Tamizdat Dispatch #9 / Oct-Nov 2001 [20.10.2001] post-rock/avant garde/electronic/indie-pop/ethnic/jazz/punk Dispatch is a newsletter about independent music from Eastern and Central Europe. For more info, please write us: info@tamizdat.org I. Music news: News, Tour Dates and Festivals II. Field report: Film soundtracks from around Eastern Europe, part 1 III. New cds! on our rapidly growing Tamizdat RPM Catalogue IV. Featured website this month: Klub Sputnik, www.prokaupunki.net/sputnik V. Tamizdat distributors: a growing team of great distributors we work with I. MUSIC NEWS: Tamizdat events in NY cancelled due to Sept 11th events... As was the case with many travelers at the time, artists involved with Tamizdat's CMJ Music Showcase and the DJ Vadim "Russian Percussion" tour were not able to make it to the USA to perform in September. The DJ Vadim tour is to be rescheduled for spring of 2002, and future Tamizdat events in the USA will be announced soon. Tamizdat Dispatch partners with Transitions Online (www.tol.cz) TOL is a nonprofit based in Prague dedicated to strengthening independent journalism. A leading Internet magazine covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union, TOL makes use of a network of local correspondents to provide unique, cross-regional analysis. TOL offers timely reporting, in-depth analysis, and cross-border perspectives. Stay tuned for developments... Keyser & Shuriken link with London... Hungary's zaniest DJ team Keyser and Shuriken, (aka Crate Soul Brothers when joined with producer/DJ Erik Szamovar), have an infamous show at the infamous Tilos Radio, www.tilos.hu. Setting fire their own Anglo-Hungaro course of action, ties are even firmer now that Shuriken left the banks of Budapest for the bands of London. Some of the duo's recent activities include 2 cool remixes of old Polish and German jazz for Germany's Crippled Dick Hot Wax's newest "Iron Curtain Revisited" compilation, with others like Les Gammas, Volker Meitz, Joakim Lone, Kabuki and Zeljko Kerleta (Cosmic Sounds.) Shuriken surfaces live in London on Nov 8th at Cargo, and you can catch Keyser and Szamovar's gigs at hip Budapest club Rigoletto www.rigoletto.hu or elsewhere, check into their cool newsletter by writing to keyser.shuriken@freemail.hu.  Concert Previews: LENINGRAD from Russia, play in New York! the turbo-folk experience... Want to know what "turbo-fok" is? Get a dose with Russia's celebrated legends, Leningrad, supercharged turbo-folk with a swing feel and punk attitude, super popular, don't miss this! More info: http://www.blissrecords.com 12/28 Sun, in NY at the Elbow Room, with Frank London's Hasidic New Wave 11/01 hurs 11/1 in NY at the Elbow Room, with Cookyconspiracy NY's GOGOL BORDELLO in Europe New York's enfants terribles head for Europe, with their drunken Ukrainian brawl genius, batten down the hatches! 12/7 in Geneva, Les Nuits Hors Bords at l'Usine (4, place des Volontaires) 9 pm 12/8 in Zurich, El Lokal (Gasnerallee) 8 PM 12/9 in Thun, Cafe Mokka (Allmendstrasse 14 - Thun) 9.30 pm dates in Prague, Trencin (SK) and Germany tba, check: www.gogolbordello.com or www.tamizdat.org NOVY KOMPOSITORY in Germany Minimalist beauty from Petersburg, these guys worked with Brian Eno... 10/31 in Berlin at Kaffee Burger 11/03 in Leipzig at Absturz 11/04 in Dresden at riesa-efau, Adlergasse 11/08 in Hamburg at CVJM 11/10 in Greifswald TBA 10/12 in Giessen at Domicil PERSONA NON GRATA tour Europe Zany trance-instrumentalists from Hungary. Germany, Holland, Belgium, Czech and Slovakia, www.tar.hu/persona UZ JSME DOMA tour in Holland, France (and Poland, Slovakia, Czech) 10/31 in Rotterdam at Worm (+MCH, Echt!, Jabko) NL 11/01 in Nijmegen at Doornroosje (+MCH, Echt!, Jabko) NL 11/02 in Tilburg at Paradox (+MCH) NL 11/03 in Rouen at MJC Rive Gauche FR for dates in Poland, Slovakia and Czech, email: blankas@volny.cz MNAGA A ZDORP in the USA Czech pop legends from the last decade, good hooks, a bite o Czech Cultcha 11/21 in Chicago, IL (TBC) 11/25 in Denver CO, Bluebird Theatre (3317 E. Colfax Ave) 11/29 or 30 in Huntington Beach, CA, Old World Restaurant (7561 Center Ave #49) PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE (CZ), EUROPE TOUR In December, the Plastic People of the Universe will tour Europe. Dates are still being prepared, update soon! for booking inquiries: matthew@tamizdat.org, for press inquiries: heather@tamizdat.org Festival Reviews: Earwing Jazz 2001 Oct 29 - Nov 7, KSET unska bb Zagrab, Croatia [www.earwingrecords.com/festival.htm] Earwing Records and Promotions is the link between independent arts in Croatia and the outside world. Earwing's record label releases both Croatian and international music, most recently releasing the Croatian "Uzrujan" as well as American band Jullander. Earwing promotions brings music to Croatia year round, but the Earwing Jazz pulls out all stops.This year's highlights include the Peter Brontzman, Hamid Drake, The Vandermark 5, Ruins, and Victims Family from abroad, and local artists Sasa Nestorovic, Sumo, and the Groodanje DJ Team. UNLIMITED XV Nov 9 - 11, Schlachthof in Wels, Austria [www.servus.at/w8] This fest should be travelling around Europe, as Unlimited XV features top sounds from the East and West: The Ex (NL), Kletka Red (NL/EE), Katherina Ex + Iva Bittova (a rare treat! NL/CZ), Fanfare Savale (RO), ZU (IT), Melta Banana (JP) and more. BALKAN FEST SALZBURG Nov 2 - 4, Kulturgel”nde Nonntal, Salzburg, Austria [www.artbeat.at/balkan-festival] When Ivo Papasov is in the house, things get going; with the Zig Zag Trio, Papasov's clarinet meets the bands full-on sound. Bulgaria's multi-recording artist Theodossi Spassov performs with kavalist and vocalist Haig Yazdjian, for a chilling musical experience. Many more artists join stage in a this Balkan fest at the arty Kulturgel”nde Nonntal, whose future programming plans still more collaboration with Eastern European artists. ALTERNATIVA 2001 PRAGUE Nov 27 - Dec 8, Archa, Delta, Vagon in Prague, Czech Republic [www.alternativa-festival.cz] Prague's best and most innovative music festival once again heads up this holiday season with a captivating program. Last year, John Zorn made his first Prague appearance at Alternativa 2000 with the boys in Masada, wowing hundreds of expectant fans who'd only read of the revered prodigy. This will be hard to beat, but the headlining appearances by renowned pianist Myra Melford, Peter Cusack, and special dedicated Belgian, English, Polish, and Moravian stages offer a great beginning. Recommended: Knjaz Miskin (Belarus), Boris Kovac (YU), Noise of Time (GB/USA/Japan), Pavel Fajt + Geert Waegeman (CZ/BE), Mikulas Chadima + Chris Cutler (CZ/UK). FESTIVAL 21 Sun Oct 28 - Weds Oct 31, Jazz Club Satchmo, Maribor, Slovenia [www.kibla.org] A tightknit festival of avant friends, Maribor's Festival 21 brings in The Vandermark 5, The Ruins, and The Sonicphonics featuring Billy Bang. Local picks for the event include Maribor's Ansasa Trio. II. FIELD REPORT: Film soundtracks from Eastern Europe, part 1 Emir Kusturica's films (Underground, Black Cat White Cat, etc), with their Goran Bregovic or No Smoking Orchestra sound tracks, have captivated hearts the world over. This is not where the canon of internationally known film soundtracks from Eastern Europe should end however. From folk to experimental to electronic music, Eastern and Central European music is finding its way in to movies from around the world. This month we're taking a minute to examine some of the notable soundtracks coming from these parts.... The Hungarian film "Werckmeister Harmonies" by Bela Tarr is currently opening in the USA, receiving rave reviews. Bela Tarr, whose cult film "Satintango" of 1995 was an international hit, has worked consistently with legendary Hungarian guitarist and composer MIHALY VIG, whose soundtracks to Tarr's films are captured on a glorious pensive and emotional compilation simply called "Filmzenek, Tarr Bela filmjeihez"(Bela Tarr film music.) On the Bregovician tip but even more Eastern, a fiery Bulgarian soundtrack to the excellent film "GYPSY SUMMER - Tales of Surviving" directed by Milan Ognianov features musicians from age 5 to 75, and music from pizzicato street chants to full brass band to heartfelt ballads to polyrhthmic jazz. On the other end of the musical spectrum, whilst remaining in the Balkans and just in time for Halloween, freestyle improvisers SILA from Yugoslavia take the much-tackled "Das Kabinett des Dr Caligari" and score it with bizarre, jarring, haunting, and certainly atmospheric sound manipulations. Excellent: it's fully improvised, recorded simply with two microphones on a cassette deck. Scampering Northward to Poland, we find the very famous TOMASZ STANKO's score for Filip Zylber film "A Farewell to Maria." Swooshing love songs by the Polish jazz master, this soundtrack is a masterpiece with an urban aura that might well have accompanied Taxi Driver or Chinatown. With a nearly transcendental spirit this is a stunning, heartwrencher masterpiece, which leaves you aching for cigar smoke, pomade, a martini, and pearls. And landing in Russia, where the late St Petersburg composer SERGEI KURYOKHIN is honored in the works and distinct memories of peer musicians, Kuryokhin's soundtracks are compiled onto at least two compilations. Mister Designer (film from 1989, soundtrack from 1999) features Kuryokhin's music to Oleg Teptsov's film, which was surprisingly approved of by the "Goskino" state committee and was set to become a full-screen movie (Mister Designer II, for which Kurykhin rewrote the music). Just Opera (1997) is a mysterious compilation that lists neither the film and theater works for which the music was created, nor the musicians nor the times when the recordings were made. The music is outstanding nonetheless, proving the genius of Kuryokhin's compositional instinct. These and more CDs are available on Tamizdat RPM, www.tamizdat.org/rpm. III. NEW CDS IN TAMIZDAT's ONLINE SHOP *SPECIAL NEW ITEMS!!! IVA BITTOVA & CIKORI Iva Bittova & Cikori, "Iva Bittova & Cikori" (Indies). A new course with band Cikori, breathtaking and geniusly dynamic. SOUNDTRACK MUSIC TO FILM "WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES" AVAILABLE Mihaly Vig: "The Film Music of the works of Bela Tarr" (Bahia)--If you've seen Tarr's films, you need this FULL PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE CATALOGUE AVAILABLE SOON ON TAMIZDAT PPU: "Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned" and "Pulnocni Mys" (Globus)--These two classic titles join Globus' slow parade of PPU reissues. (By next March, these last two releases will complete the catalogue: Co Znamena Vesti Kone, Muz Bez Usi) NEW TAKES ON E. EUROPEAN KLEZMER Klec:"15 Pisne o lasce" (Klec)--Young Czechs taking a boisterous Hasidic New Wave-ish approach to the tradition. Di Grine Kuzine: "Feribot" (T3) --Suave, quasi-Latino take on Eastern klez-folk, from Berlin/Bulgaria. Nerusova + Shonerts, "Nigun" (Black Point ) -- This trio steers a more trad course, players at Prague "9 Gates" Festival. COSMIC SOUNDS ARTISTS RETROGROOVILIZING E. EUROPEAN JAZZ V. A.: "Red Square Groove" --Rare jazz/fusion gems from the Russian Vaults Zeljko Kerleta: "Space Runner" -- A unique meeting of beats + global, must-have for serious electroheads Coxless Pari: "Contemplation" --Belgrade's Spaceheads, breakbeats+bigband+psychegrooves...simply, wow BRILLIANT NEW FOLK FROM FONO RECORDS Szilvasi Gipsy Folk Band: "Hamegfogom az –rd–g–t" -- Istvan Szilvasi leads a fresh fusion of gypsy/folk + street smarts: theatrical, cleverly rebellious, from Hungary Rila: "Bolgarkert" -- Tightly conceived Bulgarian folk, rhythms that will have your head spinning, mathrockers and minimalists heeeed this! from Bulgaria Makam: "Skanzen" -- Delicate, poignant folk, bridges Eastern + Asian musics on the Kodaly quest + jazz; brilliant ensemble, very popular, from Hungary * AND MORE NEW RELEASES IN OUR SHOP NOW! FOTOMOTO: FOTOMOTO (Fotomoto RU)-- Retro boppy indie pop from the Ukraine, amazing stuff! FLOEX: "Pocustone" (Quazi Delict CZ) -- Moody filmish electrosurroundsound swirling electronic MASFEL: "Radiogirlfriendly" (Bahia HU) -- Stunning electrofiddlin classico-trance YONDERBOI: "Shallow and Profound" (UCMG Hungary HU) -- Jazzelectro big band taking Euro by storm V.A.: "Evolution Beats" (Nextera CZ) -- Prague techno remixes by DJ Electromajk LANDMINE SPRING: "Ride" (Samuel CZ) -- Fresh, pristine Czech "emo" LAUTARII DIN CLEJANI: "Vezi cum e viata lasata" (Mediapro Music RO) -- Project of Taraf de Haidouks' accordeonist V. A.: "Belgrade's Burning" (Cosmic Sounds YU/UK) -- Fiery grooves from Belgrade in 2000 DUNAJ: "Rosol" (Indies CZ) -- Classic reissue... complex, earthy, primeval math rock the way only Dunaj can do it IV. TAMIZDAT'S FEATURED SITE THIS MONTH: Klub Sputnik, www.prokaupunki.net/sputnik Youth organization Oranssi in Helsinki came up with a brilliant plan to create a "virtual club," to get locals interested in the excellent independent music coming out of St Petersburg and Russia. More than just locals can enjoy Sputnik however: their nice website is in English, and a Klub Sputnik in St Petersburg will also run on a monthly basis, bringing excellent independent Finnish artists to Russia. Very inspiring in the spirit of internet community building. V. TAMIZDAT DISTRIBUTORS AND SALES PARTNERS: Argentina: Mr Floyd Benelux: Lowlands France: Orkhestra Taiwan: Avant Garden Switzerland: RecRec UK: Shellshock USA: Revolver, Southern, Cuneiform, Other Music Online: InSound, Clamazon
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