Music: Lebaha Men "Garifuna Feild Recordings" tape

The Lebaha Men are from Belize, which is not close to Nashville except in full pan-global scope.

Which is maybe what makes Field Recording right? Escapism maybe, or a pseudo-adventurous state induced by industrialized-culture. Right?

The Grammys may be somewhere along the entrails of the luxury class/American appreciator-of-music, but they're a distant yet bright star to some, presumably, right?

One mustn't abstract too much from the socio-political implications of this tape though, lest we detract from the music, which is basically really cool. The drumming is mostly very complex, full of 32nd+ note rolls and thick with flamming and quick changes of emphasis. But it never loses the primal pulse, in spite of the heady roll-exchanges, (there are only three drummers, and their ability to play off one another is laudable/extraordinary.) The vocals are basically "ethnic" chant/call-and-response, but often quite a bit more melodic than you might expect.

Recording quality is decent, well-suited to tape, (recorded direct to cassette by Stephen Molyneaux.)

Watermelon artwork from No Kings.

Music: Stephen Molyneux "Cambodian Feild Recordings" tape

I'm not certain what I'm supposed to hear here but it's absolutely mesmerizing.

The scenes that unfold over the course of this too-short cassette are all entirely ambiguous. One presumes that street scenes, social dances and sacred music all collide, but these are merely presumptions. The musics' origin is mysterious, and this in-itself is overwhelming.

Add to the foreign instrumentation and forms, the use of lo-fidelity recording techniques that at times suggest additional delay-effects and looping, (or is it natural reverberation? The ambiguity enhances the overall effect,) and you get a consciousness-enveloping throb of music that defies expectation.

"World Music" is not really the correct moniker, as the sounds of rolling wheels, rumbling engines, wind, conversations and random microphone noise interfere with the throaty singing, flutes and unrecognizable percussion and stringed instruments that make up the "musical" parts of the tape. And musically, it's mostly consonant (albeit Eastern-pentatonic) music, but combined with the field-recording elements, this thing is more bewlidering than a lot of "Noise" music I've heard.

Totally unique and well-combined collage from Molyneux (also of Horsehair Everywhere, Poet Named Revolver) on No Kings. Definitely Recomended!