Born in February 1994 when Xavier Demerliac (guitar and brass) and Jean Stéphane Brosse (piano and accordion) met and transformed into a quintet in 1996, L’Attirail takes Balkan folk & klezmer into new & cinematic territories with their 2007 album Kara Deniz, and continues to do so on their recently released “Wilderness”. And it’s exactly their progressive tone and soundtrackist mentality that sets them apart from traditional Eastern European folklore/ klezmer bands. There’s a distinct Spaghetti Western influence on Wilderness (as the name suggests) with sliding guitars and galloping rhythms; I may not be correct but I sense an instrumental Calexico in there. 15 tracks of quality balkan-jazz-pop that unfortunately lacks in a bit in the memorable pieces department. Out on Les Chantiers Sonores

“Every album is conceived as a musical road-movie between Paris, Moscow and Istanbul. ‘L’Attirail’ band ‘s music throws a bridge between two opposite worlds : country life and big cities, trip and slow progress, the Eastern and Western European countries, tradition and modernity, reality and dream…”

Here are some of the highlights that arrived at our inbox in the last month or so:

* New Thrill Parade’s noisy, piss’d and dark 3rd album is coming out on Wonder Quest soon. The sludgy beginning of the track made this an instant fave but the theatrical vocals (a la a gothed-up Tiger Lillies) sealed the deal. Band to watch!.

* Wait til the ice melts, compilation on Exponential is an emerging artists from Texas sampler which is mostly electronic music with hiphopish beats. I quite liked the jazzy cut-up Diego track, Horizontal K’s URAQTK and the opener by A.M. Architect. For fans of Prefuse 73 etc.

* 16 year old indie pop sensation Please Quiet Ourselves with some clumsy freak-pop. Nothing groundbreaking, but still better than most of the teenpop stuff.

* Seattle singer-songwriter Andy Liotta is the The Billie Burke Estate I almost never listen to pop-rock, yet I gave it a spin after it came into my inbox and it’s ok. Also the proof that I try to listen to everything that gets sent even if it’s a month or so late ;)

* Enoyed this Ruby Beats Remix on Paw Tracks to a band named Rings. In fact the remix with crunkish beats and swirling electronic synths didn’t interest me as much as the vocals. After a few detective tricks, I realised that Rings is the new name of First Nation, which is the all girl trio from NY with a great debut that gave the anthemic Female Trance to us. Lovely.

A Number of Names – Shari Vari 1982 on Detroit local show “The Scene”

* Plunderphonics band Oh Astro has a new album out here’s the opener Snow Queen, which samples Ratatat’s “Desert Eagle” and Lily Allen’s “Everything Is Wonderful”

* Alt-country stuff from UK’s Goodtimes Goodtimes

Taraf de Haïdouks – Latcho Drom

* One of the most influential Balkan orchestras, the Romanian gypsy Taraf de Haïdouks has a new one called Maskarada on Belgium’s Crammed label, after 6 years of silence. This happy folk tune “Lezginkha” with lovely cymbalom, violin and accordeon parts is actually a traditional song from the Caucasus region.

* Gina X and A Number of Names gems courtesy of Disco not Disco

New Thrill Parade – Paradise Glommed
Diego – Father’s Son
Please Quiet Ourselves – The Light
Goodtimes Goodtimes – Sunshine Sunshine
The Billie Burke Estate – I can float
Taraf de Haidouks – Lezginkha
Rings – You remind me (Ruby Beats Remix)
Oh Astro – Snow Queen

Here’s the last part, from now on new music!!

05 A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangár Ensemble – Self Titled (Leaf) : Together with the Bela Agostone lead Hun Hangar Ensemble, AHAAH has delivered a standardbearer neo-balkan-folk EP. Hope this collaboration results in more albums in the future.Past review on undomondo
04 High on Fire – Death Is This Communion (Relapse) : Oakland, CA’s power stoner trio High on Fire’s 10 ton riffage, is hands down the best & heaviest album for me. Metacritic.
03 Upsilon Acrux – Galapagos Momentum (Cuneiform) : One of the most extreme albums this year, Acrux’ heavy prog-math rock is not everyone’s cup of tea. Past review on undomondo
02 Marnie Stern – In Advance of the Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars) : I can’t believe how good this album turned out to be albeit being criticized for many critics as being gibberish, I’m highly impressed by her obsessive songwriting and shredding. Past review on undomondo

There’s nothing like being owned
Kept by beens in a jelly mould
Brought out on special occasions
Served with black entertainment
Measured by the size of the rash minus income
Make it stop, we could all get together
And fucking burn the lot
Kept by bees in a glass case
Next to Atlantis, rendered badly by my oil paints
Trapped by ESP in the darkness
All those guys, they just want a part in your story

01 Future of the Left – Curses (Too Pure) : After careful consideration, I guess Mclusky survivors delivered the most complete album this year, arguably 2007’s Entertainment!. Let’s see if it will stand the test of time. Past review on undomondo Pitchfork review. Future of the Left interview.

And so another list ends with the lyrics to Kept by Bees in case you wanna sing along. If anyone gets what they’re talking about, msg me please. :)

15 Battles – Mirrored (Warp Records) : Everybody’s been talking about “Mirrored” this year, and they kind of deserve it for getting their oddtimed dissonant music to find strange acclaim from mainstream circles as well as mathheads.
14 Deejay OM – Reheated Naan and Curry (Galapagos4) : A fine hybrid of Indian samples mixed with beats. Somehow liked it much more than Madlib’s take. Past review on undomondo.

Ólöf Arnalds – Klara

13 Ólöf Arnalds – Við og við (12tónar) : Icelandic singer Ólöf Arnalds‘ acoustic folk deserves a government grant as we get more and more interested in Iceland after listening to her debut.
12 White Magic – Dark Stars (Drag City) : Frankly I’m an utter sucker for their haunting minimalist folk, hopefully more to come in 2008.Past review on undomondo
11 Alamaailman Vasarat – Maahan (Backstage Alliance) : Finnish weirdo prog-rockers Alamaailman Vasarat didn’t fail to satisfy us with their 3rd album a highly versatile & wacky world music stuff. Circus music at its best.Past review on undomondo, The Armchair Critic review

Luke Temple – Medicine

10 Luke Temple – Snowbeast (Millpond) : Brooklyn, NY based singer & songwriter Luke Temple’s album is one of the best albums of the year, with hints of 70s psychedelia and melancholy, top quality singer songwriter pop. Past review on undomondo
09 Nostalgia 77 – Everything Under the Sun (Tru-Thoughts) : UK’s finest nujazz troupe a with an impressive effort, and they didn’t stop here and went for a second gold album as an octet. Past review on undomondo
08 Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch & Go) : Most critics didn’t like this album compared to other Shellac releases, but nevertheless it’s better than most of the stuff this year. Past review on undomondo. Pitchfork review

Men-an-Tol – Orange Juice and Vodka

07 Men-an-Tol – Men-an-Tol (Static Caravan) : I’ve declared my love for bearded UK folkers Men-an-Tol a few times this year, can’t wait for their debut album in 2008. Past review on undomondo
06 Fedayi Pacha – The 99 Names of Dub (Hammerbass) : Unnoticed by short sighted critics with the Burial syndrome, French dubster Fedayi Pacha’s “The 99 Names of Dub” is the most diverse dub album this year as well as the most cranked for me. Past review on undomondo

Battles – Race:in
Deejay OM – Silk dealers of New Delhi
Ólöf Arnalds – Englar og Dárar
White Magic – Poor Harold
Alamaailman Vasarat – Katkorapu
Luke Temple – Saturday People
Nostalgia 77 – Stop to make a change
Shellac – Steady as she goes
Men-an-Tol – Orange Juice & Vodka
Fedayi Pacha – Kufiq Type

Pornography with the pornography removed by Vorsthammer

On a shameful occasion, I seem to have lost all my project files & and tracklists for this one, and I could barely identify some of the tracks on it. Shame shame. Make sure you check out Diplo’s Hollertronix version of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, A Balkanified Bolero and the Indian hit “Awara Hoon” by 3 Mustaphas 3. Enjoy.

ED : Found it, here’s the full tracklist

Sunburned Hand of the Man – What color is the sky in the world you live in
Burnt Friedman & Nu Dub Players – I shot the fashion victim
Waldeck – Jerry Weintraub
Hysear don walker – Children of the night
Dazz Band – Girl Got Body
Madlib tha Beat Konducta – Indian Hump
Le Peuple De L’Herbe – Judge Not
Wahoo – Don’t take it Personal
Coco Electrik – Paint it Red
Buzzcocks – What do I get
Hollertornix – Okay Annie
Kalo Pampuri – Bolero
3 Mustaphas 3 – Awara Hoon
Prefuse 73 – Aborted Hugs

Undomondo Radio Show #31

For all the balkan & klezmer fans out there, this one goes out to you. It’s not one of my best shows i must admit, but i’ve been trying to tone the musical variety down in these last shows, attempting to make more wholesome shows and i hope in time i’ll get better at it. It’s not like i’ve been filling one half with balkan and the other with jewish though, i tried to include sub or mid genre pieces as well and different stuff that would go along with the rest, like Secret Chiefs, Mr.Bungle, Zakarya or Rashanim, most of whom reside in previous undomondo reviews and radio shows. I think anyone who’s had enough of both genres will understand. God knows i had enough, i’ll probably be going easy on the balkan stuff in the recent future.

01. a hawk and a hacksaw – ihabibi
02. kocani orkestar – ismail oro
03. kal – mozzarella
04. tummel – bulgar buffet
05. mostar sevdah reunion – anterija
06. man man – banana ghost
07. secret chiefs 3 – ciocarlia (live)
08. fanfare savale – sarba basilor
09. mr. bungle – ars moriendi
10. kruzenshtern I parohod – piratskaja
11. koby israelite – czgadi
12. zakarya – tentative depulsement dune melodie yiddish
13. rashanim – jerusalem
14. masada – bith aneth
15. masada – beeroth

Undomondo Radio Show #24

Going on a short weekend vacation at 10AM and it’s already 3AM here and I need some sleep, so here are 2 faves from the last months. First, a smoky roots reggae/dub hit from 70’s Jamaica, remastered this year by Wackies. Bullwackies All-Stars’ Free for All is the title track and it was out on The Heptones’ Hepic label back in the day. The second track is from the Tatarstan-born (In Russia) Melbourne-based folk singer Zulya Kamalova. Her fifth album on Westpark Music is a good one I’ve been listening constantly, mixing Russian, Slavic, Balkan sounds in trad and non-trad forms.

We’ve already mentioned this year’s most exciting lineup on Leaf where A Hawk and a Hacksaw meet with the Hun Hangar Ensemble lead by Béla Ágostone master of Hungarian folk music & jazz and a multi instrumentalist playing Hungarian bagpipes, clarinet, alto saxophone, taragoto, viola. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Béla’s own stuff and his band the Agostones but he’s unfortunately barely known outside his circles so we’re extremely happy to see this team up.

The rest of the ensemble include Zsolt Kürtösi playing bass and accordion, Ferenc Kovács playing trumpet & violin and Balázs Unger playing the cymbalom (a dulcimer-like instrument central to traditional Hungarian music) since the age of 14 in a wide variety of styles. By now you should have noticed that these guys are extremely talented to the point of playing brass & strings together (not at the same time though :P) and this translates to their music and makes it a special treat.

Mixing Hungarian, Serbian, Romanian and klezmer melodies with Jeremy’s own compositions, the output of this extraordinary ensemble was this 30 minute CD and that’s precisely the only downside of this album because 8 songs will leave you begging for more instantly. I bet all of these musicians can play traditional folk songs for hours if given the right drinking atmosphere and I’d be hard pressed not to go to Budapest and listen to them! (If I had money of course!) I just want to make you listen to all the songs but then you won’t go out and buy it! It’s limited edition so go and buy it now, there’s also a 20 minute bonus DVD documentary about A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Not to be missed!

Agostones Live

Also included are sample tracks from Agostones‘ 2005 album Ördögbomba which mixes ‘the sounds of big band, free jazz, various dialects of Hungarian folk music, influences of balkan melodies and rhythm, atmospheres of classical music and references from pop music’ extremely creative & Mágia Nosztra Bela’s 2006 album which is more jazzy.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw & Hun Hangar Ensemble – Serbian Cocek
A Hawk and a Hacksaw & Hun Hangar Ensemble – Ihabibi
Béla Ágostone – Klezmermozaik
Agostones – Kutyarondó

Once again we’re behind schedule in releasing our shows online. Here’s #19 done by yours truly, it’s a journey from electronic to mechanic to african & brasil jazz and ends with ethnic music from Balkans and Turkey. There’s some funny overdubs by grindcore heads Gut, I can’t play grindcore on the show but no one gets hurt with some samples. I also love “My beer” by David Shrigley, which was also the creator for the interludes of our first shows.

You can stream from archive.org or subscribe as a podcast on odeo.

(overdub) gut – back in your back
apparat – not a number
battles – race : in
gangpol und mit – overture
pascal comelade & pierre bastien & jaki liebzeit & jac beccoral – to the last of imaginary solutions
emil richards – amethyst
andrew hill – without malice
pekka streng – puutarhassa
vanessa da mata – quando um homem tem uma mangueira no quintal
os sambeatles – i should have known better
lukid – fela
rhythm funk masters – nudinuff
mardi grass.bb – herb cooky
dj vadim – black is the night feat. katherin deboer
patchworks and mr. day – brothers on the slide (the dynamics edit)
(overdub) gut – can’t wait for tonight feat. beyonce bowels
late night tales present shrigley – my beer
a hawk and a hacksaw & the han hungar ensemble – ihabibi
richard galliano – luz negra
senem diyici quartet – abe lalo

image nicked from Tiny Vices

A few days ago something incredible happened to us, the prominent collective mp3blog Motel de Moka tagged us as one of the 5 blogs that made them think with a meme originated by The Thinking Blog. It’s our first ever tag and it makes us proud to be tagged specifically by this meme that’s about our favourite organ. Yeah the gray matter up there!.

Rules:
If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that we tag with the meme “what makes us think”. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

Here’s our picks of the internet creme de la creme that makes us think.

If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger there’d be a whole lot of dead copycats : Even the name of this blog kills but cinehead Tom Sutpen’s photo blog is one of the most diverse and creative photoblogs ever. His selection of photography and art makes us ponder on the century gone by forming connections along the way. Series with creative themes like They Were Collaborators or When Legends Gather focus on collaborating music & cinema artists of the past, The Art of Cinema & Seminal Image focus on movie posters and still cinema shots, The Art of War on propaganda, Before and After on the youth & geezerhood of famous people in fact there’s so many great themes, I kind of think that this blog is the best planned photoblog ever aspiring to the heights of a traditional museum.

Sentient Developments : Blog by the Canadian transhumanist philospher George Dvorsky on future of intelligent life, emerging technologies, nanotech, ethics and philosophy. That’s how we prepare for the future, kids!.

Overcoming Bias : Topics include Rational Thinking, Probability, Philosophy, Psychology, Bayesian theory, Economy, Belief Systems etc. Great insights into daily life and the thinking machine called humans.

Destination Out : The Destination Out blog is a recent find but it has instantly become a fertile resource of learning about jazz for kids like us with interest but no proper education.

Ping Mag : Error101’s pick. One of the most craftily diverse blog/mags we’ve seen about idea and inspiration, topics ranging from music, architecture and computer graphics to all things Japan. We especially like the interviews, in terms of exploring creativity; different points of view on how creativity is being ripened from an idea to a fully developed project.

And I know it’s 6 but let’s not forget, Bricolage Fantasy Squashed’s own mp3blog which has been on our linkroll for eternity. Though he’s slowed down his output there to concentrate on Motel de Moka, his posts constantly have good music laced with commentary that makes us think, and don’t think this is some kind of cyber backpetting, he’s also an important opinion leader on the elbo.ws forum as well!.

Here’s a gift to all our readers and inspirers. Without you the internet would only be wires and machines and as boring as the real world.

Tuxedomoon – Dream Flight
Max Roach – Lonesome Lover
Andrew Hill – Without Malice
Krzysztof Komeda – Kattorna
Jimi Tenor and Kabu Kabu – Hermetic Man
Nostalgia 77 – Dreamers Dance
Pekka Streng – Puutarhassa
Contra:jazz – Suite Intermezzo
A hawk and a Hacksaw – Ihabibi
Moondog – Double Bass Duo