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Tanakh | Villa Claustrophobia
From Indian drone to western folk, and back again.
CD, Alien8/Konkurrent
Tekst: Bas Ickenroth
Publicatiedatum: 08 november 2002
Sometimes people aren't able to make choices. Not always a bad thing; not always good, either. Tanakh is an example of both.
Tanakh, a project of Jesse Poe that features such guests as Mick Turner from the Dirty Three, Ned Oldham from Palace, and Nirmal Bajekal from the Ravi Shankar band (amongst others), debuts with Villa Claustrophobia on the mighty Alien8 label. This is by far the most accessible release on that avant-garde label, but that doesn't mean it's an easy one.
Jesse Poe has several musical interests, and Indian raggas and drones, and Appalachian folk are especially his favourites. On Villa Claustrophobia, he tries to combine both types of music, and to make a long story short: Sometimes it works out greatly, and sometimes it fails miserably. Let's start with the good things. Tanakh are at its best when leaving the west and heading for the east. The drony pieces, with mantra chanting by Nirmal Bajekal, are majestic and gorgeous, and leave you mesmerized. The sound is authentic, transparant, and deep, while Indian percussion, violins, and sitars add up to the wonderful vocals by Bajekal. The atmosphere is not dissimilar from Shalabi Effect's first album; however, Villa Claustrophobia seems more structured and composed than SE's improvisations.
So far, so good, but when the Appalachian folk takes hold, not everything is that good anymore. Poe's voice is, at times, too off-key to make listening a pleasant experience, and his lyrics in 'Gently Johnny' are simply lame. Luckily, that is the worst moment, and his small acoustic compositions are fairly good overall. One brilliant aspect is the sometimes competely fluent transition from Indian drone into western folk, and back again. That proves that Tanakh has a bright-looking future in front of them. I'm very curious about their next journeys.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/tanakh/villa-claustrophobia/2025/
Meer Tanakh op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/tanakh
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