Jim O'Rourke - Eureka (Drag City - DC162)

There cannot be any doubts about the talent of Jim O'Rourke when it comes to Experimental Electronic Music and it's sub genres. However, it also needs to be clearly pointed out that he is a multi talented guy and likes to express these various sides of his from time to time.

He has had many collaborations and due to this delved into many styles, but the album in question is purely his work and reflects an absolutely different side of his. The album can be labelled as Folk/Art Rock and Indie Folk, but it appeared much before the contemporary Folk fad. The style also has touches of Jazz in it, but closer to the Free Jazz style.

Just think about the Bossa Nova rhythms in "Something Big" and the Jazzy "Through The Night Softly". If Astrud Gilberto was to sing "Something Big", I wouldn't have been surprised at all. Unfortunately the vocal Edith Frost was not creating miracles even though the music is quite lovely.

There is only one track in the album, which is naming the album, that reminds us the background of O'Rourke's present a little is "Eureka". However, even that one is more or less Folk with electronic structures in the background. Just this little tid bit had made me happy to hear.

The album's sound is excessively lenient when compared to his more known works as well as his long lasting collaboration of Fenn O'Berg with Christian Fennesz and Peter Rehberg (Interestingly these names appear in the "danke" section of the album booklet). It has a raw and naïve sound where he also does the vocals and gets support from the contemporary Jazz talents like cornetist Rob Mazurek and cellist Fred Lonbergi-Holm.

If you are expecting a classic O'Rourke album, this is surely not it. It's nowhere near it. This is just him expressing himself in a different way even though the lyrics are showing off his standard philosophy. I just hope that he starts leaving Japan again and ventures into Europe to give some concerts either alone or with Fenn O'Berg.

To buy this record:

@ Ebay (Currently only CDs available)
@ Discogs

Leadbelly - Good Night Irene (Allegro - ALL 786)

Leadbelly is stated on the album cover, but according to himself, his moniker is actually Lead Belly while his name is Huddie Ledbetter. Lead Belly is one of the best voices of Folk and Blues. Actually his voice is exceptionally suitable to Blues including all the quarter tones. Another exquisite talent of his is the twelve string guitar which can be called his signature as well. He cannot be really distinguished between Folk and Blues. However, one reason for this is the standards he has brought up into the world of both musical genres. To be honest, Folk for the AfroAmericans are Blues itself, thus a distinction is not very clear anyway.

The album is dated 1965. It is a UK press and a collection of his previously released songs. Actually all LPs featuring his songs are compilations since he only released so called singles during his times and these are on 78 rpm records. One significant thing about the album is that it is somewhat more concentrated on the Blues songs of Lead Belly. This suits me perfectly fine, but can give an incomplete version of him to a new listener.

The album includes personal interests of mine including the track which gave it's name to the album "Good Night, Irene" where Lead Belly's vocal reaches the utmost limits of performance. It is such a beauty that later on many artists tried to perform this song in their albums while all were left in the shadows. The other one was a song that I've been introduced by Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) during their Unplugged performance for MTV. The original name of the song is "Black Girl", but it is also known as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?". With all due respect to a multi talented man like Kurt Cobain, listening the original version beats everything. However, I should point out that Cobain's version is the second best I've heard.

As always, the songs on the album are about racism, poverty, and unsurprisingly the prison life. Being one of the idols of todays gangster rap artists who love taking a periodical trip to the prison, Lead Belly was actually the creator of this genre as well. His irregular temperament has caused him several visits to state penitentiaries and this also helped him earn a big recognition. He was a regular performer in prisons. He has also noted that prison life has helped him build an unseen repertoire of Folk and Blues songs. Whatever the reason, he has been a unique artist in the Blues world and is worth each drop of respect he gets.

To buy this record:

@ Discogs
@ Ebay

Jo Chambers - Every Woman Will Be Free (Firebrand Records/Private Press - DMO 1020)

This is a record which I have bought as per the recommendations of the seller. Some may think this is not the most logical way of purchasing records which you have no idea about (Especially if the price is hefty), yet this guy was someone whom I've bought from for some time and he has an idea of my weird taste after all. Anyway, the result has been pure success. Of course I was not sure about the result even until listening it since this record is a private press with absolutely no related info or music about it on the web. Hell, even Wikipedia does not feature anything on Jo Chambers.

What you hear on the record is strictly Folk music with what seems to be an Irish Folk touch in it. Some of the vocals can also be tied to Psyhedelic Rock. If I need to be more precise, I can openly state that the tone of Chambers' voice and her style reminds me of Grace Slick. So now you can get the picture. She has only her acoustic guitar with her. This may of course be due to limited finances she had for this record, but all in all it created a much more effective sound than she could have wished for. What you see in her is what you get. Simple as that.

The record was made possible by nine women who leant money to Chambers. This is uniquely a self made project. She even mentions that she was shit scared during the recording. The cover picture belongs to a friend of her's and was sketched, but Chambers didn't want it to be sexually oppressive. There is no one else on the record as she plays and sings all by herself.

She mentions that her songs are an expression of her experiences in the 4 years prior to the recording.They are mainly based on an individualistic theme. Central to attention is her loneliness. She enjoys loneliness in some tracks like "It's Raining On The Boulevard Tonight" while she feels devastatingly lonely and in need of love in "Lonesome Saturday Night". As a result, I can honestly say that listening this album is opening several windows into the life of Jo Chambers. Some commercial artists always use phrases like "I found myself in this album", "This album really feels like mine" etc. even though there is always a feeling of commercialism and of course a producer behind. This album on the other hand is totally about expressing oneself. There is no producer, no one accompanying him apart from her friends during recording sessions. She plays by herself, expresses herself without anyone else telling her how to. It is pure and simple. What you listen is totally cozy, honest and sincere.

What I've witnessed was certainly not something I was expecting. It has overaccomplished what I could have ever dreamed of. It is most unfortunate that she went unrecognized yet I have a satisfied feeling that she went so. If she had received fame, she wouldn't be so sincere anymore. This album is perfect as long as it remains being the work of one truly remarkable woman with 9 others who has helped financially for it to come alive. It is the dream of someone coming true while it is my dream come true in listening an album with pure music and ideals on mind.

To buy this record:

@ Discogs
@ Music Stack
@ Ebay

Winter Family - Red Sugar (Altvinyl/Sub Rosa - Av032)

Winter Family is a duo made up of Ruth Rosenthal and Xavier Klaine. They have released their last 2 records via Sub Rosa which is a label that I am deeply interested in. Many of Sub Rosa releases have found their way in my collection and especially their releases of Early Electronic works are something always to look forward to.

Honestly this album was not in my priority list while I was making my last purchase from Sub Rosa, but I bought it based on the recommendation of Fred from the label. It has been much of a delight to have made this last minute addition to my order. It is quite different in many ways comparing to the Drone music that we are constantly hearing nowadays.

Drone is an alternative branch of Electronic Music which has been more or less out of the spotlights for around 8-9 years which actually started around 1960's with the magical name where you see everywhere, La Monte Young. As you can guess from the starting point, it evolved with a new stylistic exploration of minimalist music, but later developed to what it is now today. More of a gothic version of the early ones.

Today the first two names you can directly mention alongside Drone is Sunn O))) and Fennesz. However, their styles are also differentiating somewhat since one is more of a Drone Metal and the other is closer to Space Music with it's wide soundscapes. Winter Family is already really apart from them based on the fact that they created an album which involves poems in a central figure, enriching them with samples of ezan (Call for prayer for muslims), religious chants, reverend and rabbi speeches. It has a religious touch, yet even having this kind of vocals within the tracks is a keen approach. What this duo uses is actually non music material in an abstract musical environment and to say the least, they have conducted a very hard job in this sense. Of course some people might get offended these days since that is the new "thing", being a racist or a discriminator. People can't get dumber than this.

Musically Drone evidently takes up the front stage with Folk Music elements supporting. During poems, music takes a supporting role with giving enough space for the narrator to give the full emotional state. Piano is also used frequently along the narration. After the vocals come the real strength of the album which are repetitive Drone timbres which are truly effective. In "Dancing In The Sun", vocals are also used more like the early versions of Drone as another musical aspect. This is not the Monteverdian style which we are used to from Cathy Berberian, but more like Karlheinz Stockhausen's and Klaus Schulze's approach to vocals.

There are quite simplistic melodies accompanying the general flow of the album like the one we face in "Indigo Sky". The basic melody is similar to old music box melodies, but then a thunder slaps to wake the listener up and bring back to reality where Drone takes back it's position and continues advancing. This is one of the worth listening works of the year with a genuine approach to Drone and Folk Music. All we need to do is support these works and hope for more to come.

To buy this record:

@ Subrosa
@ Discogs

Bob Dylan - Biograph (CBS - 66509)

Here we have a revolutionary man who had a vision to explain all his personal and political feelings, protests and anger through his music. Bob Dylan (Originally Robert Zimmerman) is not mainly famous for his music actually since man of his songs are either borrowed or inspired musically from earlier works. He openly tells this so as well. On the other hand lyrics have always been the extremely powerful side of his works.

It may be really unnecessary to explain about Bob Dylan to an established music listener. Someway or the other, you are bound to meet this man, hear his music and get down into his lyrics. However I personally didn't delve into his music until 3-4 years ago when I had a sudden rush of Blues and Folk in me. Hard to explain, yet I've been listening Blues for a substantial period of my time now. Some books I've read on the subject have also arouse my interest even further. Dylan also got his fair share from this.

I was strolling around Ebay one day when I saw this box set. Next thing I know, I ended paying for it, not with any remorse of course. And I'm sitting on my couch now listening to this fabulous box set. The set consists of various stages of Dylan's recordings as it can be understood from the name, Biograph. It features some of his most famous works like Lay Lady Lay, The Times Are Changin', Blowin' In The Wind, Like A Rolling Stone etc. There is not much need to get into detail with these tracks as they can be found anywhere. The other reality of the box set is more fruitful since it features 18 unreleased tracks and one B side. Now this is a feast.

One important aspect of the box set is the two booklets that come with it. One contains the history of Dylan's life with colorful pictures, details, stories and quotes. The second booklet has proven to be more of importance for me since it directly explains the history behind the tracks and the quotes of Dylan based on almost each song. Knowing the history behind each track has been a pleasure. Interestingly when I was younger (Not that I'm old anyway), I was not so much into learning the history of the songs that I've listened, but the more you listen and experience, the more you are curious about the stories behind the things you listen. It provides a great insight about them and also fills the holes that you can feel. Every stone falls into place. It makes the whole experience more complete and adorable. This is exactly what happens with this box set. Clearly it doesn't have the feeling or the conceptual collectivity of an album. You feel like here and there a couple of times since this is a collection which spans for over a 20 year recording period. Yet you get to feel and witness the starting point of a great artist and how he has developed through the ages. When this artist is Bob Dylan, the whole thing gets a grandiose meaning.

Djivan Gasparyan - I Will Not Be Sad In This World (Land - Land06 Test Press)

When you are a record collector, you get to bump into things where you are least expecting them. You also tend to find gems which may be remarkable. This record is surely one of those. Finding a record of Djivan Gasparyan is already hard in itself, but finding a test press seems like a miracle.

There are some people who were born for music. Djivan Gasparyan is surely one of this kind. His way of bringing folk music of the Caucasus and Anatolia has been truly remarkable and brought him worldwide fame. He is a master of the traditional woodwind which is also called "Duduk" in this region.

The album is Djivan Gasparyan's first. It was originally released from the Russian Melodiya Records in 1983 and than reissued via Land Records in 1989. What I have in my hand is the test press of the reissue.

The name of the album is "I Will Not Be Sad In This World". This is quite ironic as Anatolia and Caucasus are two regions of the world which has suffered thousands of years through invasions and struggles. His music on the album exceptionally pictures this longing for peace and solitude.

Even though the main genre of the album has to be listed as Folk Music and World Music, the way Gasparyan plays the Duduk is pretty much similar to the spacey rhythms of Jan Garbarek. However, the general feeling is much more depressive and emotional. This can derive from the sometimes excessive emotional states of the region he lives in.

Listening the record is a pleasure not many words can describe. I've listened to Gasparyan more than once in concerts, and sang some of the almost forgotten traditional Armenian and Turkish folk songs he brought back into life. Yet, this record has a special way with it. It may be that I have the advantage of being from the same culture. The album directly depicts the life in this region.