[MusicRatty] tag: north

Putumayo Explores the Acoustic Side of Arabic Music

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:25:17 +0000

New York (NY), USA - With Acoustic Arabia, Putumayo turns its attention to the subtler, more organic music of the Arabic world which has been inspired by the region’s traditional music. With their stripped-down arrangements and softer, more introspective quality, the songs on Acoustic Arabia highlight the fundamental beauty of the music of the Arabic world. This collection features several international stars and new discoveries.

One of the best-known featured artists is Algerian singer-songwriter Souad Massi, whose contemplative songs address social and political issues and were banned by the conservative government. Maurice El Medioni, a world-renowned Jewish piano legend from Oran, Algeria first began performing alongside Arab musicians during the golden age of the Algerian music halls of the 1940s and 50s, and is still tickling the ivories as an octogenarian. The band Tiris hails from Western Sahara and is made up of refugees who have been part of the struggle to reclaim their homeland from Morocco which now controls the region.

Les Orientales, fronted by three divas - Mouna Boutchebak, Saléha and Sylvie Aniorte-Paz, revisits Algerian music hall songs of the post-World War II era.

For more than 20 years, musicians from all over the world have met in the RAS, a magical oasis in the Sinai desert by the Red Sea. Sudanese singer Jamal Porto’s “Gamar Badawi” was written and recorded at the RAS oasis. Zein Al-Jundi was born and raised in Damascus, Syria and moved to Austin, Texas where she performs, teaches belly-dance and owns a store selling Middle Eastern arts and crafts. She not only provided a song, “Wijjak Ma’ii,” but also wrote the album’s liner notes.

A portion of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to the Saïd Foundation in support of its efforts to bring positive and lasting change to the lives of children and young people in the Middle East.

1 Jamal Porto - Gamar Badawi
2 Les Orientales - Alger, Alger
3 Rasha - Azara Alhai
4 Charbel Rouhana and Hani Siblini - Mada
5 Tiris - Tiris Nibreeha
6 Souad Massi - Ghir Enta
7 Zaman - Batalti Eli
8 Mousta Largo - Les Larmes de Boabdil
9 Maurice El Medioni - Tu n'aurais jamais dû
10 Zein Al-Jundi - Wijjak Ma'ii

Buy the CD:

In North America: Acoustic Arabia
In Europe: Acoustic Arabia

Irresistible Sabrina

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:23:53 +0000

Sabrina Malheiros

New Morning (Far Out Recordings, 2008)

Brazilian singer-songwriter Sabrina Malheiros is back with another gem, a CD titled New Morning. Malheriros attracted a lot of attention with her previous CD, Equilibria. With New Morning, Malheriros combines the best of the past and the future. Her musical arrangements take you back to the fun disco and samba-soul years of the 1970s, with well crafted horn and string arrangements, irresistible rhythms and captivating melodies. Nevertheless, Sabrina Malheiros is a product of her generation and she adds new elements to her music such as a variety of electronic music known to the club goers as "house," as well as incursions into jazz and bossa.

For this recording, Malheriros called a dream team of Brazilian musicians, including Jose Roberto Bertrami, Ivan Conti, Zé Carlos, Idriss Boudrioua and Paulinho Braga as well as legendary Brazilian arranger and composer Arthur Verocai.

Sabrina Malheiros comes from a reputable musical family. Her father is Alex Malheiros, the bassist of legendary jazz band Azimuth and you can tell Sabrina spent many of years listening to a wide variety of great music. Equilibria is so far one of the best Brazilian releases of the year.

Buy the CD:

In North America: New Morning
In Europe: New Morning

One Diva, with Dust Devils and Ninjas, Pucci...

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:02:00 +0000

One Diva, with Dust Devils and Ninjas, Puccini on the Playa?

In the desolate regions of the north Nevada desert, the last week of August each year a city of some 50,000 inhabitants rises, for a week, and then, like Brigadoon disappears without a trace! This years it contained buildings as high as 11 stories, they are gone too. For a week Black Rock city comes to life complete with Post Office and Airport, now it is gone without a trace.

Review: Colour out of Space Festival, Brighton, Friday 5th September, 2008

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000

The balance had to be rectified... I don't have anything against folk music (well, not much) and have been to some great acoustic gigs recently. However – they have been the only gigs I've been to, for a variety of reasons. Just haven't made it to any jazz, improv, skronk/wahoo whatever gig away from the hey-nonny for too long. I had to travel to the south coast anyway to meet up with a friend for a project we are involved in, checked the dates and information – and found that the Brighton Colour out of Space Festival at the Sallis-Binney Theatre was on round about the same time. So: booked tickets and a cheap hotel – and here I am. Sitting writing this Saturday morning looking out across a storm-tossed sea with the wind rising – rehearsals for Armageddon again in this star-crossed country, economics and weather wise... At some point will find a wifi node to put it up...

Friday night.

Arrived a little late as needed a quick kip when I got to the hotel – not much sleep the last few days.

So: first set:

Core of the Coalman. Opening electronics hissing as an aircraft revs up... Your man proceeded to build an imposing, ever-spinning vortex of sound via his viola hooked up to a battery of loop/delay pedals. Simple long bowed notes with fragments of occasional melody overlaid to rise into mighty thunder. This cleared the acoustic cobwebs out... And a reasonable crowd (that would build to impressive proportions – these people know how to get the vote out) intent on digging the proceedings.

Red Stripe/sandwich interval then:

UK group Helhesten – a four-piece, clarinet, single drum and cymbal (floor tom), violin and vocal. Producing an almost ur-music of hollers, grunts and shattered syllables with high streaks of clarinet, low thumps of primal drum and sawed violin continuum. Clustered facing each other, it was if they were gathered round some primeval campfire, coming fresh at the world. A thought accentuated by the numbers sat in the main part of the hall, cross-legged and intensely listening. I don't do cross-legged these days (especially recovering from all my various wounds to feet and legs etc) but had a reasonable view of the ongoing eistedfordd from the sidelines where i found a seat that I managed to hold throughout various beer, sandwich and pissbreaks. Enjoyed these guys... cosmic Kumbaya...

HRT were out in a marquee in the garden area adjoining the Sallis-Binney theatre. Dressed in black cowled robes, spooky electronics – seemed like fun but I couldn't be bothered to stand in mud and needed a break anyway...

Gastric Female Refles, next up. Two fine young Canadians, providing some humour in their presentation – I noticed that the North Americans were the only ones (I saw) to address the audience direct which was an interesting point overall. A table full of electronics to wow and dazzle with ultra-fast jumpcutting across a massive range of samples and sounds in a hectic but good natured two-way call and response. Country guitar picking emerging a couple of times to be thrown down back into the slash and burn – FUN!

Rat Bastard came on resplendent in wooly black hat , big black shades and just a guitar plugged into an amp – with which he proceeded to fast strum and flat pick a gathering wild dissonance that was held together by open strings ringing throughout. Sort of drone crossed with metal replete with many of the stage gestures of that genre thrown in. Guy has a sense of humour. Joined by two young women with hand-held gizmos to throw electronic splatter across like acid, bumping and grinding in a stage mashup complete with hair-flailing which was extremely funny. Mock the rock, hey geezers?

Then: Peeseyes. Stripped down drum kit, guitar and electronics, the drummer doubling on vocals - talking in tongues jive esperanto. Led in by the electronics man producing a drone from what looked like a shoe-shine box with a flap that he manipulated to produce the sounds throughout – must have been hell on his arm muscles. An instrument seen in Indian music, I think – I was somewhat unsited by the crowd down front. An object lesson in how to build and sustain a set, rising from the drone to produce a three-way ever moving vector of powerful musics. The drummer led at first on voice , building it up and easing it down when he stepped out from the kit and went to the front stage mike to keep the vocal voodoo moving as the background settled back and the rhythm was kept just on a cowbell or some similar small metallic ringing intrument he was hitting. Back behind the kit, then the guitar rose up to spit swoosh and roar, then the electronics took front focus. Not solos as such, rather like a triangular movement where the three corners rotate in turn to hold the emphasis. Wild - and thoughtful... great attention to structure here...

To the final act – Aaron Dilloway. I'm a big fan but have never seen him live – and I suspect this really is the best way to experience his full-tilt electronic firestorm. He sat at his table of electronics, looking calm – that state which comes before the storm. Commencing on distant deep muffled dustbins kicked around some dark cellar in a ricocheting clatter. Slowly building, riff upon riff, call and response, as the lights hit him and he moved now to the cross-rhythms of the music. Chomping down on his contact miked mouth to produce howls and cries and squeals, lurching in his seated position into a desperate dance. The music enfolds and overwhelms like a thick rising tide – this is such physical music, coming from the body to hit the collective body of the audience. Truly a PERFORMANCE. As the old MGM trailer went for that compilation of Hollywood musical/movie clips some years back. 'THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT. AND BOY DO WE NEED IT NOW.'

Awesome... and again, a free-flowing structure born of experience and skill – and of course, imagination. A great end to a great night.

I missed some acts which was unfortunate – came back in late to Leslie Keffer's set as the stage was being loaded with invitees – this looked fun – but ya can't have everything? (Why not? I hear you cry – well... stamina these days, folks...). A great combo overall of youth and established musicians with nothing that I saw going by the numbers. Interesting dichotomy between the Canadians/US performers and the Europeans...

And apologies for the few photos – forgot to buy fresh batteries for my camera. So amateur...
No time to check links - will do that tomorrow as I have to grab a quick wifi window.

More to come... on the run...

Bladen County Update: MFNW Showcase and Other News

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:01:11 +0000

Local buzz-label Bladen County Records holds its MFNW showcase tonight at RonToms, featuring 12 of the label’s bands and spanning three separate stages. Kicking off at 5 pm, the evening will also feature various vendor booths from a bevy of Portland’s finest record labels, designers, photographers, and chefs. The bill, topped by hometown favs Oh Captain, My Captain (for whom the showcase will also serve as release party for their new CD Recklessly She Split the Sea), includes a couple of recent North Carolina additions to the roster: Wilmington’s the Love Language and freshly-reunited indie-popsters the Mommyheads, who also celebrate their record release this weekend.

Meanwhile, after the showcase be sure to head over to Berbati’s Pan where that other Bladen Co. PDX cornerstone and 2008 BNB champion the Builders and the Butchers plays its own MFNW show tonight, going onstage at 1 am.

And in other Bladen Co. news, the label has announced plans to launch an inhouse media wing under the moniker Bladen County Media, while the next year will see distribution expand with both the coming inauguration of Bladen County Distro and arrangements made recently to work with indie online distributors IODA—known ’round here as the dudes who scored Blind Pilot the iTunes “free download of the week” spotlight.

Oh Captain, My Captain

Links:
Bladen County Records
Oh Captain, My Captain

Photos courtesy of Bladen County Records

"There were people on that panel who were tearing their hair out in exasperation that OK Computer didn't win"

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:59:00 +0000

You have to delve a little deeper to discover Scotland's influence in the 2008 Mercury Prize. Scan through the 12 nominees and you will find not a single Scottish act for the first time in five years. The most tenuous link among the artists is that Geordie folk singer Rachel Unthank studied at Glasgow Uni for four years before leaving with an MA Hons degree in History/Theatre Studies.

However, the most important person involved in Monday's ceremony is as good as Scottish in our eyes. Renowned critic, author and popular music sociologist SIMON FRITH has lived in Scotland for the past two decades, lecturing at Strathclyde University, the University of Stirling and, currently, Edinburgh University.

Englishman Frith has chaired the judges of the Mercury Prize since it began in 1992 and he gave The Pop Cop an exclusive insight into what goes on behind closed doors...

How does the judging process work on the day of the ceremony?
The judges arrive at Grosvenor House hotel in London at 4pm, we go into a room and start talking about who should win. After a couple of hours we have reduced the 12 candidates to anything from four to 11 and we go downstairs to where everybody else has gathered and watch the live show. After that we've usually got an hour and a quarter to get it down to one.

Could the live performances influence the decision?
Yes, it could do and I have thought about that, given that we put a very heavy emphasis on the fact the prize is about a record and that the live show doesn't necessarily include all the acts. People's arguments will be enhanced or they'll think of other things to say as a result of watching the live show.

Do most judges go in already knowing which album is their favourite?
Yes. It's a funny process because it's never going to be that all 12 people agree on the winner. They've got to try to persuade everybody else that the album they want to win should do. On the other hand they've got to take into account the fact that if they're not going to win their argument they have to decide whose other argument convinces them.

What does your role involve?
My job as chair is to co-ordinate what can be quite a difficult conversation in such a way that I'm being fair to what everybody's saying. I always want to make sure that whoever wins does so because people passionately thought it should. If people passionately feel strongly for a record then there are going to be a lot of people who equally feel passionately against it. It's much better to have a winner which half the panel hates than have a winner that nobody minds very much. That's why we're always going to get flak. Because there is no voting system, if it came to the final second and something had to be decided then I would be the person to decide it. If we did have a formal vote and it was tied then I would have the casting vote.

What do the judges look for?
It's not really about the best record, it's about records of the year so there's got to be some sense that the records chosen represent the year in music. They've got a representational function rather than a valuative function.

Does that explain why Roni Size/Reprazent’s New Forms beat Radiohead’s OK Computer in 1997?
There's a big difference between putting things on a shortlist and how a winner is chosen. The winner has nothing to do with representational function. Roni Size didn't win because they represented something, they won because on the night the judges decided that was the record they thought was the record of the year.

In hindsight, do you think a mistake was made?
No, because I look back and still think Roni Size's record was a great record too. And I think Roni Size has a significant impact on the story of music in Britain - the whole set of sounds and approaches to music - which are just as significant as Radiohead's. There were people on that panel who were tearing their hair out in exasperation that OK Computer didn't win. I remember it well because it was so strongly felt. At the end of the day it hasn’t made much difference to Radiohead's career.

Why was the ceremony not cancelled on September 11, 2001?
That was a very surreal year. The immediate feeling among the organisers was that it certainly should be cancelled, there was no way it should go on. But the police said that as far as they were concerned with security it was much easier for everything to go on rather than people arrive and have to be turned away. We were strongly advised that it should happen. From a judging point of view it may or may not have had an effect on how we thought about things. I think it was hardest for the bands who were playing that evening. It was ironic that PJ Harvey won as she was in Washington and could see the Pentagon had been attacked.

Do you think the online revolution and the way people consume music these days will affect the relevance of an album award like the Mercury Prize?
If you take music making, we're constantly reading that because of the way the internet works, the iPod revolution and downloading in terms of individual tracks, that the album no longer really makes sense as a unit in which people listen to music and therefore the fact we have an album prize is increasingly going to become anomalous in that digital world. But making albums is how musicians see the world and how they conceive the musical space they want to occupy.

This prize is partly to do with promoting music and when it started, the notion was that you were getting records into shops and getting written about by newspapers and magazines. Now I think those are the areas that are much more affected by digital change. Retail stores seem completely out of touch with how music works. Magazines are much less significant in terms of where criticism is and where the interesting discussions are compared with online forums. In terms of where the prize is promoted, they now spend as much time in and see as much significance in getting various online services involved in sales or discussion than thinking about shops in the High Street and NME.

How do you feel about living in Scotland?
I've been here since 1987. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I first came up because I got a job here but it was only temporary so I used to travel up and down every weekend. After a few months I realised I got more miserable every time I travelled in the train going south and more happy as I travelled north, and I thought this told me something about where I wanted to live. Then I got married and had a family and they're Scottish. If you're living in places where there's interesting music going on it doesn't really matter where the industry is.

4 British Sea Power - All In It (Do You Like Rock Music?)
b October 10, Fat Sams, Dundee (tickets)
bOctober 11, ABC, Glasgow (tickets)

4 Elbow - Friend Of Ours (The Seldom Seen Kid)
bOctober 19, Carling Academy (tickets)

4 Laura Marling - Ghosts (Alas, I Cannot Swim)
bNovember 1, Art School, Glasgow (tickets)

4 Radiohead - All I Need (In Rainbows)

4 The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement (The Age Of The Understatement)
b October 22, Carling Academy (sold out)

Filtered Yet Fun :: Nightdancers Honored w/ Award Nomination & Performance I

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:24:39 +0000

Author: musicdish
Subject: Nightdancers Honored w/ Award Nomination & Performance I
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:23 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 0

Contemporary Native American Flute Music Duo NightDancers Honored with an Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) Nomination and Invitation to Perform at Indian Summer Festival 2008

NEW YORK, NY - - Contemporary Native American Flute Music Duo NightDancers has been honored with an Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) nomination for their debut album entitled MONTANA CROSSINGS in the Native Heart category. Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) recognizes and promotes the very best in commercially released Native American music created by both established and emerging artists. The ISMA Awards are presented live during the Indian Summer Festival held September 5-7 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 6, 2008. Entries are judged by a panel of respected professionals from across the music and entertainment industries. Winners are selected from 13 categories including Folk, Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Hip Hop, Spiritual, Traditional Drum, Native Heart and more!

An invitation to perform live at Indian Summer Festival 2008 was extended to NightDancers for Sunday, September 7th, Harley Davidson Stage, at 5:30pm. NightDancers has accepted but prior commitments and scheduling/routing issues has Gera Clark remaining on tour in Ireland and France. John Sarantos will perform with very special guest artists Jan Seiden and Redbelly (David Martinka). Sarantos' set will include songs from MONTANA CROSSINGS as interpreted by his musical guests.

MONTANA CROSSINGS - the debut studio recording from New York City based composer/flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos is a well-crafted, melodic gem of an album featuring themes of exploration, transformation, interconnection and grace. Recorded at the world-famous AVATAR Studios in NYC by Jim Anderson, with mastering by Fred Kervorkian, CLARK and SARANTOS assembled a team which successfully captured the essence of NightDancers' vision. MONTANA CROSSINGS contains 15 instrumental tracks featuring twenty-five flutes representing eleven flute makers from coast-to-coast. No overdubbing or sound samplers were used on the recording. Montana Crossings/GENRE: Native - New Age World; FORMAT: Instrumental - Public Radio - Variety World; MUSIC STYLE: Contemporary Native American Flute; STREET DATE: May 29, 2007.

ABOUT NIGHTDANCERS: New York City based composer/flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos, known collectively as NightDancers, enjoy sharing instrumental flute music with a unique style that takes listeners on a musical journey . . . painting sound pictures with original contemporary Native American flute songs - successfully capturing the soothing, mystical and healing qualities which are the heart and soul of Native American flute music. Clark and Sarantos met while attending a Renaissance of the Native American Flute (RNAF) workshop in 2005, which eventually led to jamming together via speakerphones 1,000 miles apart. NightDancers was formed in 2006. Ms. Clark has been teaching flute in the tradition of her Native American flute mentors, Franc Menusan, John Rainer Jr. and R. Carlos Nakai. As one of the world's premier Native flute teachers, Mr. Sarantos has facilitated contemporary Native American flute workshops from coast to coast for over 14 years. For 11 summers he has worked with Ken Light and R. Carlos Nakai at the Renaissance of the Native American Flute workshop in Montana and has written six songbooks for the native flute. He was also a contributor to Odell Borg's recent book release, Native Spirit Song Book Volume Two.
View the NightDancers Online Press Kit at: http://www.sonicbids.com/NightDancers

Visit the NightDancers Website at: http://www.nightdancersmusic.com

ABOUT INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL: Indian Summer Festival, North America's largest American Indian cultural festival celebrating its 22nd anniversary, is dedicated to strengthening the American Indian community and educating the general public on the history and the unique and diverse cultures of the American Indian by providing a forum to celebrate and showcase American Indian traditions. For further information, visit http://www.indiansummer.org

ABOUT JAN SEIDEN: Jan Seiden's moving and soulful eloquence speaks the language of the heart. Evocative music of flutes from the ancient Anasazi people and other more contemporary indigenous nations flow with themes of nature and global unity. First Place winner of the 2002 Musical Echoes Native American Cultural Gathering's national flute players' competition and 2006 recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, Seiden has performed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and many other concert stages across the U.S. both solo and sharing stages with Grammy award winners Joanne Shenandoah, Mary Youngblood, Tito LaRosa, and with Nammy-winners Arvel Bird and Jeff Ball. WOODLAND WINDS, Seiden's solo CD, was a 2004 nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards. MEMORY OF TIME, her newest CD, debuted on the charts at #19 (New Age Reporter, April 2008). For further information, visit http://www.janseiden.com

ABOUT REDBELLY (DAVID MARTINKA): As a self taught musician David Martinka draws on nature, life and his inner self to create his songs. With a long family history of music and love for the Native American Flute, David Martinka is the first bridge to the courting, healing, and peaceful side of both the Native American Style Courting Flutes and the Native Slovakian Courting Flutes. LEGENDS OF TIME, Martinka's solo CD, was a 2006 nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards. For further information, visit http://www.redbellymusic.com

Osaru - Musical Journeyman Arrives Home In Style

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:57:34 +0000

Rarely does one come across anything genuinely new in music. All the many genres have been mixed together and blended so much that originality often looks as if it has fallen by the wayside. This is not the case with Osaru on his debut album, Home.

His is a unique vocal style, a one-off musical vision and an out of the ordinary personal story. Unlike many of his musical peers, Osaru has spent years honing his talents before cutting a record, and the maturity shows.

Having learnt African percussion at the age of 8, church organ at 9 and subsequently discovering the joys of the keyboard and bass guitar, Osaru went on to play music in three separate continents. His inspirations coming from the worlds of soul, jazz, R&B, hip hop, reggae and even traditional African music. Only after such an extensive musical education, and while simultaneously working as a physician in North Carolina, has Osaru decided to share his gifts with the world.

Listening to the quality and diversity of Home, you will agree that it was certainly worth the wait. The album combines hip hop and R&B beats with jazzy instrumentation and even elements of classical music. This all comes together to form a whole that is satisfyingly head-nodding at first, but deeper and more interesting the more you listen.

There is something here for everyone, without the quality ever being compromised. From the dance floor inspired Start the Dancing to the slow, contemplative soul of the title track Home, Osaru is adept at supplying every musical need.

There is music for getting into the groove at the club, in the shape of I Know and Made Up My Mind, and there is also music for those quieter moments – The ‘Piano version’ of Pretty Lady and ‘24′ spring to mind here. However, most of all, this is music for lovers of great music who do not want to be constrained by the narrow boundaries of genre.

The best news is that this is only the beginning. Although Home has only just hit the shops, Osaru is already working on his next album, which he promises to deliver in the next Year. If it’s anything like this one, it can’t come soon enough.

Home is available now on CD Baby.

http://www.osarumusic.com
http://www.osarumusic.com/audio/OSARU-Home-2.m3u

Nightdancers Honored w/ Award Nomination & Performance Invitation

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:49:46 +0000

Contemporary Native American Flute Music Duo NightDancers Honored with an Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) Nomination and Invitation to Perform at Indian Summer Festival 2008

NEW YORK, NY - - Contemporary Native American Flute Music Duo NightDancers has been honored with an Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) nomination for their debut album entitled MONTANA CROSSINGS in the Native Heart category. Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) recognizes and promotes the very best in commercially released Native American music created by both established and emerging artists. The ISMA Awards are presented live during the Indian Summer Festival held September 5-7 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 6, 2008. Entries are judged by a panel of respected professionals from across the music and entertainment industries. Winners are selected from 13 categories including Folk, Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Hip Hop, Spiritual, Traditional Drum, Native Heart and more!

An invitation to perform live at Indian Summer Festival 2008 was extended to NightDancers for Sunday, September 7th, Harley Davidson Stage, at 5:30pm. NightDancers has accepted but prior commitments and scheduling/routing issues has Gera Clark remaining on tour in Ireland and France. John Sarantos will perform with very special guest artists Jan Seiden and Redbelly (David Martinka). Sarantos’ set will include songs from MONTANA CROSSINGS as interpreted by his musical guests.

MONTANA CROSSINGS - the debut studio recording from New York City based composer/flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos is a well-crafted, melodic gem of an album featuring themes of exploration, transformation, interconnection and grace. Recorded at the world-famous AVATAR Studios in NYC by Jim Anderson, with mastering by Fred Kervorkian, CLARK and SARANTOS assembled a team which successfully captured the essence of NightDancers’ vision. MONTANA CROSSINGS contains 15 instrumental tracks featuring twenty-five flutes representing eleven flute makers from coast-to-coast. No overdubbing or sound samplers were used on the recording. Montana Crossings/GENRE: Native - New Age – World; FORMAT: Instrumental - Public Radio - Variety – World; MUSIC STYLE: Contemporary Native American Flute; STREET DATE: May 29, 2007.

ABOUT NIGHTDANCERS: New York City based composer/flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos, known collectively as NightDancers, enjoy sharing instrumental flute music with a unique style that takes listeners on a musical journey . . . painting sound pictures with original contemporary Native American flute songs - successfully capturing the soothing, mystical and healing qualities which are the heart and soul of Native American flute music. Clark and Sarantos met while attending a Renaissance of the Native American Flute (RNAF) workshop in 2005, which eventually led to jamming together via speakerphones 1,000 miles apart. NightDancers was formed in 2006. Ms. Clark has been teaching flute in the tradition of her Native American flute mentors, Franc Menusan, John Rainer Jr. and R. Carlos Nakai. As one of the world’s premier Native flute teachers, Mr. Sarantos has facilitated contemporary Native American flute workshops from coast to coast for over 14 years. For 11 summers he has worked with Ken Light and R. Carlos Nakai at the Renaissance of the Native American Flute workshop in Montana and has written six songbooks for the native flute. He was also a contributor to Odell Borg’s recent book release, Native Spirit Song Book Volume Two. View the NightDancers Online Press Kit at: http://www.sonicbids.com/NightDancers

Visit the NightDancers Website at: http://www.nightdancersmusic.com

ABOUT INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL: Indian Summer Festival, North America’s largest American Indian cultural festival celebrating its 22nd anniversary, is dedicated to strengthening the American Indian community and educating the general public on the history and the unique and diverse cultures of the American Indian by providing a forum to celebrate and showcase American Indian traditions. For further information, visit http://www.indiansummer.org

ABOUT JAN SEIDEN: Jan Seiden’s moving and soulful eloquence speaks the language of the heart. Evocative music of flutes from the ancient Anasazi people and other more contemporary indigenous nations flow with themes of nature and global unity. First Place winner of the 2002 Musical Echoes Native American Cultural Gathering’s national flute players’ competition and 2006 recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, Seiden has performed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and many other concert stages across the U.S. both solo and sharing stages with Grammy award winners Joanne Shenandoah, Mary Youngblood, Tito LaRosa, and with Nammy-winners Arvel Bird and Jeff Ball. WOODLAND WINDS, Seiden’s solo CD, was a 2004 nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards. MEMORY OF TIME, her newest CD, debuted on the charts at #19 (New Age Reporter, April 2008). For further information, visit http://www.janseiden.com

ABOUT REDBELLY (DAVID MARTINKA): As a self taught musician David Martinka draws on nature, life and his inner self to create his songs. With a long family history of music and love for the Native American Flute, David Martinka is the first bridge to the courting, healing, and peaceful side of both the Native American Style Courting Flutes and the Native Slovakian Courting Flutes. LEGENDS OF TIME, Martinka’s solo CD, was a 2006 nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards. For further information, visit http://www.redbellymusic.com

The Mountain Goats Team With Kaki King for New EP

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:10:00 +0000

How's about a little Mountain Goats news, straight from Mr. Darnielle himself? Take it away, John!

"The new Mountain Goats EP-- the one I mentioned a few weeks back, with the limited gatefold vinyl and the special cover art and the pay-whatcha-like download option (about which we'll tell you more once we sort everything out)-- is called Satanic Messiah. It has four songs on it, one per side at 45 rpm, the way God intended. Two songs are mainly piano and voice; the other two are mainly acoustic guitar and voice. This is the lineup:

A1 Satanic Messiah
A2 Wizard Buys a Hat
B1 Sarcofago Live
B2 Gojam Province 1968

The other news-- at which I hinted on my Flickr, here-- is that Kaki King and I, under a cloak of great secrecy, snuck into Baucom Road studios in western North Carolina last month and recorded the six-song Black Pear Tree EP together with Scott Solter producing. The record is presently at the pressing plant and the idea is to have copies ready on vinyl for tour, with a sleeve designed by Horse & Buggy press, and the first 200 on colored vinyl. People who know how I feel about Kaki's music can imagine what an honor it was for me to get to work with her. Here are the songs we played:

A1 Black Pear Tree
A2 Mosquito Repellent
A3 Bring our Curses Home
A1 Supergenesis
B2 Roger Patterson Van
B3 Thank You Mario but our Princess Is in Another Castle

We are both really excited to share this record with everybody. So excited in fact that here's one of the songs [look over in Forkcast -- Ed]. On this one, I played piano and sang; Kaki played drums and glockenspiel, and also sang harmony. The song is sung from the point of view of Toad. If you know who Toad is, that's all I'll need to tell you. If you don't who Toad is, you better recognize."

Thanks, man! So there you have it: not one but two tour EPs for that Mountain Goats/Kaki King "Last Happy Night of Your Life" jaunt, which kicks off October 13 in Chicago.