Various Artists, Rough Guide to the Music of the Alps (World Music Network, 2002)
Various Artists, Rough Guide to the Music of the Appalachians (World Music Network, 2002)
"High lonesome" is a term coined to describe the bluegrass sound popularised by Bill Monroe, but it aptly describes the outlook of anyone who lives in the mountains. At first glance, the music of the Himalayas, Alps and Appalachians might seem about as different as any three different types of music in the world. And it is, on the surface. But when you dig beneath that surface, you'll find some remarkable similarities. They're mostly found in the spirit that drives the people who make this music.
Mountain people the world over are people of isolation, who struggle with nature to live in forbidding territory, who share a sense of wonder and awe at the physical landscape that surrounds them and who often share a tendency to see spiritual truths reflected in that harshly beautiful landscape. So even though they live thousands of miles away from each other, there's something of a kindred spirit that produces the eerie full-throated chanting of Tibetan monks, the wailing harmonies of bluegrass gospel, and the warbling yodels of the Alps.
That yodelling informs much of the music on the Alps collection. It opens the album in the post-modern World-pop of Swiss diva Laurence Revey. And it's in the opening section of the Alpine Experience's track, which opens up into a catchy, jazz-inflected but earthy dance number played on accordion and mandolin, accompanied by drums and fretless electric bass. But this disc has a tremendous amount of variety, from Corin Curschellas' New-Agey "Sontga Margriata Part Two," to Bavarian and Italian men's ensembles' drinking-and-dancing songs to a catchy march-like French carnival kazoo band.
There's plenty of humor and wit as well, including Attwenger's post-punk-polka, "He-U;" the German group Ringsgwandl's blend of '70s-style arena rock and oom-pa-pa polka; and BavaRio's blend of Bavarian and Brazilian styles with guitar, tuba and Tijuana-style trumpets. Most amusing (and amazing) is the closer, Otto Lechner's quietly astonishing cowboy-shuffle arrangement of "Stille Nacht (Silent Night)", featuring Lechner on accordion and an ensemble on everything from saxophone, fiddle and klezmer-like clarinet to steel drums and Cajun fiddle.
Many music-lovers the world over are familiar with the unique music of Tibetan monks, and there are some good examples of that on the Rough Guides' Himalayas. But like the Alps, this Asian mountain chain embraces many cultures, which produce many styles of music. Among the most notable is that made by Tibetan nuns, including two tracks here by Choying Drolma and American guitarist and producer Steve Tibbetts; and a selection of chanting by a women's choir. Fans of the Bulgarian women's music might like this, which has a similar close harmony. But there's much more to this music than chanting monks and nuns. The disc includes a sublime Kashmiri raga; Ram Das's cinematic and klezmer-like shawm-and-percussion brass band; impressionistic Tibetan flute and a religious folk air on a Bhutanese flute. Theres cacophonous drumming by Nepali farmer-musicians, the sheer joy of a Ladakhi drum and shawm duet, and the divinely inspired duet of a Chinese flautist and Japanese percussionist.
Appalachian music is characterized by the disparate strands of Anglo-Celtic ballads and African-American blues and gospel. At the opening of the 21st Century, interestingly enough, its most popular practitioner is the craggy-voiced Ralph Stanley, who after singing this music for 50 years is suddenly the next big thing. Appropriately, Stanley, the eminence gris of bluegrass and mountain music, anchors the Appalachian collection with his rendition of "Two Coats." The disc contains a wide range of bluegrass gospel, including the opening two tracks by Claire Lynch ("God Spoke His Name") and the Laurel Canyon Ramblers ("Happy I'll Be"). Ginny Hawker and Larry Sparks sing primal, traditional mountain hymns, and the super group Bluegrass Album Band delivers a restrained and tasteful "River of Death."
Bluesy love songs are another major component of this mountain music, and Rhonda Vincent turns in an excellent example in "My Sweet Love Ain't Around." Norman and Nancy Blake have been a part of this scene since the folk revival of the '60s, and they render an energetic cover of the Carter Family classic "Hello Stranger." The Cox Family gives a contemporary touch to old-time harmony singing on "Another Lonesome Morning," with instrumental backing by some of the best in contemporary bluegrass, Alison Krauss on fiddle, Rob Ickes on dobro and Dan Tyminski on guitar.
The rest of the disc covers "modern trad" bluegrass like Del McCoury's "How Long Blues" and Peter Rowan's "Wild Geese Cry Again," to newgrass from Tony Rice and Blue Highway, with some side excursions into old-time from (fiddler) Joe Thompson and Dock Boggs' "Wise County Jail."
All three of these discs come, as usual, with Rough Guides' exemplary packaging and liner notes. And, also as usual, all of them left me ready to seek out more from some of the artists who contributed.
