Palyrria - Palyrria [2004]

Born out of the need for experimentation PALYRRIA is a band that has devised and perfected its own, unique musical style. Created in 1996 as a dance project it wasnt until 1999 that the band decided to turn into its own musical direction, a mixture of western electronica and traditional music from around the Mediterranean. They call it world-electro and indeed this music is neither electronic nor ethnic. PALYRRIA has always been fascinated by traditional music and some of the bands members have worked with renowned traditional musicians, but living in Greece one realizes that traditional music goes way beyond the last millennium, back in times when people chose to express themselves in much more ecstatic and paganistic ways. Ancient ceremonies around the Mediterranean have always been filled with music and musical expression. It wouldnt be far from the truth if one was to draw a parallel between those events and the rave parties the world witnessed in the beginning of the nineties. The similarities are striking and have been the source of inspiration for the dynamic musical context of PALYRRIA. Aeolian scales, pentatonic music, instruments that come out of the depths of history, are presented alongside pumping bass lines, techno grooves, vocoders, clicks and cuts, in an attempt to create music that transcends the centuries and is both ancient and futuristic at the same time. Let the strangeness ware off and enjoy music that comes straight from the source.

Enjoy! 

Laszlo Hortobagyi - 6th All-India Music Conference [1990]

László Hortobágyi's music is fiction and reality at the same time. He creates musical worlds in which we can rediscover ourselves, just to forget ourselves all over again. The essence of his music is that the 20th century was not culturally influenced by the Occident, but from the Orient instead.

Just imagine that the Western and Asian polyphony had united, such as, for example, baroque organ music with phrases of Indian Ragas. A harpsichord player performing Northern Indian sitar music on his polyphonic instrument supported by a psychedelic reggae bass. Or an orthodox Slavic church choir was to sing in a classic Indian "Dhrupad" style, in the course of which repetitive gamelan music utilized compositions of Indian ragas during an electronic rock concert in Java........

Specific to this album is his unification of the music from this fictitous 20th century with the classic Indian music culture. The meticulously listed information in the booklet concerning the "Indian Music Conferences" - the first was to have taken place in the year 1916 - reads like an encyclopedia about councils that continued for years. The artist allows the "encyclicals" to flow into his music. All of this may well sound "unreal", but does the culture in the West have any other chance than to make use of the sources of this advanced civilization? "Cultures that the West has destroyed over hundreds of years and is still destroying"? (Hortobágyi)

He is pursuing these questions in the institute he founded in 1980 in Budapest, the "Gáyan Uttejak Society", which is equipped with a unique Indian and Asian music archive. Not belonging to any real genre, this music should transport our fantasy to more exciting cultural fusions in virtual realities. This music is an exciting challenge for the musical scientist; and a drug for those that want to relax.

                                

                                                                              Enjoy!

Mercan Dede : Seyahatname & 800

Mercan Dede believes that when you put digital, electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and modern, East and West. It's a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up. When he takes the stage with his group Secret Tribe, he hovers at the side behind his turntables and electronics, occasionally picking up a traditional wooden flute, or ney to float in sweet, breathy melodies, while masters of the kanun (zither), clarinet, darbuka (hand drum) and whatever other instruments he's decided to include that night, ornament his grooves and spin magical, trance melodies to match the whirling of the group's spectacular dervish dancer, Mira Burke.

Mercan Dede - Seyahatname [2001]

  

 Created for dancers, these pieces have a wonderful Turkish elegance. Mercan Dede, who moved from Turkey to Canada, uses musicians from both countries to create his sound, which manages to be spacious and airy without ever floating away. Spoken word samples add to the atmosphere, as on the opening of "Semaname," where a rhythm that could almost be Native American appears under a wispy flute line; although it never completely develops as a piece of music, there's still something lovely about it. Like many of the pieces here, the rhythm is more important than the melody; on "Hayalname," for example, there are layers of polyrhythms throughout the piece. Dede understands Turkish music, and doesn't go for easy, flashy sounds. Instead, he subtly mixes melodies with programmed beats on "Sahname" or the antiphonal phrasing between instruments over brooding synth tones at the opening of "Vefaname." By its very nature, this is different to Dede's other albums, where the emphasis is on melody. But, listened to on its own terms, this is a great success.     

                                                                                     

 

Enjoy! 

Mercan Dede - 800 [2007]

  Focusing on the divine beauty of the ney, percussive instruments, and poetic vocals in various languages, Mercan Dede puts forth an album dedicated to his teacher, the Mevlana in celebration of his 800th birthday. Music, dance and poetry were art forms integral to the Mevlana`s teachings, and on this album Mercan Dede creates a final tribute that fully conveys the lessons the Mevlana set out to teach eight centuries ago. Peace is the central theme of this album and as a result it sets out to convey humanistic messages and poems from one track to the next.

                                                                                 Enjoy!

Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser [1996]

This is  Dead Can Dance's final work...which is very unfortunate, as "Spiritchaser" sees DCD breaking some amazing new ground here which cries out for further exploration by Perry and Gerrard. On this release, the Mideastern and European tinges fade away, to be replaced with a vibrant focus on Caribbean, Native American, African, and Indian directions that promised so much. Everything on here is a standout track.This album is so much a fully-composed listening experience that begs to be play from start to finish.

                                                                                Enjoy!

Nodens Ictus - Spacelines [2000]

NODENS ICTUS features members of OZRIC TENTACLES and EAT STATIC presenting a mixture of live with heavy use of synths and a range of influences from western to eastern. "Spacelines" is one of electronic music, and has almost no links with the neo-psyche of OZRIC TENTACLES. Everything sounds crystal and clear on this hour of lush electronic sounds. These recordings date from 1986 to 1989, with two tracks from the year 2000. Psychedelic software for your mind...! 

Enjoy!