Important Records
Barbez (US,2004)***°
Barbez consists of dancer, lead singer Ksenia Vidyaykina (from St.Petersburg, Russia), bandleader and leader singer, guitarist Dan Kaufman (from Wisconsin ; with interest in flamenco guitar ; -he’s also guitarist for Rebecca Moore-), vibraphonist Danny Tunick, (who also played with Guv'ner, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Rebecca Moore,..), theremin player Pamela Kurstin (she played before with Air, The Sea and Cake, David Byrne, Cibo Matto,..), bass player, electronica man Dan Coates (from Minnesota ; he’s also the inventor of ‘Pocket Pool’, a sonically inclined palm pilot), drummer & melodica player Shahzad Ismaily (he played before with Marc Ribot, Brian Eno, The Boredoms, Eyvand Kang, Secret Chiefs 3,etc...). On this release there were also guest musicians : violinist Eszter Balint, vocalist Nils Frykdahl (from Idiot Flesh, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Faun Fables), drummer Anthony Nozero (playing Drums and Tuba), and toy instrument player Rebecca Moore.
Barbez is a post-cabaret chamber ensemble. They are a bit like “provoking”, with a punk-like attitude, their interest in Argentine tango & Kurt Weil songs into a chamber music style. Brecht/Weil’s music is supposed to be for all the people, in this way it’s back from the people. Ksenia brings also Slavic folksongs to the repertoire.
In general the style of the group is this kind of vibrant chambermusicrock, which works almost like theatre in its progression partly thanks to Ksenia’s cabaret-story like vocal expressions. The theremin takes care of some weird effects, while the accordion and vibraphone gives the music a tango/jazzrock like swing, or something playful elsewhere. The violin smoothly pulls the musical forms together, reminding us: that this is a chamber orchestra, no?
The Weil song interpretations have something odd, which is away from its original content, and into a sub-theatre play, with more emphasis on the theatreplay itself than usual. I've experienced before how Weil/Brecht’s music enfolded itself under Lotte Lenya’s lead back in the thirties in Berlin, then became a different stimulation to idealisms in New York before the war. Barbez interpretations compared to this, are more surreal. The rhythmal section takes us from tango to chambermusicrock which is stimulated by accordion and electric guitars. The combination in moments works like theatrical tangorock if you wish.
privateBarbez : preview of new release (insignificance) (US,2005)****°
Barbez's new release has a different, more subtle approach, with strong compositional ideas, brilliant song leads, and attention to separately contributing instruments that are used to stimulate the musical evolutions, in an emotionality strong way. I'm delighted to see this change, even when I liked already the earlier album.
On the first three tracks : “As for the Little Grey Rabbit...” (-a Russian folk song), “Strange” and "Fear of Commitment", the band sound is emerged into a more progressive / psychedelic vibrant rock drive, with arrangements that come and go with a pulsating evolution. Instead of a cabaret-like theatre performance, on these tracks it’s a more psychedelic and emotionally rewarding direction. Fourth track, "Song of the Moldau” introduced by theremin, shows another emotion. Also here the arrangements (=lots of theremin, mixed with chimes,..) are thought over, and serve the compositional evolution well. This interpretation is a brilliant transformation of a Eisler /Brecht song. "A Melancholic Picnic" is emotionally similar. Also "Insignificance" shows a brilliant play of the theremin. It starts with a beautiful, violin-pitched- like theremin, and concludes this song with so controlled, in fact really brilliant arrangements with the same theremin. It made me also wonder which type of theremin Pamela Kurstin used here*, besides it is the result of talent. "The Sea Spread Wide" is a Russian folk song. This is performed like Underground Russian (Folk)Rock. Still with a Russian flavour is “Pain”, the longest track, which builds up tensions with song, guitars, drums, vibes and theremin, in a kind of mix of elements recognisable to Barbez. "The Portrait" after that, is a more pleasant melodic instrumental track featuring the whole group but, again, with a special touch by the theremin. Strangely enough this seems to be a composition by the brilliant contemporary composer Schnittke, because I am not able to recognize his, what I considered as a very dramatic, style. "Like Snowflakes, some sort of Red" starting up as a more melancholic track, builds up an emotional rock drive, with additional funny ideas of yodelling, and all different kinds of rhythms and rhythm evolutions. Concluding track, "Gnossienne #3" is a brilliant art-rock Satie interpretation, with drums, guitars, theremin and chimes. A musician friend just told me that Satie, like Debussy was very much inspired by a gamelan concert he saw in his days. In some way both Debussy and Satie had used the silence and an underlying rhythmical pulse of sound in their compositions, which in their time was a completely new approach to composition. It's also the idea that rhythm has its own compositional idea. If one interprets Satie that way, like the group does here, with leading chimes and additional tones by theremin, in some way, without realising, reinvents the compositional structure with the original thought from where it was developed from.
Talented ! Highly recommended !!
PS. This release finally was released in 2006 (still listed as 2005) on Important Records.
I found out on the net Pamelas theremin seems to be an Etherwave Pro, not sure if it's basically very different from most theremins : http://www.moogmusic.com/...
