ARTIST...: Kiri-uu
TITLE....: Creak-whoosh (Estonian, Ingrian and Votian song re-imagined in Australia by Olev Muska and Mihkel Tartu)
YEAR.....: 2021
LABEL....: STROOM
CAT.NO...: STREP-052
GENRE....: Electronic
TIME.....: 22:35
SIZE.....: 43.34 MB
QUALITY..: 267kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo
ENCODER..: LAME
SOURCE...: WEB (WAV)
RLS.DATE.: 2021/07/09
WEBSITE..: https://stroomtv.bandcamp.com/album/creak-whoosh-estonian-ingrian-and-votian-song-re-imagined-in-australia-by-olev-muska-and-mihkel-tartu
TRACKLIST
01) (01:21) Veimevaka Jagamine
02) (03:55) TÜimmairuudiralla
03) (01:45) Piirileikkilaulu
04) (01:54) Ilus Neiu Kiigel
05) (03:25) Harjumaa Lepikud
06) (02:51) HΣllilaul
07) (03:29) Meri Kiige All
08) (02:12) Viire Tagant Tulevad
09) (01:43) Kiik Tahab Kindaid
There is an overarching hypothesis that music and place are inextricably linked.
Where the ancient folksong may be regionally grounded, migration and modernity have
confused this notion. Who owns what is by definition the music of the people and not
of the composer? Passed down by generations and subject to revision, reappraisal and
re-telling, music develops over time in the public domain; new routes providing new
understandings.
In the words of Charles Seeger this is the concept of the folk process. æCreak
WhooshÆ is a collection of choral ballads originating in the Finno-Ugric regions of
Estonia and Ingria, electronically adapted predominantly by Olev Muska and Mihkel
Tartu, based around the contemporary arrangements of Veljo Tormis. Originally
established as æKiri-uuÆ, the project was undertaken by the children of Estonian
refugees, most of whom grew up over 8,000 miles away in the metropolis of Sydney,
Australia. With the majority having never visited the land of their ancestors prior
to the tour of 1989, the first generations reshaping of these ancient folk tales
conveys SeegerÆs process amidst displacement and its subsequent fringe-culture.
Fusing modern recording technologies and synthesised instrumentation with themes of
nature and eternity, for a short time the Kiri-uu choir dictated their own unique
reading of Estonian music for the Australian market. Love and family, swamps and
forests, seasons and desire:
æIs it the moon or the sun or a rainbow, or are they the stars in the sky?Æ
It is my strange inclination for Nordic music(s) perhaps explained by my Scottish
family history and geographic proximity to the Northern countries that made the
appeal of Olev MuskaÆs vision so immediate. From Gaelic psalms to Finnish kantele
recordings and Swedish childrenÆs songs (Hσrgalσten!), there is often a degree of
comfort to be found in their coldness. Much like Kiri-uuÆs initial subversion of
music and place, it is ironically the height of Australian summer when I meet Olev to
share a pint of beer or two, unaware that the album is to become the definitive
soundtrack of my time there. Heat stroke and sunburn, perspiration and transit,
fantasy beaches and suburban homes.
In collaboration with STROOM, the fundamental messages of the old Estonian bards are
carried forth this time into the 21st century, a revised selection of the original
1988 recordings accompanied by æTÜimmairuudirallaÆ allowing for new perspectives and,
perhaps crucially, a truly global audience. After all, in Finno-Ugric folk song it is
perhaps only the strictly functional that remain unchanged, such as herding calls or
Sami joik.
Fergus Clark, Glasgow 2021
Released June 16, 2021
Kiri-uu is indebted to Veljo Tormis (1930-2017), one of the most important choral
composers of the 20th century in Estonia, for his extensive work in illuminating the
unique character of Finno-Ugric runic song
Kiri-uu are:
- Christine Jaques
- Ene Juurma
- Kaija Ann Meister
- Ilmar Midri
- Olev Muska
- Juhan Palm-Peipman
- Mihkel Tartu
- Gunnel SilvΘus
- Ingrid SilvΘus
- Ingrid Slamer
- Lembit Suur
- Vivien Valk
- Voices recorded at Damien Gerard Studios by Russell Pilling and Olev Salasoo -
Synthesisers and samplers recorded at Olev Muska Studios by Olev Muska, Mihkel Tartu
and Olev Salasoo
- Mixdown at Damien Gerard Studios by Olev Muska, Olev Salasoo and Russell Pilling
- Computer programming by Olev Muska
- Technical support by Graham Harvey
- Thanks Arno Muska for the use of your Apple II+
- Re-mastered in 2020 by Olev Muska
- Artwork by Victor Verhelst
- Graphic Design by
- Linernotes by Fergus Clark
- Selection by Ziggy Devriendt
- Thanks Christopher Bonato for the introduction
- Thanks Olev Muska for the trust
- Thanks Robert Nikolajev, Natalie Mets and Ats Luik from IDA radio.
- Thanks Frotee
-