Tuesday 15 October 2024

Sentir Que No Sabes. Mabe Fratti

De uit Guatemala afkomstige muzikante Mabe Fratti levert met Sentir Que No Sabes een album af dat de fantasie constant prikkelt, maar het is ook een album met een unieke sfeer en een bijzondere schoonheid.

“Rich, rewarding, spellbinding music from a true original”, het zijn de woorden van de Britse kwaliteitskrant The Guardian over Sentir Que No Sabes van Mabe Fratti en zoals zo vaak heeft de krant het bij het juiste eind. Mabe Fratti maakt op haar album muziek die je songs na song weet te verrassen of zelfs te verbazen, maar het is ook bijzonder mooie muziek en muziek die, ondanks het label avant garde, verrassend toegankelijk klinkt. Net als bijvoorbeeld Arooj Aftab betovert Mabe Fratti met muziek die anders klinkt dan alle andere muziek van het moment. Het is muziek waarin invloeden uit de jazz, neoklassieke muziek, Midden-Amerikaanse muziek, avant garde en pop en rock op bijzondere wijze samenvloeien. Bijzonder mooi.

Zonder enige twijfel het meest bijzondere album dat ik deze week heb gehoord is Sentir Que No Sabes van Mabe Fratti. Het is niet het eerste wapenfeit van de celliste uit Guatemala, die momenteel Mexico City als uitvalsbasis heeft, maar in tegenstelling tot haar vorige albums kan Sentir Que No Sabes rekenen op flink wat aandacht van de betere muziekpers. Dat is op zich best bijzonder voor een album waar het etiket avant garde wordt opgeplakt, maar met dit label vertel je maar een deel van het verhaal van de muziek van Mabe Fratti.

Je hoort het direct in de openingstrack, die verrassend veel klinkt als een redelijk normale popsong met een lome beat, jazzy drumwerk en de mooie stem van Mabe Fratti, die haar Spaanse teksten met veel gevoel voordraagt. Het is wel een redelijk normale popsong met een twist, want de blazers op de achtergrond klinken wat atypisch. Wanneer stemmige pianoakkoorden worden toegevoegd klinkt het nog wat conventioneler, maar op hetzelfde moment is duidelijk dat Mabe Fratti muziek maakt die anders klinkt dan alle andere muziek van het moment.

Het is muziek die me qua sfeer wel wat doet denken aan de muziek van Arooj Aftab, al is de muziek van Mabe Fratti minder jazzy. Invloeden uit de jazz spelen wel een rol in de songs van de muzikante uit Guatemala en dat hoor je vooral in het spel van de ritmesectie. Het wordt gecombineerd met invloeden uit de neoklassieke muziek en de avant garde, maar ook liefhebbers van aangenaam in het gehoor liggende popsongs met een kop en een staart hoeven Sentir Que No Sabes zeker niet direct opzij te leggen.

Dat Mabe Fratti een achtergrond heeft in de avant garde hoor je vooral wanneer ze haar cello er bij pakt en wat vervormde en tegendraadse klanken uit de speakers laat komen. Omdat de rest van de muziek op het album vrij toegankelijk is versterkt de cello vooral het unieke karakter van de songs van Mabe Fratti, maar heb je niet het idee dat je naar een heel experimenteel album aan het luisteren bent.

Dat idee heb je zeker niet wanneer Mabe Fratti zingt, want de muzikante uit Mexico City beschikt over een prachtige stem. Het is een stem die nog wat mooier en bijzonderder klinkt door de Spaanstalige teksten, die de muziek van Mabe Fratti voorzien van een extra dimensie, net zoals het gebruik van het Urdu dit doet op de albums van Arooj Aftab. Wanneer de stem van Mabe Fratti wordt gecombineerd met fraai klinkende blazers doet de muziek op Sentir Que No Sabes Mexicaans aan, maar wanneer de cello of de ritmesectie invalt of flink wat strijkers worden ingezet is de muziek op het album toch opeens weer meer neoklassiek of jazzy of schuift het op richting triphop, waarna elektronica de muziek van Mabe Fratti weer een andere kant op kan duwen.

Het doet me in muzikaal opzicht soms ook wel wat denken aan de muziek van Talk Talk uit de meer experimentele dagen van de Britse band, maar die vergelijking is niet meer relevant wanneer Mabe Fratti zingt. De muzikante uit Guatemala was het afgelopen jaar zeer productief in diverse samenwerkingsverbanden en heeft haar nieuwe album gemaakt met flink wat gastmuzikanten, die allemaal bijdragen aan een geluid dat totaal anders klinkt dan de andere muziek van het moment, maar dat desondanks zeer makkelijk weet te verleiden. Het levert wereldwijd zeer positieve recensies op en dat is echt volkomen terecht.

Erwin Zijleman


Je kunt Sentir Que No Sabes hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://tinangelrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sentir-que-no-sabes

Monday 14 October 2024

Dust Chaser. VanWyck

Ah, sometimes things seem easier to explain than I could have imagined. Christien Oele, the singer-songwriter behind VanWyck, was born in The Netherlands but was raised in New Zealand, before returning to NL. So, she drank from the same water, whatever it is that is in there, as singer-songwriters like Reb Fountain, Vera Ellen, Aldous Harding and Ebony Lamb and others have. Mostly the first singer though.

On her new album Dust Chaser the associations with Fountain are once again quite obvious. I'm very happy with them as both make make albums that guarantee some serious listening, mystery and beauty. VanWyck lives up to expectations with Dust Chaser - and the some.

VanWyck made her debut on this blog in 2018 with the album 'An Average Woman', reviewed by Erwin Zijleman, followed by 'God Is In The Detour' (2020) and 'The Epic Tale Of The Stranded Man' (2022) reviewed by yours truly. That Dust Chaser follows is only logical. Some things have changed, as the album is released on a different label. But, there is more.

My impression is that on her new album VanWyck rocks a little harder. That there is a far greater role for the electric guitar. That may be totally erroneous as in my mind I hear slow(er), mysterious, piano driven songs and very little relatively harder rocking songs. The balance between the two is quite right here on Dust Chaser. There's even a song that positions itself in between. 'Desert Bride' is a song I would opt to call roots music, with its typical lead guitar (sound) and rhythm suggesting endless trips down an I-something highway through the endless U.S. deserts.

I noticed that in both previous album reviews I mentioned Reb Fountain. Recently I found that both singers have more in common than just their style of making music and way of singing. Both released their first album relatively late in life. Both emigrated to New Zealand with their parents when young. This doesn't explain the similarities, striking it is.

The more surprising is a song like 'Jump In'. With a little imagination I can call it funky and bluesy. 'Jump In' has a great rhythm and goes for it in a totally different way than one would expect from a VanWyck song. Oele shows a different side to her musicality. It makes Dust Chaser more dimensional, so more varied and interesting. The mystery and beauty comes with a bite in 2024.

I have never seen VanWyck live. This is going to change in a few weeks. I have no idea what to expect, except that the music will take concentration from the listeners. If people start talking, it will be hell. Otherwise it may well be a mesmerising experience. On the basis of the three albums I know, expectations are high and because of Dust Chaser even higher.

Wout de Natris - van den Borght


You can listen to and order Dust Chaser here:

https://vanwyck.bandcamp.com/album/dust-chaser

Sunday 13 October 2024

2024, week 41. 10 singles

Is there any nice news left in the world? Yesterday I got the question whether the situation in NL and much of the rest of the world was bringing me down. Luckily, I could answer that I'm not that kind of person but yes, I'm seriously worried about many things (They all came together in this evening's 8 PM news: politics, war, weather/climate change.) Then we are going to make some music tonight, was the response, as we were on route to band practice last night. We rammed the hell out of 'Radar Love'! In the mean time life is made a little prettier by the 10 songs in this post. With a lot of new names as well, so enjoy!

Are You Live Here? EP. Iskander Moon

When does an EP stop being an EP? An interesting question, because with seven songs, each, minus the intro, clocking (well) above the four minutes I would opt for mini album. That said, Iskander Moon presents itself as an atmospheric live act. The songs were recorded live in the Funkhause studio in Berlin. A live album that is not a live show. Iskander Moon is the moniker Belgian (Ghent) singer-songwriter Iskander Moens releases his work under. Start listening to Are You Live Here? and you will be sucked into an atmospheric musical work, that will make you recall albums by the likes of Patrick Watson and City + Colour, all artists that work somewhere in between pop, ballads, atmospherics and mystery. You will hear traditional instruments for pop bands, but at some point a trumpet can come in like it does in a song like Soft Cell's 'Torch'. The instruments are played in a way that can mesmerise a listener, dreamy, floating, tense, yet relaxed. Iskander Moon is also not afraid to give a song body, like it happens in 'Berlin'. The tempo goes up. Drums and bass gain prominence and a guitar starts shredding. In 'Saturday Silence' the mood is brought down immediately, but as you will notice a spine in a song can return in a totally different way. There's no need for tempo or noise to do so. This band masters that expertly. For six songs Iskander Moon plays with the mood and responses of the listener and succeeds to do so with ease.

Library Girl. The Dogmatics

The Dogmatics, so I'm told, played in the Boston area in the 1980s before folding, after which members played in a host of other bands. Some recordings have surfaced recently on Rum Bar Records. Now decades later the band is back and shows that it hasn't lost any of its tricks. Library Girl starts with the kind of chord-riff that started 1000s of great rock songs. Library Girl is no exception. It's the kind of song that sounds almost familiar, one you want to sing along to, beer in one hand and fist in the air with the other hand. While your head is going up and down as if there's no tomorrow. Library Girl is the kind of rock song any fan of this kind of music should get to know to draw The Dogmatics out of the Boston circuit. Yes, Library Girl is that good, believe me.

First Time. Greg Mendez

What a story. A guitarist unable to use his right hand, turns to an electric organ and only plays it with his left hand. It results in one of the most bare songs I have heard for some time. It's just Greg Mendez' downcast, melancholy voice and the chords played on the organ. The only embellishment is literally a few single notes in the outro. Greg Mendez had released his debut album, that received good reviews and then fate struck. Mendez needed surgery on his wrist and could not play and preform for four months. The result is an upcoming EP, 'First Time / Alone' to be released on 18 October. An EP the world might never have heard, as it rose from a forced break from performing and guitar playing. The mood of the single reflects the down side of life Greg Mendez will have felt, after the twist of fate. The result is an intens, yet sweet single.

Summer Breeze. Black Doldrums

In the week before 'In Limerence' is released Black Doldrums is found on the blog for the third time. Summer Breeze is a song that combines the darkness of Joy Division with the light side of The Cure in its new single. And in a successful way. Singer (and guitarist) Kevin Gibbard has a dark voice with which he is able to return to the doom and gloom of the early to mid 80s with ease. When around him the rhythm guitar has this light sound, the sun starts to shine a little as well. There's a host of guitar overdubs and a synth adding to the atmosphere. The London trio, besides Gibbard, Sophie Landers on drums and new bassist Daniel Armstrong, creates a sound that is impossible to recreate on stage as a trio. That is for them to figure out. On Summer Breeze the band does a lot right, if not all. Black Doldrums manages to weave a little pop into its early 80s new wave sound. This makes Summer Breeze a very attractive song to listen to.

Orange Background. Crash Harmony

Orange Background is a nostalgic song in a few ways. To explain, I have to point out that Crash Harmony reformed after more than three decades after calling it a day in 1988, during the bandmembers' college days in New Haven, CT. The song is on the one hand a message from the then young men to their older selves today and it is musically a trip down memory lane to the music that was emerging on the U.S.' east coast at the time. Think The Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, etc. Crash Harmony obviously liked the bands at the time and still does. It brings good memories back for me as well and adds a song very much worthwhile hearing to a well-liked and known roster. Note also how Crash Harmony plays with the tempo within the song and its mood by adding an organ. Well done. So, Dave Derby, who can also be found on this blog as a member of Gramercy Arms, Nils Nadeau, Jon Nighswander and Mike Potenza came back together and now did record an album, so it may be the band with the longest wait for a debut album ever, 38 years. No One Asked For This' is out on 18 October.

See You Again. Jon Chesbro

Another new name to the blog Jon Chesbro is. See You Again is the lead single from his latest EP, 'Outta State Outta Mind', released on 25 September. See You Again is a dreamy single of the kind that allows you to travel in your mind, in the way Chesbro travelled around the United States, to come back to New England with a bunch of new songs in his bag. He starts the song with a lot of oohhs over the solid music, providing a dreamy vibe to See You Again from the start. I have reached the 0.50 second mark before the vocals starts. All the time there is a prominent drum part. Whoever is playing, Jon Chesbro is promoted as a multi-instrumentalist, he's having a great time. Even if it's a machine it obviously is. The musicality Chesbro is capable of, shows in the many guitar parts that both adorn and solidify See You Again. Beware, a new guitar part can come in any second. It makes for great listening.

Stay Strange. Then Comes Silence (with Goth Dad)

Now what can I call the music presented by Then Comes Silence on Stay Strange? It's rock, it has a metal edge, it is postpunk in the style of Killing Joke et al, maybe even goth. So, have your choice. What is clear that Stay Strange contains loads of energy that Then Comes Silence was able to capture in the studio and share with its fans and other listeners. On the single the Swedes are joined by Vision Video's frontman Dusty Gannon a.k.a. Goth Dad. The two singers really go for it but in the background it is guitarist Hugo Zombie and drummer Jonas Fransson that kick life into the song. That is not all though. There's a wild guitar intro and a bit mysterious interlude that gives the rock song a little psychedelic edge, before the song is kicked towards its end in full rock swing. On an average day a song like Stay Strange will be a bit much for me. On the right day it is all I need.

Motoroller. Pixies

I will probably have written this before but Pixies totally passed me by around 1990. It was a few years later before I became interested again in music  by new bands. That did not stop right up to today. Not so though in 1987 or 1988 when Pixies broke in the alternative rock world. In 2024 I am again listening to a new single by the band and I like it. Where fans of old may not like it at all, I love the way this single develops. The little darkness, the voice of new bassist Emma Richardson of (or ex?) Band of Skulls. Boy did I love that band's 'Diamonds and Pearls'! The chorus of Motoroller is simply so great. The lead guitar underneath it. Black Francis taking his voice down and Emma Richardson challenging him for the whole of the way. There's an album announced for 25 October, 'The Night The Zombies Came'. It may well be that for the first time I have to check a Pixies album out.

If God Is A Woman. Larkin Poe

Time for some dirty, low down electric blues. Larking Poe returns to the blog with a great blues rock song. The sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell are on route to release their ninth album, 'Bloom' on 25 January since 2014. With If God Was A Woman the tone is set for some dirty blues rock. Dark distortion and a wining, even darker slide guitar say it all. God help us men if Larking Poe is right that if God is a woman, the devil is too, turns out to be true. "I will pray for you", Rebecca sings. It's better to be an atheist, just to be sure. Musically you will have heard it all before, from artists and bands like Stevie Ray Vaughan or Heart, but who cares when it sounds as good as If God Is A Woman does. Larking Poe, the name of the sisters' great-great-great-great-grandfather and cousin of Edgar Allan Poe, is smoking on this song and I have no doubt 'Bloom' will as well.

I Don’t Know What To Save. Sophie Jameson

We end this week's singles post with a very serious song by British singer Sophie Jamieson. You can find her on this blog with her album 'Choosing' in a review written by Erwin Zijleman. For me she is a new name though. I have to say that I'm impressed by the way she builds up I Don’t Know What To Save. With her voice that is somewhere between deep and higher, she commands listening. Jamieson sings with a lot of emphasis stemming from the use of her voice. Always in full control of the words. Musically, the song contains great dynamics, including beautiful details. In the small parts, the music is very elementary. Like in the intro, where only an electric guitar accompanies her voice. A short interlude brings solo notes from a second guitar. After the second verse slowly but surely more instruments come in, including a string section. Then drums and bass kick in, giving the song a boost, that is reflected by the singing. Beautiful melodies adorn the music and I Don’t Know What To Save just grows and grows. The album ' I Still Want To Share' will be released on 17 January.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

Saturday 12 October 2024

Bowie for Dummies #36

It's been a while since the previous incarnation of the best read post by far on the blog. Chances are that there is a lot of new stuff to be discovered there. This is the 36th version since we published the first one on 8 January 2017. In this post you find all Tineke Guise's explorations on Bowie on the Internet with the links to music, clips, news, and what not.

Here is the link to the original but updated post where all is revealed:

http://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/bowie-for-dummies.html

Friday 11 October 2024

Below A Massive Dark Land. Naima Bock

Naima Bock had left the band Goat Girl before my introduction to the band and released a solo album in 2022 called 'Giant Palm'. Today she returns with Below A Massive Dark Land, an album of truly ambitious proportions, impossible to reproduce live with the modest means Ms Bock will have to play live.

This starts immediately in the opening song. 'Gentle' starts ever so modest. Just her voice and a plucked bass note. A single one that just continues to be plucked. In the second verse more and more instruments come in all playing that same note, until the end of the verse. By then a modest orchestra and choir join in. The mood for Below A Massive Dark Land is set here alright. From that single note the song opens up and receives a lush arrangement. Not so much complex in the number of notes, it is the complexity of all instruments as a whole that sets Gentle apart from the average song.

Naima Bock is of Brazilian-Greek decent but grew up in the U.K. On 'Giant Palm' she showed her musical heritage. She leaves that all behind on Below A Massive Dark Land. Instead she goes all out on her new album. Where I wrote then that her voice is not her strongest feature, here she show growth and self-assuredness. She can be compared to some of the singer-songwriters coming out of New Zealand in the past years like Aldous Harding, Vera Ellen and Erny Belle. Singers who take on adventure in their music.

Below A Massive Dark Land is an incredibly rich album. The songs have all been given a treatment where more is less and less is more simultaneously. The folk element brings to mind the late Norwegian singer-songwriter St. Thomas, in that slow, relaxed way of singing. From there Naima Bock brings on every instrument that fits the song. Acoustic guitar, bass and drums can be joined by any form of horn, her voice with a host of overdubs or other singers in that St. Thomas kind of choir singing. Listen to 'Feed My Release' to get my drift.

Someone already declared this album a masterpiece. For that it is too early in my opinion. I have no way of telling what the album will do to/with me over the coming months, let alone years. What I can share with you is that in the first listening sessions it made a great impression on me. It is an album that forces the listener to pay attention. This is where good music and my relation to it starts. Below A Massive Dark Land and I are off to a great start so to say.

It is easy to write that I did not see this one coming on the basis of 'Giant Palm' and of having been a bass player in Goat Girl. This is an album that goes beyond just being nice or good. ('Giant Palm' got really great reviews btw, I was simply more modest in my praise.) Below A Massive Dark Land is an album that will allow for exploration for quite some time. There is everything between what could have been heard in her grandmother's garden shed where she lived for a while while, playing to herself, writing this album, and the lush arrangements heard in several songs. This will bring you from English folk as played around 1970, Fairport Convention is not far away on a song like 'Takes One', before St. Thomas returns and all sorts of other instruments are added, taking the song to its own strata. Even a violin enters. Naima Bock has taught herself to play the instrument in the past two years. 'Takes One' is another song that shows how rich this album is.

As I already wrote, time will tell where we will go. For now, I'm sincerely impressed by Below A Massive Dark Land and will continue to listen for sure.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght


You can listen to and order Below A Massive Dark Land here:

https://naimabock.bandcamp.com/album/below-a-massive-dark-land