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Aranos, "Tangomango"
Pieros
Aranos is a master of the stringed instrument, a frequent collaboratorwith fellow Irish countryside dweller Steven Stapleton, and the creatorof a string of idiosyncratic experimental albums that, like most greatworks of art, defy categorization. This solo full-length is thefollow-up to 2001's Magnificent! Magnificent! No One Knows the Final Word,an album unique not only for its unconventional musical content andhomegrown organic packaging, but also for its "experimental anarchydistribution," a sort of honor system where Aranos shipped the album athis expense to anyone who wanted it, asking each listener to decide howmuch the album was worth. Tangomango continues down the same path as Magnificent,but somehow manages to be even more willfully eccentric. Lovelypassages of emotively played strings are overdubbed with shambolicpercussion, occasional forays into electronics of uncertain origin andAranos' gravelly vocals, free-associating long strings of unhingedDadaesque lyrical couplets. Aranos creates a one-man chamber quartet,overdubbing layers of plucked and bowed violin, viola and double bass,his melodies fondly recalling the Eastern European gypsy music idiomsof his heritage. Sometimes the effect is a sort of avant-garde chamberpop, as on "Julio Cruz," which sounds not entirely unlike mid-1970sJohn Cale. Other times, Aranos' techniques are so unorthodox that themusic sounds like nothing else, as with the strange organickaleidescope created on "All The Lost Turbans Will Be On That Speaker,"which utilizes musique concr?e effects to create an unsettling piece ofpsychedelic tape music. On "Worryism," the album's only guest player,Jon Whitney (editor of this rag), contributes a series of distendedbleats on a didgeridoo, forming the foundation for a distinctlyritualistic excursion that ends Tangomango on a somber note.Halfway through the oddly named "69 Walton's Yamamoto Noodles," Aranosstrikes the gong and unleashes a series of mindbending electronicpulses. "Broken Eights" is a fractured military ode constructed frommartial drums and layers of vacillated vocal overdubs. The album'stitle could not be more appropriate, as Aranos is able to reference theimprovisatory feel of Can's masterpiece, while impregnating it with hisown organic sense of rhythm. It's a little bit fun, and a little bitfruity. The album comes packaged in a lovely handmade royal purple silkpurse with a beaded clasp and a lyric booklet adorned with manybeautiful photographs. Tangomango is a rare album that trulyfeels like a pure, unmediated foray into one man's peculiar and joyfulvision of music, and it's a rewarding trip at that.
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