Kairos July 2016, by .No on Concertzender

Again Wo. submerges for an hour into the contemplative music .No plays in his radioshow on Concertzender called Kairos. Wherever the music takes him, Wo. follows bravely. Boldly going where he often never went before, aurally.

It's necessary to turn up the volume after I heard the familiar voice announce the show. An album on a new label I notice. Only number four I surmise. Long held synth notes come up and go down. All sorts of spooky bits come up and disappear again. 'Sleepy Hollow', the series that I see my family members watch, comes to mind. Noises like made by ghosts and other paranormal creatures, disturbed my peace. Even the bagpipes of a long deceased Scotsman seem present. The undertones are like the sea. Ever present, ever moving, unperturbed by us humans. Nature ever lasting, long before and long after I or "we" are around. Y Create fascinates, draws and repels, like the waves on the beach. Playful, yet ever dangerous.

The change to the choir music composed by Henryk Górecki is smooth but also large. I'm taken into tranquillity. Perhaps this sounds strange for such tranquil choir music, but the move is too large. From otherworldliness to sacral is more my brain can take in, despite both being otherworldly. The singing is wide in sound, but also close to unisono singing. I'd like to hear some more diversity, now I've heard some choirs recently.

The switch to the 'Adagio' from 'Idyll for string orchestra' by Leoš Janáček is perfect. Precisely at the right note we move into the Czech composer's theme. Very romantic and very direct. It takes me to the streets of Prague in my mind or wondering down the Vltava's quays. Yes, let me just write it: this is beautiful. It reminds me a little of Strauss' waltzes, much more subdued, more sad, but certainly similar in tone.

A piano is up next, when .No presents Anuar Brahem to us. In his 'Vague - E La Nave Va' he softly plays serious yet frivolous notes, accented by an organ that comes in and out of the composition. Later a classical guitar enters. The song is dark and has a certain moodiness within it, yet light is allowed in when higher notes are played on the guitar and the organ (accordion?). Flamingo/Spanish elements come in as well, without the castanets and hand clapping. Brahem touches the right mood each time with this composition. A mix of classics with pop elements. Just very well done.

Next up is Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, one of my more favourite Americana singers. In this single released for Record Store Day 2014, Will Oldham covers Broeder Dieleman. His 'Gloria' gets a unique treatment, with lots of silence and just a sparsely played acoustic guitar and a female, accompanying voice. If 'Gloria' shows anything it is how good Tonnie Dieleman's songs are. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy takes it up and shows it in all it's glory and his strength. Long overdue its spot here is.

King Karoshi comes back to Kairos. A band from Montreal that I was pointed towards by Natalie Ramsay, who used to play with Patrick Dunphy and, by the way, deserves a spot on this program herself. She is one of the bigger talents from Canada in my humble opinion. 'Here's To Us' is one of the four beautiful songs on the EP 'Catching Echoes', an EP that deserves more attention. A beautifully layered song that is more atmosphere than song, while it still contains a pop notion within it. Just well done.

From King Karoshi to Philip Glass it seems a long haul, but in fact it is not. The lightness of 'Paru River' matches the mood of 'Here's To Us' in a surprising way. The percussive instrument brings a pan flute to mind. Does the Paru stream through Bolivia or Peru? The motive is happy and boisterous. Watch me go it seems to say.

Dark piano chords move. .No at play, is my guess. It doesn't belong and here comes Arno Dieteren with his dissonant piano playing in 'Uitkleden'. 'Piep knor' music I call this sort of thing. Try and translate that, because I won't. With that all's been said as far as I'm concerned. The poem of the month comes over the dissonance, which moves into a composition by Debussy that also holds a piep knor quality within it, but of a totally different nature, A whole orchestra is allowed to do it, with more pleasant elements here and there. Different instruments come forward and fade away and then it moves into the blues of Ries de Vuyst. We've heard 'Snijwblind' before on this snow, but the quality of the song and the playing surprises me each single time. Ries de Vuijst is an extremely unique artist and .No the most unique programmer of a radioshow. I don't think anyone ever mixed Debussy's 'Serenade' and De Vuyst so successfully before, if ever.

The ending here is abrupt. Like a full stop more. The mood really changes with 'Nhyoo Bajracharya. The seven-line prayer to Guru Rhinpoche'. Everything is beyond understanding in Ani Choying Drolma's singing. I suppose this is Mongolian or Tibetan. The prayer is a modern adaptation with droning sounds in the background and an acoustic guitar accompanying the singing. In a way I find it beautiful, the voice is too rough to make it peaceful to my ears. Yet, this shows how a traditional prayer incantation can be translated to the modern world in a successful way.

A composition from an anonymous composer. That usually signals old music from the catholic church of old. Tranquil is the right description here. 'Veris Dulcis' slowly transpires, singer John Potter is urged on by dark sounding instruments all calling for the Lord to be merciful.

The next one is a hard one for me. A harp. Never a good combination. Tal Weiss sings 'Unsleeping Night'. I'm sorry to say that might just happen to me if I keep listening to her voice too long in combination with the harp.

Music from the album 'Helt Borte' also came by before, although it is a while back if I remember correctly. 'Gitaro' is a modern composition that could have been on any indie pop or rock album, even on Marillion's 'Misplaced Childhood' as the single after 'Keyleigh' if Fish had composed a vocal melody and wrote the lyrics. Cato Farstad & Rune Lindbæk have not, but this song is very, very pretty. The relatively simple central motive is repeated again and again over this moody, misty synth layer and works meditatively in a great way.

After that we move to the Delta blues of Robert Johnson, were it not that there's also an English composer from the 17th century by that name. That explains better why Sting is pretending to be a medieval minstrel. WTF? I have been turned off Sting for a few decades by now, but this really hits rock bottom as far as I'm concerned. Well all must have their fun. I hope Sting had just that, making this album.

It all ends with bright classical guitar playing by John Dowland. His 'Fantasy' sounds more frivolous and less sacred than Sting just now. Although the music is not that different as such, Dowland is more authemtic. So the winner is .... Sting????? See you back in August's Kairos soon.

Wo.

Je kunt hier luisteren naar deze Kairos:

http://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos-132/?date=2016-07-07

Dit is de playlist:

Playlist 20160707 2300 Kairos 72
00:02    Y Create. Angels landing. Van album ‘Madadayo’. Eetapes EE04.
07:22    Henryk Górecki. Oj, Janie, Janie. Lira Chamber Chorus; Lucy Ding dirigent.
Album ‘Górecki Miserre’. Elektra Nonesuch 7559-79348-2.
10:50    Leoš Janáček. Adagio uit Idyll for string orchestra. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; dirigent: Jiři Bělohlávek.
Album ‘Janáček’. Chandos Chan 241-7.
14:55    Anuar Brahem. Vague – e la nave va.
Album ‘Voyage du sahar’. ECM 1915.
20:55    Tonnie Dieleman, (vertaling: Mimi Visser). Gloria. Bonnie Prince Billy, zang en gitaar. Van de 7’’ Bonnie Prince Billy & Broeder Dieleman.
Snowstar Records.
23:49    King karoshi (tekst: Patrick Dunphy). Here’sto us. King Karoshi (Rémi Denis, Patrick Dunphy, Alexy Guérer, Antoine Poliquin).
Van de EP ‘Catching Echoes’.
26:29    Philip Glass. Paru river. Album ‘Uakti’.
Orange Mountain Music omm 0026
30:15    Arno Dieteren. Uitgekleed. Arno Dieteren, piano. Van album ‘Stichting Limburgse Componisten 25 years 1987 – 2012’.
Stichting Limburgse Componisten.
32:45    Debussy. Sérénade. Modérément Animé uit sonata for cello and piano in d minor. Harriet Krijgh, cello; Kamilla Isanbaeva, piano.
Album ‘The French Album’. Capriccio C5131.
35:55    Ries de Vuyst. Snijwblind. Album Oondert.
Uitgegeven in eigen beheer.
39:39    Nhyoo Bajracharya. The seven-line prayer to Guru Rhinpoche (fragment). Ani Choying Drolma.
Album ‘Inner Peace 2’. SAC Music International SMI CD 1051.
42:59    Anoniem (Carmina Burana Manuscript). Veris Dulcis. John Potter, tenor; Milos Valent, viool; John Surman, basklarinet; Stephen Stubbs, barokgitaar, vihuela.
Album ‘The Dowland Project / Romaria’ ECM new series 1970 476 5780
47:59    Tal Weiss Unsleeping night (tekst: Shun’e Hoshi; vertaling: Clay Maccauly). Tal Weiss, zang; Julia Rovinsky, harp; Issar Tennenbaum, drums.
Album ‘Motion Drawing’. EnT-T S9.
51:37    Cato Farstad & Rune Lindbæk. Gitaro. Pechenga.
Album ‘Helt Borte’. Smalltown Supersound STS202CD.
55:45     Robert Johnson. Have you seen the bright lilly grow. Sting, zang en aartsluit; Edin Karamazov luit en aartsluit.
Album ‘Songs from the Labyrinth’. Deutsche Grammophon 06025 170 3139.
58:18    John Dowland. Fantasy.
Album ‘Songs from the Labyrinth’. Deutsche Grammophon 06025 170 3139.