A brief time out

As some of you may know, I make music in addition to being incredibly opinionated about it. I’ve actually been in the studio on and off for the past while. If you want to know why I’ve been taking such an extended period of time between posts lately, there’s your reason.

I’m proud to announce that 3 demos are now available on my MySpace page. Make this alcoholic heart warm with emotion for a change and give a listen! Hopefully everything will be wrapped up and ready to go by the end of May.

Don’t know about my MySpace page? Silly ducks…

http://www.myspace.com/justynwithay

Ensemble Tengir-Too and the Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan

It was only after 11 months of frequent listening that I realized the focus of jaw-harp music is not the twang but the overtones. The rhythms and direct sound are background elements to the fainter melodies coming as a result of the mouth movements of the musician. The insight hit me like a landslide while listening to the first track of Ensemble Tengir-Too’s entry in the Smithsonian Folkways record series of the mountain music of Central Asia. I have been addicted to this compilation for almost a year now and I suddenly realized everything I thought about it was wrong.

It was a very humbling moment. Until then I was under the impression that the jaw-harp pieces are interludes and mood music between the lush orchestrations of the rest of the album. They are in fact among its densest compositions. The short period of resonance of the notes forces the players to use regular attacks resulting in fast meditative pulses of sound. The melodies rise expressively out of the drone; they’re not hard to hear if you know to listen for them. One can’t help but think of how symphonic this must come off in the steppes and valleys of Kyrgyzstan.

The jaw-harps act as a Rosetta Stone to the deeper relevance of the other songs. Listening to the music just behind the music brings to life the imagination of the people that celebrate it. The blends of lutes, fiddles, voices, and ocarinas creates new instruments in the air that exist only at that moment. They fade into nothingness when the music stops, coming back in the shades of a new song and its instrument. This is a document of the power of music, the real magic of sound, and what makes us make it in the first place.

But hey, if poetic trances aren’t your thing you’ve also got a thoroughly enjoyable collection of the all-purpose songs of an exotic nation. What has never stopped thrilling me is how contemporary it manages to sound. This made sense when I read into the history of Kyrgyzstan. I discovered that many of their folk traditions are the subject of constant revision. The nation has always been a crossroad along the Silk Road. It’s virtually equidistant to the cultures of India, China, Siberia, the Arabian lands, and Southeast Asia. Also having endured the rule of both the Mongols and the Soviets, Kyrgyzstan’s demographic combines the native races with resettled Europeans, Jews, and other Asians to the extent that this mix is the culture. It’s constantly changing and the traditions follow suit.

The free rhythms and odd phrasings of South Asia are brought into the more rigid structures and pacing of European music. The scales and melodies are tribal, but inventive and complex. The musicianship is furiously tight with an exhibitionist sense of humor and cleverness. The band loves their music and all that it represents and the emotions are visceral and undeniable. This is a record of un-Western music that easily catches Western ears and unfolds endlessly as its comprehensiveness grows. Great stuff!

Hey guess what!

Records coming out in 2008 don’t completely suck like the did in 2007! In fact, some of them are just plain excellent!! Look these up somewhere.

The Dodos, Visiter
These guys sound like they belong in a car commercial, but in a good way.

Boris, Smile
Got an advance copy of the Japanese release. Boris is back to the heavy drones, although not quite as heavy as Akuma No Uta. I think I like this one better than Pink.

Torche, Meanderthal
I feel like I’ve been waiting for a record like this for 15 years. Premature favorite album of 2008.

Frozen Bears, Hey That’s A Good Lookin’ Sportcoat!
Pretty excellent garage-psych

Vincent Black Shadow, More Deeper
Alright, I haven’t actually heard this one but I’ve seen them live enough to know it’s going to be good.

Bill Callahan, Woke On A Whaleheart
It’s Bill Callahan doing that Bill Callahan thing! “Sycamore” is a motherfucker of a song.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been getting most of my recommendations from Paper Thin Walls lately. I also need to go to bed finally. Gnite!

I miss the nostalgia

Now I’m not the type of person to present blatant opinion as stone hard fact, but 90s alt-rock one-hit wonders made the BEST MUSIC EVER. Sadly, a lot of these bands couldn’t follow through past the hit single and fell into obscurity as fast as they rose. Man if there was a band that could still write songs this good I would worship at their altar and sell key organs and bodily fluids to follow them around the country. Until the day I find them there’s YouTube I guess. Let the roundup begin!

The Refreshments, “Banditos”

The Toadies, “Possum Kingdom”

Toad The Wet Sprocket, “Good Intentions”

Candlebox, “Far Behind”
(I know I’m supposed to hate this song but goddamn I love me some shamelessly grunged up hair ballads)

Seven Mary Three, “Cumbersome”

Collective Soul, “December”
(I prefer to think of these guys as one-hit wonders and forget about all the crap that followed)

Chris Isaak, “Somebody’s Crying”

Loud Lucy, “Ticking”

Dandelion, “Weird-Out”

Tripping Daisy, “I Got A Girl”

Sponge, “Molly (Sixteen Candles)”

For Squirrels, “Mighty KC”
NO EMBED-ABLE VIDEO!! NOT COOL!!

and of course:
Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy”

Sadly not included: Wanderlust, “Walked”. If anyone knows of a video for that song, please let me know! I promise I’ll come up with a real post this week.