CIIIGoff Report post Posted November 7, 2017 I recently found one of these at a thrift sale held for a local church. https://www.discogs.com/Kecak-Kecak/release/9559867 It appears to have been produced in the 1960's, but unsure. There's no album notes at all, not even a mention that Kecak is Balinese music. It features some extremely complex vocal arrangements from a huge group of people. If anyone knows anything about this tape, I'd love more info. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Morris Report post Posted November 7, 2017 The lack of liner notes (or info at all) and the album cover, make me think this is made to sell to tourists back in the 60s that were visiting the island and wanted to bring a little of the sounds home as a souvenir. Very possible not much more could be gleaned than from discogs. The complex vocal arrangement description has me intrigued to hear it! :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Hertz Report post Posted November 10, 2017 It may be a bootleg of the classic Monkey Chant album that was released by Nonesuch in the late 60s, "Music From the Morning of World". https://www.discogs.com/David-Lewiston-The-Balinese-Gamelan-Music-From-The-Morning-Of-The-World/release/7104230 Does it sound like this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Hertz Report post Posted November 10, 2017 "on known" I am going to steal that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CIIIGoff Report post Posted November 11, 2017 I've seen a couple of other cassettes produced by LORD, who put this tape out. It's not Nonesuch, which has quite an extensive collection of ethno-ambient stuff. This cassette is not Gamelan either -- not like any Gamelan I've ever heard anyway -- there's no-to-little percussion of any sort on it, just two lonnnnnnnnnnnng sides of large groups of people singing complex vocals. My guess is there was a lot of dancing going on while this was recorded. I think, Mr. Hertz, another topic you might wish to pursue here in the EA club is a discussion of Nonesuch ethno recordings. I only have a few of these, and my experience with them is hit-or-miss regarding recording and performance quality. This Kecak tape surpasses most of the Nonesuch stuff I've heard in both areas (subjective opinion of CIII, of course, ha!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Hertz Report post Posted November 11, 2017 Ah, it looks kind of bootlegish. Glad its something else. Gamelan music varies widely. Some of it is quite soft and lyrical compared to the big ensembles. Especially the Javanese side. Try this one below. As for Nonesuch, yeah they were very inconsistent. But some of the only ethnic music I could find until the late 80s when International music distribution improved a lot with the whole "World Music" fad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Morris Report post Posted November 11, 2017 Nonesuch were a great label at getting the music out to the world in those early years. I always assumed their recording qualities varied because of problems that come with field recording. Not sure, but I still have a few on CD. It would be a good thread to run through some of their recordings. Good idea! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Hertz Report post Posted November 11, 2017 The story of Nonsuch's world music albums can be best summed up by David Lewiston's life story. One of the early producers of World music. He passed away in May of this year. There's an excellent memorial to him on the Nonsuch site: http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/david-lewiston-musical-explorer-dies-88-2017-05-30 For me, growing up in suburban Maryland. Nonesuch was one of the few labels that released stuff I knew I never heard before. Believe it or not, I found "Silver Apples of a Moon" at a shopping mall record store. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CIIIGoff Report post Posted November 12, 2017 Now that we got to discussing this whole Kecak thing, I'm discovering a lot about it. It is a big religious/cultural ritual that involves a lot of people moving around in interesting ways -- there's a bit of documentation on You Tube worth watching that I may not have discovered if this whole EA Club hadn't motivated me -- thanks to all involved. Also, the idea that the tape I have is a bootleg of something else is possible, since I've discovered LORD put out some copies of a few "commercial" albums that I'm sure were unauthorized by their original producers. Nevertheless, this tape is a winner, no matter what it's origin! Here's some Kacak in action, skip to about 1 minute in to see this wild unique experience... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXcnWUqV-Y As for Nonesuch ethno stuff, this one is one of my personal favorites: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Africa-Witchcraft-Ritual-Music/release/4034339 Anybody else heard this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Hertz Report post Posted November 12, 2017 The Kecek has always fascinated me too. There's a great clip from the film Baraka: I have never seen that one before. I do have the "African Sanctus" album by David Fanshaw. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Morris Report post Posted November 13, 2017 18 hours ago, CIIIGoff said: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Africa-Witchcraft-Ritual-Music/release/4034339 Anybody else heard this? Yeah this is one of my favorites as well. I have it on cd. One of my professors lived in Kenya and studied witchcraft academically for 5 years. Fascinating Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Morris Report post Posted November 13, 2017 Ah indeed that section from Baraka is awesome. Now its all connecting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
