Aksak Maboul--C/D?

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One of the more fun RIO bands imo

Ubiquitor, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 06:50 (one year ago) link

Was recently pointed at their 2020 comeback album, which is excellent, will get around to the older ones at some point

imago, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 07:21 (one year ago) link

Yes! 2020's Figures is relentless delirious bounty, such a joyous and generous record. Ex-Futur Album from 2014 is snarky like a euro Cristina Monet album. This years's travelogue (?) thing is also really great but less effortlessly digestible perhaps.

I've spent much less time with the early albums which seem an entirely different proposition - what's the best way in?

technopolis, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 11:48 (one year ago) link

two weeks pass...

Marc Hollander (Aksak Maboul and Crammed Discs) had a great quote in his Baker's Dozen for The Quietus. He's describing the Anestos Athounasiou album "Music For Belly Dancing: Instrumentals From The Near East"

"It’s an example of how Middle-Eastern music attracted me and also these rhythms which are called aksak, these uneven rhythms. But this thing of listening to non-European music and dreaming about that, you know, reveries about the world… today it’s a lot more under control in a way, you can’t pretend that you play Turkish music. Because it came from a naïve point of view. Today of course you quickly get accused of cultural appropriation if you do that, and there are good reasons for that. But it shouldn’t be extreme to the point of not being able to listen to music that isn’t your own.

"But at the time it was something that struck the imagination. People started to make imaginary world music. Can for instance had tracks that would pop up sometimes, the Ethnological Forgery Series. I liked that idea, on the first Aksak Maboul album there’s a bit of that. When you try to do something and you fail it becomes something else, and maybe it’s interesting."

That last sentence made me realize why I like cod reggae, Khruangbin, and other "imaginary world music" -- it's not authentic, but while failing to achieve that it's still interesting on its own merits.

https://thequietus.com/articles/28412-marc-hollander-aksak-maboul-crammed-discs-interview-favourite-music

jonder, Thursday, 21 December 2023 15:31 (one year ago) link

that's really interesting.

what's a good place to start with this group?

budo jeru, Thursday, 21 December 2023 23:50 (one year ago) link

Still getting to grips with the early stuff myself but they've now put out as much this century as last and I can't recommend Figures highly enough as a starting point - totally approachable, gorgeous sunshine (and long)

technopolis, Friday, 22 December 2023 00:01 (one year ago) link

budo jeru, I've really enjoyed the albums they've put out since regrouping (Ex Futur in 2014, Figures in 2020, and my personal favorite Une Aventure de VV just this year). A lot of the ideas explored on the recent stuff is present in their first two albums (1977 and 1980), but the more recent work feels livelier, a bit more vital to me. I guess whereas they would've been at the cutting edge of electronic music when they debuted, they now have decades of development in electronic and dance music to look back to and incorporate into their work.

Their take on electronic music seems like a big influence on Stereolab's jauntier tunes and in particular, their original vocalist Catherine Jauniaux seems like a big influence on Laetitia Sadier. As a matter of fact, there are two Aksak Maboul remix albums; the first has a contribution from Laetitia Sadier and the second has one from Vanishing Twin.

jonder, have you listened to many of the artists released by Crammed Discs? I have to imagine they've put out some incredible records if Hollander was willing to drop Aksak Maboul for it.

Ubiquitor, Friday, 22 December 2023 03:09 (one year ago) link

80s Crammed is a pandora box totally worth opening

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 22 December 2023 08:27 (one year ago) link

xp thanks for that! i know about crammed discs but don't think i've ever explored the catalogue

budo jeru, Saturday, 23 December 2023 00:42 (one year ago) link


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