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Io : Mbira Abstractions
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¡Kaleidophonic! ... an ancient African instrument is teleported to a shape-shifting digital cosmos.
Genre: Avant Garde: Electro-Acoustic
Release Date: 2011
Mbira Abstractions
Io
Record Label: Elegua Records
  • Buy CD-R - $20.00
  • Download Album (MP3) - $7.91

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Preview Song Name Time Buy
1. Meat In the Forest 3:47 + MP3 $0.99
2. People Are People Because of People 5:39 + MP3 $0.99
3. Conventional Weapons (Interlude) 0:53 + MP3 $0.99
4. Her Bones Will Rise Again 6:28 + MP3 $0.99
5. Strike the Tent 3:27 + MP3 $0.99
6. World Affairs (Interlude) 0:45 + MP3 $0.99
7. We Will See 8:25 + MP3 $0.99
8. Let Me See You 7:32 + MP3 $0.99
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Album Notes

‘io: mbira abstractions’ teleports an African traditional, echo-logical knowledge to a hypnotic digital cosmos full of resonant bodies: laser sharp and fuzzy, echoes and re-echoes, spaces and vacuums.

the archetype repertoire of the mbira dza vadzimu reaches back over seven centuries and beyond into the very fibers at the origin of our species. in the performance and recording process, multiple interlocking kushaura (lead) and kutsinhira (follow) parts form the kernels and inspiration of each segment.

the album is a collaboration between David Font and Andrew Mark, who plays all of the mbira parts on the album and constructed several of the instruments himself. the two multi-instrumentalists met during graduate studies in ethnomusicology at Toronto’s York University. (Jon Hassell, the Graceful Architect of Fourth World Music, recorded his landmark album “Vernal Equinox” at York in 1976.) if ethnomusicology is a scientific approach to the world’s musical cultures, ‘io: mbira abstractions’ is musical science fiction.

the project began with a live performance at Toronto’s venerable Ambient PiNG on January 28, 2009. all of the shortwave and FM radio transmissions on the album were recorded during that evening’s set. In several instances that were eerily reminiscent of William Burrough’s “Cut-Ups,” transmissions included spoken phrases that were evocative of Zimbabwe’s current humanitarian crisis and instrumental phrases that were in time and in tune with Andrew’s mbira playing.

available as a hand-made limited edition and digital download.

half of the profits from this release benefit the Kufunda Learning Village outside Harare, Zimbabwe. to learn more about Kufunda, visit their website (www.kufunda.org).

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REVIEWS

Music Night
author: Deb
                            
Just having music night with my kids ... we just listened to Let Me See You, from your Mbira Abstractions CD. My son, Sunil, says it sounds like a video game and sometimes like a CD skipping and sometimes he hears a pattern in the drums and sometimes it makes him feel tense. :) My daughter says she can picture an army of insects marching in the rain, in Africa. :) You guys made some pretty cool stuff!
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heaven!
author: Miss Emily Brown
                            
... incredible new album ... if you like mbira and electronics ... you are about to be in heaven ...
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"swirling sounds of sizziing, swirling syncopation"
author: Matthew Forss
                            
The electronic drones, metallic crashes, and staticky interference make the song soar with electronic effervescence. The avant-garde foundation showcases the seemingly indifferent cultures of space and time as something irrelevant, because the song’s musical elements fit together intrinsically. “People Are People Because Of People” opens with metallic, brushy sounds with higher pings and tones interspersed. The combination of electronic sounds, drones, and blips with the swishy electronic ending and sparkling mbira sounds throughout; make the song resonate with avant-garde and down-tempo delight. “Her Bones Will Rise Again” begins with some leftover reverberations of the previous interlude amid a mbira rhythm, swishy electronic wizardry, and fuzzy percussion without a characteristic drum-kit beat. The mbira mimics the electronic sounds as radio-like voices permeate the electronic jangles resembling distant gunfire or punching sounds created by a foley artist in an action film. Nevertheless, the sparkling tones, futuristic palette of sound, and six-and-a-half-minute song length make the experience worthwhile. Overall, Andrew Mark and David Font successfully merged two disparate worlds of African traditional music with futuristic and avant-garde overtones. The staticky nature of the electronic music and radio-like vocals signaled the not-too-distant influences of down-tempo, space, and ambient-techno music ... The combination of futuristic arrangements and the mbira has never been explored before. Consequently, Andrew and David deserve credit for taking the mbira to new heights and places. Moreover, half of the proceeds from this release benefit the Kufunda Learning Village near Harare, Zimbabwe—the country of origin for the mbira. Purists of African music may shudder; but electronic and avant-garde fans will welcome the swirling sounds of sizzling, sonic syncopation
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Humanizing the Machines
author: Michael S.
                            
There is a lovely tension about this music. The expert mbira leads us down ancient pathways with a soothing, steady reassurance, while a rich ecosystem of found sounds and electronic manipulations dance freely along the way. It’s an inversion of sorts. More common would be a perfectly machined grid underpinning a more organic performance. Here, the crunch and eddy of this duo’s electronic yang are washing-up against the organic mbira’s cooler, more meditative yin. Both musicians are tasteful and excellent, and so a lovely balance is achieved. Maybe there’s a metaphor lurking here as well, of how traditional forms can not only co-exist with technology, they can be the guiding force in how we approach our increasingly machine-based creative sphere. Sound for thought... Check it out!
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