Memory Gongs

On 23rd August, almost forty years after it was initially released, The Moon and the Melodies by Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd is being reissued on vinyl for the first time – remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself.

The phrase 'Lovely Thunder' suggests a beautiful sound with an undertone of menace. One need go no farther than "Gypsy Violin," the last song and centerpiece of the album Lovely Thunder, to hear how Harold Budd takes the phrase and forges a musical equivalent. Underneath the plaintive melody of the synthesized violin and an occasional foghorn-reminiscent bass note lies a bed of synth chords that are present throughout, sometimes adding notes, sometimes dropping them, sometimes moving a chord up or down a key and into dissonance with the rest. The overall result is an undulating base that never quite lets the listener settle onto firm ground, giving the song a distinct edge. Drones do figure prominently as a musical base for many of the album's other songs, yet the music is generally more akin to the reverberated keyboard treatments Budd utilized to stunning effect on his two collaborations with Brian Eno. Those looking to explore beyond The Plateux of Mirror and The Pearl would do well to give this album a listen, as they will most likely be both challenged and satisfied.

Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Mandatory Reality (2019) {Eremite MTE-71/72}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 470 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 202 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2019 Eremite Records | MTE-71/72
Jazz / Experimental / World Music / Avant-Garde / Minimalism

Featuring an eight-piece acoustic incarnation of NIS - with Abrams on guimbri, along with harmonium, tam-tam, gongs, autoharp, piano, tabla, tar, cornet, alto sax, and bass clarinet - the album is centered around two long form compositions by Abrams ("In Memory's Prism" and "Finite"). Recorded live to tape at Electical Audio in Chicago, Mandatory Reality reveals its beauty slowly and methodically.

Beat Bag Bohemia is half African, half European. The ensemble consists exclusively of drummers – two Swiss and two African. At Beat Bag Bohemia each musician assumes a multitude of tasks. The parts are constantly reassigned. The members alternate in being accompanist, soloist, groove-master, noise- and melody-maker – and in each function the individual style of every musician is to shine through.

Songwriter Joe Henry has recorded five albums in the 21st century; he’s also become a Grammy-winning producer. These more recent records (of 12) offer a mature view of an artist at his most musically ambitious and lyrically cagey. Reverie, as its title implies, contains 14 songs that seemingly center on the concept of time: the random glinting of memory as it perceives love, loss, spirituality, history, and culture refracted through the gaze of the human heart. Musically, it feels like the loosest album Henry’s ever recorded; its production techniques are organic, live sessions were cut in his home studio with the windows open, allowing the sounds of everyday life–barking dogs, mothers calling children, cars and trucks– to pour through, making them part and parcel of the album's fabric. Henry's lyrics and melodies do, however, contrarily reveal an exacting craftsman. He and his guitar are accompanied by longtime associates, drummer Jay Bellerose, pianist Keefus Ciancia, and bassist David Piltch, with cameos by Patrick Warren, Marc Ribot, Jean McLain, and Lisa Hannigan. His lyrics – scattershot, mercurial expressions of memory – are caught in exacting rhymes that reflect on the power, delight, and torment of desire (he admits as much at the end of his liner essay). The musical forms are more rhythmically inventive and slippery; they serve his ephemeral, evocative lyrics by opening them up to time’s uncageable nature.

If you seek some of the most peaceful music around, you will find it here. Drummer/percussionist Cline has conceived and written it for vocalist Aina Kemanis, violinist Jeff Gauthier, keyboardist Wayne Peet and bassist/cellist Eric Von Essen to pour their souls into.

In 2017 MAZE gave a stunning interpretation of Jitterbug at the Tactile Paths Festival in Berlin, full of subtle detail and fluid energy. That they have returned to the work now - and have also created this beautiful realization of bayou-borne, for Pauline - is something for which I am deeply grateful.