As I begin this latest edition of Earth Tones, I'm neck-deep in preparations for Bumbershoot, the massive arts festival that takes place in Seattle every Labor Day weekend. (By the time you read this, the festival will be long over; I hope that those of you who went had a wonderful time, and I'm not just saying that because I spent the summer working for the PR department.) I mention this because as part of my job, I got to hear some great music that I might never have been exposed to otherwise. Before I get down to reviewing CDs, I want to say a little something about that.
People have asked me more than once how I come by some of the stuff I review. Some of it I buy, often on a whim; that's how I discovered Portuguese fado, Lisa Gerrard's gorgeous soundtrack to Whale Rider and the entire NorthSide catalog of imported Scandinavian music. Some of it lands on my desk because I'm a freelance music writer. Many of the CDs that reach me this way are nothing special, but some of them are outstanding. And some of it is recommended to me by friends.
This is a very interesting time for music -- not just for the music industry, but how music is made. Globalization affects music just as it affects everything else; it's why Sàmi singer Mari Boine uses trance and jazz to complement her traditional chants, why a group of Russians started a band based on their obsession with Elvis Presley and named themselves the Red Elvises and why there's a whole genre of dance music called Asia Massive that mixes electronica with the traditional sounds of the Indian subcontinent (if that last one sounds interesting, I have a treat for you this column). The recordings made by these artists are a harvest resulting from cross-pollination, grafting one genre onto another to create something new. Right now, a lot of this is still going on underneath the surface of pop music, but look deeper: Amazing music is being made right now, and it's not even that hard to find.
You can do it the old-fashioned way, by browsing the CD racks at Tower, which even has listening stations for you. You can cruise the radio dial and find something like Seattle's C-89.5, which is heavy on the electronica and highly experimental. You can go online and find radio stations, downloadable archives, song samples and more -- and with many of these less well-known artists, every sale of every CD counts. (You can also read columns like this one -- I'm thrilled whenever someone tells me that they've bought a CD on my recommendation, even more when they tell me that they like it -- but I've always intended Earth Tones as a starting point. I could write a column every week if time were no object and still not cover all of the interesting stuff that's out there.)
On that note, the first CD I'd like to discuss this column is Branching Out (Barnaby Productions), by Celtic music group Iona. Hailing from the mid-Atlantic region of the east coast, Iona draw together the disparate threads of Celtic music, blending tunes from Brittany, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and everywhere else Celtic music can be found today -- including the country with the most people of Celtic descent in the world, the United States. The music of Ireland and Scotland in particular has influenced American musical heritage in some surprising ways; you can hear it in bluegrass, rockabilly and even the Piedmont blues, a regional blues subgenre centered in Virginia. A long way from a reel and a jig, perhaps, but the group Iona traces this musical diaspora along a number of lines of descent, drawing them back together with the expertise of scholars and the passion of born musicians. This latter quality makes Branching Out a delight, beyond its interest to those with an ethnomusicological bent. The band's Web site is at http://www.ionamusic.com; check it out for information on how to get the CD, which may not be widely available.
Equally enjoyable is the new CD from traditional Scottish ensemble Back of the Moon, entitled Fortune's Road (Foot Stompin' Records). Consisting of some of the rising stars of the Scottish folk scene, this group has produced an extraordinarily accomplished and passionate recording, brimming with top-notch performances and gorgeous arrangements. A mix of songs and instrumental material, Fortune's Road features a great deal of original music, which is as solidly composed and expertly performed as the traditional music. As with much Scottish folk music that I've heard, there's a thread of sadness winding through this album, touching even the more upbeat material, which is very appropriate to the season and the upcoming fall equinox. If you can't find Fortune's Road in your local music store, try http://www.footstompin.com.
Then there's the new album from Draupner, Arvet! (Caprice). A Swedish fiddle trio with traditionalist leanings, Draupner nonetheless give their material a classical bent, with harmonies and arrangements that owe as much to the Western classical tradition as to that of Swedish folk. The boys of Draupner may look more like members of a Seattle emo band than like a folk ensemble, but that's one of the cool things about the folk scene in Scandinavia -- a lot of young musicians are picking up the reins, injecting new life into the music with contemporary, global influences and turning the result into something utterly new. At the same time, groups like Draupner are keeping the older musical traditions alive without letting them gather dust. Arvet means "heritage," but Draupner's music appeals beyond the bounds of its own culture.
In connection with the aforementioned Asia Massive, few better current proponents of the genre exist than Karsh Kale. Fusing traditional Indian music -- Kale is an able percussionist who regularly works with such greats as Zakir Hussein and is a founding member of the group Tabla Beat Science -- with a rock aesthetic and avant-garde electronica, Kale makes music that is at once inventive, forward-thinking and elementally primal. Liberation (Six Degrees), his latest release, gives a whole new inflection to the phrase "trance music," conveying the impression of entrancement on the part of the musicians as well as those who might dance to it (it's perfect dance music, by the way, with a passionate, fiery edge). Working with a strong dynamic edge and a broad musical palette, Kale has created a colorful and enthralling collection of music that is especially suitable for fire-oriented rituals -- if you have one in the works, pick up this recording.
That's all from me for this issue. I've recommended fewer recordings than usual, but I hope that I've given you a few directions for discovering great music on your own.
Neck-deep in the aforementioned Bumbershoot preparations, I only have a few live music recommendations this time around, all at the Tractor Tavern. Danu plays there on September 24, the Rockabilly Ball is September 25-27, and acoustic bluesman Kelly Joe Phelps performs on September 28. For more information, visit the club's Web site at http://tractortavern.citysearch.com.
Reach Genevieve Williams at rimrun@drizzle.com.