Kaya Project - ... And So It Goes
2 ratings since posting on Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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(submitted by
Morpheus Music
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def great listen - Chlorophil , posted 12/17/08 |
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STYLE Lush global fusion instrumentals and stirring international songs. The third album from Kaya Project deepens the multinational sound tapestry and instrumental juxtaposition that has been a hallmark of much of Natasha Chamberlain and Seb Taylor's music. Male and female vocals in various languages lead a number of tracks - not sampled - full songs performed with a passion and feeling that sample montaging often fails to deliver. Other vocal performances are wordless - wavering Asian utternaces, gentle oohs and aahs and Middle Eastern soaring. Indeed this whole album has a more organic feel than before, more acoustic instruments; guitar, slide guitar, flute, clarinet, classical Indian violin and Arabic mowals fused with tribal percussion, breakbeats and Gypsy jazz. The clear twangs of wires, the soft thuds of hands on drum skins, heady flute breaths, jangling shakers, expressive piano and clarinet lines - all are subtly buoyed up on almost transparent electronic structres. The effect is well picked up in the cover art - warm and expressive, transportational and engrossing. MOOD ... And So It Goes strays somewhat further from its chilled roots than Walking Through and Elixir. The borders are more confidently blurred, the different genres more deftly interwoven. The project has come a long way from the early days of the chilled worldbeat when ethnic wavs were cut and pasted into electronic soundscapes as exotic flavouring - Kaya Project have built up a sound that feels genuinely global in scope, that feels authentic and natural. Tribal drum beats underpin Romany violin, orchestral elements walk side by side with ethnic recordings, Indian singers are accompanied by flamenco guitar, tablas carry slide guitar and harmonica - the atmosphere is like a world festival, shared cultures, common vision, joy of music. ARTWORK A rather sumptuous digipack holds this disc. Four matt panels open out into a broad panoramic spread. On the front cover and running across to the rear a painting with the bold look of indigenous art shows a row of twisting trees against a yellow orange red sky, huge leaves trail as a border along the top; the tightly coiled roots of the trees curling into the earth as a lower border. A faint track list appears on the back cover. Opening out to the first level - a flat beige ground holds a long list of thanks from Seb and from Interchill, track by track writing credits and cover shots of the two previous Kaya Project albums. A further turn of a panel and the disc is revealed along with performance credits and website details. A final outfolding exposes a rich branch and leaf design in similar style to the outer image. Very vivid earthy hues, strongly textured and confidently lined. OVERALL Following on from the highly successful Elixir - for the third time Kaya Project deliver their evocative music via Interchill Records. This has been a creatively fertile period for Seb Taylor clearly, the release of the Hibernation debut Some Things Never Change (a different sonic identity focussed more heavily on electronic sound and deeply chilled glitch) only weeks back. Here with Natasha Chamberlain on vocals, keyboards and flute, the attention is on a more live sound with acoustic instruments including Seb's guitar well employed and mostly dominating the mix. WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM Straying across so many boundaries it's hard to keep up ... And So It Goes will likely appeal to fans coming in from the downbeat club scene enjoying global sound, but so too fans of Deep Forest, Real World, Afro Celts and other worldbeat acts will find plenty here to enjoy. TRACK BY TRACK ALWAYS WAITING Languid lounge piano, guitar fingering and fret motion, flitting clarinet lines and violin strains interact with smooth electronic drones across a restful tabla rhythm fused with a light drum beat. International voices wail and croon in unison. This drawing together of diverse sound sources setting the tone for all that is to follow. JAMMING WITH MARCO Slide guitar, harmonica and Marco De Luca’s spoken words introduce and lead this lazy downtempo track. Clarinet duets with bottlenecked and bowed strings atop another ethnic-Western drum track. DEEP KAYA Solo clarinet and wordless, sensual female singing open this piece, then continue as elements among orchestral flourishes, double bass and jazzy beat. The dreamy tempo is maintained, the melodies understated and appearing somewhat improvisational. ZEMA LASU Double bass, lightly strummed acoustic guitar and piano support Randolph Matthew’s gentle singing in what is the first ‘song’ of the album. Again the percussive material is laid back, combining hand drums and kit work – unobtrusive and buoyant. THE SOURCE A light breakbeat, electric wah wah guitar and some deft mandolin fingering work around the voice of male Indian singer Deeyah. Violin played with Asian intricacies maintains the exotic nature of this piece – easy on the ear, something of a tropical sunset feel. FIVE PLUS EIGHT A tribal beat with echoing shakers and flute flutters gradually builds - guitar rolls in smoothly and a delightfully meandering Indian flute takes the lead. SARANGHI BREAKS As might be expected the bowed moan of the saranghi leads this piece - an energetic tabla and pacey drum beat driving the rhythm. Sabiha Khan and Natasha Chamberlain both sing airy phrases among the twisting saranghi melodies. Bright and lively. HIRAJOSHI Deeply oriental - this track is the first to be structured without a main beat. Delicate pucks and strums steeped in the traditions of the Far East support faint flute swells. Highly atmospheric and meditative - an introspective interlude in the centre of the festival. ... & SO IT GOES The title track wells up from a bed of crickets into a juxtaposition of slide guitar and busy flute glissandos. The beat and bassline are more danceable here - male yells and calls adding extra emphasis. Violin joins the mix - rapid scales in pace with the flute parts. Typical of the album ... & So It Goes is a melting pot of genres; Western structures join global sounds and instruments associated with both classical and pop culture work in unison. Crickets fade. SHIFTING SANDS An easy rhythm introduces Randolph Matthews' next song. Lolling double bass and idle slide guitar are given slightly magical touch as twinkling chimes and sensual female vocals brush the surface. DARK ROADS Aptly titles - a brooding tone inhabits this track. Sabiha Khan's voice in contrast with the low acoustic guitar patterns. In further contrast clarinet and Indian violin play off one another. The beat is mid paced - a further fusion of tabla and drum kit ... hypnotic and cycling, the various elements ebbing and flowing, taking turns at centre stage. Surprisingly coherent blend of such diverse instrumentation. OBSIDIAN BEATS Lifting the pace a little - the now familiar ensemble presents a sound that here feels Middle Eastern. A cinematic aspect is heightened by broad string sweeps and strongly effected voices bathed in reverb. In places the beat disperses allowing the hand drumming to come to the fore - the worldbeat nature welling up ever more powerfully in these interludes. DRIFT A second beatless space unfurls. Synthetic pads and contemplative piano over rippling guitar fingering. The main melody comes in the form of a rather plaintive clarinet. The blissful, sleepy tenor of Drift is heightened by the Natasha's wordlessly breathed vocalisings. AWAKEN As the carnival reawakens - low toned drums set a very slow pace. Rapid acoustic guitar patterns dance lightly with beguiling ease as a female voice and stabbing violin glissando stretch the laziness of the rhythm. Just as the wave of energy feels about to break, the music almost sighs back into restraint. A spoken female voice leading us off into the next track. BEKHUDI Bekhudi continues the soporific state built up over the last few compositions with a drawn out introduction. When the beat begins and the various instruments take their turns, the unlikely band of widely gathered players now sound as natural as if these are sounds that have always been side by side. This is a pretty representative track - very effective downbeat global lounge music. OUSIDE LOOKING IN Randolph Matthews sings for the last time - the slide guitars, tablas, strings, supporting female voices all in passionate harmony. A dramatic weight energises this piece - broad and filmic - a touch of theatrical magic in the air. UNDER THE SPELL The album concludes with a much laid back track - Seb's clean guitar playing rolls across a gentle shaker rhythm. Natasha Chamberlain's dreamy utterances float above - soporific - beautiful Asian violin equally unhurried takes its turn among the fairy tale chimes and fades... - Morpheus Music , posted 12/17/08 |
Kaya Project - ... And So It Goes was recommended for:
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- Tribe: DOWNTEMPO
