Uprooting

Amazon.com
Most listeners probably associate the words "Eastern European Folk Music" with klezmer, polka, and just about nothing else, but that may change after listening to the Warsaw Village Band's Uprooting, which in its sometimes gut-wrenching juxtaposition of ancient Polish instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and dulcimer with modern DJ scratches and trance beats is somehow both more traditional and more futuristic than the group's debut, People's Spring released in 2002. Devoted to updating Polish folk music, on Uprooting the band teams up with several traditional Polish folklorists who contribute some short interludes ("Janina Zdrzalik" and "Josef Lipinski") that make portions of the disc sound like the Polish equivalent of early American field recordings. But the band's skill is in blending these traditional Polish musical elements so seamlessly into their own compositions, which use a striking half-screamed vocal style called "white singing," cello and szuka (a small Polish violin) along with sometimes dirge-like drumming. "Women In Hell" manages to sound trance-inducing in both the ancient and modern sense of that word, while "Let's Play, Musicians" is a beautiful cello-based ballad and "When Johnny Went to Fight in the War" marries Polish folk music with Tom Waits-ish trip-hop. Overall, Uprooting proves that at least in the Warsaw Village Band’s hands, the meeting of ancient and modern isn't so much a collision as it is cause for celebration. --Ezra Gale

Uprooting,Warsaw Village Band,World Village,Eastern Europe,European Folk,Int'l & World Music,Poland,Polish,Pop,Russia / Eastern Europe,Worldbeat

Average customer rating: excellent memory of an excellent work sound and image

Elegy of the Uprooting Manufacturer: Ecm Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Greece | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music ECM Classical | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music ECM Jazz & World | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Nostalghia: Song for Tarkovsky Misterioso Weeping Meadow The Wind Eternity And A Day (1998 Film) ASIN: B000H1R0GE Release Date: 2006-10-10

Tracks:

1. Prayer
2. Refugee's Theme
3. The Weeping Meadow I
4. Dance
5. An Ode Of Tears
6. For The Phrygian Land Vast Mourning
7. By The Sea
8. Depart And Eternity Theme
9. Rosa's Aria
10. Memories
11. Hecuba's Lament / Hecuba's Theme II
12. Telamon, You Came To Conquer Our Town
13. The City That Gave Birth To You Was Consumed By Fire
14. An Ode Of Tear
15. Theme Of The Uprooting I
16. The Weeping Meadow II
17. Voyage
18. Voyage To Cythera
19. On the Road

Tracks:

1. Parade
2. Return
3. Andromache's Theme
4. The Land I Call Home
5. Home Of My Forefathers
6. I Wish I'm Given There
7. Refugee's Theme
8. The Seagull
9. Song Of The Lake
10. Adagio - Father's Theme
11. In Vain The Sacrifices
12. My Beloved, Your Soul Is Wandering
13. Decision
14. Farewell Theme
15. Theme Of The Lake
16. Hecuba's Theme II
17. Lament For Astyanax
18. Exodos
19. The Weeping Meadow III

Album Description

An extraordinary concert recording of the music of Eleni Karaindrou Â- the Greek film and theatre composer, and long-time ECM recording artist. This is an important chapter to Eleni's already distinguished discography, Elegy of the Uprooting is more than a "live album." It is a comprehensive resetting of Karaindrou's musical history, integrated into what she has called "a scenic cantata." This is a perfect introduction to EleniÂ's music as well as an essential purchase for her many admirers. The material on the double-disc set is effectively a summary of her greatest music for stage and screen Â- an epic journey in colors, sounds, and rhythms, shedding light on the themes of uprooting, exodus, exile and homecoming. Though she is known as a film and theatre composer, KaraindrouÂ's music stands very ably by itself without the context of the films and theatre productions. A large cast was assembled at the Athens Concert Hall for the three days of sold-out performances from which this album is drawn.

Customer Reviews:

excellent memory of an excellent work .......2006-11-02

Eleni Karaindrou has, some 18 years now, since her first "grand" concert I attended in Herodeion Theatre (Athens, 1988), been a window to a "world" of a breathtaking image-and-music-combination, existing although, deep inside since always. I have been following her steps with great interest and every single one of her attempts has been for me, an emotional experience of a distinguished quality. I have, of course, been to her concert in Megaron (Athens, 2005) which is now released by ECM -about which I could not add much to what is already well known and appreciated-, and I dare say, listening to the CD, brings back to memory with vivacity, that exceptional evening of March 2005.

sound and image.......2006-10-12

Even before the advent of sound in motion pictures, there has been an inescapable tie between the two forms of expression. When films were still silent, musical accompaniment was provided `live' in the theatre, when possible, by a pianist - and often this musician employed other sound effects to augment the images playing out of the screen, thus embedding them more deeply in the minds of the audience members. Sound recording coupled with cinema took this relationship much further - most of us, no doubt, connect certain pieces of music with the films in which they were utilized...even if it's on a subconscious level.

Two releases from the esteemed German label ECM Records (the other being François Couturier's NOSTALGHIA: SONG FOR TARKOVSKY), out this week, give wonderful examples of the ways in which sound and image complement each other - and urge each other on to new paths, ideas and goals.

Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou is no doubt best known for her work in creating the scores for the films of director Theo Angelopoulos - she has worked with him on his last seven features: VOYAGE TO CYTHERA (1984), THE BEEKEEPER (1986), LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (1988), THE SUSPENDED STEP OF THE STORK (1991), ULYSSES' GAZE (1995), ETERNITY AND A DAY (1998) and TRILOGY: THE WEEPING MEADOW (2004). Angelopoulos has said of her contributions to his work, `Eleni Karaindrou's music doesn't accompany the images - it penetrates the images, it becomes an inextricable part of the images. I would say it takes part of what is called anima, so, in the end, you can't tell one from the other - that's how closely knit they are... I believe that Eleni is at the moment one of the best existing film musicians in the world.' Anyone who has seen any of these masterfully crafted works of modern cinema cannot fail to be moved by the effect of Eleni's music in conjunction with Angelopoulos' art.

However, her work extends beyond those efforts into writing music for the stage as well - both before her association with Angelopoulos and in the time since. In 2001, she produced one of her most expressive and innovative works to date - the music for a staging of a modern translation of Euripides' TROJAN WOMEN. She often draws on the ancient dramatic and musical traditions of her homeland, sometimes combining historical instruments such as the lyre, santouri, laouto, kanonaki, harp and ney with all or part of a modern orchestra, as well as voices, either by way of a choir or featuring soloists.

Eleni relates in the CD booklet that she began to sense a thread running through her work - the Angelopoulos film music as well as her compositions for the stage: the spirit of the exile, who has by choice or by fate been uprooted from his homeland. Her music laments this exile, but in the same breath gives hope and strength to the spirit - it penetrates the listener to the very soul, sometimes striking a vibrant chord, sometimes delicately setting subconscious strings in sympathetic motion, causing a subtle yet very effective echo to resonate, sending its ripples radiating out from the point of contact. There is a beauty and focus to her music that rivals that of the images seen by the eye.

The music on this 2-disc set was recorded in concert in Athens in late March of 2005. The Camerata Orchestra is conducted by Alexandros Myrat - the Hellenic Radio / Television Choir by Antonis Kontogeorgiou. Also performing is an ensemble of musicians performing on traditional instruments. Maria Farantouri - whose association with Eleni's music goes back to the early 1970s, and whose work with such notables as Mikis Theodorakis is recognized and cherished in Greece, is the featured vocal soloist. Eleni Karaindrou performs on piano - her solo rendition of `Refugee's theme' from THE SUSPENDED STEP OF THE STORK is breathtakingly beautiful.

The composer has woven pieces from the films and theatre productions into a new tapestry - those who have heard these works in their original contexts will recognize them immediately, but will also be struck by the new `whole' of the conceptual framework. Eleni's music is a treasure - she has found a common golden thread and used her instincts to present it in such a way as to make it completely new, even as the familiar strains heard before echo in the well of the listener's soul.

As a final note on this release: ECM's production values are, as usual, of the highest order. Although it was recording in concert before an audience, you'll completely forget about that until near the end of the second disc. The sound is perfect - every note shimmers.

Average customer rating: Some curious developments More Great Music From Kapela Ze Wsi Warsawa

Uprooting Warsaw Village Band Manufacturer: World Village ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Poland | Eastern Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: People's Spring Polish Village Music Songs & Dances from Poland Living With War Icky Thump ASIN: B00069MNHS Release Date: 2005-04-12

Tracks:

1. Roots: Josef Lipinski
2. In The Forest
3. Woman In Hell
4. At The Front Of The Gates
5. Polka From The Sieradz Region
6. Matthew
7. Roots: Janina Zdrzalik
8. Let's Play, Musicians!
9. The Owl
10. Grey Horse
11. Roots: Kapela Mariana Pelki
12. When Johnny Went To Fight In The War
13. Lament
14. I Slayed The Rye
15. Roots: Kazimierz Zdrzalik
16. Fishie

Amazon.com

Most listeners probably associate the words "Eastern European Folk Music" with klezmer, polka, and just about nothing else, but that may change after listening to the Warsaw Village Band's Uprooting, which in its sometimes gut-wrenching juxtaposition of ancient Polish instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and dulcimer with modern DJ scratches and trance beats is somehow both more traditional and more futuristic than the group's debut, People's Spring released in 2002. Devoted to updating Polish folk music, on Uprooting the band teams up with several traditional Polish folklorists who contribute some short interludes ("Janina Zdrzalik" and "Josef Lipinski") that make portions of the disc sound like the Polish equivalent of early American field recordings. But the band's skill is in blending these traditional Polish musical elements so seamlessly into their own compositions, which use a striking half-screamed vocal style called "white singing," cello and szuka (a small Polish violin) along with sometimes dirge-like drumming. "Women In Hell" manages to sound trance-inducing in both the ancient and modern sense of that word, while "Let's Play, Musicians" is a beautiful cello-based ballad and "When Johnny Went to Fight in the War" marries Polish folk music with Tom Waits-ish trip-hop. Overall, Uprooting proves that at least in the Warsaw Village Band's hands, the meeting of ancient and modern isn't so much a collision as it is cause for celebration. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews:

Some curious developments.......2006-03-28

After hearing the Warsaw Village Band perform live on a CBC Radio Two broadcast I immediately went out and purchased their album "People's Spring", and was instantly blown away. For someone who had grown up in a Polish household and had always been exposed to Polish folk music along the lines of Mazowsze and Śląsk, the Warsaw Village Band was an incredibly vibrant breath of fresh air. This was raw, this was earthy, this was ancient. And while I always felt that Polish folk music was very emotionally genuine, it often (but not always) ended up sounding very sanitized, glossy, and even quite cheesy. But "People's Spring" made it clear that the WVB was different. And so I anxiously awaited their follow up.

Unfortunately, "Uprooting" doesn't shine the way "People's Spring" did. You get a taste of it right from the first proper track (after a brief "roots" introduction). "In The Forest" starts off much like "To You Kasunia" does on "People's Spring", but it isn't long before very distracting scratches and samples start intruding into what is an otherwise exciting and melodic song. While the two "remix" tracks on the previous album used samples and electronic beats even more than this, they felt obviously like "bonus" material, and so didn't disrupt the integrity of sound and mood of the rest of the album. But these more modern elements are incorporated integrally into a few of the tracks on this album. I think that it might have been a better idea to include the "unadorned" versions in the main body of the album, and include the techno-ized versions at the end, as was done in the previous album. So for someone who enjoyed "People's Spring", I just wanted to point out that particular and striking difference, in a few of the tracks.

Even ignoring this detail, and considering the album overall, it fails to impress me the way "People's Spring" did. Overall the melodies are weaker, the harmonies thinner, and in many tracks the instrumentation is very sparse and almost entirely percussive when present. The vocals carry the melodies almost entirely in this album, and while that in itself isn't a bad thing (the women have beautiful voices), there is a lack of the depth and richness in the instrumentation that really helped to create a wonderful atmosphere in the previous album. For example, "Woman in Hell" is a wonderful song, a real standout on the album. But I can't help but think that it would stand out so much more if the instrumentation wasn't so barren. There is no instrumental melody or harmony whatsoever, the strings only scrape along percussively for the entire track.

Another curious development is the "jazziness" present in much of the album. It really sounds quite out of place to me. It strikes me that perhaps members of the band have been playing in jazz ensembles on the side, and the sound is carrying over to the WVB. But even that doesn't satisfactorily explain it, because it gets to the point where it seems that the underlying Polish folk songs are simply vehicles for musical experiments in fusing different styles and instruments. One starts to lose sight of the fact that these are Polish folk songs, originally sung by peasants in the fields, at weddings, love songs. I always had the impression of the WVB that they strove to dig up the real underlying spirit of these folk songs and rescue them from the modernizations that had buried Polish folk in the last several decades (and in this album they pay tribute to the people that are keeping this spirit alive in the "roots" interludes), but it seems that in the end the WVB just re-bury them in a different way, forgetting or losing sight of where the songs came from. I appreciate that what they are doing is all done honestly, but is what they have created what they want to achieve? For in the liner notes they themselves say of some of the guests on the album (Marian Pelka Band):
"They are the three musical warriors, who in defiance of time, fashion, and oppression, have been faithful to the roots path for more than half a century. In their art they are free, unique, universal and eternal."
While this album is surely free and unique, I wonder how universal or eternal the WVB's interpretation of many of these folk songs is.

Now so far this review is almost wholly negative, but this is nevertheless an enjoyable album. Standout tracks include "Woman in Hell", "Polka from the Sieradz Region" (my favourite), "Let's Play, Musicians!", "The Owl", and despite the scratching and samples the brilliance of "In the Forest" still somehow manages to shine through.
Other positives are the "Roots" interludes, which are all very interesting. And the Lipsk Women's Choir is a great addition as well, the songs in which they perform are leant a wonderous and mysterious air by their voices.

Finally, compared to the easily 5-star "People's Spring", I will rate this 3-stars, although it is close to being worthy of 4. Had the first track not made such a bad first impression with the scratches and samples, it would have probably gotten a 4. But the jazzy tone of much of the rest of the album, as well as the sparse unmelodic instrumentation, keeps this album a 4 rather than a 5.
If you enjoyed "People's Spring" this is still worth buying for the standout tracks that I mentioned above. But I expect that you won't enjoy this album quite as much as the Warsaw Village Band's previous album.

More Great Music From Kapela Ze Wsi Warsawa.......2005-10-27

First, I have to say that I prefer People's Spring over this album. This one is definitely worth buying, though. The sound is sort of jazzier, more modern, like on A Jak Pojechal Jas Na Wojenke (When Johnny Went to Fight in the War) which features a sort of jazzish bass and record-scratching. There are four tracks under one minute long, and they have sound an old sound to them. They're like little snippets of older people talking about/playing traditional music. I'm not really sure. You can catch glimmers of the sound from People's Spring in some tracks, like Polka z Sieradzkiego. The best songs are 5. Polka z Sieradzkiego, 8. Zagrajcie Muzykanty! (Let's Play, Musicians!), and especially 14. Powalem (I Slayed the Rye), which is the best song.

Average customer rating:

Uprooting Manufacturer: JARO ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000FAGFZ4

Product Description

1. Roots: Jozef Lipinski 00:18 2. In The Forest 03:30 3. Woman In Hell 02:47 4. At The Front Of The Gates 03:30 5. Polka From Sieradz Region 02:17 6. Matthew 02:34 7. Roots: Janina Zdrzalik 00:35 8. Let"s Play,Musicians! 04:14 9. The Owl 04:41 10. Grey Horse 03:40 11. Roots: Kapela Mariana Pelki 00:36 12. When Johnny Went To Fight In The War 02:46 13. Lament 02:30 14. I"ve Slayed The Rye 04:12 15. Roots: Kasimierz Zdrzalik 00:45 16. Fishie 03:55 "Anyone who attempts to defend music against the ravishment of showbiz deserves our vote, and this is the stated goal of the Warsaw Village Band. They are six young musicians playing traditional Polish instruments but not averse to a spot of experimentation en route. With this, their second release, they enlist a raft of collaborators, including a DJ and a choir, and the result is a fine rendition of contemporary Polish folk music with a modernist touch to the arrangements and orchestrations. Great harmony vocals backed by plucked cello, hurdy-gurdy and dulcimer, for example - some lovely ideas articulately executed."

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