What A Devastating Turn Of Events. Rachel Chinouriri

Het debuutalbum van de Britse muzikante Rachel Chinouriri bleef bij mij onder de radar, maar het Amerikaanse Paste heeft gelijk wanneer het zegt dat What A Devastating Turn Of Events een van de beste popalbums van 2024 is.

Frequente bezoekers van TikTok weten het al lang, maar voor mij was het in mei verschenen debuutalbum van de Britse muzikante Rachel Chinouriri een complete verrassing. What A Devastating Turn Of Events had ik zelf waarschijnlijk nooit opgepikt, maar gelukkig zijn er vaste tipgevers van grote waarde. Op haar debuutalbum schakelt Rachel Chinouriri verrassend makkelijk tussen stijlen en ze kan overal mee uit de voeten. In productioneel en muzikaal opzicht klinkt het allemaal prachtig, maar het zijn de persoonlijke en buitengewoon veelzijdige songs van Rachel Chinouriri en haar bijzondere stem die het album optillen tot grote hoogten.

De Amerikaanse muziekwebsite Paste was er snel bij en publiceerde nog voor de zesde maand van het jaar er op zat het lijstje met de beste albums van de eerste helft van 2024. Het is voor een belangrijk deel een andere lijst dan ik zou maken, maar heel veel verrassingen kwam ik ook niet tegen. Op basis van de lijst van Paste werd ik wel nieuwsgierig naar het nog niet eens zo heel lang verschenen debuutalbum van de Britse muzikante Rachel Chinouriri.

Ik heb rond de releasedatum niet veel gelezen over What A Devastating Turn Of Events en heb destijds ook niet naar het album geluisterd. Toen Paste het album omschreef als ‘the year’s most emotionally and sonically striking coming-of-age concept album’ werd ik echter nieuwsgierig naar het album. Die nieuwsgierigheid werd verder aangewakkerd door de beschrijving door Paste van de muziek van de Britse muzikante, die zich niet in een hokje laat vangen.

Laat ik met het laatste beginnen. What A Devastating Turn Of Events opent als een indiepop album, al klinkt de Britse Rachel Chinouriri anders dan haar Amerikaanse collega’s. Invloeden uit de indiepop krijgen al snel gezelschap van invloeden uit de indierock, maar als de gitaarmuren hoger worden dan gebruikelijk in het genre schuift de Britse muzikante met Zimbabwaanse wortels voorzichtig op richting shoegaze.

What A Devastating Turn Of Events is dan pas een paar minuten onderweg, maar is al een paar keer van kleur verschoten. Dat blijft het album doen, want Rachel Chinouriri is niet vies van indiepop en indierock, maar heeft een even groot zwak voor pure pop en voor muziek die zich vooral heeft laten beïnvloeden door de zwarte muziek. En ze kan ook uit de voeten met uiterst ingetogen folky songs.

Ik had de naam van Rachel Chinouriri echt nog nooit gehoord, maar dat is voor frequente bezoekers van TikTok wel anders. Haar status op dit platform heeft er voor gezorgd dat haar platenmaatschappij een uit de klassen gewassen blik producers en muzikanten heeft open getrokken voor What A Devastating Turn Of Events. Het zorgt er voor dat het album hinkt op meerdere gedachten, maar ik vind het in het geval van Rachel Chinouriri niet storend.

Het heeft zeker te maken met het emotionele karakter van haar songs. Bijna iedereen van de leeftijd van de Britse muzikante worstelt met het volwassen worden, maar op de weg van Rachel Chinouriri waren de hobbels hoger en de kuilen dieper. Dat hoor je vooral op het eerste deel van het album, maar dat het nog erger kan staat centraal op het donkerder gekleurde en meer ingetogen tweede deel van het album, zoals in de titelsong, die gaat over een nichtje van Rachel Chinouriri in Zimbabwe, die na een ongewenste zwangerschap zelfmoord als enige uitweg zag.

Het emotionele karakter van de songs op What A Devastating Turn Of Events geeft een extra dimensie aan de muziek van Rachel Chinouriri, die ook makkelijk indruk maakt met afwisselend aanstekelijke en intieme songs, een veelkleurige instrumentatie en een bijzondere stem. Vorig jaar vond ik het wat atypische debuutalbum van Chappell Roan met afstand het beste (indie)pop album van het jaar. Hoe het dit jaar gaat lopen durf ik niet te voorspellen, maar als het fascinerende What A Devastating Turn Of Events zich zo blijft opdringen als op het moment, kan het debuutalbum van Rachel Chinouriri wel eens ver gaan komen.

Erwin Zijleman

Kairos 121, September 2020 Concertzender

Our Wo., since the last Thursday, is running behind for four months, Yes, his excuse is that there's so much music being released "and what about all those singles that come our way?". It is all true, but nevertheless it's time to start cracking where Kairos is concerned. So, he's set to work and here's the September instalment. It does start in a rather worrying way though.....

What? Has the world shifted a few degrees on its axle or have I entered a parallel universe?

I open Kairos and those familiar opening sounds are absent, the dark voice announcing the show is gone. As if Marty McFly returns from the future and Biff is mayor and worse.

What I do hear are major atmospheric sounds that continue for about two minutes and morph into a subdued song sung over sparse piano notes, atmospherics, including absent music and sounds, and a piece of percussion that I would have to time accurately to find out what it is doing. I am listening to Crystalline Reflections, but not really, as I thought to recognise Fink's voice in there. That appears to be the case. .No has mixed the two songs in his inimitable way. 'Bloom Innocent' is a fabulous track combining modern alternative music with folk music of old; beyond recognition, I may add. Electronics also become a part of Fink's music, creating a modern hybrid. 'Bloom Innocent' is an impressive song.

Don't ask me what .No exactly is doing here. At some point the modern beats are mixed out of atmospheric singing at a point in time in the show that doesn't mention something else. So is it Claude Debussy already? The description in the playlist suggests it, but I have no clue. The eerie sounds, both singing and music, are ghostlike, not from this world. High up as if aiming to go beyond what I'm able to hear. When a piano joins in and a soprano to, I have firm ground underneath my feet once more. This must be 'Rondel Chinois'. A soprano? If it's not the tv series, usually the music is not for me and 'Rondel Chinois' is no exception. It all comes close to fingernails on the blackboard. A sound that has disappeared in the classes of the 21st century. Not too long from now nobody will know what I'm talking about.

Somewhere in between something Russian must have been part of this Kairos, but I can't make head nor tails of the playlist this time around. I have the impression there are a few mistakes in the timing of the tracks. So what am I listening to? A serious piece of electronic music, with some percussion that may or may not be part of the original recording as it is so far detached from the serious, long-drawn out chords. So perhaps the synth sounds is Sunmoonstar's 'жил-был (Once upon a time)' and the percussion Meloman's 'Eliquis'? I have no way of knowing. It is a listening experience though as music is mixed in a way, at least that is my strong impression, that only existed in the head of .No before we hear it in this Kairos.

When the mood changes and another composition starts containing long drawn out synth sounds it must be that 'En Passant I' by System Morgue has started. The timeline falls back into place it seems. 11 Minutes to go, I notice. This is totally modern music but in a peculiar way it is sacral. Totally fit to be played in a church as music in between when the organist is ill. There's a hint of a choir, sampled, in one of the sounds hovering in and out of the whole. If I wanted to, I could totally surrender to the sound, but can't. I'm in reporting mood after all. It is so easy to imagine being carried by the sound. To drift on it and let the mind relax or take over and present whatever it wants to present from the conscious or unconscious. To from there go with the flow.

A female voice of a modern folk track enters my flow. Music like a forest brook, trickling past branches, rocks and pebbles ("water all around you", is sung at the moment of writing), sounds out. All sorts of things happen in the music, just like obstacles water encounters in the bedding of a small brook, changing the sound and rhythm of the stream. 'You Are Not An Island' the song by Vanishing Twin is called. I can't help noticing how much happens around the singer. She sings a traditional folk song. The acoustic guitar accompanies her like folk of old. it is from that moment onwards that the producer or band members take off. This makes it a totally different song. Not unlike Jane Weaver did recently on her albums, though they tend to be even more electronic.

The trickling music disappears and a gate to hell seems to open. Unintelligible language and dark, dark, distorted spoken words sound out. No panic, no bedlam, but dark and potentially dangerous. So what am I listening to? In the playlist this should still be Vanishing Twin but certainly is not. Is it Lárus Sigurðsson's 'Snirt' already? I have no way of telling. Hell's language is replaced by slow piano notes and slow atmospheric sounds. As if capturing the wind sweeping over a desolate landscape. The vulcanic plateaus of Iceland?

Strings move in. Extremely serious, so fitting the previous music. I read the word 'Motet' once again. I have no idea what it means, I notice. So I stop the music to look it up. "A short piece of sacred choral music". The name Bach is also presented by Google. Does this help me? Not really, because what is choral music? It has nothing to do with a choir, what I would expect. The City of London Sinfonia plays the dark, slow moving piece by Barry Guy, if related to Buddy, the apple could not have fallen further from the tree, in an absolutely intriguing way. No, this is not my music, but I do hear the inner beauty of the composition. It holds an inner light within that dark, brooding whole and it does come out and reveal itself.

The opening act of Kairos returns with another soundscape. Having more or less forgotten the first, to my freshman's ear it could be the same one. It's like watching a movie of a desert, perhaps like 'Paris. Texas' opens. Now it's 35-40 years ago that I saw the movie last and remember that endless desert, with nothing happening. Until Harry Dean Stanton is zoomed in on. 'Life In Slow Motion' this song is called and it is an apt title. I can see people moving, endlessly slowed down, dancing with waving arms. The music could have accompanied video art I saw about ten years ago in a Gdansk church where a man disappeared underwater ever so slowly to return ever so slowly. In real time he would have drowned a thousand times over. For the life of me I can't remember the name of the artist, although I have encountered other work by him a few times since.

Sytze Pruiksma returns to Kairos with a work where Morse code seems to be the starting point. What to make of this? I would not go as far and call it music. For .No it is also an opportunity to throw in a soprano in the back ground for a few seconds. (Yes, Debussy again, I guessed right.) A bass guitar enters, laying a dark sound underneath the Morse code. Some eerie sounds, like electronically treated calls of sea gulls are there and the soprano once more. The bass comes in darker and darker. The soprano could have been meant to be there by Pruiksma himself, it sounds so organically.

Slowly we move into the final section of the show. Lisa Gerrard sings in an oriental way. The music underneath her voice is mysterious. The mystery of the Orient presented in a way of 100 years and more ago, when almost nobody would ever set foot there and the other way around. .No works a few sounds in as well. Next up a firmer Oriental rhythm kicks in and the song gets body. 'The Human Game' certainly has two sides to it. The intriguing thought accompanying this song is that Gerrard and Pieter Bourke have managed to capture that old-fashioned mystery about the Orient in a totally modern production. Perhaps even 30 years ago it was still impossible to make a song sounding like this and yet I can imagine Mata Hari dancing to it in the clubs of Paris in the first decades of the 20th century. Capturing that mystery nobody was familiar with, including Mata Hari herself most likely. Interesting combination, isn't it?

The shifting universes I started off with and all the confusion within the programme may be explained by the fact that this Kairos ended at 57 minutes and a little, implicating that the first almost three minutes are missing. Perhaps the world is alright after all. The next Kairos review will enlighten all.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_570978/

 

and listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

This is the Playlist:

00:00 – 04:10  Crystalline Reflections. Flat Heaven. Album ‘Always Higher. Pantheon.
00:24 – 00:34  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
01:06 – 01:17  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
01:53 – 02:04  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
02:44 – 02:56  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
03:31 – 10:02  Fink. Bloom Inncent. Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
09:49 – 10:01  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
10:02 – 10:12  Claude Debussy. Rondel Chinois (Fragment). Marius Dillard, text. Mady Mesplé, soprano; Dalton Baldwin, piano. Album ‘Claude Debussy, the complete works. Warner Classics.
10:02 – 10:12  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
10:08 – 13:58  Sunmoonstar. жил-был (Once upon a time). Album ‘Картины’ (paintings). Pantheon.
11.03  – 11:13 Claude Debussy. Rondel Chinois (Fragment). Marius Dillard, text. Mady Mesplé, soprano; Dalton Baldwin, piano. Album ‘Claude Debussy, the complete works. Warner Classics.
13:42 – 16:54  Claude Debussy. Rondel Chinois. Marius Dillard, text. Mady Mesplé, soprano; Dalton Baldwin, piano. Album ‘Claude Debussy, the complete works. Warner Classics.
16:33 – 16:40  Meloman. Eliquis (fragment). Album ‘For The Sun’. Same Difference Music SDM07.
16:43 – 22:28  Meloman. Eliquis. Album ‘For The Sun’. Same Difference Music SDM07.
21:58 – 30:12  System Morgue. En Passant I. Album ‘En Passant’. Pantheon.
29:09 – 36:41  Vanishing Twin. You Are Not An Island. Album ‘The Age of Immunology. Fire records.
35:43 – 35:55  Fink. Bloom Inncent (fragment). Album ’Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
36:27 – 39:51  Lárus Sigurðsson. Snirt. Album ‘We Are Told That We Shine’. Volkoren 65.
39:29 – 42:20  Barry Guy. Motet from ‘After  the Rain’ (fragment). City of London Sinfonia; Richard Hickox. Album ‘Ancora!’. NMC D032.
42:16 – 48:55  Crystalline reflections. Life in Slow Motion. Album ‘Always Higher’. Pantheon.
47:31 – 53:08  Sytze Pruiksma. Waad. Album ‘Lân, the sound of a landscape’. Self-released.
49:49 – 49:59  Claude Debussy. Rondel Chinois (Fragment). Marius Dillard, text. Mady Mesplé, soprano; Dalton Baldwin, piano. Album ‘Claude Debussy, the complete works. Warner Classics.
52:13 – 52:23  Claude Debussy. Rondel Chinois (Fragment). Marius Dillard, text. Mady Mesplé, soprano; Dalton Baldwin, piano. Album ‘Claude Debussy, the complete works. Warner Classics.
52:37 – 59:57  Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke. The Human Game (slightly adapted by Wino Penris). Album ‘Duality’. 4AD-CD 8004 CD.

10 Singles

And here we go once again. Another ten singles were selected for you on a first come, first serve basis. Singles to write about, singles to listen to. To enjoy the enormous variety in music released. There's a link below, so settle in and enjoy all that has been released in the previous weeks and we selected for you. We start with a true debut single.

Listen. Banji

Banji is a band from Utrecht. All members have a history in other bands, but decided to start making music together. Listen is the band's debut single. It is an erratic affair, where modern beats and rhythm alternate with alternative rock guitars. The influences are more from Belgium that from the Anglo-Saxon world. dEUS, Zita Swoon, Metal Molly and many other bands from the south of our border have found their way into Listen. The result is, that I'm not really finding Banji's identity in this single. Of course that's more than fine when starting a career. Banji clearly states what it likes in music and the result is an energetic single, with a fine melody and a few surprises in how the song plays out.

Let Go. Sharon van Etten

Some time back, I wrote on an album of Sharon van Etten (I went to school and worked in Etten-Leur) that I found her rather detached from me. A fan responded on Twitter that she wondered whether I had my ears screwed on right. For the first half of Let Go, Ms. Van Etten's new single, I stand by that conclusion, but slowly but surely Let Go is fired up, working towards a climax. It is not the music. This is warm from the very start. It is Sharon van Etten's way of singing, that makes me feel like I'm not included. This is me, for sure. We can't be all the same. What I do hear, is that Let Go is an impressive song. Despite that it is mostly played over one chord, a lot is happening and new melodies find their way into the song. In the second half it gets a tremendous boost playing itself out to a grand finale. Well done! The single is part of the soundtrack to a documentary called 'Feels Good Man'.

Invisible Man. Fred Abong

This blogs introduction to Fred Abong did not go unnoticed. The little review of 'The Minit' some weeks ago, received the most responses and likes on Twitter of all 3000 plus posts to date. All thanks to Fred Abong's response. I will not go into his vocal style again here, as that has been discussed enough. Musically Invisible Man is close to 'The Minute'. It presents itself with a minimum of effect. Abong does not need a lot to make the right impression. If anything, Invisible Man, comes close to Mark Lanegan's solo work, without a band. Fred Abong plays an acoustic and an electric guitar. Perhaps an effect pedal and that is it. Enough to make an attractive, alternative ballad and yes, of course with that husky, gravelly, thirsty sounding voice singing for us all to enjoy.

Happier Alone. Austin Meade

Listening to the intro of Happier Alone, I can't help thinking about 'Summer Of '69', one of Bryan Adams' biggest hits from the 80s. Not that the songs are the same in melody but certainly in feel. Austin Meade himself points to his love for rock from the early years of this millennium. Well, these bands probably will have had its influences as well. Happier Alone is a song that obviously is from across the pond. it has traces of hair bands that never really got popular over here and some good old 80s rock. That implies that the melody is quite alright and some inventive notes and a staunch guitar solo to go. Why I like Happier Alone, like I do 'Summer of '69', is that Austin Meade puts some emotion into his song, something I've always missed with many 80s hard rock bands. It always seemed to be about the money, drugs and probably some sex to boot. His personal looks are more of a 70s southern rock band though. A blend of many musical times and styles Austin Meade is.

Rock & Roll. Alice Cooper

When did Alice Cooper come into my life? Was it with 'School's Out' or 'Elected'? Both are still great songs, although the content of the former speaks a lot less to me almost half a century later. The riff is still phenomenal of course. Come 2020 and a new Alice Cooper single is announced. In the very first seconds I recognise it for the cover song it is. It is the The Velvet Underground / Lou Reed classic rock song turned into an even harder rocking song. Cooper totally pulls the song towards him, without changing much except the attack to the song. If anything it shows the strength of the original and the amount of rock still present in the golf-loving, senior citizen Alice Cooper has become over the decades. Concluding, I can write that nothing's changed really. Rock is rock and roll is roll and it still saves. I only have to listen to those guitar solos in Rock & Roll and know it to be true.

Comedy Show. Flight Attendant

Comedy Show alright! No, far from. This is such a serious and down cast song that it must be the saddest comedy show in the world. Flight Attendant takes me 40 years back in time, to when I heard 'Will You?', Hazel O'Connor's should have been #1 single, for the first time. A single that did not even chart here! The saxophone solo ending is missing though. The violin in the ending of Comedy Show does not make up for that. Flight Attendant is a band from Nashville, that is totally new to me and has nothing but then really nothing to do with the kind of music Nashville has become famous for. Comedy Show is a beautiful ballad, led by a piano, supported by a keyboard and that violin. It really impresses me, including the way the song slowly but surely gets more meat on the bones. Hazel O 'Connor never made another song that I liked, so Flight Attendant, I dare you to better that and looking forward to hear more.

Afternoon. Snowapple

Snowapple is a collective from Amsterdam. Three singers and a host of musicians that may or may not be members of the band. From balafon percussion to a trumpet solo it all comes by on this rather exotic sounding single. From 40s pop like The Andrew Sisters' style singing to jazzy music and African influences, it is all mixed into the few minutes Afternoon takes. The lyrics are kind of exotic as well as they were inspired by a Lorca poem. The combination works rather well, I have to say. The spacious mix gives an impression of a wide stage where the musicians are all in a different space and playing without amplification. At the same time it all sounds so clear. There's a lot of sounds and melodies to discover in the song. The clear sound provides the opportunity to do so. To discover what is happening is truly an option with the new Snowapple single. Afternoon is a little musical labyrinth, to dwell in at leisure.

The Less I Know The Better. Willemijn May

A woman's voice and an acoustic guitar are all that can be heard at the beginning of The Less I Know The Better. The tempo is in the mid range, the mood invites listening. Slowly but surely the song is infused with other elements, even of a kind less associated with singer-songwriters. Vague electronic sounds move in and out. Sounds of the kind that people prone to "hearing things" may get confused from but in this context can be called experimental. What remains to be mentioned is a spaciously played piano. The combination of the traditional instruments, Willemijn May's young woman's voice and the mystery makes The Less I Know The Better not only an intriguing song but also a good one. It sets her apart from the 1.000+ other singer-songwriters and invites to want to hear more in the future. After that great band from Amsterdam called Elenne May, another May joins the pack. 'Fire' was her first single, one that I have missed. This second single has put Willemijn on my radar alright.

Nobody Loves The Hulk. Beebe Gallini

There are songs that go for the throat from the very first notes. Beebe Gallini lets the drums pound, a bass plays one note and off goes Nobody Loves The Hulk. In Beebe Gallini, I recognise two members of the resurrected The Short Fuses, Miss Georgia Peach and Travis Ramin. Just like that band Beebe Gallini rocks out loud and rough, but a bit more direct in a punkrock way. This single is everything one is allowed to expect from a punkrock band that infuses 60s garage rock into its style. Not anger but a great melody, despite that the hulk only shows himself when afraid and / or extremely vexed. Nobody Loves The Hulk is amazingly direct, in my face and I love every second of the song. A fiery guitar solo tops of the distorted singing of Ms. Georgia Peach, who is all but on fire in this song. I love how the song progresses into the third chord in the verses. It totally makes the song what it is. This is rock and roll of the highest kind all right.

One comment though, anyone who knows his 'The Avengers' film classics knows that 'The Black Widow' deeply cares for 'The Hulk', so that makes three with the "you and me" in the song.

I Love The Way You See The World. Petter Carlsen

"Music from above the pole circle", read the caption coming with the notification of Petter Carlsen's new single. As my son lived there for most of the summer, I decided to give the song a chance for the singles of the week post. I Love The Way You See The World is indie pop, like promised, with some elements of dreamy synthpop as well. It is nice to know where Carlsen lives or creates his songs, but for the rest this song could have been made anywhere in the world. It's a global musical language Carlsen shares with us. Having listened a few times to the single I can conclude that it's a nice song but not one that exceeds what has been done before. The contemplation implied in the title does not come across in the song, as he does not share the joy of the recognition with us, more a melancholy longing for something out of reach. If that is the background for the story told, Carlsen succeeded in sharing this feeling with us listeners quite well.

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Shabrang. Sevdaliza

De Nederlandse muzikante Sevdaliza debuteerde drie jaar geleden al razend knap, maar zet op haar prachtig klinkende en uiterst veelzijdige tweede album nog een paar flinke stappen.

Sevdaliza imponeerde in 2017 met een debuutalbum dat deels in het hokje triphop was te duwen, maar dat dit hokje ook continu probeerde te overstijgen. Dat is definitief gelukt op het razend knappe Shabrang, dat veel subtieler klinkt en dat bijzonder klinkende gitaren en vooral de piano alle ruimte geeft. Het wordt fraai gecombineerd met elektronica, subtiele beats en vooral met de zang van Sevdaliza, die mooier en gevoeliger klinkt dan op haar debuut. Soms doet Shabrang bijna klassiek aan, soms hoor je toch weer de triphop, maar de muziek van Sevdaliza past ook in talloze andere hokjes en op hetzelfde moment in geen enkele. Shabrang is een album waar je wat tijd en energie in moet investeren, maar het wordt dubbel en dwars terug betaald.

Ison, het debuut van de Iraans-Nederlandse muzikante Sevdaliza (Sevda Alizadeh), pakte ik in de zomer van 2017 pas op nadat het album werkelijk was bedolven onder de positieve recensies. Op die positieve recensies bleek gelukkig helemaal niets af te dingen. Het debuut van Sevdaliza bleek een buitengewoon fascinerend album, dat zelfs het altijd kritische Pitchfork wist te verleiden tot superlatieven. Ison haalde uiteindelijk de hoogste regionen van mijn jaarlijstje over 2017 en is sindsdien alleen maar doorgegroeid. 

Sevdaliza keert deze week terug met een nieuw album, Shabrang. Het is een album dat deels in het verlengde ligt van zijn voorganger, maar het is ook een album dat het geluid van deze voorganger verder perfectioneert. Sevdaliza werkt ook dit keer samen met producer Mucky en heeft wederom gekozen voor een album met speelduur van meer dan een uur. Ison werd uiteindelijk vooral in het hokje triphop geduwd en ook Shabrang krijgt dit etiket nu al veelvuldig opgeplakt. Ison was echter zeker geen 13 in een dozijn triphop album en ook bij beluistering van Shrabang past het hokje triphop maar zeer ten dele.

Direct in de openingstrack Joanna valt op dat Sevdaliza weliswaar voortborduurt op haar debuut, maar ook kiest voor een wat ander geluid. De instrumentatie in de openingstrack schiet alle kanten op, maar is ook verrassend subtiel. Heldere gitaarlijnen, dromerige synths, fraai gearrangeerde strijkers, piano en hier en daar wat elektronische uithalen strijden afwisselend om de aandacht en zorgen voor een openingstrack die fascineert en betovert.

Dat doet deze openingstrack niet alleen met de spannende instrumentatie, maar ook met de mooie zang van Sevdaliza, die ingetogen zingt, maar ook prachtig aansluit bij de soms klassiek aandoende klanken. Het is een openingstrack die direct de toon zet en vrijwel alle ingrediënten bevat van de rest van het album.

Wanneer diepe bassen en springerige ritmes hun intrede doen, schuurt Sevdaliza weer wat dichter tegen de triphop aan en doet dan direct aan Portishead denken, maar de instrumentatie op Shrabang blijft vooral opvallen door subtiele klanken die afwisselend elektronisch en organisch zijn, waarbij de uitersten flink kunnen worden opgezocht.

Ook de zang van Sevdaliza is prachtig subtiel. Het is op hetzelfde moment zang waarin emotie nooit ver weg. Het is fraai hoe Sevdaliza haar gevoel in haar zang weet te leggen en de bijzondere instrumentatie op bijzondere wijze om deze zang heen draait.

Voor de productie deed Sevdaliza zoals gezegd wederom op producer Mucky en die is er niet alleen in geslaagd om het geluid van de Nederlandse muzikante vol te stoppen met bijzondere geluiden, maar deze geluiden ook fraai in balans te houden.

Mucky en Sevdaliza zijn er verder in geslaagd om een opvallend gevarieerd album te maken. Alle songs op het album gebruiken vergelijkbare ingrediënten, maar waar Ison over de hele linie consistent klonk, klinkt Shrabang steeds weer anders en is het album met geen mogelijkheid in een hokje te duwen. De ene keer domineren de hele bijzondere gitaarlijnen, de volgende keer serene pianoplanken of zweverige elektronische klanken, die zomaar flink uit kunnen pakken. Van triphop naar indie-rock, naar jazz, naar R&B naar pop, naar elektronica, maar wereldmuziek, naar avant garde, naar neoklassiek en naar wat eigenlijk niet.

Je moet de songs op het nieuwe album van Sevdaliza waarschijnlijk een paar keer horen, maar als je dat eenmaal gedaan hebt is Shrabang een album dat je niet snel los zal laten en dat uiteindelijk nog een flink stuk boven het zo bewierookte debuut uit stijgt.

Erwin Zijleman

Luister naar onze Spotify Playlist om uit te vinden waar we over schrijven:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Vie Future. La Féline

La Féline maakt een bijzonder en intiem klinkend album dat steeds meer aan schoonheid, avontuur en bezweringskracht wint.

Vie Future is mijn eerste kennismaking met de muziek van La Féline en het is een kennismaking die diepe indruk heeft gemaakt. Het alter ego van Agnès Gayraud heeft een zich langzaam voortslepend album gemaakt dat wordt gedragen door bijzondere elektronische klanken en fluisterzachte vocalen. Het lijkt een sober en atmosferisch klinkend album, maar ondertussen gebeurt er van alles in de muziek van La Féline en duiken steeds weer accenten van een bijzondere schoonheid op. Ik ben niet vies van de lichtvoetige popmuziek die normaal gesproken uit Frankrijk komt, maar dit intense en avontuurlijke album is toch een paar klassen beter. 

Ondanks mijn matige beheersing van de Franse taal heb ik al heel wat jaren een zwak voor Franse popmuziek en voor muziek van Franse zangeressen in het bijzonder.
 
Dit jaar is de spoeling vooralsnog dun. Lou Doillon leverde een prachtalbum af maar zingt in het Engels, L’Épée maakt muziek die nauwelijks aansluit bij de tradities van de Franse popmuziek en hetzelfde geldt voor de muziek van de in Frankrijk geboren Claude Fontaine, die op haar uitstekende debuut vooral aan de haal ging met reggae en bossanova.
 
Mijn favoriete Franse zangeressen en hun soortgenoten laten het dit jaar kennelijk afweten, maar gelukkig is La Féline er nog. Ik moet eerlijk toegeven dat ik de vorige twee albums van het alter ego van de Française Agnès Gayraud niet of nauwelijks ken, maar haar nieuwe album Vie Future is van een bijzondere schoonheid.
 
Agnès Gayraud is niet alleen muzikant, maar ook schrijver en filosoof. Haar filosofische interesses werden geprikkeld toen haar stiefvader stervende was en ze zelf op het punt stond om een kind te baren. Vie Future is een album over de relatie tussen geboorte en de dood of over ons bestaan in meer algemene zin.
 
Dat is geen licht thema en ook in muzikaal opzicht is Vie Future geen makkelijk album. Samen met producer Xavier Thiry heeft La Féline gekozen voor een zich langzaam voortslepend en opvallend ruimtelijk, of zelfs kosmisch, geluid. Het is een geluid dat subtiel is ingekleurd met elektronica en incidenteel strijkers.
 
Het is een geluid dat voor een belangrijk deel sferisch is, maar bijzondere accenten geven het geluid van La Féline iets eigenzinnigs en mysterieus. Het past prachtig bij de fluisterzachte stem van Agnès Gayraud, die zeker niet het zoveelste zuchtmeisje is, maar absoluut iets verleidelijks of dromerigs toevoegt aan de songs op Vie Future.
 
Het nieuwe album van La Féline is wonderschoon, sprookjesachtig en rustgevend, tot je door hebt hoeveel er gebeurt op het album en hoe knap het allemaal in elkaar steekt. Het is muziek die zich niet makkelijk laat vergelijken met de muziek van anderen, wat wel blijkt uit het feit dat ik iedere poging die ik tegen kwam geen moment treffend vond. Vie Future sluit zeker aan bij de tradities van de Franse popmuziek, maar klinkt ook anders.
 
La Féline verbindt zachte en bijna lieflijke popliedjes met flink wat avontuur. Zeker wanneer de details in de instrumentatie uiterst subtiel zijn en de zang van Agnès Gayraud fluisterzacht, is Vie Future een album dat je naar binnen zuigt en het bijzondere muzikale universum van de singer-songwriter uit Parijs in trekt. Het is een muzikaal universum waarin van alles gebeurt en dat geen grenzen kent. Wanneer voorzichtige ritmes veranderen in opzwepende ritmes sluipen invloeden uit de wereldmuziek of de synthpop het album in en zo gebeurt er in iedere track wel iets dat je niet verwacht.
 
Agnès Gayraud knutselde Vie Future in elkaar met haar gitaar, wat pedalen en een iPad, wat haar songs voorziet van een intiem en aards karakter. Het contrasteert prachtig met het rijke kosmische elektronische klankentapijt op het album. De oogst in Frankrijk mag dit jaar misschien tegenvallen wanneer het gaat om interessante popmuziek, maar het nieuwe album van La Féline is er een om te koesteren.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Vie Future hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://lafeline.bandcamp.com/album/vie-future


of luister naar onze Spotify Playlist en ontdek waar we over schrijven:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Horizon. Trash Kit

Trash Kit ontworstelt zich op haar nieuwe album aan een aantal iconen uit de jaren 70 en slaagt er in om volkomen uniek te klinken.

Trash Kit maakt op haar derde album bijzondere muziek. Onnavolgbare ritmes, gitaarlijnen uit de Afrikaanse muziek, post-punk baslijnen, wat onvaste zang en heel veel bijzondere accenten vloeien samen in een geluid dat af en toe wat doet denken aan het geluid van een aantal roemruchte jaren 70 vrouwenband, maar dat toch vooral volkomen uniek klinkt. Het is een geluid dat zonnig en exotisch klinkt, maar het is ook een geluid dat overloopt van avontuur. Het is niet altijd lichte kost die Trash Kit ons voorschotelt, maar het is absoluut kost die de smaakpapillen op alle mogelijke manieren prikkelt en betovert.

Horizon is het derde album van de uit Londen afkomstige band Trash Kit. De band rond drummer Rachel Horwood en gitarist Rachel Aggs maakte op mij tot dusver nog geen onuitwisbare indruk.
 
De eerste twee albums van de Britse band inspireerden me vooral tot het weer eens uit de kast halen van albums van jaren 70 iconen als The Au Pairs, The Raincoats en The Slits, maar bleven zelf onvoldoende hangen.
 
Horizon, het nieuwe album van het trio uit Londen, het eerste in vijf jaar tijd, bevalt me een stuk beter. Ook Horizon valt weer op door het bijzondere drumwerk van Rachel Horwood, die het uit principe vertikt om een normaal ritme te slaan. De inventieve ritmes passen uitstekend bij het gitaarwerk, dat zo lijkt weggelopen uit de Afrikaanse muziek.
 
Het gitaarwerk en drumwerk vullen elkaar prachtig aan en contrasteren met de bijzondere wijze waarop in de openingstrack strijkers worden ingezet en met de weer typisch Brits aandoende zang van de dames van Trash Kit, die overigens ook Afrikaans aandoende koortjes niet uit de weg gaan.
 
Het is nog altijd muziek die allerlei associaties oproept met de muziek van de eerder genoemde vrouwenbands uit de jaren 70, maar Trash Kit heeft op haar derde album ook een nadrukkelijker eigen geluid en het is een geluid dat me wel bevalt.
 
Horizon wordt gedomineerd door onnavolgbaar drumwerk, Afrikaans aandoende gitaarlijnen en wat onvaste zang en koortjes, maar Trash Kit voegt naast strijkers ook blazers en piano toe aan haar geluid, waardoor de band steeds weer net iets anders klinkt.
 
Door de ritmes doet Horizon ook wel wat denken aan de beste momenten van het zwaar onderschatte Bow Wow Wow, dat ik ooit eens in het voorprogramma van Queen de sterren van de hemel zag spelen; iets wat overigens totaal niet werd gewaardeerd door de fanatieke Queen fans, die de band met bierblikjes van het podium kegelden.
 
Voor een ieder die aan het einde van de jaren 70 niet onder de indruk was van de eerder genoemde bands, doet de muziek van Trash Kit waarschijnlijk wat chaotisch aan, maar ik vond het, in tegenstelling tot bij beluistering van de vorige albums van de band, direct prachtig.
 
Door de aan de Afrikaanse muziek ontleende gitaarlijnen klinkt de muziek van Trash Kit zonnig en zomers en ook de ritmes dragen bij aan een zomergevoel. Aan de andere kant klinkt de muziek van de band uit Londen ook typisch Brits, wat zorgt voor wat donkere wolken en een regenbuitje op Horizon, wat nog eens wordt versterkt door de donkere baslijnen op het album, waarvoor Gill Partington tekent.
 
Zeker bij beluistering met de koptelefoon viel me op dat Trash Kit haar best heeft gedaan om de instrumentatie op Horizon te versieren met subtiele details, waardoor de muziek van de band verder aan kracht wint. Helemaal nieuw is de combinatie van Britse new wave en post-punk en exotische gitaarklanken en ritmes natuurlijk niet, maar in het aanbod van het moment klinkt Trash Kit wat mij betreft fris en avontuurlijk en hoe vaker ik naar het album luister, hoe leuker het wordt.

Erwin Zijleman


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Kairos 107, June 2019 on Concertzender

Is there a way to open this Kairos in an original way? Not this month. Wo. is running behind due to pressing other business and holiday and starts to catch up by listening to the last spring Kairos of 2019.

As the familiar intro sound of Kairos descends on me, I settle in for an hour of listening to music that is not found regularly on this blog. It starts wth deep male voices and a what? a drone flying and the buzzing sound caught on tape? Layers of "oooohhh" fill my head with mixed solidly behind it a synthesizer playing the exact same note.

African kind of singing takes over, followed by a female voice. It is my introduction to Lisa Gerrard in her collaboration with Pieter Bourke. Gerrard is known best as half of the Australian duo Dead Can Dance, a band that passed me by. 'Pilgrimage Of The Children' can put a person in a certain trance and as such is pleasant. As stand alone music it passes me by totally. It probably works best for me in this context.

A piano joins in, in the background a concersation that does not become fully audible. Eva de Roovere plays 'Lo' from her latest album 'La Loba'. Darker chords/notes are ended by a single high note. Creating a special effect in the music, a moment to look forward to.

Her song ends abruptly and is replaced by a drone. A female voice singing 'ooohhh' with behind it an electronic sound. This at times is so brittle. Although the music swells and declines like a wave on a tranquil beach. Through the music a woman breaths and then recites a text, whispering just as subtly as the music itself is. When static works its way into the brittle music, a change seems to be announced. Although nothing changes, Benjamin van Esser, is playing with the mind of the listener as he is with his music. Step by step the composition is taken apart, as if he took a scissor to the tape while expressing an inner madness that is escaping through all the seems. The female singing and reciting is taking on a frantic tone. Nothing is what it seemed any longer. An environment is created in which anything can happen, within the context created by Van Esser. 'Everytime I Hear Everytime I See' is a challenging composition. Parts of it could be the soundtrack of a horromovie, with ghosts and poltergeists occupying the whole neighbourhood. And yet, Van Esser manages to put the lid on everything in the second half of his work. Tranquility returns in the form a male voice droning 'ooohhh'., but there's no denying the disconcerting vibes occurring in the background. 'Everytime I Hear Everytime I See' is a disquieting piece of work. More 'Rosemary's Baby' than 'Ave Maria'.

When Lisa Gerrard returns I am ready for a change to get me off the 14 minutes by Van Esser, but have to brace myself for 9 minutes none the less. Gerrard starts off singing with a deep voice, with long notes and little words. The synths behind her playing long, single notes as well, allowing for very little variation in the music. When percussion joins in, the song comes alive, creating an eastern vibe. It seems that Gerrard is exploring world music on her album 'Duality', again with Pieter Bourke at her side. After a while, when simply no variation sets in, I understand that Gerrard really let herself be inspired by eastern music. The monotonous sound being exactly what keeps me away from it in daily life. This is not for me.

Luckily Jesse Mac Cormack returns to Kairos, I notice. Will this not be too out of place I wonder while Lisa Gerrard is filling up her nine minute slot? I will find out soon. Mac Cormack has been found on these pages before of course, to favourable reception. 'Give A Chance' is a song from his latest album, 'Now'. There is a small part in between the two I can't place. 'Give A Chance' is a haunted song that comes closest to the work on his two previous EPs. Where in general he steps away from his early work and certainly from his intensive live performances. Also in this song scary things are going on, so it certainly fits with what went on before. Sounds and music seem to burst from an invisible wall that is incapable of stopping the stream coming from behind it. Interesting is the right word to use here. What is it I'm hearing exactly? What is it meant to do? What does it do to my mind? All questions that go unanswered for now, as the next song draws attention to itself.

An acoustic guitar playing with a lot ambience around it like it is played in a large room with loads of resonance in it. 'Embrace The Spirit Of Love' indeed. The song is the epitome of straightforwardness compared to most other going on this Kairos, a point of rest.

And then, a English poem. Now that is something new. Father, mother, love. And a piano starts playing with a soft beat behind it. A composition that takes its time. There's obviously no hurry in 'Nocturne 3'. Slowly but surely Ben Lukas Boysen flashes out his composition with a synth, a single deep note on the piano, a cymbal note and perhaps even the exploding sound of an electric guitar but mixed deep into the background so that none of the earsplitting noise of the studio reaches the listener, just its effect. It is not the first time that I'm liking what I'm hearing from Boysen on Kairos.

All bad things come in threes, is a saying that has no foundation as most truths of this kind don't, though undeniably sometimes they do. So here's Lisa Gerrard again. No 'ooohhh' but 'aaahhh' and 'iiiieee', so there's a deviation from some things that went before on this Kairos. 'The Unfolding' is more of a church choir piece. Gregorian actually. Somewhere in between is 'Nocturne 3' again, but don't ask me where.

The change comes with a trumpet in 'November' of Trio Ramberget. The softly meandering background of the song is mixed with the garbage collection truck that has driven into the street. Oddly enough the sounds somehow seem able to mix, but as the truck moves closer 'November' is slowly but surely drowned out.

It is not until the banjo of Broeder Dieleman chimes in, the music wins out again. 'Groot Eiland' was released this spring and discussed on this blog extensively. The soft and brooding song sets itself apart softly but surely. Listening to the song again, I notice how the accompanying voices and music almost seem to be set apart from Toon Dieleman's voice and his banjo. It fits but not in an everyday way. It forces to listen to the music and find out how it works. Because that it does.

It is 'November' that returns and the garbage truck has nearly left my street. Silence seems to replace Broeder Dieleman but that is a deception. Droning sounds are battling it out in the background before the trumpet returns. Listening a bit more attentively to Trio Ramberget I notice two things. The first is that the musical minds of most of the people on this (and all) Kairosses work totally different from mine. Where's the sparkle of a great 3 minute pop song? It seems like it is not in them. The second is that in a way the music in 'November' could be a part of Sophie Hunger's universe, a singer-songwriter who features regularly on Kairos and I am a fan of. That's what a musically perceptive mind can discover as well.

Eleni Era's 'No One's Near' ends this month. The Berlin based Cypriot singer featured on this blog earlier this year. She's in the Sophie Hunger league. A singer-songwriter but very much with a mind of her own and willing and able to face up to and expand the limits that traditional songwriting throw in the face of the musician. I am certain that what we are hearing here in no way comes near to the first version Ms. Era came up with, but is the result of a search for what else could be done with the song. What we hear is a mysterious composition that, once again, suggests ghosts and, albeit, gentle poltergeists are in the vicinity. It seems I have found a theme for this month after all.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here on Concertzender:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_508699/


This is the playlist of Kairos 107:

00:00  Edwin van der Hoeven. Resonance  meditation in 3rd chakra (several fragments). Album ‘Spirit of Love’. Colin Bates & Edwin van der Hoeven. LeaveForMorMusic.
01:54  Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke. Pilgrimage of Lost Children. Album ‘Duality’. 4AD-CAD 8004CD.
05:20  Eva de Roovere. Lo. Album ‘La Loba’. V2 Reords.
07:27  Benjamin van Esser. Everytime I Hear everytime I See. Album ‘I am Error’. LAK Unlimited.
21:45  Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke. Shadow Magnet. Album ‘Duality’. 4AD-CAD 8004CD.
30:17  Jesse Mac Cormack. Give A Chance. Album ‘Now’. V2 Records.
35:07  Edwin van der Hoeven. Guitar Theme from ‘Embrace the Spirit of Love’. Album ‘Spirit of Love’. Colin Bates & Edwin van der Hoeven. LeaveForMorMusic.
36:42  Ben Lukas Boysen. Nocturne 3. Album ‘Spells’. Erased Tapes Records ERATP085CD.
40:03  Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke. The unfolding (several fragments). Album ‘Duality’. 4AD-CAD 8004CD.
43:14  Ben Lukas Boysen. Nocturne 3 (fragment). Album ‘Spells’. Erased Tapes Records ERATP085CD.
43:22  Trio Ramberget. November (fragment). Self-released.
47:11  Broeder Dieleman. Groot Eiland. Snowstar Records.
51:45  Trio Ramberget. November (fragment). Self-released.
56:30  Eleni Era. No one’s near. Album ‘Rise Love’. Louvana Records.
Poem: Wilma Gijzen-Bakker

Dury Dava. Dury Dava

Today three album reviews. This is number two, from Greece. We started out with music with the brakes firmly on. Now brace for adventure, folks.

Dury Dava's self-titled album is an adventure. It is an album where should an opera singer have entered in the middle of the mix, I would not have been surprised. It would have been a musical experiment of which dozens come by on Dury Dava.

Don't ask me if Dury Dava is good. It just is. It's a gigantic effort that has been pulled off fully, completely and leaves me exhausted, yet, perhaps oddly, satisfied. There are no dull moments, certainly strange ones but also exhilarating ones. Like I said: it just is.

On this album a lot of noise comes by. Loud, shredding guitars, over pounding drums and a pumping bass, with a singer shouting sounds. African noises are mixed through the song. In the next song a jazzy clarinet or something like it, drives a song on melodically, while all the instruments sort of go about there way in a totally loose structure. Not unlike in Bowie's 'Blackstar', but far looser and more experimental. 'Triptych' could be the music in an erratic movie where the lights keep changing the camera is held frantically, Unwatchable for normal eyes, but by closing my eyes I can follow the impossible movie through the music. Something eastern enters the clarinet solo, while the band slowly works towards a solid explosion that dutifully arrives.

Of course I can't look into the rehearsal room of Dury Dava, but I have the impression that there are no rules. Any band member can come with an idea or develop one while playing together and take the original idea in a totally other direction. When the others agree it works, that is where and when the next step is contemplated.

Promo photo: Eftychia Vlachou

What is Dury Dava? It is a band from Athens in Greece, a five piece consisting of Karolos Berahas (bass, keys, synth), Giorgis Karras (electric guitar, dilruba), Dimitris Mantzavinos (vocals, electric guitar, bouzouki), Dimitris Prokos (clarinet, synth) and Ilias Livieratos (drums, percussion). Together they rehearse in a basement and this is the outcome. Mostly live recorded tracks that mine influences from decades long before these men were born. Singer Mantzavinos sings in his own language, so it is anybody's guess what he's singing about, but it may well be that it would be hard to understand him would he have sung English. It is more about the melody that the words is my impression.

The music is as eclectic as the cover art. At times it sounds like symphonic rock albums from the early 70s and not much later all references are yours to decide. One thing is clear, it is impossible to predict what will happen next on this record. Dury Dava surprises every single minute of its first album. Some parts the listener just have to sit through, other parts are brilliant, others simply totally weird and the changes happen within each song. As I wrote a true musical adventure. It just is.

Wo.

You can buy Dury Dava here:

https://inner-ear.gr/news/pre-order-dury-dava-self-titled-debut/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Kairos, 6 December 2018 by .No on Concertzender

After the festivities in last months deliberations by Wo. on the radio show .No produces for Concertzender called Kairos, we return to business as usual. Of course 100 is a random number, but people like to celebrate special occasions and 100 is a nice round figure. 101 is not. It is the beginning of a new cycle so to say. So let us follow Wo. in his train of thoughts while listening to the music on the Kairos of December 2018.

So, onwards with the series: a meditation on modern music. A high voice chimes with the echoes of an ancient cathedral. The troubles latter day musicians go to to artificially create bathroom reverb on their voices is created instantly in the old homes of our Lord. The voice is supplanted by a violin and more like and stringminded instruments. Playing a melody, some harmonies and counter melodies. Together they slowly create the image of a cascading waterfall. Level for level it drops ever downward. The water not caring, nor feeling what we humans would under the same circumstances, knowing what could await us at a lower level. The melody holds this coldness, distance within it. Michael Price has left wild emotions outside of his composition 'Willow Road'. Only now reading the title, it could be about a country lane with trees on both sides slowly bending to the wind, uncaring for their respective fates. The voice returns morphing into the next contribution.

Sytze Pruiksma returns after debuting in Kairos 100 with four pieces no less. 'Waad' is an experimental composition. Almost like a morse signal from a ship at sea. A language I do not understand. Is it a distress call or just an ordinary message? There's no way for me to tell. What I do not understand is that the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is part of this album. Where is it? Certainly not present in 'Waad'. This is 100% electronics with at most an electric bass guitar playing the dark notes. Creating a dissonant in the last part of the composition. Nearing non-music 'Waad' is. Not really for me, but certainly not harsh or unpleasant.

Slowly Eastern music moves in. A percussive instrument and some sort of flute. Although this seems more North African, I can't help to see a cobra coming out of a basket in rapture of the music and oblivious of the audience watching. Anouar Brahem returns, at least I'm near certain, after a certain period to Kairos. In 'Diversion' he plays traditional music that is worthy of meditating on. There's a calmness in the rhythm and soothing notes from the flute. They caress the mind while sinking ever deeper towards the thin line between consciousness and sub-consciousness. The line between lucidity and sleep.

Again one of those mixes that seem incredible. Yes, the instruments change, but the mood and pace do not. And yet 'Lake Serenade' by Manu Delago has started. Wherever this lake is, it must be beautiful there as Delago paints a most beautiful and tender musical picture of this lake. One to visit for sure.

The background changes once again, so do the instruments. However, if meditating on this music, I am sure the meditator would hardly have noticed the change. The mood is darker, the notes drawn out now, the instruments much tighter together. Yet there is still a form of serenity interlaced with a slight tension, some unease. KJ Rothweiler first comes by with 'Sile' and then 'Caro' where a piano plays a repetitive motive for a while, before variations start to interact with the main theme. The album 'Ex' may have things past as a theme. The melancholy dripping from the piano notes, recorded as if in a large room or hall, certainly suggests a longing for those things. Rothweiler was not in a happy mood when composing 'Caro'. More like he lost her forever. 'Caro' is a composition that needs constant attention. If not, you will have lost interest quite soon. Alone with a headset on will work best.

Michael Price also gets a second helping in this Kairos. Again from his album 'Tender Symmetry'. 'Shade Of Dreams' again starts with a high voice, singing alone before strings start an accompaniment. This is serious stuff, that much is clear. The singing is at the edge of what I can bare, yet clearly affecting me. My mood becomes so sad. The feeling just sweeps over me.

When a sad and lonely trumpet takes over. Eric Vloeimans and Sytze Pruiksma play another bird named composition, 'Nightingale'. This is so beautiful. Slowly the orchestra winds itself up to a climax, but the sound fades away.

Just sounds and noises, like a grumbling troll on a far away mountain, announcing mayhem that may just about strike sometime soon. We are in Norway with Trondheim Voices + Asle Karstad. This is not music, not real singing. There are voices and noises. All extremely experimental. A fragment and a five minute piece called 'Steamsaw'. Yes, somebody has been composing here, but it is beyond me to what purpose. Certainly not to please me. But, who knows, perhaps for millions of others and at a minimum .No., as he has given Trondheim Voices a place in his program.

Maarja Nuut & Ruum, who I can claim having tipped .No on, return for the third month in a row. The Estonian violinist and singer collaborates with electronic artist Hendrik Kaljujärv, a.k.a. Ruum, for her album 'Muunduja' (Shifter). Now I know one word in Estonian and that is "järv". This is the pond or small lake outside a village that most villages in the Estonian countryside have. Her sharp voice has taken the place of the Norwegian non-singing voices. Just repeating and repeating the same melody over electronically treated sounds and supplanted by a harsh sounding violin.

When an acoustic guitar comes in House of Cosy Cushions takes over. Richard Bolhuis' work by now can be called a permanent feature of Kairos. Not always agreeing with me though. This is not the case with 'Bleed The Need'. This barok sounding song knows only minor changes in melody, but has a clear connection to the music of U.K.'s Modern Studies, a band I rather like. There's a folk element, hidden in the darkness, on the edge of the song.

KJ Rothweiler gets a third helping this month. Again dark notes wash over me. An organ with treated sounds that come to me if having to travel through waves, moving unexpectedly making me have to wait until the wave and thus the sound finally reaches me after having bumped into other waves and objects near the beach. 'Room' has a layer of mystery in the song, because of this time alternating effects. Intriguing and easy to listen to.

'Fermatinio' is up next. A private recording by Tilo Baumheier and Michael Stratz. A bass and a flute slowly playing out a song. There is a jazz element because of the bass, not unlike the jazz pieces on previous Kairosses by the trio with the Polish name, Jan something. Just like it this music is not mine, yet it is not hard to acknowledge beauty when I hear it. The way the two instruments interact are quite pleasant.

The way the piano moves in is classic .No. For a second or so it is as if a third instrument is added to the duo, before the other two fade away. By now I'm listening to a piano tale called 'Now You're Gone'. The sadness is just as deep as described above in KJ Rothweiler's 'Caro'. Roger Spees' melody is soft and lingering. Notes are sparse, long held, but above all sad. There's no joy when she's no longer around.

The piano changes mood unexpectedly. It is not a surprise that Spees is no longer playing. Pieter de Graaf returns to Kairos with a melody that holds joy and melancholy all in one. No piano tale but 'A Minor Story'. De Graaf certainly catches me with this composition. It is so multi-layered, intrinsically beautiful. The warmth that comes from it could be life saving, I am sure.

It ends with a small joke of less than two seconds, I let you figure out that one for yourself.

Wo.



Playlist 20181206 2300 Kairos 101 s
00:06       Michael Price. Willow road. Album ‘Tender Symmetry’. Erased Tapes Records ERATP112CD.
06:34       Sytze Pruiksma. Waad.Sytze Pruiksma, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Album ‘LÂN’. LÂN 1.
11:50       Kudsi Erguner. Diversion. Kudsi Erguner & Lassad Hosni. Album ‘Conte de L’incroyable Amour’- Anouar Brahem. ECM 1457 1779874.
17:14       Manu Delago. Lake Serenade. Album ‘Parasol Peak’. TPLP1450CDP.
19:30       KJ Rothweiler. Sile. Album ‘Ex’. DRONARIVM RD-54.
21:35       KJ Rothweiler. Caro. Album ‘Ex’. DRONARIVM RD-54.
27:53       Michael Price. Shade of Dreams. Album ‘Tender Symmetry’. Erased Tapes Records ERATP112CD.
30:15       Sytze Pruiksma. Nightingale. Sytze Pruiksma, Eric Vloeimans, HaFaBra Orchestra.
Album ‘Conference of the Birds’. LÂN 3.Sytze Pruiksma.
31:41       Trondheim Voices + Asle Karstad. Berlin Memorial (fragment). Album ‘Rooms & Rituals’. Grappa LC49093.
32:37       Trondheim Voices+ Asle Karstad.Steamsaw. Album ‘Rooms & Rituals’. Grappa LC49093.
37:52       Maarja Nuut & Ruum. Une Meles. Album ‘Muunduja’. 130701 Ltd. CD13-30P.
42:49       Richard Bolhuis/House of Cosy Cushions. Bleed the Need. Album ‘Haunt Me Sweetly’. Outcast Cats CAT 0C01.
46:26       KJ Rothweiler. Room. Album ‘Ex’. DRONARIVM RD-54.
49:56       Tilo Baumheier & Michael Stratz. Fermatinio. Private recording.
52:43       Roger Spees. Now you’re gone. Album ‘Piano Tales’. Zijnsmuziek PT250409.
56:16       Pieter de Graaf. A minor story.Album ’Prologue’. DGR Music.
59:46       Trad. Dag Sinterklaasje (adapted fragment). VOF de Kunst. Album ‘Sinterklaasfeest met VOF de Kunst’. WSP CD16137.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_476249/

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Ash. Ibeyi

De tweelingzussen Naomi en Lisa-Kainde Díaz maakten ongeveer drie jaar geleden diepe indruk met het titelloze debuut van Ibeyi.
 
De in Parijs opgegroeide zussen combineerden op deze plaat op hele bijzondere wijze invloeden uit de hedendaagse popmuziek met invloeden uit de traditionele West-Afrikaanse Yorùbá cultuur, die ze via hun Cubaanse vader (die ooit in de legendarische bezetting van Buena Vista Social Club speelde) met de paplepel kregen ingegoten tijdens hun jeugd.
 
Het debuut van Ibeyi stond hierdoor met één been in de hedendaagse elektronische popmuziek en R&B, maar klonk door alle exotische invloeden en het gebruik van meerdere talen totaal anders.
 
Het is een omschrijving die ook op gaat voor de muziek op de tweede plaat van Ibeyi, maar Naomi en Lisa-Kainde Díaz hebben zich er zeker niet makkelijk van af gemaakt. Ash is vergeleken met zijn voorganger misschien net wat toegankelijker, maar schijn bedriegt. De plaat bevat een serie lekker in het gehoor liggende popliedjes, maar het zijn nog altijd popliedjes vol verrassing en avontuur.
 
Door het succes van de eerste plaat van Ibeyi hadden de Parijse zussen dit keer de beschikking over een wat rianter budget en was het bovendien haalbaar om wat gasten van naam en faam uit te nodigen. Topmuzikanten als Meshell Ndegeocello en Kamasi Washington zorgen voor mooie momenten, terwijl producer Richard Russell Ash heeft voorzien van een warm en vol klinkend geluid. De onbetwiste sterren op de plaat zijn echter ook dit keer Naomi en Lisa-Kainde Díaz.
 
De zussen voorzien alle songs op de plaat van soulvolle en prachtig bij elkaar kleurende stemmen, die niet bang zijn om buiten de lijntjes te kleuren maar zich nergens te buiten gaan aan overdaad. Samples van Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares en Michelle Obama, wiens legendarische speech over vrouwenrechten wordt ingezet als basis van een song, voorzien de plaat van nog wat extra vocaal vuurwerk.
 
Ook in muzikaal opzicht gebeurt er van alles op de tweede plaat van Ibeyi. Waar de vorige plaat op knappe wijze bijna tegenstrijdige invloeden wist te combineren, zijn deze invloeden op Ash volledig samengesmolten tot een uniek eigen geluid. Het zijn deels dezelfde invloeden als op het debuut van Ibeyi, maar Naomi en Lisa-Kainde Díaz hebben hun blik ook verruimd.
 
Ash bevat vergeleken met het debuut van Ibeyi veel meer invloeden uit de hiphop, maar biedt ook ruimte aan invloeden uit de jazz en de ambient en ook deze kleuren mooi bij de invloeden uit de wereldmuziek die ook dit keer een belangrijke rol spelen.
 
Een aantal songs wordt gedomineerd door diepe en stevig aangezette hiphop beats, maar Ash bevat ook een aantal songs waarin het tempo uiterst laag ligt en de prachtige stemmen van de Frans-Cubaanse zussen alleen maar worden gecombineerd met ambient achtige klanken.
 
Met al dit moois zijn we er nog niet, want Naomi en Lisa-Kainde Díaz hebben ook nog eens wat te zeggen. De twee komen op hun tweede plaat strijdlustig op voor gelijke rechten voor iedereen en stellen discriminatie vanwege ras of geslacht stevig aan de kaak. Het geeft de toch al zo overtuigende plaat nog wat extra zeggingskracht.
 
Omdat Ash ook nog eens bij iedere luisterbeurt mooier en bijzonderder wordt, sluit ik niet uit dat Ash zich, net als zijn voorganger gaat scharen onder de beste platen van het jaar. Ga dat horen dus.

Erwin Zijleman


Here's the link to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g