Kairos #130, July 2021

July, July? The avid reader of this blog has every reason to ask this question, as the previous instalment of this series was kairos 129 from May. The answer is easy. There was no new Kairos in June of 2020. So without further ado let's go and find out what this Kairos has in store for us.

The familiar Kairos theme opens the show, after which a somewhat complex sounding guitar line takes over. A female voice starts singing in a longing way, slightly mysterious. The music is extremely spacious and reverb laden. It is Rotterdam singer Luka with a song from her first album, 'Nightcap'. If I had known better my guess would have been Donna Blue, as the atmosphere is certainly similar, except that the rhyhm section of Donna Blue is missing in action here. Luka is able to able to sing as if in a huge cave, with her voice coming back to her from all sides.

A cello takes over, after a few crackling sounds. The mood darkens considerably, even after a much lighter violin chimes in. There's the hint of a folk tune hidden inside of the moody music. At the same time, I notice the beauty inside of this music. Slowly but surely it is coming to my ears from all sides. The mix brings different tunes in stereo creating something bigger and more forceful than it actually is. The music is by Philip G. Anderson, a composition called 'Reflections' and totally unknown to me.

A choir takes over in a language I do not understand. Nordic? I truly do not know. Old, new? Choir is the wrong word. This is a limited number of male voices. Icelandic, it turns out. Mystery is once again the word that comes to me. Expectation another. The short contribution of Séra Magnús holds the promise of more when it is cut off by another piece of moody music.

This time by a band that has had its day in the late 70s and early 80s before singer David Sylvian left for a solo career with his album 'Red Guitar'. 'Oil On Canvas' is already so close to the music Sylvian was going to make, that the question why leave the band?, is justified. He was clearly enthralled by Ruichi Sakamoto at the time. Perhaps the rest of the band was not?

In between a short snippet of Gustaaf Hortense Ledoux' 'Synth prelude 34' can be heard as well. What is exactly what is hard to say. Music changes so fast that I can not order my thoughts and type fast enough, because a boy's voice comes in, in what I guess to be Icelandic. Moving towards a height that I'm slightly allergic to. Remember the fate of that boy in that English movie about a cook and a lover? I recall thinking he deserved what was coming to him. It's not that bad here, lucky for me. "Kri kri"?, isn't that the special goat on Krete he's singing about.

When the primitively played harp gives over to a more lush harp playing, I know another composition has started. Once again the atmosphere is one of mystery. The reverb on the harp sustains the notes no little, again creating the notion of space. Remy van Kesteren returns to Kairos with 'She, She Moves' from his album 'Amber'. Snowstar Records can truly be content with this edition it seems. It's music and Kairos fare fairly well together. Van Kesteren's composition is nice, even beautiful, it's just not my kind of music. It fits in with a trend of solo pianists who are releasing albums in a high tempo and I can listen to almost all of them but somehow I just do not get any true joy out of the listening sessions.

A female singer takes over. Again singing in a way that suggests angelic chit chat coming through to me from places that I'm not supposed to hear. Remember Mulisch's 'The Discovery Of Heaven'? Something like that, except that, knock on wood, I'm not struck by a comet yet, so must be alright. This time the singer or band is called Nava, a new name to me. The music is somewhere in between the modern dance acts that occupy the charts and totally alternative dance, where the rhythm is chopped up and randomly glued together. As if things are happening that are not supposed to. Music for me? No, of course not. Is it music for Kairos? That question is like David Geffen threatening to sue Neil Young for not releasing Neil Young albums with Neil Young music on them.

Mystery strikes some more when I hear water dripping and streaming over a soundscape. Almost music is what I hear. The hint of a melody but still close to synths emulating a warming up and tuning orchestra. Swaths of sounds come to me, like rolling mist over a field. 'Nilas' by Jake Muir is definitely non-music. It's atmosphere created by sounds created by synths and sequencers, without the intention to come up with a melody. With a headphone on, it may certainly be worthwhile to listen up close to all the effects and changes but after that? Please give me a song!

One album and already a remix released as single? Yes, Luka did so last year. I wrote the following in May of last year:

"The song is so beautifully crafted, so well built up. From the almost bare intro over which Luka starts singing. A myriad of names enter my mind that I ignore, because of the way the song develops, the beat and keyboards kick in, kicking out all other thoughts. Slowly Barbagallo works towards a climax but takes his time, in fact even holds back before the rhythm and band truly are released. Barbagallo being a drummer* most likely explains the fierce drumming in the second half of the song. It is not often that I listen to remixes, but for the second time this year, after Reb Fountains's 'Hawks & Doves (Tali Remix)', I'm totally surprised in the most positive of ways."

Listening once again over a half year later, I stand by my words. This remix is simply well and tastefully made.( * with Tame Impala)

Another new name is introduced on this Kairos, Jana Irmert. The Berlin based sound artist and composer is present with 'Against Light' from her fourth album, 'The Soft Bit'. A dark composition  full of treated voices sounding in a way that would have caused Irmert to have been burned on the stake in darker ages. In 2022 I hear mystery, once again. There's a hint of melody, distorted, torn into pieces, with sounds like the crackling of wood pushed through an endless string of electronic devices and gadgets. I can't help wondering whether June, when this Kairos was made, was this bad. Spring was cold for a long time, true, but this cold? I am sure there are people who truly enjoy a composition like 'Against Time'. I can only say, I'm not one of them.

Slowly another keyboard or perhaps violin mixes with the soundscape. Not that the dark mood is lifted. There is a melody working its way through the darkness. Slowly but surely. It is not letting itself be held back, without feeling any urgency or inclination to hurry. The notes come to me one by one. The long-held bass tones of the cello, the different violins working together to create one composition. It is Philip G. Anderson again with the title track of his album 'Figments'. The music truly touches me. And not just because of the stark contrast with what came before.

A woman's voice comes through the violins. Voices, I should add. The violins very slowly drop away. 'Sail On, Sailor'? The Beach Boys interpreted by one woman singing in different voices as a canon? I'm not certain. If it is, it is a very imaginative cover of the song, as it has become unrecognisable. Kristin Oppenheimer is responsible for it.

A dark male hum takes over, 'Sailor' or something else? No, it is something completely different. It's Jason Sullivan's 'Dirge'. A funeral song, isn't that what a dirge is? For that it is a tad too positive, but do not expect a laugh and a song. For that it is too dark. A short return of 'Sailor' before Donna Blue's 'In Between' comes in for you to discover. By coincidence I had already mentioned the band. (I never read what is coming until I've noticed a change in the music.) The 60s drenched-in-reverb song washes over me but far too short as far as I'm concerned. Finally a real song that I like. Donna Blue manages to mix 60s pop with 'Twin Peaks' to come up with beautiful songs that it delivers convincingly on stage as well. 'In Between' is one of my favourites so far by the band. It's time for an album in my view.

Violins come in once again. More Anderson but that is fine by me. Paul G. Anderson composes beautiful tunes that go beyond the solo tinkering of so many recently released modern composers of what I call classical music. 'Dreaming Of Chicago' is led by a piano. The strings accompany the piano, that plays a soft and dreamy, yet forceful melody. Stick a lyric to the song and this will be more successful, I'm sure. The introduction to 'Figments' has been welcome.

The collaboration between Broeder Dieleman and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy was given a second rendition. This time the two played the music underneath the other singing. 'There are Worms in your circle, there are Wolves' is a melancholy song sung by Will Oldham, with all the traits of Broeder Dieleman underneath his voice. The banjo, the female voice. 'There are Worms in your circle, there are Wolves' is a beautiful song that does right to both artists. And, a small miracle that an artist like Broeder Dieleman can work with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Both kindred souls make the most of it.

Kairos goes to its close with another instrumental. 'Dream 38' starts out as a soundsape as well, but slowly, yet surely a melody arises from it. Johanna Knutsson & Sebastian Mullaert return with a track from their live album 'In Dreams- Live At De Waalse Kerk 2019’. This Kairos ends as mysterious as it started with Luka. It seems like this months theme was revealed to me in abundance.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to this Kairos here:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_615482/

This month's playlist:

00:00 – 03:59  Luka. Nightcap (partial).
Album ‘First Steps of Letting Go. Snowstar Records.

00:01 – 00:17  Kairos Tune. Wino Penris.

03:40 – 07:16  Philip G Anderson. Reflections. Album ‘Figment’. Self-released. 

07:00 – 08:34  Islandica. Séra Magnús / Ó min Flaskan Frída.
Album ‘Fold & Fantasy. Fimmund.

08:28 – 09:52  Japan. Oil on Canvas. Album ‘Oil on Canvas’. Virgin Records.

09:41 – 10:31  Gustaaf Hortense Ledoux. Synth prelude 34. Private recording.

09:55 – 12:19  Islandica. Módir Mín Í Kví Kví. Album ‘Fold & Fantasy. Fimmund.

12:11 – 16:17  Remy van Kesteren. She she moves. Album ‘Amber’. Snowstar Records.

16:01 – 19:13  Nava. Mah. Album ‘Bloom’. Oyez! Srl.

18:42 – 24:44  Jake Muir. Nilas. Album ‘Various Artists One’. Concentric Records.

24:26 – 30:57  Luka. Without U – Barbagallo Remix (slightly altered by Wino Penris).
Single. Snowstar Records.

30:43 – 37:04  Jana Irmert. Against Light. Album ‘The Soft Bit’. Fabrique Records.

36:33 – 40:55  Philip G Anderson. Figment. Album ‘Figment’. Self-released.

40:23 – 42:10  Kristin Oppenheim. Sailor (partial).
Album ‘Night Run Collected Sound Works 1992-1995’. INFO.

41:57 – 45:39  Justin Sullivan. Dirge. Album ‘Surrounded’. V2 Records.

45:29 – 45:43  Kristin Oppenheim. Sailor (fragment).
Album ‘Night Run Collected Sound Works 1992-1995’. INFO.

45:39 – 50:01  Donna Blue. In Between. EP ‘In Between’. Snowstar Records.

49:56 – 54:13  Philip G Anderson. Dreaming of Chicago.
Album ‘Figment’. Self-released.

54:01 – 57:16  Bonnie Prince Billy& Broeder Dieleman. There are Worms in your circle, there are Wolves. Single ‘Love is the first law / There are worms in your circle’. Snowstar Records.

57:06 – 59:57  Johanna Knutsson & Sebastian Mullaert. Dream 38 (partial, fade out).
Album ‘In Dreams- Live At De Waalse Kerk 2019’. Circle of Live/Modern Matters