Drag City Rec.
Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh : Overload Ark (S/JAP,2009)****
The last couple of years I have heard before several works of Masaki Batoh (solo and with his band Ghost), and of Helena Espvall (with Espers, solo and with her previous cooperation with Masaki Batoh), hearing their explorations with acoustic fundaments mostly.
Their previous cooperation mixed their talents where Helena showed with her folk approach references her Swedish origins for the first time. But here their talents really multiplied while being focused on a whole world of traditions forming a really rich foundation with which to express, brought together into a well hanging together musical story.
“Overloaded Ark” is like the heritage of a rich world of music which they assembled and experienced themselves in their own special way, making them sound very convincing as a duo, while being accompanied with one more fundament from Haruo Kondo, a specialist in ancient music, playing on old music instruments like hurdy gurdy and different flutes, and by two members of the Japanese psychfolk band Ghost. In this way they combined medieval songs and instrumentals, approaches or arrangements (a saltarello to start with and an Orlando di Lasso interpretation on what sounds like cello and gamba), with fitting other styles, like the slightly shamanic, psychedelic and trippy repetitive acoustic guitar based stretched explorations reminiscent a bit of Ghost, the talent of arranging with wordless vocals of floating nature (in combination, the guitar carries these voices like a boat on endless water), in between some songs in Spanish (by Cuban protest singer Silvio Rodriguez), a previously composed Japanese song by Batoh, a whispering French song originally from the 16th century -but sounding much more modern- originally composed by Pierre Attaingnant, with overdubbed whispers and accompanied by harp only, and one Swedish traditional, all led by Helena on vocals.
The album really digs in an inspired way the world’s heritage as a style to play in, an approach which I appreciate fully.
