#Mantra Percussion

[jgthirlwell]

12.06.23 Ashley Bathgate and percussion sextet Mantra Percussion perform Matt McBane's Topography at National Sawdust in NYC.

[shamandrummer]

The Role of Sound in Shamanic Practices

Sound plays a crucial role in shamanic practices across various cultures. It is used to facilitate altered states of consciousness, perform healing rituals, and communicate with the spirit world. Sound is regarded as one of the most effective ways of establishing connections with the spirit realm, since it travels through space, permeates visual and physical barriers, and conveys information from the unseen world. Sound, therefore, is a means of "relationship" as well as a "transformation" of energy. Here are the key ways sound is utilized in shamanism:

Inducing Altered States of Consciousness

Rhythmic Drumming and Percussion:

Repetition and Rhythm: Drumming at specific rhythms (typically 4-7 beats per second) can induce trance states. The repetitive, monotonous sound helps to alter brainwave patterns, promoting a shift from normal waking consciousness to a trance state.

Instruments: Common percussion instruments include drums, rattles, and clappers. Each produces a distinct sound that can affect the practitioner's state of mind.

Vocalizations:

Chanting and Singing: Shamans use their voices to produce chants, songs, and mantras. These vocalizations can have a calming, focusing effect, aiding in the trance induction.

Overtone Singing: Some traditions use overtone or throat singing, which produces multiple pitches simultaneously, creating a complex sound environment conducive to trance.

Ambient Sounds:

Natural Sounds: Environmental sounds like flowing water, wind, and animal calls are often incorporated into rituals, enhancing the sensory experience and facilitating altered consciousness.

2. Facilitating Communication with the Spirit World

Spiritual Dialogues:

Invocation and Prayer: Shamans use sound to call upon spirits, deities, or ancestors. These sounds can include specific prayers, chants, or songs that are believed to attract or summon spiritual entities.

Response Mechanism: Sound can also be a medium through which spirits are believed to respond, with shamans interpreting these auditory phenomena as messages from the spiritual realm.

Ritualistic Soundscapes:

Ceremonial Spaces: The acoustics of ceremonial spaces (like caves or specially designed ritual chambers) are used to amplify and enrich sound, creating an immersive environment that enhances spiritual communication.

Echoes and Resonance: Natural acoustics, such as echoes and resonances in caves or built structures, may be interpreted as the voices of spirits or deities responding to the shaman.

3. Healing and Therapeutic Uses

Sound Healing:

Restorative Frequencies: Certain sounds and rhythms are believed to have healing properties, restoring balance and harmony to the body and mind.

Instrumental Healing: Instruments like drums, flutes, and singing bowls are used to produce sounds that are thought to facilitate physical and emotional healing.

Diagnostic Sounds:

Listening to the Body: Some shamanic practices involve listening to the body’s sounds (like heartbeats or breaths) to diagnose illness or imbalance.

Healing Chants and Songs: Specific chants or songs are used to target different ailments, with the shaman's voice considered a powerful healing tool.

4. Enhancing Rituals and Ceremonies

Ritual Structure:

Sound Cues: Sound signals different phases of a ritual, marking transitions from one state or activity to another.

Community Involvement: Collective chanting, singing, or drumming involves the community, reinforcing social bonds and shared spiritual experiences.

Symbolic Sounds:

Animal Sounds: Mimicking animal sounds or using instruments that produce similar effects can symbolize the presence or assistance of animal spirits.

Elemental Sounds: Sounds representing natural elements (like thunder drums for storms or rain sticks for water) invoke the power and presence of these elements in rituals.

5. Cultural and Contextual Variations

Regional Practices:

Cultural Diversity: Different cultures have unique shamanic traditions with specific instruments, vocal techniques, and sound rituals. For example, Siberian shamans might use drum patterns distinct from those used by Amazonian shamans.

Contextual Adaptations: The use of sound in shamanism can vary depending on the context, such as healing, divination, or community ceremonies.

Technological Integration:

Modern Adaptations: Contemporary shamans may integrate modern musical instruments and technology, such as electronic soundscapes, to enhance traditional practices.

Conclusion

Sound is an integral element of shamanic practices, serving as a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds. Through rhythmic drumming, chanting, and the use of resonant spaces, shamans induce altered states of consciousness, facilitate communication with spirits, and perform healing rituals. The study of these acoustic practices through archaeoacoustics can deepen our understanding of ancient shamanic traditions and their enduring impact on cultural rituals and spiritual practices today.

[ex-mortis-evie]

Heyo, name’s Evie! I’m a 23 year old experienced hypnosis enthusiast with a knack for weird and wonderful things! Whether it be inside or outside of trance, I’ve just got a deep love for all things weird! I’m a switch, so while I definitely lean towards tist, I’m more than happy to go under so long as we discuss it beforehand!

Outside of hypnosis I’m a huge geek, with a love mainly for pro wrestling, music, (bass and percussion player) horror movies, insects, cryptids, and fighting games! Don’t hesitate to shoot me a message, though just know that I do ask that you keep it civil and not uh, beg for trances? Please, it’s not what I do here.

Otherwise, enjoy my blog!

Likes:

IQ Play

Spirals

Pendulums

Hypnotic music/audio

Covert/conversational

Eye fixation

Drool

Pocket watches

Cocknosis

Tentacles/coils

Slime/goo

Hucow

Feet

Mantras

Monster girls/lamia

Limits:

Pet Play

“Daddy”

Bathroom stuff

Gore

Public play

Pictures/video

Anything involving animals (minus snakes)

Degradation

Humiliation

Pain

R@pe or anything like that.

Hardcore BDSM themes

DNI

Detrans blogs

Hardcore BDSM stuff.

Anyone under 18.

Sissy/feminization blogs.

And that’s me, feel free to message me with any questions or just to chat!

(Oh, and if you ever wanna message me outside tumblr, hit me up at reverentofrats#5017 on discord.)

[thegreatlearning]

Tagged by @suturesque and @thesentdowngirl for 5 of my favorite songs of late

The Shermans - Boy With The Bright Eyes

Bjork - Mouth Mantra

Operating Theatre - Part Of My Make Up

The track at 15:40 in this album of Armenian dance music by the Muradian Ensemble

For Percussion, Strings and Winds by Ellen Arkbro

I tag whoeva wants to do this you’re all seated at my table 🍻

[mywifeleftme]

361: bill bissett & The Mandan Massacre // Awake in Th Red Desert

Awake in Th Red Desert bill bissett & Th Mandan Massacre 1968, See/Hear Productions (Bandcamp)

(From “mor memoreez uv marvara reel konversaysyun,” scars on the seehors, Talonbooks 1999)

That’s a sample of how poet bill bissett’s writing looks on the page, phonetic and arbitrary, intuitive and free, while also checking the reader from taking any word for granted. The poems are frequently conversational in tone, but the way you have to sound out his writing to understand it means the reader's cadence ends up replicating the idiosyncratic singsong way bissett speaks. The 84-year-old remains a one-of-a-kind live performer, doodling all over the line between spoken poetry and song. He croons nonsense lullabies and pastiche ragas, shakes a maraca, intones mantras until their familiar words lose all their sense, even dances a little. It’s funny—I wouldn’t recommend his writing to someone unfamiliar with the avant-garde, but I would confidently take just about any open-minded person to see one of his shows. He has the affect of a holy fool or a joyful monk, and basically anything he does makes more sense in the context of his corporeal presence.

Back in 1968 though, bill was a wild young man, and Awake In Th Red Desert, his LP with backing “band” Th Mandan Massacre, is full of noisy freakouts and some patience-testing explorations. The Massacre includes four percussionists, some trained (jazz drummer Gregg Simpson) and some not (poet Martina Clinton, bill’s then-partner); electric guitar; two flutes (one a toy); and cutting edge Buchla Box synthesizer by the otherwise unknown Wayne Carr. Response to Red Desert has been pretty mixed—one of its Bandcamp uploads even warns, “Please preview the tracks before downloading. There are no refunds.” I suspect many listeners don’t make it past the first side of the record, which often sounds like what it is: clattering free improvisations around bissett’s sung or shouted recitations. On the flip though, things mellow out for some fascinating minimal synth explorations, bissett doing his visionary thing on a haunting electronic field (see “fires in the tempul”). “she, still and curling” is particularly freaky, Carr making sinister cricket noises with his Buchla, tape of bissett’s voice chopped up into hypnotic loops, layered and manipulated till it sounds like a collage of short wave radio transmissions. The ramshackle noise of the early tracks eventually returns on the awesome “now according to paragraph ‘c’”: bissett reads what (initially) seems like a found text that gets weirder and bolder as the poet works himself into a lather, the Buchla’s bleak tones tattered by the percussion squad’s stiff beat.

I snagged this off Montrealer Alex Moskos, who oversaw the reissue for Massachusetts-based avant-garde label Feeding Tube, and getting this thing back out there has clearly been a labour of love for him (the production quality is impeccable; great explanatory liner notes too). Are there 500 people who want this record? I’m not sure. But for fans of bissett, sound poetry, freaky music, and early electronic, this’ll be of interest. One idea: tell people Awake was the work of a solar death cult leader from the Pacific Northwest who disappeared during an eclipse and they won’t be able to keep the damn thing in stock.

361/365

[lyaiozpress]

A Magical Mantra

Nia Pearl and Kelvin Momo unite in a harmonious dance of creativity, birthing the mesmerizing opus known as “Enchanted Mantra,” graced by the talents of Stixx and Mzizi. Upon my first listen, I traveled immediately to past versions of myself as if reintroducing myself to this current reality. It was DEEP!

This celestial fusion of deep house rhythms and soul-stirring melodies births a track that resonates with ethereal beauty and profound emotion.

The journey of “Enchanted Mantra” commences with a lush, otherworldly overture that whispers of the enchantment to come. Kelvin Momo, a maestro of immersive soundscapes, unveils his artistry in full bloom. His tapestry of sound, woven with deep bass pulses, intricate percussions, and ethereal synths, forms a hypnotic tapestry that beckons the soul.

Nia Pearl's vocals, a gift from the heavens, weave a spellbinding magic through the intricate maze of instrumentation. Her voice, at once potent and soothing, glides effortlessly, a celestial thread binding the music with grace. Meanwhile, in a recent collaboration, Daliwonga and Mas Musiq unveiled "My Love," featuring Nia Pearl, Nicole Elocin, and Bontle Smith, a testament to her ever-evolving artistry.

Stixx and Mzizi, with their unique artistry, sprinkle their essence upon the tapestry, adding layers of depth and complexity. Stixx's velvety harmonies and poetic verses dance in harmony with Nia Pearl's vocals, while Mzizi's melodies weave a rich tapestry that seamlessly intertwines with the existing symphony.

The production, crisp and polished, unveils the full majesty of the sonic landscape, inviting the listener to immerse themselves fully in its beauty. “Enchanted Mantra” shines brightly in the realm of deep house, a beacon of artistry and innovation. Together, Nia Pearl, Kelvin Momo, Stixx, and Mzizi have birthed a creation that transcends the ordinary, offering a musical experience that is both immersive and transformative.

This collaboration is expressed as a testament to the sonic enchantment that unfolds when talented souls merge their creativity, crafting a force that transcends time and space.

To indulge in this otic odyssey, please click the link:

The House District appreciates your contribution to our sonic landscape. We are excited for South Africa. Honestly, what a time! The future of house music is indeed in safe hands.

[manysmallhands]

FearOfMu21c #13

The Mountain Goats - This Year (from Dilaudid EP)

Released - March 21 2005

Highest uk chart position - Did not chart

Spotify streams to date - 38,517,436

The Mountain Goats are a pick-up from the Peoples Pop polls, an artist who I kept hearing in small doses and thinking “that’s good, who’s that?” until eventually I brought myself listen to them at length and found out that yes, they are in fact very good indeed. Sadly, we have yet to put This Year to a vote and now - in the twilight of the polls - it’s starting to look like that may never happen. Which would be a great shame in my opinion, cos it’s one of their most popular tunes and with excellent reason. 

Like many of the best TMG songs, John Darnielle takes an unsettling scene (a drunken date followed by a family blow up) and turns it into something to draw strength from. There’s tension in the lyric, even through its more cheerful passages, but the general feeling of the song remains one of warmth and good spirits. The acoustic guitar has a dashing vibe to it; the tapped percussion recalls girl group handclaps; all of this emphasises a kind of joy rescued from the jaws of chaos, marked most clearly by its singalong chorus: “I am gonna make it thru this year if it kills me”. While “the scene ends badly as you might imagine” it’s almost impossible for me to listen to This Year without a broad smile on my face: if the sheer defiance of its mood doesn’t get to me then the wit of the lyrics never fails.

But perhaps the real mark of its greatness is the universality with which it connects to its audience. The YouTube comments on This Year contains long tributes to how the song pulled listeners thru divorce, grief, life threatening illness and severe depression, while the chorus becomes a mantra in itself, allowing us to focus on the feasting and dancing in Jerusalem and be ready for the bad things to come. While my own life tends towards perpetual low-key discomfort these days rather than that kind of acute crisis, This Year taps into the strain and dark humour of just about hanging on in a way that still feels extremely evocative. If I ever fall back into full on panic then I guess I’ll know where to go.

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 10, Number 6, Part I

Infinite River

We’re halfway through the year and swamped with mid-year activities (look for our round-up next week), but the records continue to pile-up and we continue to make time for as many as possible.  This month, the slush pile yielded a wide range of music, from Burkina-Faso-ian griot to microtonal composition to snarling black metal to improvisation and jazz. 

Our reviews are split in two parts because of Tumblr's arbitrary limits on sound samples. See Part II here. Contributions included Jennifer Kelly, Bryon Hayes, Andrew Forell, Christian Carey, Jonathan Shaw, Bill Meyer, Jim Marks, Justin Cober-Lake and Alex Johnson.  Happy summer!

Avalanche Kaito — Talitakum (Glitterbeat)

Another of those cross-cultural, Afro-European collaborations that are so often great—see recent works by Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers, Ndox Electrique and Group Doueh/Cheveux—Avalanche Kaito sets Burkina Faso griot to a rattling, pummeling noise punk beat.  I like “Lago” best, where a clatter of mixed percussion and serrated, distortion crusted guitar dart in and around a keening call and response.  Near the end of a recent long-distance drive, I listened to it 14 times in a row without wearing it out.  Still the title track is fantastic as well, its guitars stabbing in like Fugazi, its drums boxy and agitated, its spatter-painted words dicing the beat into eighths and sixteenths.  The “Kaito” in the band name comes from grioteer Kaito Winse.  The Avalanche comes from the falling-down-the-stairs-but-still-on-beat mix of strident punk and West African syncopation.

Jennifer Kelly  

Ayal Senior — Ora (Medusa Editions)

Toronto’s 12-string warrior Ayal Senior workshopped the songs that became Ora at a monthly residency he has at the Tranzac Club, a haven for the city’s most adventurous musical minds. His comrades Kurt Newman (pedal steel, electric guitar) and Andrew Furlong (bass) joined him on the journey, and together they slowly worked the sonic skeletons into fleshy bodies of song. The trio brought scene veterans Blake Howard and Jay Anderson on board to add drums and percussion when they laid the sounds to tape. Their flourishing rhythms complete the image: five beams of light passing through the prism of Senior’s celestial vision. The guitarist bills Ora as the spiritual successor to 2022’s Az Yashir, yet while that record embraced a post-COVID sea change, Ora is bathed in the light of tranquility. Senior’s folk devotionals draw warmth from the presence of his pals, taking on raga and kosmische adornments as they languidly unfurl. These hymns are beauty incarnate, guitar-centric mantras in service of the cosmic mystery that surrounds us all.

Bryon Hayes

Beams — Requiem for a Planet (Be My Sibling)

Beams is an alt.country ensemble, playing rock and folk instruments in delicate, otherworldly ways.  The voices especially — Anna Mērnieks-Duffield primarily but fleshed out in harmonies by Heather Mazhar and Keith Hamilton—float in translucent layers, mixing eerily with the meat-and-potatoes sonics of guitar, bass and drums.  As the title suggests, Beams main subject is the earth itself, its fragility, its rising temperature, its trajectory towards unlivability.  Yet though there are lessons here, in songs like “Heat Potential,” Beams steers clear of polemics.  “It’s All Around You,” especially envelopes and enfolds. Its string-swooping, gorgeously harmonized arrangements lift you up and out of the mess we’re in.  “Childlike Empress” with its well-spaced blots of keyboard sound, its ghostly, tremulous singing, is an eerie elegy for the world’s natural beauty.  The album is its own thing, but it might remind you of certain twang-adjacent Feelies side projects, Speed the Plough and Wild Carnation especially. 

Jennifer Kelly

DELTAphase — Synced (Falling Elevators)

Process. DELTAphase founder Wilhelm Stegmeier contacts a disparate group of musicians and provides them with a key, beat, tempo for seven pieces of music and allows them complete stylistic and compositional freedom. Each of 10 musicians contributed to one or more of the seven pieces, without knowing who else was involved. Stegmeier, seeking synchronicities and serendipity, collates and adds to the contributions and collages them within the given parameters. Result. The musicians, Merran Laginestra, Beate Bartel, Thomas Wydler, Brendan Dougherty, Lucia Martinez, Antonio Bravo, Andreas Voss, Eleni Ampelakiotou, Dominik Avenwedde, Kilian Feinäugle and Stegmeier come from classical, jazz, electronic and post rock backgrounds, and the music occupies liminal interstices between and across genres. There’s lots of layered percussion, electronic backgrounds and guitar interplay from the squalling electric duel on “Phase Lock” to Bravo’s jazzy riffing on “One by One” which also features Laginestra’s  impressionistic piano. That combination is a standout on an album that can occasionally meander into cul-de-sacs. Remote collaboration has become a commonplace since the pandemic but the caliber of the musicians here and Stegmeier’s skill in pulling their contributions together make Synced a fascinating exploration of compositional process.

Andrew Forell      

   

Taylor Deupree — Sti.ll  (Greyfade)

A recent microtrend involves making acoustic realizations of electronic compositions, the latest being a new version of Taylor Deupree’s lauded 2002 electroacoustic recording Stil. Sti.ll follows suit, with a reworking for acoustic instruments by Deupree and Joseph Branciforte. The bespoke Greyfade book that accompanies Sti.ll is handsome and contains a QR code to download the digital recording. The acoustic versions can sometimes fool you into thinking that you are listening to the original synth sounds, which is part of the game. “Stil.” is nearly twenty-minutes long, for vibraphone and bass drum. The vibes play both textural passages and, simultaneously, repeating dyadic melodies. The bass drum errs on the side of gentle effects rather than thwacking. Another standout track is “Temper,” for multiple clarinets and a shaker. The composition moves through a series of repeated intervals, descending fourth, ascending minor third, et cetera, with harmonic underpinning from the other clarinets and constant pulsation contributed by the shakers. Hard for clubbing, but these pieces would work quite well in a concert.

Christian Carey

Emma dj — Lay2g (Danse Noire)

Paris based Finnish producer Emma dj has the tendency to get distracted by novelty which interrupts the flow of this set and disrupts individual tracks often enough to leave the listener frustrated. If that’s the point, all well and good, but I suspect it’s not, which makes you wonder if this is all in service of the producer rather than the audience. That’s fine if there’s challenge in the music, which here, there is not. He collides bits and pieces of dance punk, chiptunes, video game soundtrack and the detritus of underground sub-sub genres into a messy mélange — a potluck casserole thrown together for a class reunion no one’s attending. It’s particularly annoying for the moments when, by design or serendipity, Emma produces a dish worth eating like “RR.dnk” for instance that sprays warped synth stabs against cowbell hi-hat, thumping kick drum and a stumbling bass line without succumbing to the over seasoning of vocal samples, jokey blips and burps or overwrought exhortations to dance. With a little more focus and balance, he may well produce something pretty good but this is only halfway there.

Andrew Forell

Incipient Chaos — S/T (I, Voidhanger)

There are times when some listeners just want a record of snarling, muscular black metal — thematics and scannable cultural politics be damned. If that sounds good to you, this new self-titled LP from French band Incipient Chaos rages and rips with all the right sorts of aggressivity. It seems that one takes chances with one’s ethics (if not one’s immortal soul) doing this sort of impulse listening in black metal: Is this NSBM? Does anyone have the skinny on that? Do we need to dig into the various “Is this band sketch” subreddits and descend into that 9th Circle of gossip-mongering and reaction? Lucifer smiles; so does Advance Publications. Is that a distinction without a difference? Meanwhile, we can note that Incipient Chaos has released this record on a politically reliable label, and while it’s unusual not to get a lyric sheet from I, Voidhanger (uh oh…), that may just be typical black metal shtick: the words are obscured because they are sooooo evil. Whatevs. The riffs are strong, if not world-changing, and the compositions have drama, if not overwhelming tragedy. Check out the guitar-centric middle portion of “Ominous Acid,” which is hugely satisfying. The down-tempo opening minutes of “Dragged Back from the Abyss” will remind you of the best of Aosoth. It’s all a lot of…fun?

Jonathan Shaw

Infinite River — Tabula Rasa (Birdman)

First came the space, now comes the rock. Infinite River’s first couple recordings had a definite COVID-era vibe to them. The Detroit-based ensemble started out as a trio, with Joey Mazzola and Gretchen Gonzales playing guitars and Warren Defever contributing tambura and a place to record. But a bliss-oriented drone might make less sense in a time when you can get out and play shows than it did when clubs were shut down and people didn’t want to go out than it does when stages are available and Steve Nistor, who drums for Sparks, is available to join in. Last year, Bryon Hayes invoked  Windy & Carl and Mountains when describing Infinite Rivers’ Prequel; “Sky Diamon Raga,” the track that kicks off Infinite River, is more like an arena rock dream of Chris Forsyth’s “The Paranoid Cat.” Much of the time this record feels rather like the Raybeats negotiating production ideas of the 1990s and 2010s, which means that the guitar tones will have you scratching your head to remember what’s being reference and how it’s been changed, but that the snare drum takes up entirely too much sonic real estate. Tellingly, the best moments come when the production is dialed back and the melodies take over, as on a Ventures-does-Coltrane interpretation of “My Favorite Things.”

Bill Meyer

Will Laut — Will Laut (Wavetrap)

Producer Ivan Pavlov AKA COH has collaborated with John Balance and Cosey Fanni Tutti, and the sounds of Coil and Throbbing Gristle are clear influences on his new EP with singer William Laut. Shot through with the feeling of dancing towards doomsday, Laut’s haunted murmur wavers just on the right side of cynicism and sleaze as he sings of living through hate, looking for the redemption of love or at least an opportunity to forget even for a few moments. COH lays down a minimalist carpet of synths and drum machines that use TG’s  “United” and Daniel Miller’s “Warm Leatherette” as templates. Most effective are the slow burn sarcasm of “Cryptoman” and the weary tango of “Wine of Love.” These are songs Brecht and Weill might have written if they had access to cheap keyboards and a primitive drum machine. Noirish, knowing and smart, the four songs on Will Laut are a speakeasy floorshow for the modern world. Highly recommended and hoping to hear more from this duo.

Andrew Forell

Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard and Quatuor Bozzini — Colliding Bubbles: Surface Tension and Release (Important)

Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard is a composer based in Copenhagen. On his latest EP he joins forces with the premiere Canadian string quartet for new music, Quatuor Bozzini, to create a piece that deals with the perception of bubbles replicating the human experience. In addition to the harmonics played by the strings, the players are required to play harmonicas at the same time. At first blush, this might sound like a gimmick, but the conception of the piece as instability and friction emerging from continuous sound, like bubbles colliding in space and, concurrently, the often tense unpredictability of the human experience, makes these choices instead seem organic and well-considered. As the piece unfolds, the register of the pitch material makes a slow decline from the stratosphere to the ground floor with a simultaneous long decrescendo.  The quartet are masterful musicians, unfazed by the challenge of playing long bowings and long-breathed harmonica chords simultaneously. The resulting sound world is shimmering, liquescent, and, surprising in its occasional metaphoric bubbles popping.

Christian Carey

[burlveneer-music]

Retep Folo & Dorothy Moskowitz - The Afterlife EP - not only does Moskowitz have a new solo album out, here is a sample of her forthcoming album with Retep Folo, who has previously recorded for Clay Pipe Music

Feast your eyes & ears on a new EP by legendary vocalist, musician & songwriter Dorothy Moskowitz (United States Of America / Country Joe / United States Of Alchemy) & Swedish artist / musician Retep Folo a.k.a. Peter Olof Fransson (The Owl Report / Reportage / Exhadley). Fans of late 1960s & early 1970s psychedelia, experimental rock & eco-conceptual electronics take note - this is the real deal. Steeped in vintage instrumentation that alternates between avant-garde chorales, mystical mantras, slabs of fuzz guitar, whimsical keyboards, jagged synths & menacing percussion, Dorothy & Peter have produced a mesmerising collection on this 4 track EP (with a 14 track album 'The Afterlife' soon to follow). Repeat listens reveal a wealth of layered sounds, moods & messages within a finely crafted, heartfelt paene to nature's cycles & our fragile planet. Traversing aural landscapes akin to Mort Garson, Bruce Haack, Alessandro Alessandroni, Alain Goraguer, David Axelrod, Franco Battiato, Maria Monti, Brigitte Fontaine & Areski, early Broadcast & Portishead, this inspired collaboration invites you on a fantastic journey into the afterlife. video for Moon by Ana Proscila Rodriguez

[blessed1neha]

How do you know if chanting is really working for you?

I) What is chanting? Chanting is known as Mantra Japa (मन्त्र जप) which is repetition of a Mantra.

II) What is Mantra(मन्त्र)? It is formed with Sanskrit syllables which can be of any length. Each Devatha has unique Mantra associated with. This is known as Moola Mantra(मूल मन्त्र). The term Moola(मूल) means root. Each and every Moola Mantra has the following threefold association:

Rishi(ऋषि) is the one who is known as Seer (मंत्र द्रष्टा) or the discoverer of Mantra.

Chandas(छन्दस्) is the Metrical Structure of Mantra.

Devatha(देवता) is an unique name associated with the mantra.

For instance, the Durgā Moola Mantra is ॐ ह्रीं दुं दुर्गायै नमः (Aum hrīm dum durgāyai namah) whose seer is Nārada Rishi (नारद ऋषि), whose Chandas (छन्दस्) is Gāyatrī (गायत्री) and whose Devatha is Durgā (दुर्गा).

III) What is the Indication of fructification of the Mantra? The feeling of delight and satisfaction, hearing the sound of wardrums, percussion instruments and songs seeing the Gandharvas (गन्धर्व/Heavenly Choristers) seeing one’s own brilliance similar to that of the Sun, conquest over sleep and hunger, feeling pf pleasure in japa(जप), becoming healthy and grave, absence of anger and greed - If the Sādaka (सादक/Aspirant) knowing the mantras, observe these symptoms, he should conclude that the Upāsana Devathā is pleased and the fructification of the Mantra is imminent.

Conclusion:

Whether chanting (Japa) of mantra is really working or not is subjective matter. At the time of culmination of Mantra Japa, you will realize the symptoms described above without fail.

[luuurien]

Madeline Kenney - A New Reality Mind

(Dream Pop, Indietronica, Art Pop)

Trading indie rock for soft-eyed psychedelia, A New Reality Mind breaks Madeline Kenney’s world apart to reveal greater truths. The album’s sudden declines and greater experimentation lend a physical nature to the destruction of a relationship and Kenney’s recovery from that.

☆☆☆☆½

Rarely does a Madeline Kenney song feel like it ends too soon, the Oakland-based musician’s airy and reflective indie rock built on the premises of perfecting every little detail - the guitar textures, the little percussion embellishments, her delivery and commitment to every vocal line - and letting you untangle everything to find the magic at your own pace. Her first three albums were a natural progression for her from Night Night at the First Landing’s rough and wild dream pop to the lush production defining her magnificent Perfect Shapes before Sucker’s Lunch tossed in bits of sophisti-pop and shoegaze to both refine and darken up her sound, while her pandemic EP Summer Quarter brought vocal treatments and gorgeous psychedelia into her oft-grounded and introspective songwriting; this makes her latest release, A New Reality Mind, even more curious. It shares many traits with her last EP, the vocal manipulation and embrace of strange synth textures all present throughout, but Kenney contextualizes them through the sudden end of her relationship, using these artistic tools to voice her newfound loss while grounding it in the reflective rock of her first three albums, A New Reality Mind balancing the struggle of rebuilding yourself with the willingness to be transformed by pain. It’s her strangest, most uncompromising music to date, but few albums this year make such a massive impact with a sound this unusual.

Her hypnotic drum programming and instrumental loops in Summer Quarter works to even greater effect here, the concrete foundation the rest of A New Reality Mind needs to ground its strange textures and surreal lyrics. The album opens with an instrumental intro into the first full track, Plain Boring Disaster, new age pianos and soft-attack synths a gorgeous backdrop for Kenney’s contorted vocals and noisy guitars, introducing the contrast between her lucid songwriting and production that manifests the emotional chaos surrounding her. These songs are soft to the touch and have few harsh edges, but the paths songs like Reality Mind and The Same Again take you on are absolutely mesmerizing, Reality Mind’s noisy guitar work giving way to the second half’s lighter synth improvisation while The Same Again’s synth-against-drums polyrhythms make your head spin, the tidal shifts as Kenney wades through the aftermath of her relationship made present but beautiful in every moment. Tougher songs to crack, like the free-flowing I Drew a Line or overwhelming Red Emotion, expose tender spots in Kenney’s mind without losing their composure in the process, tethered by blocky programmed drums and plain songwriting that doesn’t abstract heartbreak in decorative imagery or wordsmithing. At its core, A New Reality Mind isn’t unlike breakup albums to come before it, but Kenney’s wider scope and readiness to be shaped by her loss allow the album to bloom with no difficulty.

A New Reality Mind’s magic comes from how beautifully Kenney takes hold of her loss, the relationship tension her previous release Sucker’s Lunch was filled with now let out into the air, simultaneously freeing Kenney and leaving her exposed to the open air. Superficial Conversation comes after the gorgeous relief of Plain Boring Disaster, and Kenney relishes in not having to hold herself back anymore, “That way of living / I’m over it” becoming a mantra throughout the verses. Her quieter moments may be where the real growth occurs - the insight into the relationship dynamics in Reality Mind and the accountability towards her own faults in closing track Expectations make for immediate high points in the tracklist - but her walking into the flames of HFAM or readying herself for disaster in Red Emotion is just as important to the album’s arc, balancing the growth out of a breakup as much as the time needed to let it hurt you so that healing can begin. For how plush its textures are and slow the album usually moves, the subtle ebbs and flows in emotion sell A New Reality Mind’s vision, Kenney progressing past her old relationship by letting the feelings wash over her at a natural pace. It might take time, but rediscovering yourself never comes quickly.

It’s hard to determine where Kenney will go after this - whether she’ll continue with this alchemical art pop or return to elegant indie rock - but A New Reality Mind marks a turning point in her discography, her most experimental and gorgeous project to date with an emotional core ready to burst but kept from ever losing its composure. As the dust settles from her breakup, Kenney chooses not to grieve the relationship so much as let it become another part of her story, knowing where it failed on both ends and looking to grow from the process. A sample from John Berger’s “Way of Seeing” at the midpoint of I Drew A Line verbalizes much of Kenney’s perspective throughout the album: “Everything around the image is part of its meaning / Everything around it confirms and consolidates its meaning.” She was swept into love and the many fantasies that come with it, but never shames herself for those desires and the position they’ve put her in now. Rather, she investigates those propensities, searching to understand how these choices happen in the moment and what it means to remove yourself from them and build a new reality with that clarity. A New Reality Mind is the sound of dreams being pulled away from you, and the clear skies Kenney finds with her eyes now open invoke infinite possibility. This is her new reality, and it’s more beautiful than ever.

[sinceileftyoublog]

jaimie branch Album Review: Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

(International Anthem)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Though the late trumpeter and composer jaimie branch's third album Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) is a final statement, it's even more effective as an eternal one. It begins with keyboards that sound like church organs, an eerily somber sonic manifestation of irrevocability. As Chad Taylor's rolling drums enter, branch gives us one of her trademark trumpet blares, as if to announce, "I'm here." She wasn't one to spend much more time announcing her presence, though--the track segues into an Afro-Latin style jam, clacking percussion and horns in line with Lester St. Louis' nervy bowed cello. ((world war)) from then on spends most of its runtime just the way branch liked it, in a groove, with some breaks along the way to remind us of the urgency of the moment.

The story behind ((world war)) is bound to become lore. It was recorded in April 2022 during branch's artist residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha. It was almost completed when she unexpectedly passed away later that year; her sister Kate, family, friends, and International Anthem then finished the album as they envisioned branch would have. It's branch's finest statement, both in terms of sonic virtuosity and cohesive ideality. On tracks like "borealis dancing" and "baba louie", the band stunningly changes rhythm and style halfway through, to shuffling hip-hop and funk on the former and from calypso to drippy jazz dub on the latter. Lead single "take over the world" is a masterclass in controlled chaos. branch repeats the refrains "Gonna take over the world / and give it back to the land" with stutters and trills, shouting koans atop simmering cello, driving drums, and Jason Ajemian's chugging bass. Eventually, branch puts delay pedal on her voice, sounding like something straight out of Kid A, uncanny but comforting and hopeful instead of glacial and isolating.

Perhaps the standout track on ((world war)) is "burning grey", which sees branch deliver more mantras atop the musical propulsion, howling like a wolf while begging us, "don't forget the fight". It's when she repeats "I wish I had the time" that she not only unintentionally breaks our hearts, given the context, but puts the onus on us to continue what she started. Midway through, the song collapses in on itself, almost a show of what happens when you do forget the communal mission of the human condition. branch was always inspiring, but on ((world war)), she galvanizes us into action.

[daggerzine]

The Clientele- I Am Not There Anymore (Merge Records)

I was extremely excited to hear about a new Clientele release, especially when I noticed that there were nineteen new songs!! They began recording it in 2019 and it is well worth the wait. I loved the “Bluer Over Blue” video (watch below), but what I did not know was that there were many short interludes throughout the album. Nevertheless; those short pieces are gorgeous mood setting masterpieces interspersed at just the right moments. Anyway, The Clientele are back, as a three piece again; Alasdair MacLean on vocals, guitars, tapes, beats, bouzouki, Mellotron, and organ; James Hornsey plays bass and piano; and Mark Keen on drums, percussion, piano, and celesta. 

The album starts off with a whopping eight-minute jam, “Fables of the Silverlink.” You’ll notice right off the bat; the strings kick in immediately. Beats, horns, many additional touches this time around. But still a gorgeous melody and Alasdair’s soft vocals that fans love. Despite its length, it’s a song that you wish wouldn’t end.  Next up, “Radial B” is the first of many beautiful interludes that carry this work of art. “Garden Eye Mantra” is a slower, bluesy piece filled with delicate guitar that sort of meanders its way until a distortion of sound kicks in along with Alasdair’s rapid-fire vocals. “Lady Grey” is a bouncy, string-filled number. A gorgeous melody with nice piano touches.  “Dying in May” is a rat-a-tat percussion battle with strings and shouting vocals. It’s almost tribal sounding with a “Tomorrow Never Knows” vibe, but with The Clientele’s spin on it. See if you agree here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrG7DghQby8   

“Conjuring Summer In” is a short, beautiful piano piece with the spoken word of non-Clientele Jessica Griffin that eventually lets the strings take over.  The first single, “Blue Over Blue, ” is a faster battle between delicate and fuzzy spurts of guitar. Then the horns and strings swoop in until a seesaw organ takes over.  Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-YpCcy05OA   Up next, “Radial E,” by far my favorite interlude; solo, gorgeous piano. “Claire's Not Real” is classic Clientele complete with intricate guitar work along with swirling strings. Check it out here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_r9NgWnPYo  

Next up is “My Childhood,” an eerie reading (courtesy of Griffin again) with psychotic strings rising and falling. “My childhood is this familiar life which seems to be but is not.” This line pretty much sums up what this song is trying to get across. Definitely the most unusual piece on the album.  Track 13, “Chalk Flowers,” is another softer beauty. Simple piano, strings, and Alasdair’s vocals. Possibly my favorite on this album. “Hey Siobhan” is another pretty song that expands with soaring harmonies.  With “Stems of Anise,” the guitar takes center stage with an almost bossa nova rhythm section. Another bouncy gem that will cheer you up.  “Through the Roses” slows things down a bit, but another amazing, dreamy pop song to add to their massive catalog.  Next up is “I Dreamed of You, Maria.” This is a horn-filled, rattling snare drum track filled with elaborate guitar work. Another beauty. The album ends with “The Village Is Always on Fire.” Yes, the nineteenth track unfortunately brings this album to a close. It begins with a cinematic scene complete with more “My Childhood…” readings and then the strings pop in for a battle with the rhythm section, especially the snare. It eventually fades out and the sadness of the album ending sinks in. 

It’s best to capture the brilliance of this album by listening to it all in one sitting, maybe even with headphones if you can. It’s also difficult to pull out one track without wanting to listen to more of this album. More great news, the band is embarking on a US tour later this summer in August. Hoping to catch them in Chicago to see how they will perform these new songs live. I think the first time I saw them was in Madison at High Noon Saloon in 2007 with Beach House opening. I ended up seeing them again there in 2010 with Field Music opening. (I did see them in Chicago at Schuba’s also, but who knows when that was.) The point I’m making is that it’s been way too long since I’ve seen them live.   ERIC EGGLESON

https://theclientele.co.uk/

https://www.mergerecords.com/product/i_am_not_there_anymore

https://theclientele.bandcamp.com/

[plungermusic]

“It’s Bluegrass, Jim… but not as we know it!”

Bluegrass, New Grass, Jamgrass … C&Ngrass? Plunger don’t profess to be authorities on the genre, although we know a bit, from Scruggs & Flatt through Sam Bush, to Bela Fleck and on to Greensky Bluegrass… and now Low Lily. 

Low Lily alumna Liz Simmons’ solo effort Poets really caught Plunger’s ear back in 2021, so we were interested to hear the band’s latest release Angels In The Wreckage. While Poets zips around genres like a pond-skater on acid - and very pleasingly so - Angels In The Wreckage is by and large a more cohesive affair, plying a steadier course through the waters of bluegrass and traditional roots music (albeit with scenic route diversions via the West Coast.)

Keeping true to the ‘his turn, your turn, my turn’ at the mic of old time bluegrass, the fourteen tracks alternate by songwriter and vocal lead, which subtly alters the feel and emphasis while maintaining the overall vibe, and at least half of the fourteen feature an echt 1-2 bass-and-drum pulse, in a very tasteful, understated upright-and-brushes way (from multi-tasking producer Dirk Powell and Stefan Amidon respectively) not “Techno! Techno! Techno!” or riotous rockablilly style…

Epitomising the rootsier, more ‘trad', vibes are the bustling brush-driven badlands two-step Aren’t I Good Enough, with Liz Simmon’s high, plaintive lead vocal counterpointed by Natalie Padilla’s fiddle and a low-harmony-underpinned chorus, while Liz and Natalie swap dextrous mini-solos towards the close; and Long Distance Love’s bouncy commentary on the woes of modern life has a conversely Old Timey feel - in Flynn Cohen’s lead vox, the harmonies, and the rustic-edged fiddle. Flynn’s own instrumental Keep The Pachysandra Flying is a shotgun-shack-meets-Bagpuss reel: a filigree mandolin opening (later joined by fiddle, guitar and bass) conjure celtic/Appalachian overtones; Natalie’s fiddle takes a turn with the melody before harmonising with the mandolin in a raucous hoedown crescendo to the finish.

Hints of West Coast influences come in the Laurel Canyon-y rework of Shawn Colvin’s hit Round Of Blues, with Liz’s airy vocal, delicate harmonies and a poppy middle-eight-cum-chorus; and in the breezy backwoods backporch two-step of Where We Belong, with somewhat Dead-ish timing and chordal progressions, and lovely Crosby, Nash and, erm, Nash three-part harmonies, while the mountainside hillbilly banjo and vox of the traditional sounding minor key Up On A Rock is punctuated by a very Nashesque sunny major chorus (and some very fine guitar/fiddle interplay between Flynn and Natalie). Peak Crosby & Nash comes in Lonely (probably Plunger’s favourite track): melancholic piano (from jack-of-all-trades Dirk Powell) introduces a very C&N, Cali-coloured slow country waltz with exquisite three-part harmonies, the fiddle and mandolin taking their turns at the bittersweet melody, and a spine-tingling near a cappella passage.

The hummed intro, Liz and Natalie’s honeyed vocal harmonies, restrained melodic guitar and banjo (yes, that’s Dirk again) over a half-speed bluegrass beat lend a dreamy sheen to Love And Loss, and the rural reverie continues in Captivate Me courtesy of Natalie’s keening tone and mantra-like repetition, melancholic fiddle and a banjo continuo. Completing an ethereal trifecta, the celtic-tinged One Wild World’s folk features delicate harmonies and a hymn-like chorus, plus wistful, aching fiddle matched with part-colliery-band/part-mariachi (layered) trumpet from Drake LeBlanc.

The trumpet bleeds through into the wholly different sonic universe of What’ll You Do: a ballsy defund-the-police-protest-inspired (we’re guessing) almost a cappella (barring body percussion and a smattering of kick-and-tom) field holler-cum-spiritual, and an air of protest resurfaces in the Woody Guthrie-meets-Julie-Felix (sorry, Plunger’s childhood’s to blame) state of the union lament of Could We Ever Be Great, complete with run outs for fiddle and Flynn’s guitar and some quirky timings.

Flynn’s second instrumental (guitar-only this time) Bastard Plantagenet Blues has the flavour of a English folk number, including a very mediaeval closing shift into the major, perhaps to prepare your ears for the closing track Wond’ring Again, written by Ian Anderson (yes, THAT Ian Anderson). The spookily prescient 70s folk-rock environmental warning is given an Americana wash by Liz’s gentle harmonies and Natalie’s eerie fiddle harmonics, while Flynn does a rather good job of Ian’s delivery and mannerisms, with all-rounder Dirk adding mellotron in the place of flute.

It may not be Bluegrass as we know it, but Angels In The Wreckage is a very polished, captivating collection of modern American roots music and we like it!

Angels In The Wreckage is available to buy or stream now, from here: https://lowlily.bandcamp.com/album/angels-in-the-wreckage

[justforbooks]

The distinctive sound of Pharoah Sanders’ tenor saxophone, which could veer from a hoarse croon to harsh multi phonic screams, startled audiences in the 1960s before acting in recent years as a kind of call to prayer for young jazz musicians seeking to steer their music in a direction defined by a search for ecstasy and transcendence.

Sanders, who has died age 81, made an impact at both ends of a long career. In 1965 he was recruited by John Coltrane, an established star of the jazz world, to help push the music forward into uncharted areas of sonic and spiritual exploration.

He had just turned 80 when he reached a new audience after being invited by Sam Shepherd, the British musician and producer working under the name Floating Points, to take the solo part on the widely praised recording of an extended composition titled Promises, a concerto in which he responded with a haunting restraint to the minimalist motifs and backgrounds devised by Shepherd for keyboards and the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra.

By then he had become a vital figure in the recent revival of “spiritual jazz”, whose young exponents took his albums as inspirational texts. When he was named a Jazz Master by the US National Endowment for the Arts in 2016, musicians of all generations, from the veteran pianist Randy Weston to the young saxophonist Kamasi Washington, queued up to pay tribute.

Farrell Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, a segregated world where his mother was a school cook, his father was a council worker and he grew up steeped in the music of the church. He studied the clarinet in school before moving on to the saxophone, playing jazz and rhythm and blues in the clubs on Little Rock’s West Ninth Street, backing such visiting stars as Bobby Bland and Junior Parker. After graduating from Scipio A Jones high school, he moved to northern California, studying art and music at Oakland Junior College. Soon he was immersing himself in the local jazz scene, where he was known as “Little Rock”.

In 1961 he arrived in New York, a more high-powered and competitive but still economically straitened environment. While undergoing the young unknown’s traditional period of scuffling for gigs, he played with the Arkestra of Sun Ra, a devoted Egyptologist. Sanders soon changed his name from Farrell to Pharoah, giving himself the sort of brand recognition enjoyed by all the self-styled Kings, Dukes, Counts and Earls of earlier jazz generations.

Amid a ferment of innovation in the new jazz avant garde, Sanders formed his own quartet. The poet LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka) was the first to take notice, writing in his column in DownBeat magazine in 1964 that Sanders was “putting it together very quickly; when he does, somebody will tell you about it”.

That somebody turned out to be Coltrane, who invited him to take part in the recording of Ascension, an unbroken 40-minute piece in which 11 musicians improvised collectively between ensemble figures handed to them at the start of the session. When it was released on the Impulse! label in 1966, critics noted that the leader, one of jazz’s biggest stars, had given himself no more solo space than any of the other, younger horn players, implicitly awarding their creative input as much value as his own.

Coltrane also invited Sanders to join his regular group, then expanding from the classic quartet format heard at its peak on the album A Love Supreme, recorded in 1964. With Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali replacing McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones at the piano and the drums respectively, and other young musicians coming in and out as the band toured the US, the music became less of a vehicle for solo improvisation and more of a communal rite, sometimes involving the chanting of mantras and extended percussion interludes.

While some listeners were dismayed, accusing Coltrane of overdoing his generosity to young acolytes, others were exhilarated. For both camps, Sanders became a symbol of the shift. “Pharoah Sanders stole the entire performance,” the critic Ron Welburn wrote after witnessing Coltrane’s group in Philadelphia in 1966. The poet Jerry Figi reviewed a performance in Chicago and described Sanders as “the most urgent voice of the night”, his sound “a mad wind screeching through the root-cellars of Hell”. Sceptics believed Sanders was leading Coltrane down the path to perdition.

When Coltrane died of liver cancer in 1967, aged 40, Sanders began his own series of albums for Impulse!, starting with Tauhid (1967) and Karma (1969), which included an influential extended modal chant called The Creator Has a Master Plan. He continued to work with Alice Coltrane, appearing on several of her albums as well as those of Weston, Tyner, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Sharrock, the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, Norman Connors and others.

In 2004 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Ten years later, he travelled from his home in Los Angeles to Little Rock, the city where his classmates had tried, in 1957, to desegregate the local whites-only high school, for an official Pharoah Sanders Day.

When asked to explain the philosophy behind the music that Baraka described as “long tissues of sounded emotion”, he replied: “I was just trying to see if I could play a pretty note, a pretty sound.” In later years, those who arrived at his concerts expecting the white-bearded figure to produce the squalls of sound that characterised Coltrane’s late period were often surprised by the gentleness with which he could enunciate a ballad. “When I’m trying to play music,” he said, “I’m telling the truth about myself.”

🔔 Pharoah (Farrell) Sanders, saxophonist and composer, born 13 October 1940; died 24 September 2022

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[screamingforyears]

IN A MINUTE:

A POST_PUNK EXPRESS… @bodyoflightband are here w/ “BITTER RELECTION,” the latest single/title-track from their forthcoming LP (6/30 @daisrecords) & it finds the AZ-based brotherly duo of Alex & Andrew Jarson absolutely bringing the passioned heat across 4+ mins of tenderly handled, synth-laden & six-string adorned NuRomance… which is further fleshed out in @collindfletcher’s aesthetically apt video treatment. “AUTOCRATIC GORE” (@alacarterecords_) is a brand-new standalone single from @dontgetlemontx & it finds the Texan trio headily capturing “the fear & frustration of the falsified American Dream” across a 4:13 clip of post_punkin, art_poppin & heat_waving ElectroBliss. “VICE” is a new standalone single from @girl_grave & it finds the Los Angeles-based artist mining the depths of the grey matter across 4 mins of sultrily murmured, dramatically stealth & percussively slapped DarkWave. @sdh_______ are here w/ “HECTIC,” the latest single/closing track from their forthcoming LP titled ‘Fake Is Real’ (6/30 @avant_records) & it finds the Barcelona-based duo of Andrea P. Latorre & Sergi Algiz unleashing their “Cruelly sexy electronic music” mantra across damn near 7 mins of throbbed-out Freestyle meets SynthWave. @some.ember is back w/ a new standalone single titled “TOUCH” & it finds the Berlin-based artist yearning for that physicality (& not getting enough) across a 4 min spread that seamlessly combines elements of EBM, Freestyle & good ole fashioned NewWave under one deeply satisfyingly dark SynthPop umbrella.

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