#harmonium solo

[beenasarwar]

Sarmad Khoosat live; Celebrating love in Boston; Sapan News tribute to a harmonium soloist

Some updates about what we are up to at the Sapan network, including my latest venture Sapan News syndicated features, furthering the narrative of regionalism, peace, and dialogue. What can you do to help? Read on

A compilation of offerings from our Sapan network, including my latest venture Sapan News syndicated features. Together, we aim to further the narrative of regionalism, peace, and dialogue. What can you do? Read on Visual: Aekta Kapoor/Sapan Delighted to have acclaimed actor and director Sarmad Khoosat join us Sunday July 16 for Sapan’s first fundraiser, hosted by poet Dr Arvinder Chamak in…

[tishant83]

[maditalksmusic]

An Analysis of Jeff Buckley's Grace (1994)

I still remember vividly the first time I listened to Jeff Buckley’s “Lover, You Should've Come Over". It was a rainy winter evening in 2021, and I was in a bit of a music rut. Everything I’d been listening to on repeat for the last month or two had become annoyingly redundant, and in a rather torpid attempt to reinvigorate my consumption of music, I decided to put my Spotify-generated “Discover Weekly” playlist. A few songs went by that, weren’t bad per se, but certainly weren’t all that memorable. When that opening harmonium passage graced my ears, chills washed over me. I stopped my Pinterest scroll, turned up the volume, then laid back in bed and just listened. Six and a half minutes later, I found myself uncontrollably weeping. To this day, “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” is still my favorite song ever made. 

Jeff Buckley’s charm lies in the fact that, as it was best said by Dominique Leone in her 2004 review of Grace for Pitchfork, he was “a songbird, like the kind that used to receive roses and blown kisses from the debutantes in the balcony after performances.” While technically classified under the extremely broad umbrella that is rock music, Buckley effortlessly blurs the lines of genre on Grace. He incorporates a myriad of sounds characteristic of not only rock, but also jazz, blues, and folk. He got his start in Los Angeles and then moved to New York City and joined guitarist Gary Lucas’ band, Gods & Monsters, prior to entering a record deal as a solo artist. Buckley performed at cafés at tiny venues around Lower Manhattan through 1992 and 1993, most frequently at Sin-é, which inspired the release of his debut solo EP, Live at Sin-é, in 1993. A standout from the EP is “Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin”, which translates to “I do not know the end” is a sort of cover of the original Edith Piaf song, loosely translated to English from the French lyrics. 

Released in August of 1994, Grace is Jeff Buckley’s first and only complete studio album. Since his tragic passing on May 29, 1997, songs from projects titled Sketches for My Sweetheart The Drunk and You and I were released posthumously in 1998 and 2016, respectively. The original version of Grace, distributed by Columbia Records, features ten tracks. However, in 2004, Columbia decided to re-release a “legacy edition” of the album, featuring an eleventh track, "Forget Her", that was never intended to be released. The ethics of that decision are still heavily debated, as Buckley himself stated that he despised the song and did not want it on the album, despite Columbia’s original attempts to convince him to release the track. 

Grace opens with the hauntingly fervent track "Mojo Pin", inspired by a dream of Buckley’s. It’s title is a euphemism for an almost overwhelming sort of addiction to someone, to a point where you have to have them. The term “mojo” originated in the Southern United States in the 1920s, adapted from the Gullah word “moco”, referring to magic, and came to be used as slang for heroin and other drugs in the 1960s. I don’t think this track would have functioned nearly as well anywhere else in the album - it starts off softly, reaching a desperate crescendo by the end of song as Buckley lets his vocals soar with the repetition of “Black beauty, I love you so,” in tandem with an intense snare finish, driving in the sheer emotional power that is held through the duration of the album. 

Following “Mojo Pin” is the album’s title track, "Grace", which sounds completely different, yet still manages to encapsulate the same wretched yet hopeful yearning that is interwoven throughout the whole album. “Grace” was inspired by Buckley’s experience saying goodbye to his girlfriend at the airport. It explores the interplay between the struggle with the passing of time and the ways that love can carry a person through those difficulties. As Buckley croons “it’s my time coming, I’m not afraid / Afraid to die” in the first verse, it’s easy to see death as a sort of beautiful conclusion instead of a violent end. Listening to Grace very closely resembles a religious experience, at least for me. The cover of Leonard Cohen's 1984 "Hallelujah"  featured on the album brings this sentiment to a very literal level. While it isn’t my favorite song on the album, Buckley’s cover is the most beautiful rendition I’ve heard. It remains one of his most popular songs and for many, is a gateway into his music. 

Interestingly, three covers are featured on Grace. “Hallelujah” is known by the vast majority of listeners to be a cover, however "Lilac Wine" was composed by James Shelton in 1950 for the musical Dance Me A Song and "Corpus Christi Carol" is an English hymn written in the sixteenth century. Buckley’s version of “Corpus Christi Carol” is based specifically on an arrangement by Benjamin Britten. Both “Lilac Wine” and “Corpus Christi Carol” have become closely associated with Jeff Buckley as his personal sound still shines brightly through both songs, his unmistakable voice working beautifully with any variety of instrumentation. 

The juxtaposition of “Hallelujah” and “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” immediately next to each other in the track list is a very clever sort of storytelling. Buckley’s cover of “Hallelujah” differs from others in that it doesn’t feel nearly as hymnal. The production is incredibly minimal, putting the width of Buckley’s vocal range on full display. It doesn’t feel like a church service so much as it is akin to finding yourself alone in a cathedral, reaching out from the depths of your soul to bathe yourself in the elusive notion of God’s love. It’s almost as if the music is trying to achieve some sort of salvation before it plunges into the heartbreaking ballad that is “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”, a song that begs for forgiveness at the cost of mind, body, and soul. Much of Grace has its roots in Jeff Buckley’s relationship with Rebecca Moore, with some even considering her to be his muse. However, “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” is most specifically about the end of their relationship. The track holds some of Buckley’s strongest songwriting, and quite frankly some of the best in history. “All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter” and “She’s the tear that hangs inside my soul forever” are some of my favorite lyrics out there. It’s a particularly gorgeous song on the record, but live, even if only seen through a decades-old recording, is soul-crushing. The performance Buckley did for JBTV Chicago in November of 1994 is forever seared into my mind. 

The conclusion of Grace has become a rather controversial topic due to the 2004 addition of “Forget Her” with the release of the Legacy Edition by Columbia Records. I enjoy the song independently, but I never listen to it as a part of the album. If�� it was added at an earlier point in the tracklist it could debatably work, either between "Last Goodbye"  and “Lilac Wine” or between "So Real" and “Hallelujah”, though I believe Jeff Buckley’s original thought process on keeping it off the album was absolutely sound. The final two tracks, "Eternal Life" and "Dream Brother" on the other hand, tie up the album perfectly. 

“Eternal Life” is the ‘heaviest’ song on the album instrumentally, more aligned with a traditional rock song than anything else on Grace. It stands out considerably from the sounds on the rest of the album, even while those sounds are so wonderfully varied, but it does so well. Departing from the more autobiographical lyrics of many of the songs on the album, “Eternal Life” is focused on the struggles of being human, written as a product of Buckley’s anger, according to Genius over world events such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, World War II, killings in Guyana, and more. It’s an expression of an anger shared by many at the time of its release, and an anger that many people today continue to feel as we see the horrendous effects of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and feel the stress of the upcoming presidential election. “Dream Brother” is an ideal conclusion to Grace. The song serves as a warning in a sense, inspired by one of Buckley’s friends who left a pregnant girlfriend, telling him not to be like “the one who made me so old”, referencing his father, Tim Buckley, who only met his own son once and died of a drug overdose at 28. “Dream Brother” can serve as a reminder to us all to be accountable for our actions and allow ourselves to fully experience our emotions. 

The constant sense of raw and unbridled emotional vulnerability is what makes Grace what it is. I always do my best creative work after listening to some Buckley, because he’s an artist that can open you up and force you to dig into the depths of your psyche by means of song. That emotional vulnerability is the driving force behind Jeff Buckley’s ability to craft such enchantingly gut-wrenching music, and ultimately that is what every listener can take away from Grace. 

[ma-pi-ma]

Accendi la prima luce della sera, come in una stanza

in cui riposiamo e, con poca ragione, pensiamo

il mondo immaginato è il bene supremo.

Questo è dunque il rendez-vous più intenso.

È in tale pensiero che ci raccogliamo

fuori da ogni indifferenza, in una cosa:

entro una sola cosa, un solo scialle

che ci stringiamo intorno, essendo poveri: un calore,

una luce, un potere, l'influsso prodigioso.

Qui, ora, dimentichiamo l'un l'altro e noi stessi.

Sentiamo l'oscurità di un ordine, un tutto,

un conoscere, ciò che fissò il rendez-vous

entro il suo confine vitale, nella mente.

Diciamo Dio e l'immaginazione sono tutt'uno...

Quanto in alto l'altissima candela irraggia il buio.

Di questa luce stessa, della mente centrale,

facciamo un'abitazione nell'aria della sera,

tale che starvi insieme è sufficiente.

Wallace Stevens, da Harmonium, 1923

[dustedmagazine]

Under the Radar: Jim Marks' Year-end List for 2023

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco

The stream of great new music is constant and impossible to keep up with. Inevitably, some of it goes largely unnoticed. My year-end list consists of releases that I really enjoyed but didn’t get around to writing about and haven’t seen reviewed elsewhere in English. They are presented in no particular order.

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco — Ostro (Ezz-thetics)

This trio of clarinet, double bass, and guitar delivers atmospheric free jazz. Experimental without being confrontational (included is a choice Jimmy Giuffre cover), Ostro offers a rarely heard sound palette and consistently interesting arrangements.

Luis Ribeiro — A Inven​ç​ã​o da Fic​ç​ã​o (Porta Jazz)

The Porta Jazz label out of Portugal released fewer records than usual this year, perhaps a lagging effect of Covid. One standout is the debut by guitarist and composer Ribeiro, who leads a sextet with tenor and baritone saxophones in the front line. Love the eerie vocalization on the opening track. Space age and swinging.

Adrián Royo Trío — Pangea (Errabal Jazz)

This Spanish release initially caught my eye in the La Habitacion de Jazz blog because of the involvement of double bassist Manel Fortià. Strong original melodies and tight interplay make for a standout piano trio recording in a great year for piano trios.

Javier Burin — Escenarios (Los Años Luz Discos)

Another excellent but low-profile piano trio release this year. The assuredness and inventiveness of Argentinian Burin’s playing are the more remarkable given that he is only in his early twenties; check out especially the unlikely cover of “Tenor Madness.”

Marcus Eads — Pride of Ostego (self-released)

This Minnesotan has been putting out gentle Takoma-style guitar music for more than a decade. Strongly rooted in the rural midwestern landscape, his playing and homespun compositions call to mind back porches, canoe trips, and sitting by the fireside.

Scott Tuma — Nobody’s Music (Haha)

I was thrilled to stumble across this unheralded release recently by the Souled American alumnus and one of the architects of slowcore. Apparently first appearing last year on cassette, Nobody’s Music, coming six years after No Greener Grass, delivers more ambling and spindly acoustic guitar lines that seem to drip out of the instrument with the occasional accompaniment of what sounds like harmonica or accordion. Enchanting as always.

Mohamed Masmoudi — Villes Éternelles (Centre des Musiciens du Monde)

Canadian oud master Masmoudi creates a compelling blend of Arabic music and jazz in a percussion-less quartet also featuring clarinet, piano, and double bass. With top-notch musicianship and catchy tunes, the group shows how good world music fusion can sound.

Jorge Abadias — Camins (Underpool)

The Underpool label documents the lively Barcelona jazz scene. Its 2023 releases include this quartet date led by guitarist Abadias. His original post-bop (in the broad sense) compositions tend toward slower tempos, and fine soloing abounds.

Jakob Dreyer — Songs, Hymns, and Ballads Vol. 2 (self-released)

Another solid post-bop quartet recording featuring original compositions. Three U.S. musicians fill out German double bassist Dreyer’s quartet, and this second volume nicely complements Vol. 1 released last year.

Various Artists — You Better Mind: Southeastern Songs to Stop Cop City (self-released)

This project, spearheaded by the Magic Tuber String Band (who also released the outstanding Tarantism in 2023), brings together a broad swath of musicians, including Joseph Allred, Shane Parish, Sally Anne Morgan, Nathan Bowles, the Tubers themselves, and some I was unfamiliar with. The music tends toward the rustic; much of it is excellent, and the cause is as noble as they come.

Jim Marks

[depressedraisin]

song diaries: damon albarn edition

i thought i'd wait until the end of this week to do this weekly library entry for the music i've been checking out, but you know what? fuck it let's to it today, i've just got too much to say.

so this week i've been on a damon albarn discography expedition. listening to the ballad of darren over and over for like a month and consuming hours worth of concert and interview content has clearly broken something in my brain and this old geezer's music is my new hyperfixation. not complaining though cause there's just SO MUCH. there's like five lifetime's worth of music he's put out in 40 years give or take, and i can't think of one genre he hasn't dipped his toes into. also he's worked with so many SO MANY amazing musicians and artists!!!!! which is always so cool so many new people to discover and get obsessed with <3

now blur and gorillaz on their own are pretty much lifetime achievements but albarn also has such rich body of work outside them as well. i've kinda been familiar with those two for years, my recent forage has mainly been into his non-blur, non-gorillaz music.

here are some highlights i need y'all to be obsessed with just as much as i am:

The Moon Exalted (from the opera Dr Dee, 2011)

did u know damon albarn is an composer of operas as well?! i had no idea! a couple days back i heard him mention working on orchestrating one of goethe's unfinished librettos and i, of course had a very Normal reaction to that. (my obsession with classical music might be sleeping but never dead) so i went checking and learnt he already has 3 opera compositions under his belt. woah.

anyway this piece/song is from the 2011 production dr. dee: based on the life story of some elizabethan magic dude. there's a bunch of traditional elizabethan folk instruments- viola de gamba, lute, shawm, recorder etc etc, the wonderful kora (malian instrument, a blend of lute and harp), the harmonium (literally never saw harmonium being used in any music from the west lol im bengali so i get terribly excited abt this) and the iconic, the legendary tony fucking allen featured on this. the vibes are more folksy, earthy than renaissance-lite which i find pretty cool.

the moon exalted is such a lovely, lovely song though. one of the prettiest things albarn's ever written probably. the kora interlude makes me sob like a baby every single time.

check out this live from his solo concert at the globe theatre:

Go Back (feature on Tony Allen's album Film of Life)

legendary drummer tony allen (i've been listening to afrobeat a bit as well, that's for another day) and albarn has had a long working relationship and friendship. they've worked together on gorillaz, they were in two supergroups together, they worked extensively to champion western african music.

this track is a personal favourite already. wonderful afrobeat elements and tony's distinctive style coupled with some solid jazz keyboard-ing from albarn.

this performance tribute to tony allen makes my heart especially ache (he sadly passed away in 2020). albarn's talked a lot about how much allen meant to him, as a collaborator, mentor and friend, and it's all quite emotional.

This Is A Low (live from Shakespeare's Globe)

listen listen listen i said no blur- but. you gotta listen to this version of this is a low (from Parklife, 1994). he plays quite a bit of blur on the piano for his solo shows but they are kinda a hit or miss tbh. but this one works. for this 2021 solo concert albarn introduced a discordant piano solo in place of graham coxon's rather iconic guitar solo. and omfg it came outta nowhere and hit me straight in the face i love it so much

(don't tell anyone but ipreferthepianosolo)

The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows (from The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows, 2021)

damon albarn has two Solo ™ albums and the second, and lastest, one of these is the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows released in 2021. initially starting out some sort of an orchestral piece inspired by the changing scenery outside the window of his home in albarn, it eventually ended up becoming this set of very melancholic and intimate set of songs. about so many things: loneliness and our changing relationship with nature and anxiety over life etc etc. post-pandemic feels basically.

it's a deeply emotional listening experience, with sweeping strings at places and gentle piano in others. quite a good showcase of albarn's pianowork imho (u see a pattern here right?). my fav out of them is the title track. the name comes from a john clare poem and it's absolutely stunning.

Mr. Tembo and The Selfish Giant (from Everyday Robots, 2014)

albarn's first solo record, everyday robots of 2014, is up there are one of his best works in my books. it's a set of autobiographical songs inspired by various moments in his life, with elements of triphop, folk and electronica and general themes of isolation and nature/technology etc: which are such quintessentially damon albarn, y'know?

mr. tembo is a adorable lil folksy song about this orphaned baby element he met in tanzania. aaaaannnnd, it features a gospel choir because mr. tembo grew up take care of by forest rangers who listened to a lot of gospel radio. cute.

speaking of the selfish giant........oooffff. big ooooffff. such a gut punching song, goodness. like when i heard the line "it's hard to be a lover when the tv's on" it knocked me out of service for a while.

Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks cover with Ray Charles, somewhere in the late 90s)

this one's quite a legendary performance. in the early blur days, damon albarn was often talked of as like a successor to sir ray davies, he of the kinks fame and witty observational character studies of english life.

this performance of them duetting the iconic the kinks song waterloo sunset was a passing of the baton moment of sorts. and when davies breaks into parklife in the end- all the feels, man, all the feels.

Mali Music (2002 album)

written in collaboration with afel bocoum, toumani diabaté & friends featuring ko kan ko sata, this album explores- you guessed it- music from mali. now i know next to nothing about mali or west african music really so i'm gonna be using this album as a reference point to learn and research more.

Poison Tree (from the 2018 The Good The Bad And The Queen album, Merrie Land)

the good the bad and the queen is 100% for sure one of the most underrated supergroups ever. i mean paul simonon (the clash), simon tong (the verve), tony allen and albarn- can you imagine the sheer level of awesomeness?!

they have two albums, and it's unlikely they'll ever have another. poison tree from their second album is perhaps my fav tgtb&tq song. merrie land was written about and as a reaction to brexit, and there's feelings of farewell and isolation and desolation prominent throughout. but poison tree also reminds me strongly of blur songs like battery in your leg and sweet song and no distance left to run. so yeah, emo hours.

(*for those uninitiated in blur lore the first two songs albarn wrote for/about graham coxon when he left the band in 2003, and the latter was written about his breakup with justine frischmann in 1998)

On Melancholy Hill (live from Matera, 2019)

blur got a cheat entry, so to balance things out, gorillaz gets one as well. on melancholy hill is a heartbreakingly tender song as it is but solo piano version makes it heartbreaking-lier and tender-er *sniffles*

[mywifeleftme]

268: Laxmikant-Pyarelal // Dosti

Dosti Laxmikant-Pyarelal 1964, Angel

Composing partners Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma worked together for 35 years and, per Hindustan Times,composed about 2,900 songs for 750 different films during that span—a level of productivity basically unfathomable outside of the specific context of the insanely prolific Bollywood studio system. 1966’s Dosti soundtrack was their artistic and commercial breakthrough, and as such it occupies a significant place in Indian music history. I’ve never seen the film, though its cover features two crying boys hugging so it may be up my alley. The Wikipedia synopsis makes it sound like a melodrama without parallel (aside from several hundred others made by Bollywood that same year). The movie opens with a boy’s father dying in an industrial catastrophe, his mother fainting and falling down the stairs (to her death), and then the boy getting disabled in an accident of his own. He then makes friends with a homeless blind boy, and the two chums are then rigorously wedgied by life itself for the next three hours until a happy ending imposes itself.

Working with lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri (a notable leftist poet), Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s songs are strongly credited with Dosti’s enduring success, and while I’m neither an expert in their oeuvre nor Bollywood music as a whole, I can tell you this is beautiful music any fan of adventurous vintage pop should adore. The songs all strike my ear as happy, but with a tear welling in their eyes. It’s more subtle stuff than I associate with contemporary Bollywood: “Gudiya Kab Tak Na Hasogy” twinkles and minces to a gentle dance rhythm, leaving room for soulful flute and harmonium (or accordion?) solos and the melancholy lilt of a mandolin. Both members of the duo had a strong education in Western and Indian classical music, and these sentimental songs find the sweet spot between the traditions, with vigorous tabla rhythms and droning strings meeting melodies that evoke spaghetti western scores (“Janewalo Zara”) or practically quote “Ode to Joy” (“Rahi Manwa”).

It was the convention at the time for a reliable cadre of vocalists to dub over the singing voices of the lead actors, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal established long-standing relationships with their favourites. Dosti features two of their standbys, with Mohammed Rafi handling five of the six songs on the 10” soundtrack I own, and Lata Mangeshkar taking the other. Both absolute legends on the subcontinent, while Rafi and Mangeshkar were each well into adulthood by the time they recorded these songs they give such naively haloed performances that if you can squint (your ears?) just a little it’s easy to imagine they might have originated from the lips of children.

The scope of my expertise in this area is extremely limited, but if it’s not clear, Dosti gets my highest recommendation. If you should come across a ‘60s record with the Laxmikant-Pyarelal imprimatur at your local used shop, give it a shot.

268/365

[urapunk2023]

Was Nico a Nazi? 

Lena Kelsall 

Many of us know harrowing sounds of the Velvet Underground’s lead accompanying female vocalist on their debut studio album “The Velvet Underground and Nico” produced in part by Andy Warhol, but who among us has investigated the sinister origins and worldview of this beautiful and lonely proto-punk Feme Fatale?  

The longevity of her career as well as the allure with contemporaneous male artists make Nico a misunderstood but enticing proto-punk figure. She sold out a show in San Fransisco at the club Fab Mab as a solo artist almost 10 years after the album with The Velvet Underground debuted, but she played none of her folksier tunes made in collaboration with the Underground nor her solo album “Chelsea Girl” made with help from artists like Bob Dylan a decade earlier. Rather, she performs the eerily ambient and gothic sounds made with her harmonium and afflicted voice, produced with the help of John Cale from her albums “Dessert Shore”. What is troubling however, is her choice of finale at this performance at Fab Mab’s; a rendition of “Deutschland,’ the German national anthem including the parts which are routinely omitted for the national socialist connotations. A rendition entitled “Das Lied Der Deutschen” is the closing track on her 1974 Album “the End...” and a performance of it in Berlin is said to have incited a riot among students. Can we acknowledge Nico’s “Nazi-esque” leanings and still listen to her music? 

Nico was born Christina Päffgen in Cologne in 1938, she came into the war-torn continent with a Nazi-informed world view as her Spanish and Yugoslavian parents were coerced towards Hitler’s cause to their fatal end. Despite enduring trauma growing up in the midst of WWII, she was educated in France, Italy and Germany and pursued a model-actress-singer career across Europe from the age of 15. Although Nico’s biographer uncovered her diaries from her childhood in Cologne where she wrote sentiments of resistance towards the anti-sematic human degradation she witnessed, this is not a qualification for racist behaviors and statements from her recorded in the 70’s where she had a public platform on the continent which claims freedom and human liberty. As people debate ‘canceling’ and deplatforming problematic figures, and considering the use of swastikas in the punk scenes in London (in a critical method of Detournement, or in a white nationalist way by skinheads), we have reason to seriously consider the ideological implications of an artist's identity and perhaps separate it from their art.  

Bibliography  

Greg Turner, “Nico on th’west coast and other UFO sightings” New York Rocker Vol 1 No 11 February-March 1977 accessed via Special Collections at Charles Library  

“She'll Be Your Mirror: Who Was the Real Nico?” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 4 July 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/nico-biography-velvet-underground-b1875484.html.  

Fyles, Fred S. “Problematic Faves: Nico.” Felix, https://old.felixonline.co.uk/articles/2016-12-9-problematic-faves-nico/.  

“She'll Be Your Mirror: Who Was the Real Nico?” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 4 July 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/nico-biography-velvet-underground-b1875484.html. 

[ajivasanacademy]

Ajivasan ACT Event: A Celebration of Talent and Artistry

Ajivasan Music and Dance Academy has been a beacon of artistic excellence in Mumbai for decades. Known for nurturing talent in both music and dance, Ajivasan has consistently provided a platform for students to showcase their skills. One of the most awaited events organized by the academy is the Ajivasan ACT Event, a cultural celebration that brings together the academy’s best talent under one roof.

The Ajivasan ACT Event is not just an annual recital but a grand celebration of the arts. "ACT" stands for Art, Culture, and Talent, which is the core philosophy behind this event. The event allows students from different disciplines—classical music, contemporary dance, instrumental performances, and more—to demonstrate their abilities. It is also an opportunity for families, friends, and the wider community to witness the culmination of months, if not years, of dedication and hard work.

A Platform for Every Artist

The Ajivasan ACT Event is designed to provide a stage for every student, whether they are beginners or seasoned performers. The event is structured to accommodate solo acts, group performances, and collaborative pieces that incorporate multiple forms of art. This inclusivity makes the Ajivasan ACT Event a well-rounded experience, where the beauty of traditional and contemporary arts blend seamlessly.

The performances at the Ajivasan ACT Event cover a wide spectrum of artistic expressions. From classical Indian dance forms like Kathak and Bharatanatyam to contemporary western dance styles, the event is a rich tapestry of diverse talents. Students specializing in musical instruments such as sitar, tabla, guitar, and harmonium also get their moment in the spotlight. Each year, the event sees an eclectic mix of classical music, fusion performances, and experimental acts that keep the audience engaged and entertained.

Building Confidence and Skill

For the students of Ajivasan, the Ajivasan ACT Event is a milestone. It gives them the chance to apply the technical skills they have learned in real-time performances. This exposure to a live audience is an essential part of their training as it helps them overcome stage fright, build confidence, and perfect their craft.

The Ajivasan ACT Event also provides students with an understanding of how to work as a team. Group performances, particularly in dance and instrumental ensembles, teach them the value of coordination and synchronization. For many students, this is their first taste of professional performance, and it often serves as the stepping stone toward larger career aspirations in the performing arts.

An Experience for the Audience

For those attending the Ajivasan ACT Event, it is more than just a display of talent—it is an immersive cultural experience. Audiences are treated to an array of performances that are not only technically impressive but emotionally moving. The event offers a rare opportunity to witness both traditional and modern art forms come alive on stage, making it a memorable experience for all.

Conclusion

The Ajivasan ACT Event is a celebration of the passion, dedication, and hard work of the students of Ajivasan Music and Dance Academy. It serves as a platform for emerging artists to hone their skills and gain invaluable experience in front of a live audience. Whether you are a performer or a spectator, the Ajivasan ACT Event is an enriching experience that brings the joy of art, culture, and talent to life.

[sharifkumar]

qawaali,Farrukh Harmonium Solo - 10 Mins with Dildar Hussain

THIS VIDEO USED TO GIVE ME INSPIRATION AND GUIDANCE IN PLAYLING TABLA, IMPRESSIVE OLD SCHOOL DILDAR HUSSAIN!!!

[krispyweiss]

Rewind: Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)

Editor’s note: As Richard Thompson turns 75 today - April 3, 2024 - Sound Bites rewinds to I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, the 1974 debut from Richard & Linda Thompson

Listening back 50 years through the British mist and fog, it’s clear Richard Thompson truly began coming into his own as a singer, songwriter and collaborator with I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight.

Thompson had established his instrumental reputation as the teenage wunderkind of Fairport Convention. But it’s this second post-band LP - and first with then-wife and vocalist Linda Thompson - where the genius began to emerge.

The 10 tracks find the Thompsons straddling the traditional British-folk sound of Fairport and the more-Americanized rock ‘n’ roll that would appear in Richard’s post-divorce solo work as mandolin, tin whistle, harmonium, dulcimer, accordion, brass and other Old World instrumentation combine with electric and acoustic guitars and rhythm section to create a hybridized soundscape of delights. Richard Thompson also proves himself a songwriter beyond his sex and life experience as the songs address moribund dreams on “Withered and Died,” disguise themselves as traditional hymns as on “We Sing Hallelujah” and credibly provide Linda Thompson with songs from her perspective as with “Has He Got a Friend for Me” and “The Little Beggar Girl,” which adds some humor to the album’s morose countryside atmosphere.

Yes I’m only a poor little beggar girl/and I love taking money off a snob like you/for I’m only a poor little beggar girl, Linda sings with Richard’s baritone providing a floor for her powerful vocals. Unlike many of their fellow Brits, the Thompsons make no effort to suppress their accents, adding to the authenticity of their Anglo music.

Bright Lights’ tone is set early as Richard sings lead on “When I Get to the Border” and his guitar trades licks with the aforementioned traditional musical implements on the fade. And lest the Thompsons sound old and fogey before their time, the title track finds Linda singing and acting her age:

A couple of drunken nights rolling on the floor/is just the kind of mess I’m looking for/I’m gonna dream ’til Monday comes in sight/I want to see the bright lights tonight

“I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” is one of three live recordings - along with “The Calvary Cross” and Buck Owens’ “Together Again” - that beef up the 2004 reissue and give listeners sonic insight to both the album tracks’ bones and the duo’s influences.

Grade card: Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - A

Read Sound Bites’ celebration of Richard Thompson’s milestone birthday here

4/3/24

[xyzzyxsworld-blog]

#PtTulshidas#Borkar#Rare#Harmonium#Solo#Instrumental#Classical#Abhang#Na...

[vikramkumar01]

Exploring the Enchanting Landscapes and Rich Heritage: A Comprehensive Guide to Rajasthan Tour and Travel

Nestled in the northwestern part of India, Rajasthan is a land of breathtaking landscapes, vibrant culture, and a rich historical heritage that dates back centuries. With its majestic palaces, ancient forts, and colourful markets, this state offers a mesmerising blend of history, art, and natural beauty. When embarking on a journey to this enchanting destination, ensuring a seamless travel experience is crucial. This is where Rajasthan Tour and Travel, the premier travel company in Udaipur, comes into play, providing the best taxi service in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan is a treasure trove of diverse experiences that cater to every traveller's taste. From the golden sands of the Thar Desert to the lush greenery of the Aravalli Mountains, the landscapes here are a study in contrasts. The state boasts a multitude of iconic destinations, each with its own unique charm.

The capital city, Jaipur, often referred to as the "Pink City," is a delightful blend of ancient traditions and modern aspirations. Its famous Hawa Mahal, City Palace, and Amer Fort are architectural marvels that speak volumes about the region's regal history. Jodhpur, the "Blue City," is dominated by the imposing Mehrangarh Fort and Udaipur, the "City of Lakes," is renowned for its serene lakes and the splendid City Palace.

The heart and soul of Rajasthan lie in its rich cultural heritage. The state's music, dance, and art forms provide a window into its history and traditions. The vibrant folk dances like Ghoomar and Kalbelia are a treat to watch, as they narrate stories of valour, love, and day-to-day life. The traditional music, dominated by instruments like the dholak, harmonium, and sarangi, adds another layer of authenticity to the cultural experience.

The local markets, bustling with activity, offer a glimpse of Rajasthan's craftsmanship. From intricately designed textiles and hand-block printed fabrics to exquisitely crafted jewellery and leather goods, the markets are a shopper's paradise.

To truly relish the beauty and culture of Rajasthan, a hassle-free travel experience is essential. This is where Rajasthan Tour and Travel steps in as the ideal partner for your journey. Known for its commitment to excellence, the company offers the best taxi service in Rajasthan, ensuring comfortable, safe, and reliable transportation.

When visiting Udaipur, known for its enchanting lakes and palaces, choosing the best taxi service is crucial to make the most of your trip. Rajasthan Tour and Travel excels in providing the best taxi service in Udaipur. Their drivers are not just professionals behind the wheel but also local guides who can enrich your journey with their insights into the city's history and culture.

Rajasthan Tour and Travel takes pride in being the leading provider of taxi services in the region. With a fleet of well-maintained, air-conditioned vehicles and a team of experienced drivers, the company guarantees a smooth and enjoyable ride. Whether you're travelling solo, with family, or in a group, they have options to suit your needs.

For travellers who prefer the freedom to explore at their own pace, Rajasthan Tour and Travel offers car rental in Udaipur. This option is ideal for those who want to customise their itinerary and enjoy Rajasthan's beauty on their terms. The company's range of cars, from compact to luxury, ensures that you find the perfect vehicle for your adventure.

In a state as vast and diverse as Rajasthan, having a reliable mode of transportation is a game-changer. Rajasthan Tour and Travel's car rental services provide not only convenience but also the opportunity to create lasting memories.

Rajasthan's allure lies in its ability to transport visitors to a bygone era of royal grandeur and cultural opulence. Its landscapes tell tales of both struggle and triumph, while its heritage weaves a tapestry of traditions that have stood the test of time. To truly immerse oneself in the magic of this land, a journey with Rajasthan Tour and Travel is highly recommended. With their unwavering commitment to providing the best taxi service in Rajasthan and Udaipur, along with top-notch car rental options, they ensure that your exploration of this enchanting destination is nothing short of extraordinary. So pack your bags, book your ride, and get ready to embark on a journey of a lifetime through the resplendent sands of Rajasthan.

[gurusoundz]

Exploring the Melodious World of Harmoniums: Finding Your Perfect Instrument at a Harmonium Shop in the UK

The harmonium, a captivating musical instrument known for its soul-stirring melodies, holds a special place in the hearts of musicians and enthusiasts alike. Originating in the 19th century, this keyboard instrument has found its way into diverse musical genres and cultures. For those seeking to embark on a musical journey with the harmonium, the United Kingdom offers a plethora of options through various harmonium shops. Let's dive into the enchanting world of harmoniums and discover how to find your ideal instrument at a harmonium shop in the UK.

Harmoniums: A Musical Marvel

The harmonium, often referred to as a "pump organ," produces sound through air being pushed through reeds when its keys are pressed. This unique mechanism gives the harmonium its distinctive warm and resonant sound, making it a favorite in devotional music, classical compositions, and even contemporary pieces. Its portability and soulful tones have made it an integral part of various musical setups, from solo performances to accompaniments in larger ensembles.

Exploring Harmonium Shops in the UK

If you're captivated by the harmonium's sound and wish to own one, the United Kingdom offers an array of harmonium shops to cater to your needs. Whether you're a seasoned musician or a beginner, these shops provide a diverse range of harmoniums to choose from, ensuring that you find an instrument that resonates with your musical aspirations.

One quick online search using the secondary keywords "harmonium shop UK" will reveal a treasure trove of options. From brick-and-mortar stores to online platforms, these shops offer harmoniums in various sizes, styles, and price ranges. Whether you're seeking a traditional harmonium with intricate woodwork or a more modern, compact version for convenience, these shops have got you covered.

Factors to Consider

When venturing into a harmonium shop in the UK, there are several factors to consider before making your purchase. Firstly, determine your budget to narrow down your options. Harmoniums come in a range of prices, so having a clear budget in mind will help you find the perfect match without overspending.

Secondly, consider the type of music you intend to play. Different harmoniums have varying tonal qualities, so if you're inclined towards classical compositions, you might prefer a harmonium with a more traditional sound. On the other hand, if you're exploring contemporary genres, a harmonium with a versatile sound palette might be your best bet.

Lastly, don't forget about portability. If you plan to move your harmonium frequently or take it to performances, opt for a model that strikes the right balance between sound quality and portability.

Bringing Harmonious Melodies Home

In conclusion, the harmonium is more than just a musical instrument; it's a vessel of emotions and artistic expression. Exploring the options available at harmonium shops in the UK allows you to discover the perfect harmonium that aligns with your musical goals, preferences, and budget. Whether you're drawn to its rich history or its soulful sound, the harmonium is ready to accompany you on your musical journey. So, dive into the world of harmoniums, visit a harmonium shop in the UK, and bring home the magic of harmonious melodies.

[dustedmagazine]

Natural Information Society — Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)

Joshua Abrams has been creating music with the Natural Information Society for 14 years. Seven albums in, the group’s name has expanded; they are now Natural Information Society Community Ensemble with Ari Brown. It isn’t just the group’s name that has gotten longer; so has the list of contributors. Joining the core Natural Information Society of Abrams (guimbri and bass), Lisa Alvarado (harmonium), Mikel Patrick Avery (percussion), and Jason Stein (bass clarinet), are Hamid Drake (drums), Josh Berman and Ben Lamar Gay (cornets), Nick Mazzarella and Mai Sugimoto (alto saxophones and flute), Kara Bershad (harp), and the aforementioned tenor saxophonist Ari Brown, in a special guest role that befits his status. Brown is one of the most prominent and celebrated tenor saxophonists of Chicago. Based on the powerful playing displayed here, one would never know that he is nearing eighty.

“Moontide Chorus” builds up from a single bass note to a varied syncopated line in that register. Against it, polyrhythmic percussion and chordal winds are added. Brown solos in a modal idiom that interlocks with the bass parts. The rest of the group rejoins and the percussion takes things double time until the piece’s conclusion. “Murmuration” begins with Bershad playing a gentle harp solo that is then doubled in heterophony by bass instruments. Avery and Drake add economical punctuations and the winds have vertical sonorities. Stein adds a long held tonic drone to the mix that is then doubled by the other winds in octaves. Subsequently, complicated harmonics are evoked by overlapping chords. The bass takes the harp melody and the winds break their chords into corruscating arpeggiations. Brown adds a new melody and Bershad reenters with chordal outlines. Stein adds yet another countermelody alongside a flute solo,   The harp line solo yields to a final denouement. Heady stuff. 

“Is” emphasizes a groove created by drums and guimbri. Over this, Brown takes an extended solo, with wide-ranging scales and blues bends. On the piece’s latter half, a single note ostinato from cornets and passage work from winds fills out the background, and provides a center from which Brown’s solo finds its grounding. Cornets and flute are featured on “Stigmergy,” as are tangy dissonances from the rest of the group. During his solo, Brown creates echoing reverberation. An extended section for muted cornet provides a foil for Brown. Much as the tenor saxophonist is an intrinsic part of the proceedings, having more of the players involved in the soloing makes this a personal favorite. 

“Immemorial” has a fascinating textural profile. Alvarado’s harmonium builds a chordal background onto which sustained notes, glissandos, and microtones are added. Glockenspiel and hand drums create a supple rhythmic underpinning. It is the most adventurous of interactions, and creates beautifully blurred harmonic colors. 

“Wane” and“Wax” are comparatively shorter pieces. On “Wane,” Abrams begins with an extended guimbri solo that is soon joined by Drake’s hand drums. Partway through, they undertake a mixed meter duo that complicates the rhythm. At the end of the piece, the first patterning returns. “Wax” serves as a companion piece that explores shorter rhythmic strands. The recording concludes with “Gravity,” which begins with a loping groove, led by thrumming bass from Abrams, over which Stein solos using Eastern scales. Brown plays a muscular solo that combines a modern jazz approach with a Non Western vocabulary replete with trills. The winds play major sevenths, creating a dissonant background. Brown’s solo moves to a howling climax, followed by a long coda of extended techniques. 

Natural Information Society works well with this expanded complement. The inclusion of Brown is especially effective. Whether the new collaborators will remain, or others players will join Abrams, Since Time is Gravity demonstrates that Natural Information Society is a durable creative enterprise. 

Christian Carey

[shrinnirs]

December 17, 2010 interview for the Shrinnirs "Early Singles" collection Josh Burkett put together and released on his Mystra record label in collaboration with the Father Yod record label.

Byron = Byron Coley   

Josh = Joshua Burkett  

Joe = Joe Malinowski

Byron: What’s on this LP?

Josh: The first three singles, plus some unreleased stuff from around then.

Joe: Some of it’s from a 10” that never came out.

Byron: Who was doing the 10”?

Joe: Charlie Krich. He had a label in the early ‘90s, Vandal Children Records. Our !Me da Una Rabia! 7" from 1992 was released jointly by Tulpa and Vandal Children.

Byron: The Bimbo Shrineheads more or less mutated out of Eclectic Bitch?

Joe: Yeah. Well at that time Eclectic Bitch was a name that dawn liked for herself. I just wanted to call the band the dawn cook band or dawn cook, but she said if we were going to do that, her pseudonym would have to be Eclectic Bitch.

Byron: The earliest stuff was done as a duo?

Joe: It started out as a duo, then we went through a bunch of bass players in a real short time. None of them recorded with us. We had one guitar player -- William Stuart – for a while, then after he left, Josh joined on bass and sax for a couple of years.

Byron: Did you already know Wayne & Kate by that point?

Joe: We met them at WHUS radio, sometime around then. When Josh was with us we opened for the Laughing Hyenas and Crystalized Movements at the Populous Pudding. That was a great show.

Byron: What was Josh’s hair like when he was in the band? Did he have that big Euro he had in Vernonster?

Josh: That was the biggest hair I ever had.

Byron: It was like John Sinclair’s. How much sax did you play with the band?

Josh: It was just occasionally.

Joe: He preferred bass, but dawn and I were always trying to get him to play more sax.

Byron: Did you jam much at live shows?

Joe: We mostly played songs. There was a lot of visual stuff. dawn had put together a slide show. dawn and I jammed when on our own recording the type of stuff that appeared on the Liminal Switch LPs, but usually stuck to the songs when working with Josh or other people.

Byron: What was dawn's stage presence like then, and what was her most outrageous costuming?

Joe: dawn brought some of her artwork with her like a car windshield she had smashed up and painted. She was in to rummaging through junked out autos for raw art material. In retrospect, I guess we were an on stage car wreck of a band. dawn would wear a lot of make-up applied asymmetrically, the left side of her skull was shaved and painted in a checkerboard pattern, and she had skirts made of duct tape and used to add tin foil here and there. A lot of her clothes were held together with staples or duct tape or occasionally nuts & bolts for heavier fabrics. She wore men's boxers for shorts during the summer. The first show I have a photo of has dawn playing guitar in front of a Knights of Columbus bingo display board, wearing a mesh Boston Bruins jersey and ripped up long-johns for pants which she had decorated with several crayon drawings. None of it seemed all that outrageous to me, since she wore the same type of stuff off stage. She had a TV set with the picture tube removed. She sometime wore that on her head on stage. I remember her wearing it at the El'n'Gee Club in New London, near the submarine base, while she played Tuli Kupferberg's "Go Fuck Yourself With Your Atom Bomb" on accordion. She also used to play "I'm Going to Kill Myself Over Your Dead Body If You Fuck Anyone But Me". She loved Tuli. During our first few years of playing out, dawn would usually start the set solo on acoustic guitar, or just acapella, and occasionally on accordion. She only played accordion in public a few times because she didn't feel very confident on it. She used it more like a harmonium. dawn also used to bring onstage artwork Colette Butterick had left behind in the Populous Pudding, lifesized standup figures of Caspar Weinberger, Oliver North and other Iran-Contra characters prettied up in frilly pink ballet tutus. Colette was an intriguing presence in Willimantic. During the early 1980s her son played drums in the White Pigs and the Separates. Colette put out the Separates 7" single and turned her basement in to a punk rock show space with a tiny stage. I didn't know Colette well, but appreciated her rare appearances at the Pop Pudding, particularly the night she strung herself like a tree in Christmas lights and plugged herself in to an electrical wall socket for a poetry reading.

Byron: Seems like you guys got a lot of good opening slots.

Joe: Well I was working at Platter Connection Record Store. It’s where I first met you and Jimmy Johnson. You stopped in while on a visit to Ziesing Bros book shop. It wasn't all that great of a record store, but I met a lot of bands there, and as music director at a college radio station, and by booking shows in Willimantic. It was just fellow bands helping each other out.

Byron: When Willimantic was a hotspot still. Before Ziesing moved.

Joe: Yeah, I spent one depressing birthday helping Mark Ziesing move his bookstore, hauling boxes of books down flights of stairs to the 18-wheeler. A sad day for Willimantic.

Byron: Lili still has her shirt from there – Radical Lesbian Feminists from Outer Space.

Joe: Our friend Joey Zone did the art for that.

Byron: It was a weirdly happening nexus. I was never there when the anarchist Ziesing brother was still around...

Joe: Yeah, he moved to Thailand. That store was where I found my first record by the Ex in 1982. Mike Ziesing used to have punk bands there on occasion during the early to mid 1980s. The store was divided in to separate sections. Mark Ziesing used most of his for sci-fi stuff and other lit, Allison Meyers owned the feminist and poetry section, and Mike Ziesing sold records along with 'zines and anarchist books. Plus, Wayne Woodward’s comics section. After the Ziesing Bros. closed up, Allison opened Everyday Books, first in her house and later as a cafe in downtown Willimantic. Allison published Mary Ellen Meikle's poetry. dawn used Mary Ellen's words on a couple of songs. One of them is on this record.

Byron: Did you guys have a lot more songs than you recorded?

Joe: We just have live tapes of them. That’s why we reissued the Live at Charlie’s cassette from 1992 on CD-R a few years ago. There are lots of songs dawn wrote that we never properly recorded.

Byron: It’s interesting. It seems like the band’s basic sound has stayed relatively stable throughout decades of activity and inactivity.

Joe: Well, ever since we first started playing together we were just making it up as we went along.

Byron: dawn’s basic sound had been folk before that?

Joe: Yeah. She was very briefly in a group called Bruce Bayne and the Dawn of the Living Dead Band. Otherwise, her background was in performing folk music at coffee houses, street protests, and fund raising potluck dinners.

Byron: How did she decide she wanted to go freak?

Joe: We were listening to early Sonic Youth and the Ex. We both dug the heck out of the Minutemen. Eventually Dawn really got in to the few ESP albums I had. I remember Patty Waters made a big impact on her. She also liked Frank Lowe's Black Beings album. Most frequently I'd find her listening to my old Nonesuch Explorer and Folkways ethnomusicology LPs when she was home alone with my records. But what stands out in my memory is how she enjoyed God & The State, that Ruins album with the Urinals drummer. She was crazy about that record. She still sings those songs in the car.

Byron: So you were the bad svengali record scum guy. Well every band story needs one.

Joe: We met at a college radio station in 1985 about a year before we first started playing music together. Dawn hosted a show that concentrated on articles she would share from underground newspapers and 'zines, along with interviews with fellow activists. She would mix in anti- authoritarian songs here and there. Whatever she could find, from Victor Jara to Gil Scott- Heron. The packaging on a Maximum Rock'n'Roll comp caught her eye and she grew a little curious about punk rock as a vehicle for expressing her political views. I just offered suggestions like, "if you're in to Gil Scott-Heron, maybe you would like the Last Poets," or "if you're into political punk, you might appreciate Crass and KUKL." Then from there, "since you like that stuff, you should definitely check out The Ex."

Byron: You later got to play some shows with the Ex. How were they to deal with in those days?

Joe: They were great. They stayed with us for a few days on their first U.S. tour in 1989. We opened for them in Storrs along with 76% Uncertain and Azaila Snail. The Ex didn’t have many shows outside of New York. They made a trip to Montreal and came back to Willimantic. They’d bought a beat up old station wagon for their tour. It kept breaking down. So they were stuck with us.

Byron: And you got to feed them for a week.

Joe: Actually, they fed us. Their sound guys even fixed dawn’s car for her. They were amazing. Just really nice people. We didn't even blame them when our beloved indoor cat was run over after the band talked us out of imprisoning him inside.

Byron: Did you play out of town much?

Josh: They did a U.S. tour.

Joe: We played New York and DC for Riot Grrrl shows even though we were much older than most of the people there. We played Providence a lot, Albany once, North Hampton, and another show in NYC at ABC No Rio. And we did tour across the States a couple of times, but that was mostly camping out with shows that were a thousand miles apart. We had a few on the West Coast between Los Angeles and Portland. We played Minneapolis and Buffalo. And we opened for the Orthotonics in Richmond, VA after a show in Chicago. There was a huge crowd that kind of hated us, particularly a really angry German dude who after the gig let Dawn know how exactly brutally offended he was by "Rape Poem." At least we got to play Richmond, stay with Michael Hurley for a couple of days, and have a great time in an amazing swimming hole with Rebby Sharp.

Byron: Where did the Bimbo Shrineheads name come from?

Joe: It was something our late friend Rob McDonald blurted out while we were watching the tv news. Around that time George HW Bush picked Dan Quayle as his running mate, and Rob said, “He’s a Bimbo Shrinehead, just like Vanna White.”

Byron: So you’re named after Dan Quayle?

Joe: Yeah, or Vanna White. But I have no problem with Vanna White. I just really didn’t like the name Eclectic Bitch, so we compromised and settled on the Bimbo Shrineheads. Eclectic Bitch grew out of a regrettable joke I made when dawn and I were first hanging out and she was hoping to find people to start a band. dawn was describing how her dream band combined feminism and political revolution with poetry, theater and a wide variety of music; everything from jazz to folk to rap to reggae to heavy punk rock mixed with Segovia. I teased her that she should call her band Eclectic Bitch, sarcastically suggesting she reclaim the word "bitch" as an act of empowerment. She should have punched me in the face, but instead took a liking to it. I would have preferred getting punched.

Byron: Why did the name keep mutating?

Joe: We never really liked any of our names, including Bimbo Shrineheads and Shrinnirs. We figured we didn’t have any kind of following so it wouldn't matter. We've been kicking around the idea of changing it again, but with all the time and money Josh has put into this singles collection, we should probably stick with Shrinnirs for now.

Byron: Did the band start up before the Tulpa label?

Joe: The band came first.

Byron: How many releases did you end doing on Tulpa?

Joe: Not many,

Byron: Must have been about 15.

Joe: Yeah. The Flaherty/Colbourne stuff was about the end of it. There was a Footprints 4 comp that never came out. That had Sun City Girls, Galloping Coroners, Snake River and Brian Johnson. Snake River were from Michigan. They had submitted music to Tulpa. Brian Johnson ran an art gallery in Hartford. He played percussion for Vernon Fraser. dawn modeled for the cover of Vernon’s album Sex Queen of the Berlin Turnpike. I think the Sun City Girls and Coroners stuff eventually came out on other labels. I’m going to put out a Colbourne/Flaherty recording with Mike Roberson on guitar soon on my Withdrawn Records label. We released a live Shrin 7” in 1997 with artwork stolen from an Alan Lomax Columbia World Music LP. The covers were hand stamped "Withdrawn" to look like the deacquisitioned records we bought from library sales. Since I still had the stamp, I used it a few years later when I gave out cd-r mixes of some of my 78s to a few friends, and when I put out Randy Colbourne's Clarinet Works recording.

Byron: What was Tulpa named after?

Joe: The name grew out of a discussion with Joey Zone, a graphic artist from Willimantic. It wasn’t named after the Magazine song.

Josh: What does it mean?

Joe: Joey Zone described it as being like a doppelganger, an evil spirit twin who does your dirty work for you. A year or so after the first Tulpa record release Joey gave me a tulpa themed Detective Comic and a Tulpa logo he put together. I've since learned a tulpa is quite a bit different than my understanding of a doppelganger, but at the time my knowledge of Tibetan mysticism was largely limited to what I picked up from UNESCO LPs and Batman comic books.

Josh: How did you get together with Flaherty?

Joe: It was through Rob McDonald. I'm not sure how Rob came in to contact with Flaherty. Paul may have mailed a Flaherty/Colbourne record to the Populous Pudding. It was right around the time of their first Cadence LP. Rob thought I would be into what Paul and Randy were doing, and he was right. They had no gigs. They either played under bridges in Hartford or they would sneak in to the UCONN Art building. When security would come in, Paul would claim he was an art instructor. He completely played the part. I remember an art student pretentiously critiquing the music and offering the advice, “Sometimes less is more.” And Paul said, “No. More is more.” Bimbo Shrineheads had a song with lyrics from a book of words and drawings Paul Flaherty self-published about 20 years ago. dawn pulled the lyrics to the song "Corporate Prostitute" out of there. I think the title of the book was The Corporate Bored. I loaned out my copy and never saw it again. Flaherty claims to be out of stock, but maybe he could dig one up for you. He wrote it while working at one of the Hartford insurance companies before he started painting houses.

Byron: The records you did with those guys put them on the map in a whole new way. For a lot of people that was some of the first free jazz they’d ever heard.

Joe: Aside from the Tulpa comp, Kevin Kraynick helped spread the word, when he featured Flaherty/Colbourne in Damp Magazine. Rob McDonald and I booked Paul and Randy at the Populous Pudding whenever we could. It didn't matter what the other bands on the bill were like. The Pudding was an arts and music collective located in an old fur locker, basically a loud cement box with a single entrance/exit, large bank vault type door. It was a dangerous violation of fire codes, and the perfect setting for Flaherty/Colbourne. They were stunning. Every gig transcendent. Unbelievable.

Byron: What was dawn’s stuff like when she was a folkie?

Joe: She had just started writing originals shortly before we began playing together. It seemed like she was listening to that Silly Sisters album whenever I went over her house, just a huge Maddy Prior fan, but she mostly performed Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Ralph McTell and Buffy Sainte Marie covers. She had the Wobbly songbook. She also had learned a lot of Irish traditionals from singing with her friend Gordon MacDonald. She also covered a lot of Joan Baez. Once we started playing the Populous Pudding, Charlie Krich saw her and Charlie would give her sheet music and order her to learn other Buffy Saint Marie songs: "Here, play Cod'ine next show."

Josh: She could read music?

Joe: Yeah, a little bit, just enough to struggle through working out the chords.

Josh: I remember she was into that first Ricky Lee Jones album.

Joe: The first time I played with her, she used to play coffeehouses all the time, and this was a coffeehouse type setting. She came in with her untuneable electric guitar and I had an industrial oil barrel like Neubauten or something. And we played "I Will Die in Willimantic", "Slabs of Stone", and Dylan's "Masters of War". It was funny to witness the reaction. It was not what people wanted to hear. Actually I'd rather hear dawn solo on acoustic guitar, too. Whether playing folk standards or her own songs, everything sounds better when she slows things down and plays and sings solo. She knocks me out at times. I've always felt lucky that she puts up with me.

Byron: How did your Swedish release come about?

Joe: A Swedish band mailed a tape and wanted Tulpa to put out a record. I think they’d read about us in Maximum Rock & Roll. We decided to do a split. I’ve never met them, I don’t think they’ve ever been to the States. It was a co-release with Fetvadd in Sweden. But 16 B.U.H. sent the material hoping one of the bands on the first Footprints comp would want to do a split.

Josh: Did they have other releases?

Joe: Yeah, they have a few albums out.

Byron: What happened to the proposed Twisted Village LP?

Joe: It was mostly live to cassette recordings from various basements. On some of the songs dawn had home made contact microphones taped onto her bouzouki and balalaika and it sounds like it’s really noise genre stuff, but it’s just her pulling the mic off and retaping it. I was never sure if Wayne & Kate, from Twisted Village, were just being nice because we were friends or what, so I never pushed them on getting the record out. I put together the tape and I couldn’t tell if they were genuinely enthusiastic or not. After a while it just fell by the wayside.

Byron: Some of that’s what got recycled on Limnal Switch?

Joe: Yeah.

Josh: What about that Twisted Village compilation on Shock?

Joe: Wayne put that together when we were talking about releasing an album on Twisted Village. He used a song from one of our old 7" eps. His mix is better than the original. Stefan, from Shock, hates that track. He was pissed our song ending up on his label. He just doesn’t like that kind of music.

Josh: But for a lot of people, that’s how they first heard about the band.

Byron: You were in Wormdoom also.

Joe: Yeah, that was around ’95.

Byron: How many gigs did Wormdoom play?

Joe: Two. Twisted Village had just opened as a store and we did one there to celebrate and one out here at the Amherst Unitarian Church with Flaherty/Colbourne.

Byron: Were there plans for more shows?

Joe: I would have liked to play more, but Wayne & Kate were busy with Magic Hour and the new store.

Josh: I played on the Wormdoom album, too. It was just basement jam stuff.

Byron: Did they credit you?

Josh: There were no credits. It’s the same with that B.O.R.B In Orbit CD. There were no credits on that either.

Byron: Are you on any of this stuff, Joe?

Joe: I’m on some of the Vermonster stuff.

Josh: You might be on that B.O.R.B. CD, too. That was just basement jams too.

Joe: I don't think I'm any of the B.O.R.B. stuff, but the band did make nice use of my Radio Shack Moog. Josh and I played on some of the last Crystalized Movements gigs. We played CBGB.

Josh: That was the only time I ever played there.

Joe: And Providence and...I think there were three shows.

Byron: That must have been when they were more together. Their early shows featured a lot of tuning.

Joe: Bimbo Shrineheads did a lot of that too. We got tired of it and started doing entire sets with no breaks at all. Saving up to buy Dawn guitars that would hold a tuning was the key.

Byron: Were you still doing songs?

Joe: We’d have five short songs in a row, but we would leave spots open to improvise if we felt inclined, then we’d play some more songs. We were back to the duo line-up by then. Sometimes Josh would join us at the end when we played in Cambridge. He would play sax and dawn would sing in to an mbira plugged in to the distortion pedals on her guitar amp. She often used an old throat mic built for airplane pilots and ran that through her amp, too. It looked like a beat up leather choker around her neck. That was probably '93 to '95.

Byron: What was the worst band you ever played with?

Josh: Maybe the Reverb Motherfuckers. That show was not a very good. They played for like two hours.

Byron: What was your best gig?

Josh: I remember a really good one at the Middle East.

Joe: I think Fire in the Kitchen headlined the show you are thinking of. Steve Erickson, from Cut 'Zine, put that bill together with Billy Ruane.

Josh: That was great that night. Fire in the Kitchen were a much better live band than their records ever let on.

Byron: What was the horrible show in Worcester I’ve heard you refer to?

Joe: That was with Eugene Chadbourne at the Worcester Artists Group in ‘91, but we had plenty of other horrible shows. Chadbourne was great. We were terrible. We spent too much time creating our most elaborate props ever for performance pieces. dawn worked very hard on set design and stagecraft for that gig. We suffered technical problems throughout. It stifled the music. After that show we cut way back on props and slide shows. That freed us to just go up and play with room for improvisation when we felt like it. dawn still did things like occasionally shave off chunks of her hair on stage, but we left the slide shows and most of the props at home. It was also disappointing because we had just started playing with Jeff LeDoux on guitar and vocals. He fit in perfectly from the very first practice. That one bad show with Chadbourne was Jeff's only show with us. A few days after, he broke the news that he was following his girlfriend to Minneapolis.

Byron: What happened to the scene in Willimantic? Everyone just move away?

Joe: Pretty much, but not entirely. There was punk rock music in Willimantic long before the Populous Pudding, and today there are still dedicated people putting on art and music shows in empty Main Street store fronts. After the Populous Pudding closed, Charlie Krich started doing shows in his basement. Charlie had initially gotten involved in the Pudding as an outlet for his poetry. He didn't seem to have had much contact with punk rock prior to the Pudding, but maybe I'm wrong in assuming that. The enthusiasm and DIY spirit of the touring bands impressed him. He’s a human rights lawyer with a beautiful old Victorian home which he opened up to a young crowd of hardcore bands and underground music fans. After a while there were too many noise complaints, so he worked with Jay Forklift and a few of the other kids to open the Willimantic Arts Collective. That space didn't last long. They had better luck with the landlord and police in Studio 158, which they founded soon after. It a was great place for shows. Charlie is an extremely generous and humble guy who truly deserved the Saint Chuck and SuperChuck nicknames the kids gave him. A lot of younger folks were shaped by Charlie’s shows – throughout the early ‘90s he was booking hardcore punk and all that. He had Green Day at the Norwich VFW. We played there with Spitboy. We opened an Econochrist show Charlie helped a kid put together in a condominium complex in Manchester. At Studio 158 we played with Bikini Kill, Universal Order of Armageddon, Avail, Devoid of Faith and a bunch of other touring bands, as well as local friends like Mi6.

Byron: How did it go over when you played with punk bands.

Joe: Usually confusion.

Josh: But I’ve also heard over the years that there were people who really got changed by seeing you. It was beyond their comprehension at the time, but it made them realize there was something else possible.

Joe: But a lot of the young guys were really intimidated by dawn too. They didn’t know what to make of her face paint or whatever. She could sometimes lose herself and unknowingly glare intensely at people while she played. She scared some of the boys. Overall, it seemed like we were tolerated. There was a difference between our earliest shows in the 1980s and the shows say '92 to '95. In the 80s a faceless male voice from deep in the crowd would often heckle. After about 1992, we didn't get much of a reaction. For the most part, people sat on the floor, politely clapped, and waited for our set to end. I know dawn is always surprised when women tell her things like how they were effected by seeing her chop up her hair or when people speak about certain songs and shows from years ago.

Josh: On one of the songs she’d just scream for like ten minutes. It was her anti-child abuse song, “Mother Goose and Mr. Hyde". Even severe hardcore bands were not that severe.

Joe: We did it one time on WRIU radio and it was just psychodrama. I don’t know what the kids at the radio station thought. Listening to the tape, I can hear why Josh left the live version off this collection. The words and visceral screaming can be a stomach sickening bum out to hear, and musically it is a mess since my drum kit actually fell apart, but I thought the live radio recording was one of the most accurate documents of what we were doing.

Byron: Where was the gig you were supposed to open for Suckdog & Costes?

Joe: That was at UCONN. Lisa called the promoter to say they were delayed. Costes had jumped out of their car and runaway. The promoter kept coming up on stage and whispering, “Play more.” I think that was my least favorite show along with the time in Chicago when I cracked my head on a low hanging monitor and later puked between songs. My favorite show was the one in New Haven where we got kicked off before we even finished the first tune.

Josh: We played at this diner, opening for St. Johnny.

Joe: Who didn’t even play. The owner said, “If you’re like them, here’s $25, just go away.”

Josh: We played one song and they turned the mics off and turned the jukebox on really loud. There was no one there anyway.

Byron: And then you left Willimantic, rendering your best known song more or less untrue.

Joe: We’ll see.

Byron: You went to Boston.

Joe: Yeah, for 14 years and then New Haven. Boston got too expensive so I moved. And dawn went to Worcester to go to school. Now she’s in Manchester, CT.

Byron: Do you guys have any plans to play more?

Joe: Well, if people ask us we’ll play. dawn loves playing out. I prefer jamming in her art studio. We haven't played music together much over the last few years. I'll play out if that is what it takes to get her motivated.

Byron: Can they pick the line-up that plays?

Joe: Maybe.

Byron: Has dawn done any musical stuff subsequently?

Joe: Not much.

Josh: She paints.

Byron: But she didn’t go back to her folk roots?

Joe: No.

Byron: You kind of ruined that forever.

Joe: I hope so.