Category Archives: Native American

Classical, magical, Music to write to, Native American, World

Moondog in Europe

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Moondog  In Europe
Moondog had lived and performed on the streets of New York for years before he was taken to Europe, lauded and given the freedom to make albums such as this one. It’s not his most eclectic album, but he has fairly high standards of eclecticism. If a modern day DJ mixed native american beats, classical arrangements and jazz they would be lauded. When Moondog mixed these styles sixty years ago, he was considered a talented Kook.

Moondog a.k.a Louis Hardin grew up and lived in the west of America. It is said that the seminal moment in his life was when his father took him to a Sun Dace of the Arapaho tribe. He is said to have sat on the lap of Chief Yellow Calf and played a tom tom during the ceremony. Moondog can truly be seen as a product of times that will never come again. He was an unwitting pioneer of world music, influenced by jazz, and the classical music training available to him by chance after he was blinded in his youth.

I am quite verbose on many topics, but the music of Moondog speaks for itself. He has inspired countless people and thinkers. The first thing you don’t necessarily need to know but adds a little spice to the listen is, that it was all done by a giant blind man dressed as a viking who lived on the streets of New York. This might not be all you need to know, but hopefully it is enough to interest you. Moondog is in his own genre.

Released
       1978

Lyrics
                Not a one

Mood

The album is fairly eclectic, with the first half a bit of everything before moving into the second half which focuses on Church organ. I guess the first half is more eclectic and contains many of the standard Moondog sounds such as glockenspiel, native american drumming, as well as Church organ.

Good to work to

Absolutely fantastic to work to. Meets all the requirements, it takes you beyond and has few associations with anything of my brain to cling to and divert me with. While I learnt to love Moondog because of his diversity, this album has more steady motifs than most and is excellent for focus. I always like working to Moondog’s music, but I find the first half is great for shaking things up and removing my head from the day to day. The second half with it’s slower Church organ music that really gets me going and in the mood for writing.

Like

I can think of nothing like this album and artist. Don’t let it discourage you though. Moondog mixes classical, church, native american, and be-bop.

Other artists on this site he is similar to from the point of view of being consider a minimalist are Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Moondog is definitely on the experimental side of the coin though.
He also gets compared a lot to a guy called Harry Partch who was also a virtuoso who made his own instruments, but I think their musical sensibilities are not of the same ilk.

The Artist/s

Louis Hardin who later took the name of Moondog had a fascinating life. Brought up by his father near to an indian reservation. He was sent completely blind when he was sixteen. A blasting cap he was holding in his hands exploded. He was sent to blind school and received a musical education he said he could have afforded otherwise. Perhaps because of the loss of his sight, he became quite the amazing musician.
I lose track of the story when he moved to New York and decided to live on the streets dressed as a Viking. He had some amazing encounters with potential collaborators like Stravinsky, Bernstein, and Charlie Parker that all seemed to go wrong at one stage or another. After many years on the streets, with sporadic recording contracts, he eventually moved to Germany. The Germans recognised his genius and took him under their wing and allowed him to record a number of eclectic albums  such as this one, using Sax, Church organ, and many other instruments. Oh yeah, and he also invent various musical instruments.

Other works

Moondog had a long and eclectic recording career, from the New York, to latter day German eclectic renaissance. Other albums such as The Viking of Sixth Avenue, Moondog, Moondog2, Elpmas, H’art songs,  Moondogin Europe, Sax Pax for a Sax, and various other lesser known albums released from a random mix of countries in Europe and America. I would get everything if I was you, but maybe check whether you like this album first.

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats

This is not always the easiest album to find in any format other than electronic, but thanks to iTunes it’s a pretty easy one to find these days.

The Verdict

Get out there and buy it as soon as you can.

Classical, latin american, Native American, World

Philip Glass – Powaqqaatsi

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Powaqqaatsi is a Hopi Indian word that means life in transition. Powaqqaatsi is a classical/world music soundtrack to second film in the Qatsi trilogy of films. It was designed to follow the transitions from natural to industrial world, which makes perfect sense when you listen to it.

The format of the movie means that it is designed to tell a story. I can only compare it to other movies that of a similar vintage in a style that was popular that tell the same kind of thematic story without story or traditional storytelling. My old favourite was Baraka. I’ve never even seen the movie and it works on me.

There are some really great sound effects used throughout this album, from pan pipes, deep voices, full orchestra including Brass, whistles, percussion, and acapella choir. The different sounds and sound effects make it a very effective collage to paint the background to your working while you work.

This album rolls over you smoothly like a wave. The peaks drive you along, and the troughs always give you a chance to regather your thoughts and consolidate what you’ve written. The whole album has an organic feel which is at times infectious and driving. The reason why I like it so much is that it drives me. I personally like repetition and recurring motifs, something Glass is also a fan of.  I don’t want to have to concentrate on something all of the time. With that said there is also a lot of variety on this album, as the director takes the movie in different directions. This is an album that worked for me on first listen. It is not an overly intellectual album you have to listen to several times before you get it in any way.

Released
1988, with the film of the same name Powaqqaatsi.

Lyrics
No lyrics, or not enough to really distract you.

Mood
Meditative uplifting, speedy.

Good to work to
Fantastic, makes you feel positively triumphant. I also like the emotional palate of this album. It is at times contemplative, and at others upbeat and happy sweeping you along. This may just be my particular internal rhythm, but I don’t move all at the same pace. I move by fits and starts.

It is the kind of music I would especially recommend if you only have a set amount of time to write to. It will push you along and by the end of the emotional journey you will feel like you’ve got somewhere.

Like
I can’t really describe anything this album is like. It has orchestral flourishes, percussive fiesta moments, middle eastern sounds, south american pan pipes and other things, spooky mystical moments.

The Artist/s
Philip Glass born in 1937 and still going strong. Some call him a minimalist, he prefers some other term which also means nothing to me. He is a contemporary of other musicians like Stepen Reich who went through the famous Juilliard musical store. He was also a well connected Fullbright scholar. He has experimented with other cultures and collaborated with people like Ravi Shankar, and exposed himself to other cultures most notably the Tibetans such as the Dalai Lama.

I have only seen Philip Glass once a few years ago in 2011, at the Sydney festival where he lead a quartet who provided the score onstage while an antique silent movie version of Dracula played to chuckles from the audience. At first it was hard not to keep staring at the quartet especially it contained the famous Philip Glass. After a while I along with most of the audience were engrossed with the movie only occasionally glancing at the quartet under the screen onstage as there music fitted seamlessly with the music.

Other works
A massive back catalogue of music. Philip Glass is a renowned soundtrack artist and composer. To be honest I haven’t explored his catalogue enough to be able to recommend anything else. I did buy his first album in this trilogy Koyaanisqatsi, but to my shame I have not given it enough a listen to have a firm opion.

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
It’s old but you’ll be able to get it digitally, you may be pushing it to get it on vinyl.

The Verdict
Yes, oh Yes. Run out and get it straight away. I find this is a great energising album that definitely sweeps me away.

Classical, Jazz, Native American

Moondog – The Viking of Sixth Avenue

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This album is a stone cold classic, albeit a ‘best of’.  If a contemporary DJ mixed Native American beats, classical arrangements, and jazz they would be lauded as The Next Big Thing. When Moondog mixed these styles sixty years ago he was considered a talented kook. After hearing this hopefully you’ll be scouring the internet for his other releases. The Viking of Sixth Avenue is a beautiful, eclectic album.

I am verbose on many topics, but the music of Moondog speaks for itself. He has inspired countless people and thinkers. The Viking of Sixth Avenue is a compilation of his life’s music and career. The first thing you need to know is that Moodog was a tall blind man who dressed as a viking, and lived on the streets of New York. This might not be all you need to know, but hopefully it is enough to interest you. Moondog fits his own genre.

Moondog, a.k.a Louis Hardin, grew up and lived in the west of America. It is said that the seminal moment in his life was when his father took him to watch a Sun Dance of the local Arapaho tribe. He is said to have sat on the lap of Chief Yellow Calf and played a tom-tom during the ceremony. Moondog can truly be seen as a product of a past era. He was an unwitting pioneer of world music, influenced by jazz and classical music training made available to him by chance, after he was blinded in his youth.

Released
2005
This album was compiled and released by Damon Alban, champion of world music and lead singer of hugely popular seminal Brit pop band Blur. The music was originally recorded from the 1950s through to the 1990s.

Lyrics
Generally not. Where there are words, they are mainly samples with the occasional spoken word aspect.

Mood
Slow to fast, jazzy to classical, to world.

Good to work to
Ideal to work to. Meets all my requirements. It takes you beyond the distractions of the everyday, and has few associations for a busy mind to cling to or to be diverted by. This particular compilation flits between genres from be-bop, street sounds, and Native American-inspired classical. Your brain does not have enough time to get used to any one particular vibe, but the differences in music are not jarring, and this makes it excellent focus music. However, it is not erratic.

Like
I can think of nothing like this album and artist. Don’t let it discourage you though. Moondog is, or rather was, like classical/Native American, and be-bop.

The Artist(s)
Louis Hardin, who later took the name of Moondog, had a fascinating life.

Brought up by his father near an indian reservation. He became completely blind when a blasting cap he was holding in his hands exploded, at the age of sixteen. He was sent to a school for the blind and received a musical education he said he could not have afforded otherwise. Perhaps because of the loss of his sight, his aural sense was heightened.

I am not sure why he moved to New York to live on the streets. He said that he dressed as a viking to gain more attention as a street performer. He had some memorable encounters with potential collaborators like Stravinsky, Bernstein, and Charlie Parker that all seemed to go awry at one stage or another. He eventually moved to Germany in the Seventies after many years on the streets and sporadic recording contracts. The Germans recognised his genius and took him under their wing, enabling him to record a number of eclectic albums using sax, church organ, among many other instruments.

Oh yeah… and he also invented various musical instruments.

Other works
Moondog had a long recording career, from his early days in New York to his latter-day eclectic renaissance in Germany. His other albums include Moondog, Moondog2, Elpmas, H’art Songs,  Moondog in Europe, Sax Pax for a Sax. Lesser-known albums were released from a random mix of countries in Europe and America. I would hunt them all down if I was you, but check to see whether you like this album first.

Where can I buy it, and in what formats?
You can get this particular album almost anywhere and in any format. While the rest of his collection might be hard to find, this album is not, and it is guaranteed to pique your interest.

The Verdict
Get out there and buy it as soon as you can.