting and sharp observations about modern society and life. I personally find both the social commentary and gorno stuff fascinating.

So if you feel bold enough and wish to take a glimpse of the darker side of human nature, buckle your seat belt and take a wild ride to the sonic mayhem of Pneumatic Detach and the delirious rants of It-Clings. Those who wish to take a sneak peak of what they are getting themselves into, check out the album opener Necessary Evil:


Written by Παναγιωτιης

4/29/2013

Manolo Sanlúcar - Tauromagia

 

Artist:          Manolo Sanlúcar
Album:        Tauromagia
Year:           1988
Line-up:      Guitar: Manolo Sanlúcar
                   2nd Guitar: Isidro Muños, Vicente Amigo
                   Vocals: La Macanita, El Indio Gitano, Jose Merce, Diego Carrasco
                   Percussion and Palmas: Manolo Soler, Tino Di Geraldo, Diego Carrasco
                   Dance: Manolo Soler
Label:         Polydor

"I wish the experts in universal music to understand that they may approach flamenco, so they do not consider it something tribal and topical, so they see a branch of music in flamenco that allows very profound musical analysis and has extraordinary poetic and musical quality".
- Manolo Sanlúcar

When it comes to flamenco guitar, the one player of this fine instrument the people – especially outside Spain - are most likely to know is Paco de Lucía. Yet, when speaking of the giants of flamenco guitar I find myself personally more drawn to the playing and compositions of Manolo Sanlúcar. Incidentally Paco and Manolo have various things in common: Both of them were born in the 1940's in Cádiz. Taught by their amateur guitar playing fathers and having also guitar playing brothers, Paco and Manolo went on being of the most important flamenco composers and revolutionary players who are now considered to be the main figures in the evolution of the modern flamenco guitar.

It is quite useless trying to compare Paco and Manolo as players on a technical level as they are both the undisputed masters of the guitar. Nevertheless, I have always admired the playing of Manolo more. It seems to me that Manolo has this very strict discipline behind his playing and technique whereas Paco comes across more as a natural wonder child. In addition to the playing, the one thing that sets Manolo apart from Paco is his talent as a composer. Yet again, it cannot be denied that Paco has not composed a great number of interesting, evolutionary and stunning pieces. However, Manolo has been the one guitar player of flamenco who has always gone one step beyond. From a very beginning of his career Manolo has been an avid researcher of both the flamenco tradition as well as the guitar as an instrument. He was aware that the flamenco guitar - but the acoustic nylon string guitar in general - had infinite possibilities which were yet to be explored. Apart from the exploration of the guitar from a technical standpoint Manolo has been very interested integrating flamenco with symphonic and orchestral music. Thus, we finally come to the album discussed on this post: Tauromagia.

Considered by many flamenco aficionados to be one the best flamenco albums of all time, Tauromagia takes its' listener on a journey through Andalucia and flamenco. The title meaning literally ”magic of bulls”, Tauromagia is also a concept album the central theme being the classical Spanish bullfighting which has not only been important cultural phenomenon in southern Spain but in the whole Spain. The compositions on the album are in themselves little pieces of sheer excellency but the strength of the album lies also deeply on its' versatility and the seamless flow between the tracks. Not only are we treated with a delicious variety of different palos (the styles and forms of flamenco), but Tauromagia is filled with a lot of captivating nuances. Every piece has it is distinct character and feel which makes the album a cohesive whole. From the calm lullaby Nanencia through rondeña (a sonata performed solely by Manolo Sanlúcar on the guitar is considered a peak moment by many), solea por bulería, tangos, bulerías, jaleos and ending on a cheerful note with alegrías Tauromagia is full of magic moments raging from a quite and meditative pieces to more driven and energetic perfomances. We have virtuoso guitar playing, athmosphere, interesting orchestration for a flamenco album, great vocal perfomances by such great cantaores as Jose Merce, El Indio Gitano, La Macanita and Diego Carrasco and a lot more. Altough Tauromagia is an album composed by a guitar player, it should be noted that the guitar playing here always serves the music never being self-indulgent.

Flamenco is a philosophy, a feeling, a way to understand life and death, it is more like the heart than the head, more like an intuition than reasoning, more like art than science, more like passion than reflection, more like a devotion than obligation. Tauromagia is surely one of the best albums to catch the magic of flamenco.

Here we have the last piece on Tauromagia, alegrías named Puerta de Príncipe performed in the film Flamenco by Carlos Saura:


Written by Παναγιωτιης