Dakha Brakha

[thatguy]

Mentioned in the hat thread. DB did a tiny desk concert in NPR a few years ago. That video is pretty representative. They have that traditional Bulgarian/Georgian vocal sound. I saw them at Kuumbwa a while ago. Fun show! I see that they have some new material!

[King Bob]

Reminds me a bit of Värttinä (highly recommended), but not as 1990s "world beat" sounding or as hammering with weird rhythms.

[Drunk Monk]

I'd totally see them. Great sound. Reminds me a bit of Varttina too (so grateful for you turning me on to them back in the day, KB). Also reminds me somewhat of Tuvan throat singing, not for the vocal but for the musical phrasing. 

And those hats. So awesome. Gotta luv them just for those hats.

[thatguy]

I saw Bulgarian Womens Choir (up at UCSC I think? ages ago). They were a formal choir, not a group, per se, constantly swapping out members. I first heard this beautiful song:



...as done my David Byrne on The Knee Plays.




Dakha Brakha has more of this BWC quality:


--tg

[King Bob]

They will be at Stanford in March

[thatguy]

DakhaBrakha - matinee show  @ The Presidio Theater
- https://www.presidiotheatre.org/show/dak...francisco/  

Live Soundtrack for Earth

During this special matinee performance, DakhaBrakha will perform their original live soundtrack alongside a screening of the classic 1930 film “Earth” by Aleksandr Dovzhenko that is considered to be one of the most important films of the Soviet era. Dovzhenko is a master of composition, and the film—with its intense close-ups and the impressive expanses of the landscape—is a passionate tribute to the countryside, to nature, and to the people that work on it.

You can watch the above, but it's mostly a PSA from the Russians about how the "New Way" will be better for everyone. The idyllic breadbasket of the Soviet Union that is the annexed Ukraine, where the people do all the ag the old way, by hand, with oxen, etc, is going to industrialize. The commune is getting its first tractor. The tractor breaks down on the way - no water in the radiator, and everyone is flummoxed until they get the idea to piss in it, so they all take turns, and are soon back on the road. 

Most of the elderly men in the film look like Bluto or Captain Haddock, whereas the young men look a lot like Al Jardine of the Beach Boys. It's a black and white film, but nearly everyone has extremely light(blue probably) eyes. It's unnerving...the young man that plows the field with the tractor dances back to town down a dusty road in a very nicely sequence, but then drops dead (I'm not sure why...). Later, an old priest comes to the door and is greeted by the uncle with "There is no God" and "There are no priests". The uncle says they should do the funeral the New Way, no members of the church present. The young people from the commune should instead sing the New Songs. A throng of villagers heads to the meeting place for this, meanwhile, the young man's wife is beside herself and having fits in her bedroom (in the nude!). It's not quite clear, but I think another woman is having a baby...or she could be also dying, but is really large. The cuts between these scenes is confusing. There is another young man telling the crowd that they should fight him as he will die before he gives up their "Earth". (The don't)

It ends with a beautiful young couple staring into each others' eyes...

I need some Klifz Notz...

This was all accompanied by the band sitting to the side of the stage, in the dark, performing music to go with the scenes. Enjoyable. Such beautiful voices...

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=716673119744402

After the film ended and they thanked the audience, the one guy in the band talked about Ukraine briefly and said that they are raising money for the effort and would like to end with an auction. He pulled out an abstract-ish painting of the band he did 2 weeks ago and started the bidding at $100. It went for ~$5000, I believe. There was a lot of action. Then, he said he had another painting of the band (which I liked better) and brought it out. That went much quicker, for $2-3000. Lastly, they grabbed th drumstick fat Yelena was using and those went for $2000.

Note to self: sell merch as part of the show

--tg
PS: beautiful day to be in the Presidio

---

From Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_(1930_film)

The script was inspired by Dovzhenko's life and experience of the process of collectivization in his native Ukraine. That process, which was the backdrop of the film and its production, informed its reception in the Soviet Union, which was largely negative.

Earth is commonly regarded as Dovzhenko's masterpiece and as one of the greatest films ever made. The film was voted number 10 on the prestigious Brussels 12list at the 1958 World Expo.


Plot
The film begins with a montage of wind blowing through a field of wheat and sunflowers. Next, the film transitions to show an old peasant named Semyon who dies beneath an apple tree, attended by his son Opanas and grandson Vasyl. Elsewhere, local kulaks, including Arkhyp Bilokin, denounce collectivization and declare their resistance to it. Later, at Opanas's home, Vasyl and his friends meet to discuss collectivization and argue with Opanas, who is skeptical about collectivization.

Later, Vasyl arrives with the community's first tractor to much excitement. After the men urinate in the overheated radiator, the peasants plow the land with the tractor and harvest the grain, destroying the kulaks' fences in the process. A montage sequence presents the production of breadfrom beginning to end. That night, Vasyl walks along a path on his way home while dancing a hopak, and he is killed by a dark figure. Upon discovery of Vasyl's death, Opanas looks for his son's killer and confronts Khoma, Bilokin's son. Khoma does not confess to the murder.

Vasyl's father turns away the Russian Orthodox priest who expects to lead the funeral, declaring his atheism. He asks Vasyl's friends to give his son a secular funeral and "sing new songs for a new life." The villagers do so, while Vasyl's fiancée, Natalya, mourns him and the priest curses them. At the cemetery, Khoma arrives in a frenzy to declare that he will resist collectivization and that he was the one who killed Vasyl. The villagers ignore Khoma while one of Vasyl's friends eulogizes him. The film ends with a montage showing a downpour of rain over fruit and vegetables, after which Natalya finds herself embraced in the arms of a new lover