This morning we welcome Širom to select three eclectic Sunday morning tunes with us. They are a trio whose members stem from the regions of Prekmurje, Tolminsko and Kras.
Ana Kravanja, Samo Kutin and Iztok Koren play dozens of instruments between them and describe their work as “imaginary folk music”. Played live on acoustic instruments, their sounds are episodic, dreamlike voyages—qawwali-style vocals and drones mutate into free-jazz abandon, gamelan (played on pots, pans and cutlery), and secured with riviting bass sounds.
Širom’s selection
Hexenbrutal – Giant Postpone
Iztok Koren: ” “The concert has been postponed”. The new mantra? Hexenbrutal, a Slovenian noisecore drone duo, gives you a relieving soundtrack for your postpone: “postpone” or Postpone anxiety. P.s. Sunday mornings have not been postponed yet.:) “
All Strings Detached – What To Do Love
Ana Kravanja: ” All Strings Detached is a great new project, composed by two Slovenian singers and songwriters, Jana Beltran and Vesna Godler with a septet. “
Olfamož – Pokadim Dim Trave
Samo Kutin: ” Funny word play in this song creates an interesting rhythm and nice uplifting feeling. Suitable for Sunday mornings. Olfamož is a very talented and versatile Slovenian artist, Andrej Fon. “
MailTape’s selection
Širom – Low Probability of a Hug
Sanjay: ” Širom’s music is a surrealist romp, mixing minimalism and Balkan folk in a way that appears to warp, warble and waver. Evoking images of twilight dances around a fire, this track teases with harmonies carefully emerging from the droning dirge created by an impressive range of instruments from each member of the trio. “
Jerusalem In My Heart – Layali Al-Rast
Sanjay: ” Recurring riffs maintain the steady pulse throughout this album, while wandering freely around the swales between genres. This track brings the buzuk into the foreground of a solitary landscape, as Radwan Ghazi Moumneh applies effects to alter its timbral characteristics. “
75 Dollar Bill – I Was Real
Sanjay: ” 75 Dollar Bill are New York duo Rick Brown and Che Chen. Their sound feels impossible to place or summarise—not unlike the city they compose in. Circular riffs, harmonium-like drones, and a deft application of different kinds of harmonic distortion give this track (and album) a brilliant palette to dip in and out of. “
Matana Roberts – Her Mighty Waters Run
Sanjay: ” This is from chapter four of Matana’s Coin Coin project, combining written scores, improvisation, storytelling and performative theatre. This latest installment comes with backing from a new band, contributing to the already intricate weave of the previous three chapters. “Life goes on for as long as it lasts. We’ll roll the old chariot along, and we’ll all hang on behind.” ”
That’s it for this morning! As always, thank you so much for joining us. Much love to Širom for their Sunday selections, and to Camille Célestin for this episode’s brilliant illustration.