I knew Goat‘s new album, Oh Death, was going to be a treat when it opens with a sample of a song from the film The Undertaker and His Pals.
That track is “Soon You Die,” and it brings back Goat back after a year with so much fuzz that you might think your speakers are faulty. The lyrics are about the inevitable coming of death to us all, but how it’s really nothing to worry about when you stop to consider it. “Soon you die, but don’t you cry, ’cause there’s still time to go party.” It’s great to hear the strange, intoxicating sounds that only Goat can seem to create on guitars – even as they fade out and leave you wanting more.
“Chukua Pesa” brings back their love of Middle Eastern instrumentation, rhythms, and vocal stylings. “Under No Nation” has Goat proclaiming, with groovy hand percussion and sweat lodge dance beats (and plenty of wild, acid jazz saxophone), that they’re free of labels, borders, and limits imposed by others or themselves. If you aren’t moving by the time “Do the Dance” comes along, you certainly will be after it starts.
It wouldn’t be a Goat album if there wasn’t at least one song with the word “goat” in the title, and Oh Death has two. The first is the weird, drunken hornets’ next “Apegoat” instrumental and the second is “Goatmilk” – a space-age psych-lounge cut. It perfectly flows into “Blow the Horns” – a call to beings above and beyond us whose guidance we can all use right now.
“Remind Yourself” is a reminder that we can only bring peace from within. In order to project peace, we must first remember that we have it all within us. It’s there, we often just choose, consciously or not, to not accept it. The mix of distorted guitars with clear marimba beats is a wild one. The brief instrumental of “Blessings” drifts into “Passes Like Clouds” – a lovely instrumental to remind you that thoughts, pain, pleasure, life, and, yes, death, all eventually drift away and reform like clouds. Thich Nhat Hanh once said that we are like clouds and “A cloud never dies.” Goat knows this, too, and they want to share that knowledge with us.
Recorded in 1991 and released only on a minuscule run of cassettes, Tinariwen‘s Kel Tinariwen is a fascinating timepiece of their early sound and the building blocks of what would become the desert blues style the band that would make the band famous around the world.
Opening with a song about history, “À L’Histoire,” you hear bits of late 80s Afropop and synth music mixed with their traditional style Tuareg vocals (with female co-vocals sung in French!). “Kedou Kedou” brings in what would become their familiar, hypnotic guitar sound, and the mesmerizing sounds only increase on “Atahoura Techragh D’Azaka Nin.”
“Matadjem Yinmexan” is bouncy and lively. You’ll hear how much Tinariwen have influenced Goat on this track. “Awa Idjan War Infa Iman” puts together simple synth-strings and trance-inducing vocals and guitar rhythms. “Sendad Eghlalan” has a brightness to it that is difficult to explain until you hear it. It’s probably from the shopping mall-organ riffs and beats.
The trippy, haunting melodies of “Tenidagh High Djeredjere” are like an appetizer for the main course of the album’s closer, “Arghane Manine,” which is full of electric dance beats, hand percussion, and a simple, repetitive guitar lick that perfectly matches with the Tuareg vocals and chants.
I don’t know if members of Tinariwen thought this album would be a massive success, or if they were just happy with being able to make it, put it out there, and spread the stories of the Tuareg people. Thankfully, they decided to re-release it for all of us on a wide scale for the first time so we can hear these old stories and get lost in them.
Touareg collective Tinariwen are thrilled to announce the reissue of Kel Tinariwen, marking the project’s first-ever official release since it appeared in 1992 locally in Mali on cassette, out November 4th via Wedge. In conjunction, they share its lead single and album closer, “Arghane Manine.” The track skips with percussion, grooving bass, and twangs of electric guitar. Across “Arghana Manine,” vocals call back and forth to each other. Kel Tinariwen will see release alongside two additional Tinariwen reissues, Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion, out for the first time on vinyl the same day via CraftRecordings.
A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band’s already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop.
In the summer of 1991, four members of Tinariwen traveled to Abidjan in Ivory Coast to record the band’s first official release, Kel Tinariwen. They were AbdallahAgAlhousseyni, HassanAgTouhamiaka ‘Abin Abin,’KedouAgOssad and LiyaAgAblilaka ‘Diarra.’ The project was the brainchild of KeltoumSennhauser, a painter, poet and songwriter of mixed parentage (her father was a Sonhrai, her mother a Touareg), who grew up partly in Bamako, partly in the Kidal region of north-eastern Mali, the homeland of all the members of Tinariwen. Like so many Touareg from that region, Keltoum and her family had been forced to emigrate by the droughts that tore the Touareg world apart in the mid-1970s and 1980s, as well as all the oppression and suffering that had followed independence in 1960. Keltoum became deeply involved in the Touareg struggle for freedom and self-determination and saw music in general and music of Tinariwen in particular as an essential part of that struggle.
Kel Tinariwen was never heard outside of the local community that traded cassettes back in 1992 – an activity that was important to the movement, as Keltoum explains: “I think the cassette played a crucial role as a tool of communication, a tool that was very dear to us. It served to raise awareness and awaken the consciences of those who felt that everything was already lost, or that we didn’t have the wherewithal to win our struggle. It allowed the Touareg world to develop its own conscience and move forward. In our milieu, the only thing that can make us question ourselves is music. Because we listen to a lot of music, we love music, we love poetry. We don’t read. We’re not a people who read. So, the only reading we have, about ourselves and about the outside world, is music.” Thirty years later, the album is finally seeing an official release, on vinyl, CD, and cassette to pay homage to its original format.
There’s distinct parallels with the sounds found on this tape and the work uncovered in recent years by crate-digger labels such as Awesome Tapes From Africa, Sahel Sounds and Sublime Frequencies. Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion are Tinariwen’s third and fourth studio albums respectively. It’s a blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll – a sound that critics have called “desert blues.”
Alongside Kel Tinariwen, Tinariwen are also reissuing Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companions – their third and fourth studio albums respectively. A blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll –a sound that critics have called “desert blues.” Aman Iman: Water Is Life was Tinariwen’s third studio album, originally released in 2007, and recorded in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Produced by JustinAdams (Robert Plant’s guitarist and producer of the Tinariwen’s debut album The Radio Tisdas Sessions), and recording engineer BenFindlay. The whole Tinariwen story breathes through its twelve songs, beginning with the first Touareg rebellion of 1963, which lies at the root of so much pain and trauma in the Malian Touareg mindset and which is vividly recalled by Ibrahim in his brooding song ‘Soixante Trois..’
Imidiwan: Companions was the band’s fourth album, and it possesses all the elements that have made them so alluring; raw simplicity, melodic beauty, songs ranging from the epic and universal to the intimate and personal. The 13-track album, produced by Jean-Paul Romann, was recorded in Tessalit, the Malian desert village home of band members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and Hassan Ag Touhami.
In advance of the three reissues’ release, Tinariwen will return stateside for a North American tour this September and October. Tinariwen will kick off their North American tour in Chicago on Fri. Sept. 9th. Tickets are on-sale now and available at tinariwen.com/tour.
Kel Tinariwen Tracklist: 1. À L’Histoire 2. Khedou Khedou 3. Adounia Tarha 4. Matadjem Yinmexan 5. Awa Idjan War Infa Iman 6. Sendad Eghlalan 7. Sendad Eghlalan 8. Arghane Manine
Aman Iman: Water Is Life Tracklist: 1. Cler Achel 2. Mano Dayak 3. Matadjem Yinmixan 4. Ahimana 5. Soixante Trois 6. Toumast 7. Imidiwan WinakaliN 8. Awa Didjen 9. Ikyadarh Dim 10. Tamatant Tilay 11. Assouf 12. Izarharh Tenere
Imidiwan: Companions Tracklist: 1. Imidiwan Afrik Tendam 2. Lulla 3. Tenhert 4. Enseqi Ehad Didagh 5. Tahult In 6. Tamodjerazt Assis 7. Intitlayaghen 8. Imazighen N Adagh 9. Tenalle Chegret 10. Kel Tamashek 11. Assuf Ag Assuf 12. Chabiba 13. Ere Tasfata Adounia
Tinariwen Tour Dates: Fri. Sept. 9 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Sat. Sept. 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center Mon. Sept. 12 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater Tue. Sept. 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge Thu. Sept. 15 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos Fri. Sept. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Theatre Sat. Sept. 17 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Mon. Sept. 19 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre Tue. Sept. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre Wed. Sept. 21 – Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum Theater Fri. Sept. 23 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk – Indoor Sat. Sept. 24 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips Sun. Sept. 25 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater Tue. Sept. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues Thu. Sept. 29 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom Fri. Sept. 30 – Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere Sat. Oct. 1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts Mon. Oct. 3 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall Tue. Oct. 4 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre Wed. Oct. 5 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Music Hall Fri. Oct. 7 – Montreal, QC @ Rialto Theatre Sat. Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall
Fuzzed in Europe is a six-song live EP from Swedish psych-voodoo rockers, GOAT, that compiles some of their favorite tracks from a European tour in the autumn of 2016. The tracks were picked due to them being alternate versions of album releases or even “normal” live cuts. As a result, we get to hear GOAT further expanding their cosmic sound into new dimensions.
The opener, “Talk to God,” is over seven minutes of hypnotizing psychedelia that takes on a bit more drone than the album version. The same goes for “Time for Fun,” which practically turns into a mantra by the end of it. “I Sing in Silence” transforms from a blissful dance into a trance-inducing vision of something much like the album cover.
The guitars on “Gather of Ancient Tribes” (possibly also known as, you guessed it, “GOAT”) are almost like magic wands casting spells as the female duo lead singers keep singing / chanting, “Into the fire!” “The Sun the Moon” speeds up in this live version, becoming a frantic voodoo-disco track.
A ten-minute-plus version of “Run to Your Mama” ends the EP, being heavier than other versions and no less head-spinning. You might end up dancing around shirtless and seeing visions of Egyptian gods riding boats across the sky while listening to it. I didn’t, but the fact that the image came to mind while writing this suggests otherwise.
The whole EP is full of moments like this. Don’t let it slip by you.
Collecting B-sides, singles, re-edits, and new material, GOAT‘s Headsoupis a great release for fans of the band and fans of wild psychedelic rock.
“The Sun the Moon,” for example was the B-side to the “Goatman” single. The alternate version of “Stonegoat” sounds thicker than the original, making it even more mind-altering. “Dreambuilding” is also chock-full of distorted guitars, and the wild hand percussion on it is a perfect yang to the guitars’ yin. “Dig My Grave” tones down the fuzz so it can add more reverb.
The re-edit of “It’s Time for Fun” almost becomes a krautrock track with its electro-beats and pulsing synthesizers. “Relax” is a loud, yet hypnotizing instrumental. The alternate take of “Union of Mind and Soul” is just as bouncy as the original. “The Snake of Addis Ababa” could probably charm a cobra out of a wicker basket with its entrancing guitar work and rhythm.
“Goatfizz” is another cool instrumental, reminding me of late 1970s / early 1980s background jazz you’d hear in a hotel lobby or on an obscure late night cable TV channel. The new edit of “Let It Burn” is as heavy as a Black Sabbath B-side. “Friday Pt. 1” is soft and mellow to balance out the previous track, with a soulful saxophone solo to boot. “Fill My Mouth” is, as you might imagine from the title, the naughtiest song GOAT has written – and one of their funkiest as well. I mean, holy crap, the flute breakdown on it alone is worth the price of admission. “Fill My Mouth” and the following track, the sexy, psychedelic “Queen of the Underground” were GOAT’s first new tracks in several years, and showed they were still at the top of their game.
Let’s hope there’s more new stuff to come, because Headsoup only made us GOAT fans hungrier.
Recorded in Camden’s Electric Ballroom in London on July 27, 2013, GOAT‘s Live Ballroom Ritual is a ripping album that captures the band of Swedish voodoo psych-rockers blowing people’s minds and taking them to other planes of existence.
The show starts simply enough, with the calm, soothing guitar strumming on “Dirabi” for over three minutes before the drums and hand percussion come in to let everyone know that they’re in for a mystical journey. “Golden Dawn” continues this levitation into some kind of sacred space between funk and psychedelia. “People get ready under the rainbow,” the ladies of GOAT sing on “Disco Fever” – a swirling, pulsing track that probably had the whole place bouncing and sweating after just three songs in the set.
“Stonegoat” was their new single at the time, and it’s a stomper that contrasts well with the mellower (but no less funkier, especially with its ripping saxpohone solo) “Let It Bleed.” The instrumental “Dreambuilding” is absolutely hypnotic, leading us to the sweaty, heavy “Run to Your Mama” that I’m sure floored the one thousand-plus fans in the audience.
Three “goat songs” follow: The somehow heavier “Goathead,” with its percussive bass,” the trance (and possibly hallucination)-inducing “Goatman, and “Goatlord” – a slow sizzler that sets the table for the eleven-minute “Det som aldrig förändras – Kristallen den fina.” It’s a massive track that fills whichever space in which you hear it. Every part of it crushes. The performance ends with the massively fuzzy “The Sun the Moon,” combining chants with frenetic drumming and sawmill guitars.
I consider myself lucky to have seen GOAT live here in the United States. I hope they will return soon. They are doing some European shows these days, but their shows here have become somewhat legendary, like this stunning performance.
This fun compilation released in the US by Runt Records (and originally in Italy by Abraxas) showcases the work of Francesco De Masi, Bruno Nicolai, Lallo Gori, Mario Migliari, and Vassil Kojucharov. The first three composers make up most of the compilation, with Migliari and Kojucharov only getting one track each on the album.
The sixteen tracks span films ranging from many of the Sartana franchise including Nicolai’s gorgeous title tracks to C’e’ Sartana…Vendi la Pistola e Comprati La Bara! (There is Sartana…Sell the Pistol and Buy a Coffin!) and Buon Funerale Amigos…Paga Sartana (part 1) (Have a Good Funeral, Friends…Sartana Will Pay). “Stranger,” with its bold vocals, is a fun track.
Many of the DeMasi pieces are collaborations with famous Italian guitarist and composter Alessandro Alessandroni, whose fine guitar work is all over tracks like “Monetero’s Plan” and “Vento e Whisky” (which has a great horn section that sounds like it wandered from the set of an Italian crime thriller to play on the score for Stranger).
Migliardi’s title track for Prega il Morto e Ammazza il Vivo (Pray for the Dead and Shoot the Living) sizzles like a rattlesnake on a warm rock. Nicolai’s title track for Gil Fumavano le Colt…Lo Chiamavano Campsanto (They Call Him Cemetery) is a classic with its expert whistling, symphonic strings, hollow-body guitar work, and vocal chorus all mixing together for a perfect blend. The vocals on DeMasi’s “Gold” are so bold they’re almost over the top and ridiculous, but they hold back just enough to make them amazing in their own right. His title track for 1963’s Il Segno del Coyote (The Sign of the Coyote) could fit on practically any John Ford film.
It’s a collection that’s over too soon, even with sixteen tracks on it, and a good reminder that Ennio Morricone (God rest his soul.) wasn’t the only formidable composer of spaghetti western soundtracks.
The final day of Levitation France (June 05th) had the coolest weather, but there was no rain. The predicted thunderstorms all came overnight, and most of the rain came in the afternoon on Saturday, so we never had to wear our ponchos. The bands we saw that day were among the most varied in musical styles.
First up were the Japanese trio Kuunatic, who play music I can best describe as psychedelic traditional Shinto music mixed with some doom metal bass. It was their first time playing in France, so that made their set a little more special. Everyone in the crowd was intrigued by them at first and loving them by the end of their set.
Kuunatic getting us into a different headspace.
We took a lunch break (Yay, focaccia!) and then came back to the Elevation Stage to see Frankie and the Witch Fingers. My girlfriend hadn’t seen them before, and this would be the fourth time I had. To say their set was powerful would be a massive understatement. They destroyed that stage. The crowd was absolutely bonkers by the end of their set. Many, it seemed, had no idea what was in store for them and were almost blasted into shock not even halfway through their show. My girlfriend described them as follows: “They play like their hair is on fire.”
Frankie and the Witch Fingers melting faces.
Pretty much everyone did an about-face after their set to watch The Brian Jonestown Massacre, who played a good mix of new and classic material. I lost count of how many times some of them switch instruments. Audience members were calling for songs, or trying to have loud conversations with band leader Anton Newcombe in-between songs. Newcombe’s banter with the crowd was fun, especially after one man yelled, “I need more drugs!”, and Newcombe replied, “You don’t need more drugs. You need better drugs. If you had better drugs, you wouldn’t be yelling. You’d be mellowed out.” They sounded great. Top marks go to whomever engineered their set.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre with their requested “drug lights, not drug bust lights.”
The day, and the festival, ended with British post-bunkers Lumer playing a hard, rocking set. They’d been hanging out at the festival most of the weekend, and they looked like they were on a mission, possibly to rescue a skyscraper full of hostages or even some ducklings that had fallen through a sewer grate, every time I saw them walking somewhere. They all had this intense focus and looked ready to either fight or share a pint with you depending on the circumstances. Their live set embodied this the entire time.
Lumer illuminating the evening.
Afterwards, we got on the first of only two paid shuttle buses leaving the festival to go back to downtown Angers. This bus nearly sideswiped a road sign along the Angers streets, to the point where we had to yell for the driver to stop as he attempted to make a turn. He backed up and went through a number of additional one-way streets to get back on track to the downtown city center…where he proceeded to sideswipe two parking poles while attempting to make another tight turn. The wreck caused the glass in the rear exit doors to burst, and it appeared that the bus was stuck on the poles and unable to move. One festival-goer, with a beer still in hand, managed to remove the poles from the sidewalk so the us could make the turn. Only a third of us got back on the bus, either to return to a campground (the only other stop it was scheduled to make) or, like us, to see how this crazy trip would end. Thankfully, it ended with us at the city center without further incident.
The post-festival transportation is my only complaint about Levitation France. There were plenty of buses going to La Chabada, but only three returning on Friday and Saturday nights and only two on Sunday night. Plus, the odds of finding an Uber driver late night in Angers are slim to none. I don’t know if the festival can convince Angers to have more late buses (especially for those who can’t or don’t intend to stay for the whole evening – most of the buses didn’t arrive until the final act was done each night) next year, but that would be a great upgrade to an otherwise fun festival.
Next year will be the tenth anniversary of Levitation France, so the lineup will surely be one to behold. Start brushing up your Français now, and get ready for Levitation Austin on Halloween weekend!
I scored this lovely and bargain-priced (twenty bucks!) mini-set of five classic albums by bossa nova queen Astrud Gilberto while on a late winter trip to California. The set covers records released by Gilberto (Yes, the first wife of Brazilian composer João Gilberto and stepmother to Bebel Gilberto.) from 1965 to 1969. In particular, they are her first (The Astrud Gilberto Album – 1965), third (Look to the Rainbow – 1966), fourth (A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness – 1966), sixth (Windy – 1968), and seventh (I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do – 1969) records, and all of them are delightful.
The first album pairs her with the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim, who wrote her famous hit “The Girl from Ipanema.” Like that song (which is not on this record, but rather on the other classic Getz / Gilberto), this album is an instant mood-changer. Starting with “Once I Loved,” and Gilberto singing that “love is the saddest thing when it goes away,” everything around you adapts to her voice. Her duo with Jobim on “Agua De Beber” is another song that brings a smile to your face, and Joao Donato‘s piano on it is a delight while Jobim’s subtle guitar strumming hits harder than most metal records. Gilberto sings about the nerves associated with new love on “And Roses and Roses” while snappy percussion sizzles and soothes behind her. “How Insensitive” is heart-breaking yet alluring. “Dindi” is a bossa nova standard, and Gilberto does a great version of it here.
Look to the Rainbow is full of stunning arrangements by Gil Evans. Opener “Berimbou” would fit into a 1960’s Bond film with its lush horn section and exotic strings. The horns on “Fervo” might inspire a wild party in the streets. “Maria Quiet” is, I’m sure, being played in a Tiki bar somewhere right now. “Bim Bom” is peppy and bouncy, sure to flood a dance floor in that Tiki bar. “El Preciso Aprender a Ser So (Learn to Live Alone)” is one of those songs Gilberto pulls off so well – longing and yearning mixed with Zen-like detachment.
A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness teams Gilberto with the Walter Wanderley Trio. Wanderley was an organ maestro who played on “The Girl from Ipanema,” and his band (Jose Marino – bass, Bobby Rosengarden – percussion, Claudio Slon – drums) are all sharp pros. The first two tracks are the double title tracks and both are bossa nova lounge classics. Wanderley’s organ riffs on “Nega” are the sounds of a hundred drive-in intermission countdowns, and Gilberto’s playful vocals on it are a delight. “So Nice (Summer Samba)” is another bossa nova classic, and it’s great to hear Wanderley strut his stuff on it while Rosengarden adds some spicy beats Any melancholy you might be feeling is wiped out by “Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza).” If the closer, “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” doesn’t cheer you up, I don’t know what will.
Windy was cut while Gilberto was living in Philadelphia and raising her and João’s son, Marcelo (with whom she shares vocals on “The Bare Necessities”). A lot of the songs are the album are big and bold, suitable for a Las Vegas nightclub or your party’s hi-fi. Opening track “Dreamy” is a perfect example with its lively brass section. “Never My Love” exudes soft 1960s psychedelia. She nails the title track (a cover of the classic hit by The Association), taking on the identity of the mysterious, playful woman as her own. Her cover of The Beatles‘ “In My Life” is also lovely.
According to the liner notes, Gilberto calls I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do her “fireplace album.” She wanted to make a record that moved away from the aggressive sounds dominating the 1969 airwaves and could be listened to while curled up next to a fire. She did it. “He’s got a problem if he thinks I need him,” she sings on the opening title track. She had divorced João by this point, so you can’t help imagining her singing that in his direction. The soft, subtle horns on “Wailing of the Willow” mix perfectly with Gilberto’s haunting voice. “The Sea Is My Soil (I Remember When)” again makes you wonder why Gilberto never sang the theme to a Bond film. Everyone can relate to “World Stop Turning” at one point or another as Gilberto wishes time would stop so she could stay in bed with her husband just a bit longer.
It’s a wonderful collection, and a great way to be introduced to her music and bossa nova.
Saajtak (pronounced: sahje-talk)—based in Detroit (Jonathan Barahal Taylor, Ben Willis, Simon Alexander-Adams) and Brooklyn (Alex Koi)—today announced their debut album, For the Makers, out June 3, 2022 via American Dreams.
On anthemic lead track “Big Exit,” Koi treats her words like playthings, stretching syllables past semantics, vocal lines in conversation with one another. Alexander-Adams’ electronics quiver, and Taylor’s clattering kit seems to deconstruct the rhythm it builds, before the song unspools into a lush, minimal coda just before the 4-minute mark. Watch the video for “Big Exit” here.
Saajtak makes futuristic music that synthesizes a wide range of genres—often in ways that seem to clash against each other, always in service to the song. The band has quietly made music in Detroit for the better part of a decade, collaborating with members of clipping. and sharing bills with Xiu Xiu, Ava Mendoza and Greg Fox. Koi sings and writes lyrics; Taylor plays drums, Willis bass; Alexander-Adams contributes keyboard and electronics. But to individuate their contributions does the music a disservice. Saajtak sounds, feels, like a living, breathing organism, for which recordings don’t present definitive documents as much as they reflect songs at given points in their lives. For the Makers, the band’s first album, brims with ideas, treating their shape-shifting compositions with a high depth of field.
Saajtak’s compositions are rooted in collective improvisation; their first release, spectral [ drips ], collects several free improvisations. The band was recording music live for a full-length debut when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on their principal way of making music. In response, the band began working on new music remotely, in increments of eight days. Every two days, members would trade songs, gradually sculpting them into final iterations. Willis recalls putting on his headphones as he began recording bass: “The layers that Alex, Simon, and Jon had begun to craft engulfed me like a wave, filling me. I was suddenly surrounded by my friends.” Over time, the music organically cohered into an album, bringing together influences as wide-ranging as Richard Davis, Meredith Monk and Melvins. Koi’s lyrics balance narrative and enigma, incorporating several perspectives within a song in an approach she calls polyphonic narrative. “I like to imagine how personas might converse in worlds with varying levels of familiarity and skewness,” she explains. “What we receive are relationships that flow between splintery and harmonious, and that contain both ecstasy and affliction. There’s a big thrill in all this, when nothing can be apathetic.”
Throughout, the album mixes the organic and synthetic. Even as motifs, images and lyrics recur, the music thrums with energy, opening into new worlds. This, perhaps, is part of the point: to illustrate an escape, to be one. To Alexander-Adams, For the Makers was “as much a healing practice as it was a means to create”; to Willis, it “feels like a year-improvisation, for which the music never stopped the whole time.” Says Taylor, “it represents our collective voice in the deepest sense: an amalgamation of our individual vulnerabilities, imaginations, ambitions, and love for each other.” The album is testament to the restless creativity powering Saajtak’s engine, and the importance of cultivating creativity, trust and community.
