Kargyraa Moan, Paul 'Earthquake' Pena, Kongar Ool Ondar

Blind all his life, the late Paul Pena was playing music by the age of five. He moved, as an adult to San Francisco and immersed himself in the blues, playing with T Bone Walker, Jerry Garcia,
writing, performing... Most people have heard the Steve Miller Band song 'Jet Airliner', Paul wrote it.
Listening one night to the static crackle distorting Moscow Radio, from the Soviet Union, he first heard the strange sound of throat-singers from the Soviet Republic of Tuva. He was hooked, had to know more...



He taught himself throatsinging... Went, after the collapse of the soviets, to Tuva, to hear the national singing competitions. As a musician, he was invited in, met some of the great singers, And sang! They were stunned that a westerner could sing Kargyraa, he went on stage, a blind, nervous american, and left to thunderous applause. His voice, his passion had earned him the nickname 'Earthquake' in Tuva. Paul lost his battle against diabetes and pancreatitis, on October 1st, 2005.
There's a film of his journey to Tuva, and a cd, both are called Genghis Blues.

Jessica

Allman Brothers Band

Disorderly Sleep

Another film by Mitchell Rose

Love Will Tear Us Apart Again by Yat Kha

A Joy Division number, as covered by Outer Mongolia's Tuvan punk-rock throat singing star, Albert Kuvezin, and his band, Yat-Kha. From the album Re-Covers.

Listen to the other albums... If you ever get accused of having only mundane music tastes, Yat-Kha is the antidote!




Text below is from Yat-Kha's website

Moscow, August 2004.

Albert Kuvezin has just checked into a hotel having spent 24 hours on a train from Budapest as the result of having been forcibly deported from Hungary along with the rest of his band. Their passports had been stolen from the dressing room of the gig the previous day. Their plea for help from the Russian Embassy resulted in them being frog-marched to the railway station and sent home. Before he can relax he receives a phone call from his co-singer Radik Tiuliush telling him that he has had enough of the rigours of travelling backwards and forwards from Tuva (a 3-day journey just to get to Moscow before an international flight takes them to start a tour). There are only 2 days to find new passports and a new singer before they are due to begin a US tour. This proves impossible and Albert retreats to Kazyl where he is immediately hassled by mobsters and corrupt government officials. He then crashes his car and ends up in hospital.

Whilst convalescing Albert ponders his band’s future and listens to his record collection. Having spent many years being persecuted under the Soviets for listening to and playing rock’n roll he contemplates the long journey that his love of both Tuvan Folk Music and Western Rock has resulted in. He had toured the world many times playing at some of the great festivals such as Glastonbury, Roskilde, Bloomington, Monterey, Transmusicale, and Sziget. He had played hundreds of club shows and listened to and met some great bands along the way. Bands like his thrash heroes Slayer and folk heroes such as the Chieftains and contemporary artists such as Billy Bragg and many more.

And now Yat-Kha was due to travel to London in October 2004 to record a new album that Albert had been busy writing earlier in the year. As he lay there with music from all around the world blaring out from his newly- acquired PA system Albert decided that he would commit his musical and spiritual journey to tape instead of his new songs. His new album would reflect how music took him from one of the world’s more remote regions to international recognition. Remote, yes, yet central enough to pick up the currents of international music, even if the international music scene was not yet hip to the growling waves coming from Tuva. He would revitalise himself by re- engaging with his loves of country, blues, rock and just all things music. Although he was due to self-produce his new album Albert made a last minute phone call to the legendary world music producer Ben Mandelson who immediately made time to take over production duties. Justin Adams, producer of Tinariwen, joins him on a couple of tracks.

The band began by jamming many of Albert’s favourite tunes and from this came the new album Re-Covers.

This is what Albert has to say about the album.

 "The influence of rock on my music and life is obvious

but anyway I’ll try to explain a bit more why I have chosen these

songs for the covers album. Actually they are relatively to what

I try to do for long time since I began to mix Tuvan music and

my singing with Western rock." 

1. When The Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin).

    "It is just on of my favourite band of the all time and
   
   I wanted to record more of them though who can compare with
   
   them even today?".

2. Man Machine (Kraftwerk).

    "Remember that time? They were very fresh and unusual
   
   between the dominance of rock and punk. Plus very progressive.
   
   It is about our relationship with machine world.
   
   Almost Folkloric."
   

3. Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams).

    "I don¹t like when there is too much text in songs
   
   but this one is just about my self and my brothers - musicians.
   
   It is very close to our souls and spirit of freedom.
   
   Actually we are all the travellers on this planet."
   

4. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Iron Butterfly).

    "Great song because it is simple ­ I respect talented simplicity.
   
   Good voice and a guitar riff which always make me interested as a
   
   guitarist my self."

5. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division).

    "This band wasn¹t well known in Russia but some band made big
   
   name and good career during USSR time copying and imitating the likes of JD.
   
   I like the mood and guess our manager Jim likes them very much."

6. Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles (Captain Beefheart).

    "Of course, 20 years ago I didn¹t know about this man but when
   
   got listen it for the first time I thought that it could be me if I
   
   was born in USA at that time. But luckily I live in Siberia and like to
   
   say: "Hello!" back to those funny days."

7. A Song About A Giraffe (Vladimir Vysotskiy).

    "The cult figure of Soviet Culture. The actor, poet, and singer he died
   
   in 1989 but is still very popular in Russia. His songs are full of sarcasm
   
   and humour. They are about the defects of human society and full of love
   
   and pain when about native land. This song is just one of hundreds he wrote."

8. Orgasmatron (Motorhead).

    "I always liked music full of energy.
   
   Years ago I liked such kind of lyrics and wrote such my self.
   
   Also this is good possibility to remind to politicians who they are."

9. WillYou Go, Lassie, Go? ( Mc Peake Family )

    "When I played with the great Chieftains I began to like Irish
   
   music and found some similarity with some Siberian people¹s music."
   

10. Toccata (Paul Mauriat).

     "When I was little boy this melody by the French composer and
    
    conductor was played by his orchestra on Soviet T.V. and radio every
    
    Sunday and that gave us a very clear and nice holiday emotion for the whole day.
    
    This is a kind of connection to that happy time."
    

11. Black Magic Woman (Carlos Santana version).

     "One more my favourite artist. This song is somehow connected to
    
    Siberian black shaman women whom I like very much."
    

12. Exodus (Bob Marley).

     "Again, I love freedom and independence which are also possible
    
    through the movement and travels.
    
    I love to read about historical peoples movements.
    
    Plus I like Bob and reggae."
    

13. PlayWith Fire (Rolling Stones).

    "I never liked very much RS and even less The Beatles.
    
    In this song I got good motion that gave me feeling to play
    
    such riff in the style what I like."
    

14. The Song of Mergen (Alexei Tchyrgal-ool).

    "The composer Alexei Baktaevitch Tchyrgal is a great of Tuvan
    
    Symphonic music but he also wrote a number of nice songs for different
    
    ensembles and bands I am lucky enough to have been working with him and
    
    living in his neighbourhood. This song was written for the first movie
    
    about Tuva ­ "People of Blue Rivers"."

Albert Kuvezin ­ Kyzyl , Tuva Feb 2005

Half Beastly!

333 visitors on the counter... thats all.

Battle of Evermore

This one's for you, Steve

Desiree

Desiree, from 'Only a Movie' Family, 1973.

Seam Crooked Sam, a poem, by Don Van Vliet

Don Van Vliet

Seam Crooked Sam

The mule kicked off a new one
and the stockings ran up Seam Crooked Sam
bandana frock stuffed with smoke
and ears out flopped like bowlin' pins
hog troughs hocked and wallered in cool mud bins
and patent leather hooves
split in twos
rooms for rent down t' Ben's
Frendsa danced in a frenzy
choked a juke bird with froth glass ferns
and turpentine urns her sawdust daily keep
and whiskey creeps down her neck naked front
and red leatherette
peen button set where her fanny sweat
raised her wrist-a-fan and a mouse coughed cotton
through a screen door cracked sand
rooms rent only to friends
Hat Rack Hotel
architecture tincture of red Arkies pinched the southern belle
and splayed his cracked nail hand
grey fedora - snappy band
and the camel walls yelluh like damp dead chickens
beak down the hard wood floor
and the music - O the music
harp man blew his best lung white shirt
his feet worked like a monkey out the door
and Dora robbed a baby through a dark bebop
licorice lenses fogged in hot sorrow
through the floorboards at the general store
yuh foods still in the hot hand oven
apple pie cooked through a seed bruised stem eye
sticky in the window of Momma Frame Broke
rope bell dinglin'
"Children, I won't call yuh once more."

By the painter and poet once known as Captain Beefheart,
Who deserves more recognition as a poet.