motel de moka

Photo credit: Milosav Druckmuller

At night nothing beats the sonic attack of some heavy droning psychedelic rock with scorching guitar riffs and earth shattering drumming extravaganza. The kind of music that scorches your brain circuits and leaves you disoriented. The absolute kings of modern spacey, psychedelic freak-outs are the Japanese psych-collective Acid Mothers Temple. It is quite impossible to fully keep track of these people with their releases seeming to pile up every week but “Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky” easily was one of my favourite tracks of 2006.

Also note the drumming on the Numinous Eye track which is quite phenomenal and proves why this kind of music is at its best when recorded live. This album was just released on Archive and is Mason Jones on guitar, performing with different drummers while on his 2005 tour. This track was recorded with Tatsuya Yoshida on drums. A very much recommended release.

1. Acid Mothers Temple - Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky
   Have You Seen the Other Side of the Sky? (Ace Fu, 2006)
2. Mammatus - The Righteous Path Through the Forest of Old
   Mammatus (Holy Mountain, 2006)
3. Wooden Shjips - Shrinking Moon for You
   Shrinking Moon for You (self-released, 2006)
4. Numinous Eye - (live at 2000V, Koenji, Tokyo)
   With A Little Help (Archive, 2007)

Since these tracks tend to be quite long – and with “Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky” being a half-hour epic – I’ve decided to break the list in two parts, both being about 50 minutes long. Stay tuned for next week’s part two.

But often, in the world’s most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;
A thirst to spend our fire and restless force
In tracking out our true, original course;
A longing to inquire
Into the mystery of this heart which beats
So wild, so deep in us–to know
Whence our lives come and where they go.
- Matthew Arnold, The Buried Life, 45-54

There is something inheritently daring about the great masters who seek to explore the past to redefine the present and finding new path to the future. The little punctuation in history that turns how the entire story unfold. It even tried to find the true proportion of man.

This list is self conscious in that it tries to look for new relationship between melody, rythm and composition techniques in pop music. Scattered somewhere between mainline blues based genres and electronica, the songs move beyond rock without entirely rejecting it. With floating imageries exploring ideas in different cultures, they are not fast, nor loud, but are richly detailed and masterfully composed. So here are some recent favorites albums that probably will make best of year albums combined with the great ones from the past. End of winter list with no rock.

Is it possible to move beyond rock gracefully?

“The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn”

01. Islaja - Varjokuvastin (web)
(Ulual Yyy, 2007)

03. Jah Wobble and Bill Laswell - Alsema Dub (web)
(Radioaxiom - A Dub Transmission, 2001)

04. Alice Coltrane - Blue Nile
(Ptah, The El Daoud (remastered), 1970)

05. Icarus - Benevolent Incubator (four tet web)
(Late Night Tunes: Four Tet, 2004)

06. The Cinematic Orchestra - Breathe
(Ma Fleur EP, 2007)

07. Aphex Twin - oval the politics of digital a (web)
(mixing with richard d james, live mix on bbc radio 3 on 6.11.95)

08. Fridge - oram (web)
(The Sun, 2007)

09. Macromantics - Generation (web)
(Movements in Movement, 2006)

see also: 2007 list
image: Image of Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci

Entre Ceuta…

1. John Fahey - lewisdale blues
(the voice of the turtle, 1968)
2. Fridge - Harmonics
(Happiness, 2001)
3. Pink Floyd - the red queen theme (take 1)
(Zabriskie Point sessions, 1969)
4. µ-Ziq - phiesope
(the pine effect, 1995)
5. Dungen - familj
(Tio Bitar, 2007)

y Gibraltar.

1. Current 93 - idumea (baby dee)
(black ships ate the sky, 2006)
2. Warsaw Village Band - Fishie
(uprooting, 2004)
3. Kronos Quartet & Asha Boshle - mehbooba, mehbooba
(You’ve stolen my heart, 2005)
4. Tomatito - a mi niña rosa alba (merci, zeynep)
(Vengo OST, 2000)
5. Panda bear - carrots
(person pitch, 2007)

Photo: attributed to B. Mitchell.

David Axelrod - The Sign (I)
(Earth Rot / Capitol / 1970)
Ash Ra Tempel - Cosmic Tango
(Starring Rosi / Ohr Kosmische Musik / 1973)
Ramatam - Whiskey Place
(Ramatam / reissued by wounded bird in 2004 / 1972)
Arthur Doyle - November 8th or 9th — I Can’t Remember When
(Alabama Feeling / DRA Records / 1978)
Fritz Hauser (with Rob Kloet) - Dog’s Night
(Zwei / Hat Hut / 1987)
Iannis Xenakis - Concert PH
(Electronic Music / Electronic Music Foundation / 1997)
Fritz Hauser (with Lauren Newton) - Down to the Ceiling
(Zwei / Hat Hut / 1987)

A few old stuffs and a few old stuffs I just came across these days. Arthur Doyle and Fritz Hauser are the ones I specially concerned about these days: Arthur’s hysterical saxphone, Fritz’s sensible drums–accompanied by Lauren’s shredding voice… and so on.

photo by totomaru

After several hours’ not so professional research and investigation, I sorted out two lists. And here is one of them: three Indian artist (Shankar, my very lovely Shakti, Banerjee), one Hungarian guitarist (Szekeres),  and vocalist Bobby McFerrin, well-beloved ECM artist, and my very very favorite David Darling.

Sitar, table, tamboura, three traditional ancient Indian instruments  that have been played for centuries, now appear a lot in nowadays’s lovely drones and free-folk stuffs. Nikhil Banerjee’s the one I just digged out. I count these Indian raga one of the roots. At least, I suppose, philosophically they influenced many of us. Check out also: Shivkumar Sharma,  Ustad Vilayat Khan… etc.

Being a huge David Darling fan, I was just able to hear Mudanin Kata these days. This collaboration only happened a few years ago, and is fabulous and beautifully made. The Wulu Bunun tribe’s a tribe in Taiwan, their pure voices have made too much in the album, I may say, even a bit more than David’s cello. But of course this is as always touching, natural, yet only a bit less lonely, and melancholic than his other solo works–like Dark Wood (Dawn *this song’s included in the film once I mentioned “Ashes and Snow“).

And, Tamas Szekeres, my new fingerpicks love…

Bobby McFerrin - Bang!Zoom
(Bang! Zoom / Blue Note / 1996)
Gary Peacock, Keith Jarrett & Jack De Johnette- Vignette
(Tales of Another / ECM / 1977)
Ravi Shankar - Vandanaa Trayee
(Chants of India / Angel Records / 1997)
Shakti - Mind Ecology
(Natural Elements / Tristar / 1994)
Nikhil Banerjee - Rag Multani (Part Three)
(Afternoon Ragas Rotterdam / Raga / 1992)
Tamás Szekeres - La Catedral - Allegro Solemne
(La Catedral / 1997)
David Darling & Wulu Bunun Tribe - Lugu Lugu Kan-Ibi
(Mudanin Kata / Riverboat / 2004)

art: shakti

Photo: Minimal Winter by mark.os

Last winter was unusually mild here where I live. Almost now snowfall at all. I remember days from earlier years where heavy snowfall prevented people to go to work. Where the roads where frozen and turned into a hazardous skating rink. Although these circumstances can be highly uncomfortable I did kind of miss them this year. Especially now with the temperature picking up and with summer already around the corner.

One of my favorite songwriters Townes van Zandt sings the line: “Snow don’t fall on summers time” on his record “The Late Great Townes Van Zandt”. Well, that might be true in reality but fortunately with the right music we can at least pretend. When the temperatures again reach record breaking highs this summer I can always turn to these songs and dream a little. It is no coincidence either that some of my favorite records of 2007 so far are among this list.

1. Townes van Zandt - Snow Don’t Fall
   The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (Tomato, 1972)
2. Cahier - Pluie (Jour 2)
   Jour Ouvrable (Foxglove, 2005)
3. Eluvium - New Animals From the Air
   Talk Amongst the Trees (Temporary Residence 2005)
4. Frode Haltli - Psalm
   Passing Images (ECM, 2007)
5. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Wither
   Daydreaming (Miasmah, 2007)
6. Jóhann Jóhannsson - Jói & Karen
   Englabörn (Touch, 2002)
7. Rameses III - Theme Five
   Honey Rose (Important, 2007)
8. Greg Haines - Snow Airport
   Slumber Tides (Miasmah, 2006)
9. Arve Henriksen - Glacier Descent
   Strjon (Rune Grammofon, 2007)

… the somewhere that i am not aware of either… somewhere like the end of the tail of the constant continuation of the enduring drones and folks. 

spiral joy band - night fields
(searing float, 2005, klang industries)
vibracathedral orchestra - he play all day long
(dabbling with gravity and who you are, 2002, vhf)
vibracathedral orchestra - bombay stores disco
(dabbling with gravity and who you are, 2002, vhf)

Pelt - Total Denigration
(brown cyclopaedia, 1996, vhf)
Total - Mantling
(buffin’ the celestial muffin, 1995, rural electrification program)
Total - The Yellow Sound
(eternity’s beautiful frontispiece, 2000, vhf)
Yellow Swans - Animal I’m
(dusk yellow swans)
Sunroof! - Grasshopper
(cloudz, 2003, vhf)
Sunroof! - Disappear Here 2
(ussa, 2003, vhf)

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