Kairos 135, 2 December 2021

Once a month we listen to Kairos and report back on the experience. Kairos is a radio programme of Wino Penris and broadcast on each first Thursday of the month on Concertzender. After this moment the programme can be found, perhaps forever, on the Internet. To make things easy for you, below you find the link to this show, from December 2021. Yes, we do run behind a little.

The familiar tune starts the programme and I'm wondering what comes next. "I'm going for a little trip", my supersonic rocket ship is missing though.

I'm diving off the deep end straight away. A sound, strange percussion and female choral singing. This is only the start, as jazzy music interspersed with underwater sounding music starts. The mood is obviously extremely relaxed. Moods is playing 'Deeper Waters' against this relaxed beat, mixing the modern with the traditional. The mix with the singing is totally weird, until I notice it is the prgramme maker mixing 'Moods' with 'Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis Part 1'. It was never meant to be this way and only grew into this form because of the ears and imagination of the programme maker. It's well done and fooled me alright.

Ilscha returns to Kairos with a a track of her mini album 'Dive'. True to my promise last time, I have played 'Dive' once again and immediately liked it. In 'Mountains' Ilscha lays down a very relaxed track in which I wonder whether there's not a little Guido Morini as well. but it sounds too modern for that. The repetition in the background vocals, does make me think of a loop. When "In the mountains" comes in I know this belongs to the song for certain. The repeated three words produce a trance like mood. Ilscha is not afraid to simply keep repeating the same words over and over. Slowly but surely music and voices rise and rise. More instruments are added and voices stacked. The result is monumental in an extremely modest way.

A bass guitar enters, with just a voice over it. The same progression is repeated until percussion joins, to return a little later. This is totally bare music. Elbow without the bombast of the band, something like that. It is TV Priest. One of the many new alternative rock bands from the U.K., close to punk, in an extremely a-typical song called 'All Song'. In this context the song works really well. It has a jazzy approach, loose and dark. A guitar comes in, where a second one is making noises and scratches.

To be replaced by an electric piano, playing slow notes with a lot of sustain added. Ton Snijders plays a composition from his album 'Solo'. it reminds me how far I'm behind with listening to Kairos. There is a 'Solo 2' album already! Snijders is taking the scenic route here. Slowly and leisurely he plays his song. There's no one to impress, just to relax. To lie down, close the eyes and let the music take you where ever you would like to go.

A hissing sound comes in disturbing the peace. Like a car on a highway, far away. Synth sounds move in, the hiss becomes more prominent. A beat comes in in the background, a slow but sure one. This is space mucic if I ever heard it. The track is called 'Night Falls', the composer or band Melorman. A new name, as far as I'm aware, for me. From the space sounds slowly but surely a melody comes forward. Is it a synth or something organic? I'm inclined to go with the former based on all the other sounds and soundscapes. The fact I'm not certain could be telling a well. The music does bring me into a fairly relaxed state and is interesting enough to keep listening to. Admittedly, six minutes of Melorman is a long time but certainly doable.

In comes Emil Landman, a Dutch singer-songwriter you could have encountered in the earlier days of this blog, but who I've left behind. Today he is on Kairos with a soft track from his EP 'Brooklyn Sessions'. 'Reasons To Stay' fits in the mood of this Kairos but also underscores why I no longer report on Landman's work. Sure, 'Reasons To Stay' sounds o.k., but it is extremely boring. Nothing happens here and melodically the song is poor. I would normally not write (on) this, as I'm certain Emil Landman has put his soul into his music. But, now it's in Kairos and I always share what I feel, undergo, think, etc. without much of a filter. That is what it is.

More esoteric sounds move over Landman's song. It is in line with what I heard from Melorman, except without the long-sweeping soundscapes in the background. Having written this, certain notes are looped endlessly and create a soundscape anyway. This is 'Sounds part 3' by Highland Spokesman. Once the looping starts, this seems to be it. And then a church bell strikes, three? That would be in line with the title. How long will this go on? By comparison 'Reason To Stay' is at least as varied as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'.

Next Guido Morini's 'Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis' returns and to be precise, part 16. The singing ladies come in immediately. This time there's no jazz trumpet involved. The church music can now be heard in its full glory. The sustain and reverb of a cathedral environment is missing on the voices. This would have made the singing more impressive but also would have detonated with the modest accompaniment. The same notes are played over and over. All the variation is in the vocal melody. Morini is an Italian composer, born in 1959. This makes this work a modern one about the trinity. In part I'm surprised but not because of how elementary this composition sounds. No one did it this basic in the old days. All the power and compositional prowess goes to the voices. The organist, I'm not 100% sure of it being an organ, can almost fall asleep, except for the very final notes where he/she has to slow the tempo down, like the best rock bands do.

Remy van Kesteren comes next. The harpist plays a composition, '(A Minor) Lament', that fits perfectly with 'Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis'. Wino could have fooled me by writing 'Part 17'. An intriguing title. Is it a lament in A minor or only a small lament? Or both of course. Van Kesteren slowly but surely builds out his composition. There certainly is a pop melody hidden in this serious work. I can imagine it being a part of a song. But then it may be, because there are all sorts of fragments used her as well.

Faten Kanaan returns to Kairos as well. But before I know it, I recognise a familiar violin and yes that great voice comes in. Reb Fountain made it to Kairos! Yes, my tip, I take credit here. 'Psyche' is one of the great songs on Reb Fountain's self-titled album. 'Reb Fountain' is one of the best albums released this decade and still played regularly by me. Only six weeks and she plays Paradiso in support of Marlon Williams. 'Psyche' is a song that is beautifully worked out. The violin returns but by then over a piano and drums. Her voice is husky and mysterious, rising to mildly hysteric, to return to the mystical again. Born in the U.S. she lives in New Zealand for a long time already. From there she's bound to conquer the world. Flying Nun is a record store and also a modest record label, with a host of fantastic artists, like Reb Fountain.

A harp returns, played by Hairetis Harper, no pun intended. 'Meadows' is a composition that is simply strange. It has different tempi and an undertone that for some reason slightly worries me. The contrast with my beloved Reb is too big. There might lie an explanation. Another is that the tranquillity of this Kairos is disturbed by Hairetis Harper. There's too much sort of just happening to my mind. partly caused by an acoustic guitar as well.

This guitar may be Okkyung Lee, I now realise. Where does 'Meadows' move over into 'Here We Are (Once Again)? I have not noticed it in a conscious way. In fact, I'm hardly able to tell where any difference lies, except that Lee's work is somewhat more tranquil. Listening a bit longer, it simply dawns on me that I'm not a harp fan. This music is not for me. It all becomes somewhat wider when a violin and a piano enter the song.

Asaf Avidan will forever be a one hit wonder in The Netherlands with his huge hit 'One Day / Reckoning Song in the Wankelmut remix version at that. The man with an almost feminine voice released an impressive album last year called 'Anagnorisis'. 'No Word' is one of the songs on the album. It is an almost jazzy track that fans of Patrick Watson or Jesse Mac Cormack will very much appreciate. Avidan hovers between the ethereal and the wordly here. His vocal are extremely dreamy. The music seems to float on an uncertain underground. The result is beauty. There's no other word for it.

Kairos ends with a Tom Waits lookalike turning into a Louis Armstrong - Ella Fitzgerald like duet between Howie Gelb and perhaps, Scout Niblett. 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' could have been played by my mother when I was still in the playing pen, from that album with the famous Ella and Louis photo cover. This is nostalgia alright.

Wout de Natris

Here is the link to this Kairos: https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_637333/

This is this month's playlist:

00:00 – 00:14  Kairos tune by Wino Penris.

00:11 – 02:18  Moods. Deeper waters.
Album ‘Music Ruined My Life’. Boogie Angst BA083.

00:13 – 00:47  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 1.
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

02:10 – 02:44  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 1.
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

02:22 – 02:56  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 1.
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

02:48 – 08:26  Ilscha. Mountains. Album ‘Dive’. Tiny Room Records TR044.

08:10 – 08:24  Ilscha. Mountains (fragment).
Album ‘Dive’. Tiny Room Records TR044.

08:20 – 12:06  TV Priest. All Thing. Single. Sub Pop Records. 

12:00 – 15:15  Ton Snijders. Dusk. Album ‘Solo’. Munich Records.

14:32 – 20:41  Melorman. Night Falls.
Album ‘For The Sun’. Same Difference Music SDM07.

20:33 – 23:28  Emil Landman. Reasons To Stay. EP ‘Brooklyn Sessions’. V2 Benelux. 

23:05 – 27:38  Highland Spokesman. Sounds 3 three (partly).
Album ‘Sounds’. ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records (Pantheon).

25:58 – 26 :11  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 16 (fragment).
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

26:43 – 30:05  Highland Spokesman. Sounds 3 three (partly).
Album ‘Sounds’. ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records (Pantheon).

27:45 – 27:58  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 16 (fragment).
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

28:48 – 34:55  Guido Morini. Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis part 16.
Album ‘Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis’. Cypres Records CYP 1656.

34:36 – 34:47  Remy van Kesteren. (A minor) Lament (fragment).
Album ‘Amber’. Snowstar Records.

34:51 – 35:01  Remy van Kesteren. (A minor) Lament (fragment).
Album ‘Amber’. Snowstar Records.

34:55 – 38:56  Remy van Kesteren. (A minor) Lament.
Album ‘Amber’. Snowstar Records

38:09 – 39:19  Faten Kanaan. The Heron.
Album ‘A Mythology of Circles’. Fire records.

38:56 – 39:29  Frank Loesser/Howe Gelb/Arizona Amp and Alternator. Recital.
Album ‘Arizona Amp and Alternator’. Fire Records.

39:19 – 45:10  Reb Fountain. Psyche. Album ‘IRIS’. Self-released.

45:00 – 48:58  Hairetis Harper. Meadow. Album ‘Draft’. Same Difference Music.

48:39 – 54:48  Okkyung Lee. Here we are (once again).
Album ‘Heaven On Fire (various artists). Fire Records.

54:28 – 58:24  Asaf Avidan. No Word. Album ‘Anagnorisis’. V2 Benelux.

58:03 – 59:57  Frank Loesser/Howe Gelb/Arizona Amp and Alternator.
Cold Outside (fade out). Album ‘Arizona Amp and Alternator’. Fire Records.