LITHA (21 June 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

VARIOUS ARTISTS

VOR DER FLUT (Hommage An Einen Wasserspeicher)


Original Issue: 1985 Eigelstein Musikproduktion (ES 2025/26CD) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 Christian Bollmann , Doris Zeman , Gerd Kappelhoff , Helmut Scherner , Jochen Vetter , Roberto Laneri , Stephanie Wolf - Invocationes 2:59
2 Dario Domingues - Pacha Siku 3:40
3 Pauline Oliveros - Watertank Software 4:41
4 Büdi Siebert , Joe Koinzer - Trüffeltanz 4:14
5 Jochen Vetter , Doris Zeman , Gerd Kappelhoff , Helmut Scherner , Jochen Vetter - Praevocationes 5:25
6 Dario Domingues - The Spirit Of The Wind 3:44
7 Pauline Oliveros - The Gentle-Short Version 5:42
8 Büdi Siebert - Wal-Hall-A 4:47
9 Saxophon Mafia - Kellerdschungel 4:50
10 Conrad Bauer - Bötz 10:05
11 Butz Dähn , Michael Höhler , Wolfgang Hamm - Unter Der Stadt 6:52
12 Heiner Goebbels - Die Sintflut - Ein Vorfilm Für Herbert Achternbusch 6:29

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from liner notes :

In December 1984 musicians from different countries and the 'Tanzforum der Oper/Köln' met in the almost 100 years old drinking water tank SEVERIN, located on the southside of Cologne, for an exceptional music and dance project.
The recordings of this compact disc testify for the unique acoustics of this subterranean colonnade. All takes have only been recorded with microphones distributed throughout the tank, without using any additional studio effect equipment."

The water reservoir was empty for 2 years for construction works. The longest audible reverb recorded at the empty tank lasts approximately 45 seconds. After the project the water tank was flooded again with about 20 million litres of drinking water.

FULL FLOWER MOON (19 May 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW
THE WAY THE WIND BLOWS

Original Issue: 2006 Leaf (BAY 51 CD) Buy it here!!!

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1 In The River (5:56)
2 The Way The Wind Blows (4:17)
3 Song For Joseph (4:18)
4 Fernando's Giampari (5:51)
5 God Bless The Ottoman Empire (4:06)
6 Waltz For Strings And Tuba (2:06)
7 Oporto (1:23)
8 Gadje Sirba (2:27)
9 The Sparrow (3:35)
10 Salt Water (3:15)
11 There Is A River In Galisteo (0:52)

from Stylus Magazine:

A woozy saxophone welcomes us to A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s third album, The Way the Wind Blows. Drunk in the mid-afternoon Marrakech sun, it segues into snake charming soundtrack territory before embarking on a balmy Balkan evening river ride wherein Jeremy Barnes (A Hawk and a Hacksaw himself) states that “Swimming is not so dangerous / If you only give it a try” atop Mariachi trumpets and a militaristic march.

Partly recorded in a remote Romanian village with members of the Balkan folk group, Fanfare Ciocarlia, The Way the Wind Blows is as nomadic as its creator. Barnes grew up in New Mexico, moved to Chicago for school, and dropped out to drum in Neutral Milk Hotel. Following their demise, he lent his handiwork to Bablicon, Bright Eyes, and Broadcast, before settling in Leicester, England to become a postman (he liked the uniform) and volunteer at a refugee hostel, playing music with asylum seekers from Iraq, Kurdistan, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria. This eclectic exposure influenced AHAAH’s self-titled debut album, which was recorded in France and featured loose piano-based songs augmented by a barnyard-full of instruments (including, yes, a rooster’s call). From England, Barnes moved to Prague, writing second album Darkness at Noon, before returning to New Mexico. It was here that he met violinist, Heather Trost, who became a permanent second member of the group, adding an extra dimension to what was essentially a one-man-band.

In April of 2006, Barnes got the urge to go again. Life savings in hand, he embarked on a mythic quest of ‘golden fleece’-like proportions to track down renowned gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia. With nothing more than a phone number to go on, Barnes found them in the tiny Moldovan village of Zece Prajini and set up a makeshift studio in the front room of a house where he and the band bonded and recorded.

The result is a rousing record, meshing gypsy instrumentation (accordion, violin), a brash brass band, carnival caravan percussion, and Barnes’ chant like vocals. It has an obvious sense of authenticity that previous AHAAH albums lacked (in essence, but not necessarily in sound), and veers from instrumentals so layered they feel lyrical, to vocal songs whose lines range from weighty (“Your men won’t protect you from destiny”) to whimsical (“Don’t be afraid / The moon is your home.”) Musically, The Way the Wind Blows bursts and builds in equal measure; “Fernando’s Giampari” trumpets its arrival with, well, trumpets, while, “God Bless the Ottoman Empire” floats from muted flamenco guitar into Middle Eastern market music before settling on a Gregorian chant over what sounds like a child ice-skating inside a piano. Only on album opener “In the River” does Barnes come close to sounding conventional; it’s Calexico cavorting across Europe, skipping styles like a stone skimming water, dropping in and out before finally sinking inside a saxophone. And though the album sags a little towards the end, with a few shorter instrumental numbers, it’s still an invigorating journey, a caravan of cavorting musicians, careening through the countryside, stopping only to play festivals and funerals.

This review without wouldn’t be complete without mentioning today’s two better known Balkan burglars: Beirut, whose Zach Condon played on The Way the Wind Blows (AHAAH also moonlight as members of his backing band), and Gogol Bordello. But whereas these two more commercially acclaimed bands attach Balkan influence to their existing song structures, folk (Beirut) and punk (Gogol Bordello), AHAAH negates song structures in the formal sense, and is, rather than Western music accented by Eastern European influences, purely Balkan; not in name, not in nationality, but in sound and spirit.

Kevin Pearson

BLACK MOON (the dark side of musick)

POHJONEN KIMMO
KLUSTER

Original Issue: 2002 Rockadillo (ZENCD 2074) (Buy it here!)


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1 Ulaani
2 Ohimo
3 Loska
4 Keko
5 Reaktio
6 Aroma
7 Kaluaja
8 Alla
9 Voima
10 Avanto

from All About Jazz:

You know that old accordion your grandfather has sitting around from his days in the Old Milwaukee Polka Band? Well, Kimmo Pohjonen has dragged it from the attic, dusted it off, hooked it up to a Fender tube amp and proceeded to pull, push, pound, scrape and bend every note conceivable from it. Pohjonen hails from Finland, but he travels far beyond the borders of Finnish folk music. With the help of Samuli Kosminen, who samples and then processes Pohjonen's voice and accordion, the pair creates an intoxicating explosion of sound, rhythm and texture.

Kluster sounds like a message from the underworld, and Pohjonen the possessed messenger. The deep throaty growls of “Alla” are a demon waking from a deep slumber. The fractured crackling, popping and scraping of “Loska” is a computer gasping its last. Pohjonen creates tactile tones, tormented screams, and relentless beats; his moaning conjures up holy-rollers speaking in tongues. His music bursts with life, as if everything material had gained a soul. “Reaktio” breathes and boils, transmitting what you would hear if someone stuck a microphone into the heart of a fire.

Yet every sound on the album is produced by Pohjonen's five-row chromatic accordion and his voice. Kosminen runs the beats and riffs through an effects processor and electronic drum pad, then augments them into dense structures. Kluster bristles with meticulous detail, but it is not just a product of studio wizardry. Live they employ the same methods to improvise shows that have astounded audiences and critics worldwide. Pohjonen describes his performances as being “like one painting with many colors.” Extending his statement, it explains why their arrangments on Kluster often follow the same pattern. Yet this sameness by no means detracts from the music. Pohjonen and Kosminen remain constantly inventive and they infuse every piece with urgent, primal energy.

Their energy never wanes because above all Pohjonen believes in the rhythm. Melodic phrases, ambient colorings and percussive devices are lavishly layered towards one goal: complete, ecstatic abandonment in rhythm. Perhaps that is why his aesthetic resembles the dynamics of club music, all the time stoking the energy level higher and higher. “Keko” starts with a distant tapping. Pohjonen adds a pulsating riff which is soon joined by a sweeping gesture from the bellows. The song continues its irresistible journey upwards, gathering tension as it grows.

Pohjonen masterfully harnesses kinetic energy into dynamic compositions that become more compelling with each listening. Play this record at high volumes or soak up its texture on headphones. Either way pulls you into an aberrant, visceral and wicked underworld of sound.

Matthew Wuethrich