MUSIC
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A bearhug of chill-out room gouching gear from MFM spanning the golden era of ‘90s ambient dance music with gems from David Moufang, LFO, Global Communication, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Sun Electric and many more notables of that era. Since the world turned into a big chill out room in early 2020, albeit with a heavy sense of anxiety, this set could hardly be better placed for downtime in the comfort of your own home, rolling out mystic highlights such as LFO’s MDMA-tingle arps and pads in ‘Helen’ and the sublime suspension systems of Global Communication’s remix of ‘Arcadian’, along with Move D’s early nugget ‘Sergio Leone’s Wet Dream’, and the lush pads of his close spar Jonah Sharp’s Spacetime Continuum, plus a strip of killer slow acid in Sideral’s ‘Mare Nostrum’, and the blissed romance of ‘Love 2 Love’ by Sun Electric. One for the lovers and the ravers.
The “Polyphonic singing of the Aka Pygmies of Central Africa” was officially added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, but four decades earlier the musicologist Simha Arom had already discovered the music of the Mbenga (Aka/Benzele), Baka and Mbuti (Efé) populations. He described their collective contrapuntal improvisations as being characterised by a level of polyphonic complexity that European music would only reach in the 14th century.
Starting from the 60s, when the records of the UNESCO Collection curated by Arom were released, Central African music has been internationally discovered, studied and used as a source of inspiration by composers such as Christian Wolff, György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Jon Hassell, and Herbie Hancock (with the famous opening track of the album Head Hunters), amongst others.
During its 2014 edition AngelicA hosted a concert by Ndima (a word meaning forest in the Aka language) a group of artists (singers, dancers and musicians) part of the Aka Pygmies tribe.
The concert was a huge success (it had to be replicated on the same night, due to high demand from the public) and like all concerts that are part of the festival it was recorded.
However, for this double album of i dischi di angelica, we decided to use the field recordings that Roberto Monari, sound technician and long-time collaborator of the festival, had carried out a few months earlier while being hosted for several days by two Pygmy tribes Mbenzelé and Aka, and living with them, in the far North of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North-eastern (Mbenzelé) and North-western rainforests (Aka) of Ouésso in the Shanga region respectively, near the border with the Central African Republic and Cameroon.
The complex musical technique of these populations is learnt orally since early childhood, and it is completely different from that of the surrounding populations: voices (including a peculiar use of yodelling, with an alternation of head and chest voice that creates an individual identity) and hand clapping are enough to create sophisticated polyphonies and counterpoints; occasionally simple string, wind or percussive instruments are used, or quite simply the water in the ponds which is skilfully played with the hands, traditionally by women and children.
The music of the Pygmies permeates every aspect of everyday life: music dedicated to forest spirits, rituals for hunting or to facilitate a rich harvest, nursery rhymes or lullabies for children, songs of grief or entertainment, or relating to divination or sexuality… singing takes place all day, and the rhythm of the stories and the voices is forged and developed – as proved by the original and continuous sequences on these records, which are the fruit of spontaneous events that took place during Monari’s stay with the tribes – in a sound context as rich and diversified as that of the sounds of the equatorial forest in which they live – an environment, and a culture, whose survival is nowadays increasingly endangered.
In 1981, Brenda Ray / Naffi Sandwich released the sweetly yearning “D’Ya Hear Me!”. The song is now considered a post-punk classic, and here we have a warm digi-reggae version sung by Kyoto composer/producer/vocalist NTsKI (“Natsuki”), with backing tracks performed, recorded and mixed by Osaka-based producer/guitarist 7FO (“nana f o”). Also on this release are a karaoke version, plus two remixes, the first a dancehall-flavoured version by Bim One Production, a Tokyo electro-reggae production duo. The second mix is from Nagoya-based electronic producer CVN, who provides a harder version. This revisioning of a much-loved classic is available on CD, 10-inch vinyl and digital.
Mastering: Takuto Kuratani (Ruv Bytes)
Special thanks: Brenda Ray, Hiroshi Takakura (Riddim Chango)
CD version: Gatefold cardboard case
TRACKS:
01. D’Ya Hear Me!
02. D’Ya Hear Me! (Karaoke)
03. D’Ya Hear Me! (Bim One Production Remix)
04. D’Ya Hear Me! (CVN Remix)
Alvin Lucier、David Behrman、Robert AshleyThe world's earliest pioneering experimental music collective led by"Sonic Arts Union"Don of the US experiment / electronic music world, who is also well known for his activities inGordon Mumma.. A large collection of avant-garde music in the country <Lovely Music>from2000A compilation album full of important sound sources released in the year. Famous as a masterpiece79From year first"The Dresden Interleaf 13 February 1945"、"Music From The Venezia Space Theater"、 86Year"Mesa / Pontpoint / Fwyyn"of"Pontpoint"Etc. all6The definitive edition containing songs.
Japanese exclusive reissue on SACD. oliginally released on Ocora.
The Ocora label, which released the disc, would not release it on CD due to the fact that the original recording was unknown, so it was passed down as a phantom disc and used LPs were sold at a high price.
This time, the ina (French National Institute of Audiovisual Research) discovered the existence of the sound source, and we were able to revive it for the first time on CD under license, and also on SACD hybrid. It was remastered from the original master at 96kHz.24bit. What's even more exciting is that four tracks that were not included on the LP have been added.
"Opera in Cameroon" was recorded by documentary filmmaker José Pivin with the cooperation of Radio Cameroon, the French national broadcaster, and depicts the story of a grand opera while capturing the nature of Cameroon and the daily lives of its simple people.
Although it is a field recording, the sound quality is super A-grade. The sound quality is top-notch, with insects and birdsong all around, and the river flowing as if it were right in front of you. The highlight of the film is the boat ride down the river, and the children playing on the shore and the hippopotamus chirping as the water gurgles by are the ultimate in realism. You can't help but avoid the flying horseflies that graze the tip of your nose.
The four parts not included in the LP are also very interesting. The last part, which ends with the sound of the raging sea, is particularly terrifying. You can enjoy a trip to Africa without leaving your home.