I notice in the comments on Youtube there are people who really hate covers. I think I have a short attention span. So listening to a bunch of covers of a song is a way for me to pay attention. My memories are suspect too, so I am not sure. But my memory first hearing this song in the 1980s places me in a delivery van haphazardly parked by a dumpster in an alley behind the old Tambellini restaurant in East Liberty pondering what I'd just heard.
Cause when love is gone, there's always justice.
And when justice is gone, there's always force.
And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!
I enjoyed all of the covers I listened to, but it was this one that made me pause like the first time hearing O Superman.
Tropicalia meets eletro-cool, with something even softer mixed in there. Especially on this track, where things get spiritual for a moment and then pivot off into some Laurie Anderson-style energy.
Sometimes Zorn just creates these... beautiful things. Dream-like songs that emulate the feeling of flying inside a dream, birds singing into our ears. The sun comes out when this album plays, and it is wonderful.
Just look at that! Here’s O’o by The Dreamers.
It opens up with, frankly, the most memorable track on the entire album: MIller’s Crake. A very upbeat, danceable tempo track; its combination of instruments is simply fantastic. Piano solos intervening in and out of existence, that marimba motif (is that a thing?), the track simply stands out from the rest.
Then the album takes a more relaxed tempo, deciding to go for a more expansive atmosphere. less upbeat, but not sad, instead, a dream-like fascination towards the day. Akialoa is a track that is unique in its sense of repetition quality over solos. The guitar comes in and decorates the constant rhythmic waves of the marimba. There is a solo, a marimba solo, but it does not ruin the overall feeling of the song. Instead, it builds upon it, opening the space for a keyboard solo that expands on the topic. Simply beautiful.
Po'ouli is similar to Akialoa in that repetitive motifs are the central thing, but it’s different. A piano motif as a background and another motif made with guitar overlapping it basically create the entire song, with the marimba coming later on the song. Birds sing in it, so... it has a bird solo. A long bird solo. Nice! Some weird breathing noises on the latter half, and more atmospheric decors that begin to show the night. Albeit repetitive, it is a good listen and a preparation for later tracks.
Night has come, and we know because of how Little Bittern begins. More rock oriented, this song is guitar-driven, and it shows off that. A slow guitar solo for most of the track... I can say it is not quite as memorable as the tracks before it, but it is fitting, and this is what matters in an album.
Mysterious Starling comes back with a midnight song. Romanticising the moon over the sea, a majestic piano song, with marimba decoration thrown every now and then. A beautiful ballad with touches of tango, but mostly just a beautiful chaotic-slow piano solo... and a slow, chilling bass solo in between piano takes. A fantastic track.
Here comes the morning again with Laughing Owl. A marimba-driven upbeat happy track like Miller’s Crake, but more relax. Another take on a happy, upbeat track. The marimba motif is enjoyable but can get a bit tiring. Some bongos play in the half and has some parts that fake an ending to the song when the song is not at its ending... a thing I kinda dislike about it, but it’s just a natural thing about the chord progressions used. Pretty repetitive, but fitting.
Time for the more... weird tracks. We have an Archaeopteryx lying around, slowly coming out from its cave. Slowly it crawls, as the guitars and the noises do their thing. A more tense track, with some more open, repetitive random noises. The tension stays for the entirety of the track, and never pays up. What a tease!
Solitaire comes along to remind you there is some genius in this. An upbeat song that is more random and chaotic than the other 2 upbeat songs, but far more memorable than Laughing Owl somehow, despite lacking a common motif (only shown at the beginning and end of the song). A nice way to release the tension built in Archaeopteryx.
Piopio has a more characteristic Zorn sound, with its Klezmer scale defining the tone of the song. A lament, at first, but becomes a party afterwards. A more upbeat song, but not that quite happy because of the scale used. Nice mix of klezmer and dance. Situational solos everywhere, ranging from guitars, marimba, keyboards, everyone gets to do the motif with some variations done on it. A nice piece of music, very memorable as well.
Zorn made his entrance on Piopio (in style). And he stays on this track as well. The Zapata Rail is another VERY Zorn-sounding song, with a fantastic organ playing around, and key changes everywhere. Everyone gets to do the motif as well. Very reminiscent of his style, this is another outstanding track on the album.
The dream comes back with Kakawahie. We fly around this chill track, as it transports us into the clouds... Complex in its simplicity, here they show how relaxing doesn’t mean simple to do. They play around with the tonality of the song, without removing the atmosphere of it. Another standout for me.
The album ends with Magdalena. An organ shows us the way, as a bass shows up... and the song builds up slowly. A magnificent combination of Zorn-style mixed with the chill atmosphere that identifies The Dreamers. We say goodbye to the dream of birds. A Klezmer soloing and improv over a chill atmosphere made out of the bass and organ, contrary to the more Zorn-sounding songs. It has an expansive universe of sounds. Every detail is calculated and blends into the concoction, but doesn’t leave the atmosphere of the album. It can become chaotic after the first half but can appeal to the easy-listening crowd its made for. It’s genius, representative of what Zorn decided to do with this. A fantastic proof that Zorn can use klezmer without doing crazy things and intentionally creating chaos. This is controlled chaos. It builds upon itself. The progressions are slowly changing key until it starts again but sounds different somehow. A fantastic ending to an album.
So, this is a golden piece of jazz. Easy to listen to, but more complex than most of its neighbours in the genre. Atmospheric, playful, a masterpiece. It can lack in 3 tracks, but it is a solid album I recommend.
July 17, 2016 - Kaua’i O’o or Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus)
Requested by: @phasersonstun
These extinct birds have not been recorded in the wild since 1987. They were found only in forests on the island of Kaua’i in Hawai‘i, but were wiped out by habitat destruction and invasive species, such as rats and pigs. Due to their scarcity for many years before their extinction, many details of their behavior are not known. They ate mainly small invertebrates, along with some fruits and nectar, and probably nested in cavities, where both parents cared for the chicks. Male and female birds both sang.
You can watch what may be the only surviving footage of these birds and hear their intriguing song here: http://www.arkive.org/kauai-oo/moho-braccatus/video-00.html
Note: Because I could only find limited photo reference for this bird, I consider this piece more of a reconstruction. I’ve done my best to picture the species as accurately as I could.
