Merope
Vėjula
Boomkat Product Review:
Flanked by a team of collaborators (including Laraaji, Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell), Merope return to st0000000m with another set of pristine, exquisitely formed future-ancient vignettes, this time vaporizsng their Lithuanian folk outlines with plastic electronics.
Merope's last full-length, 2021's 'Salos', fully crystallized their vision, taking melodies based on Lithuanian folk songs and altering the color palette, using synths and electronics in conjunction with traditional elements to subtly tint the mood. Now a duo of vocalist and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist, synth player and producer Bert Cools, they pick up where that album left off, further obscuring the roots of their sound on 'Vėjula' to come up with their most experimental work yet. It's clear there's something different in the mix already when 'Koumu Lil' makes itself known; the softness that helped 'Salos' tap into a wider audience is still there, but it's been electroplated and warped by robotic Lopatin-esque synths and processes. Jurgelevičiūtė's voice and the kanklės (a Lithuanian zither) have been turned into digital images, then overlayed with the original sounds. Almost immediately, it's hard to tell what's organic and what's artificial, a back-and-forth that Merope play with throughout the album.
Indeed, unlike the last album, only two of the tracks here are based on historical source material, but the rest of the compositions fall strangely in line. Merope want us to question exactly what it is we're hearing: is it folk music? is it synthesis? does it matter? On 'Namopi', they bring in Laraaji and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, who confuse things further. Adding Laraaji is particularly smart - his zither playing is the stuff of legend, and only affirms Merope's status as not exactly a Lithuanian folk act but a duo working on the fringes of new age, ambient and experimental world music. So when ECM legend Bill Frisell shows up on 'Lopšinė', adding his magic to Merope's re-imagined Lithuanian trad standard, everything just falls into place. But our highlight is undoubtedly 'Spindulė', a collaboration with French percussionist Toma Gouband, who augments Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools' haunting original with resonant knocks from his set of custom-made sounding stones. Quite lovely.
View more
Boomkat Product Review:
Flanked by a team of collaborators (including Laraaji, Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell), Merope return to st0000000m with another set of pristine, exquisitely formed future-ancient vignettes, this time vaporizsng their Lithuanian folk outlines with plastic electronics.
Merope's last full-length, 2021's 'Salos', fully crystallized their vision, taking melodies based on Lithuanian folk songs and altering the color palette, using synths and electronics in conjunction with traditional elements to subtly tint the mood. Now a duo of vocalist and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist, synth player and producer Bert Cools, they pick up where that album left off, further obscuring the roots of their sound on 'Vėjula' to come up with their most experimental work yet. It's clear there's something different in the mix already when 'Koumu Lil' makes itself known; the softness that helped 'Salos' tap into a wider audience is still there, but it's been electroplated and warped by robotic Lopatin-esque synths and processes. Jurgelevičiūtė's voice and the kanklės (a Lithuanian zither) have been turned into digital images, then overlayed with the original sounds. Almost immediately, it's hard to tell what's organic and what's artificial, a back-and-forth that Merope play with throughout the album.
Indeed, unlike the last album, only two of the tracks here are based on historical source material, but the rest of the compositions fall strangely in line. Merope want us to question exactly what it is we're hearing: is it folk music? is it synthesis? does it matter? On 'Namopi', they bring in Laraaji and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, who confuse things further. Adding Laraaji is particularly smart - his zither playing is the stuff of legend, and only affirms Merope's status as not exactly a Lithuanian folk act but a duo working on the fringes of new age, ambient and experimental world music. So when ECM legend Bill Frisell shows up on 'Lopšinė', adding his magic to Merope's re-imagined Lithuanian trad standard, everything just falls into place. But our highlight is undoubtedly 'Spindulė', a collaboration with French percussionist Toma Gouband, who augments Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools' haunting original with resonant knocks from his set of custom-made sounding stones. Quite lovely.
Boomkat Product Review:
Flanked by a team of collaborators (including Laraaji, Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell), Merope return to st0000000m with another set of pristine, exquisitely formed future-ancient vignettes, this time vaporizsng their Lithuanian folk outlines with plastic electronics.
Merope's last full-length, 2021's 'Salos', fully crystallized their vision, taking melodies based on Lithuanian folk songs and altering the color palette, using synths and electronics in conjunction with traditional elements to subtly tint the mood. Now a duo of vocalist and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist, synth player and producer Bert Cools, they pick up where that album left off, further obscuring the roots of their sound on 'Vėjula' to come up with their most experimental work yet. It's clear there's something different in the mix already when 'Koumu Lil' makes itself known; the softness that helped 'Salos' tap into a wider audience is still there, but it's been electroplated and warped by robotic Lopatin-esque synths and processes. Jurgelevičiūtė's voice and the kanklės (a Lithuanian zither) have been turned into digital images, then overlayed with the original sounds. Almost immediately, it's hard to tell what's organic and what's artificial, a back-and-forth that Merope play with throughout the album.
Indeed, unlike the last album, only two of the tracks here are based on historical source material, but the rest of the compositions fall strangely in line. Merope want us to question exactly what it is we're hearing: is it folk music? is it synthesis? does it matter? On 'Namopi', they bring in Laraaji and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, who confuse things further. Adding Laraaji is particularly smart - his zither playing is the stuff of legend, and only affirms Merope's status as not exactly a Lithuanian folk act but a duo working on the fringes of new age, ambient and experimental world music. So when ECM legend Bill Frisell shows up on 'Lopšinė', adding his magic to Merope's re-imagined Lithuanian trad standard, everything just falls into place. But our highlight is undoubtedly 'Spindulė', a collaboration with French percussionist Toma Gouband, who augments Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools' haunting original with resonant knocks from his set of custom-made sounding stones. Quite lovely.
Boomkat Product Review:
Flanked by a team of collaborators (including Laraaji, Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell), Merope return to st0000000m with another set of pristine, exquisitely formed future-ancient vignettes, this time vaporizsng their Lithuanian folk outlines with plastic electronics.
Merope's last full-length, 2021's 'Salos', fully crystallized their vision, taking melodies based on Lithuanian folk songs and altering the color palette, using synths and electronics in conjunction with traditional elements to subtly tint the mood. Now a duo of vocalist and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist, synth player and producer Bert Cools, they pick up where that album left off, further obscuring the roots of their sound on 'Vėjula' to come up with their most experimental work yet. It's clear there's something different in the mix already when 'Koumu Lil' makes itself known; the softness that helped 'Salos' tap into a wider audience is still there, but it's been electroplated and warped by robotic Lopatin-esque synths and processes. Jurgelevičiūtė's voice and the kanklės (a Lithuanian zither) have been turned into digital images, then overlayed with the original sounds. Almost immediately, it's hard to tell what's organic and what's artificial, a back-and-forth that Merope play with throughout the album.
Indeed, unlike the last album, only two of the tracks here are based on historical source material, but the rest of the compositions fall strangely in line. Merope want us to question exactly what it is we're hearing: is it folk music? is it synthesis? does it matter? On 'Namopi', they bring in Laraaji and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, who confuse things further. Adding Laraaji is particularly smart - his zither playing is the stuff of legend, and only affirms Merope's status as not exactly a Lithuanian folk act but a duo working on the fringes of new age, ambient and experimental world music. So when ECM legend Bill Frisell shows up on 'Lopšinė', adding his magic to Merope's re-imagined Lithuanian trad standard, everything just falls into place. But our highlight is undoubtedly 'Spindulė', a collaboration with French percussionist Toma Gouband, who augments Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools' haunting original with resonant knocks from his set of custom-made sounding stones. Quite lovely.
Out of Stock
Boomkat Product Review:
Flanked by a team of collaborators (including Laraaji, Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell), Merope return to st0000000m with another set of pristine, exquisitely formed future-ancient vignettes, this time vaporizsng their Lithuanian folk outlines with plastic electronics.
Merope's last full-length, 2021's 'Salos', fully crystallized their vision, taking melodies based on Lithuanian folk songs and altering the color palette, using synths and electronics in conjunction with traditional elements to subtly tint the mood. Now a duo of vocalist and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist, synth player and producer Bert Cools, they pick up where that album left off, further obscuring the roots of their sound on 'Vėjula' to come up with their most experimental work yet. It's clear there's something different in the mix already when 'Koumu Lil' makes itself known; the softness that helped 'Salos' tap into a wider audience is still there, but it's been electroplated and warped by robotic Lopatin-esque synths and processes. Jurgelevičiūtė's voice and the kanklės (a Lithuanian zither) have been turned into digital images, then overlayed with the original sounds. Almost immediately, it's hard to tell what's organic and what's artificial, a back-and-forth that Merope play with throughout the album.
Indeed, unlike the last album, only two of the tracks here are based on historical source material, but the rest of the compositions fall strangely in line. Merope want us to question exactly what it is we're hearing: is it folk music? is it synthesis? does it matter? On 'Namopi', they bring in Laraaji and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, who confuse things further. Adding Laraaji is particularly smart - his zither playing is the stuff of legend, and only affirms Merope's status as not exactly a Lithuanian folk act but a duo working on the fringes of new age, ambient and experimental world music. So when ECM legend Bill Frisell shows up on 'Lopšinė', adding his magic to Merope's re-imagined Lithuanian trad standard, everything just falls into place. But our highlight is undoubtedly 'Spindulė', a collaboration with French percussionist Toma Gouband, who augments Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools' haunting original with resonant knocks from his set of custom-made sounding stones. Quite lovely.
More from Merope:
-
Merope Naktes STROOM Modern Classical / Ambient- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLMerope Salos STROOM Modern Classical / Ambient
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
More from STROOM:
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLOr Sobre Blau Piri Piri Samplers + O Terço dos homens Memorials of Distinction / STROOM Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLBen Bertrand, Manah Depauw Black Zodiac STROOM Modern Classical / Ambient
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- Tape
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLSissi Rada Aporia STROOM Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
Voice Actor, Squu Barbara STROOM Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
-
Or Sobre Blau Do Menino Deus STROOM Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
People who bought this also bought:
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLANDY STOTT Faith In Strangers (10 Years) Modern Love Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 2LP (Black Vinyl)
- Colour 2LP
-
PABLO'S EYE Spring Break STROOM Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
Jason Kolar Modified Perspectives STROOM Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLSpace Afrika Untitled (To Describe You) [OST] sferic Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 10" (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLPataphysical Hapticality Good Morning Tapes Electronic
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLSabla & D.K. Totem Society Worship Electronic
- Colour LP
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLUlla Foam 3XL Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- Colour LP
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLVarious Artists The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969-1972 The state51 Conspiracy Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 2LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLMaterial Things 2015-2020 12th Isle Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLgoat (JP) Joy In Fear NAKID Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)