I will judge an album by the cover.

4ZZZ · 04-29-2009, 08:41 AM

Transe Soufie d'Alep Aleppian Sufi Transe by Ensemble Al Kindi and Sheikh Habboush - 2005

In 1992 I went and caught a movie that had got my attention. It was called Baraka and I came away transfixed by the music as well as the wonderful scenery presented. This was a docu drama with no words and an appropriate piece of music to suit the scene. This was the movie that introduced me to the sublime Hosts of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance. This movie also introduced to me to Whirling Dervishes and that is what you see on the cover of this album. While trawling blog world this album stood out in the fact that it reminded me not only of Baraka but the amazing dancing of these people who are of a Sufi order called Mevleviye. To see them whirl around for a considerable length of time has to be seen to be believed.

If one is to listen to an album like this it is going to be difficult to explain as it is not something that I have had much contact with. To quote the the blog.

Quote:

Ahmed HABBOUSH Shaykh Habbush inherited his mystical knowledge from his father who was also a Sufi shaykh. He was initiated in several mystical traditions, but the tariqa Qadiriyya and the tariqa Rifa‘iyya are the main sources of his mystical teachings and of the ritual structure of his dhikr. The Rifa‘i influence on shaykh Habboush can be seen on the presence in his zawiya of the iron skewers used in the performance of the darab al-shish. While he is entitled by his initiation in the Rifa‘iyya to perform the darab al-shish in his disciples, he usually prefers other forms of evaluation of their advance in the mystical path.

Make of that what you will. I do like the cover though. As stated above it reminded me of a scene from the wonderful Baraka. But it also reminded me, on reflection, that we Music Banter members are also very Western centric in our tastes. We think that because we listen to a wide range of genres we are in fact versatile. But are we? The vast majority of music discussed, Rock, Jazz, folk and Classical, is predominantly western in it's roots. Would anyone listen to sufi music, or for that matter any Eastern religious or ethnic styled music that is not within those genre confines? Most would not. And lets be honest even the rather oddly termed World Music genre is really a fusion of non west with the western sounds to make it more palatable. Am I being cynical? I hope not as I like ethnic fusion. See my love of Dead Can Dance for example.

After all that I will admit that this has been a listening experience that I am unable to appreciate or understand and in reality would have liked to have had this on a DVD with some eastern scenery to make it more entertaining, and that is not the word I am looking for but none other come to mind. In the end I guess I am saying that culturally I am not of the East be that of middle of far so as open minded as I think I am some things will always be difficult. I am happy to have had the experience of listening to Sufi chanting as part of my life's experiance but in the end would rather see Whirling Dervishes and Sufi singers live in the Middle East while being a despised tourist than listening here in my home town and on my Walkman.

500records · 01-07-2010, 07:02 PM

There is a story to this cover... but the short of it... the photograph was made by Austin Post, who has photo every glacier in North America, this one is Glacier Bay in Alaska. 50 years ago when he made this photograph he predicted it would melt irreversibly and calve icebergs... the same iceberg the Valdez was trying to avoid when it ran aground. 50 years ago there were very few icebergs in glacier bay... Form and Fate has a new release coming out in late Spring early summer 2010 on 500 Records. If anyone is following this thread and wants to hear the long version of the story let me know... thanks for listening... and for the wonderful review and praise... I'll try to remeber to post the next album cover here and some pre-release promos for everyone to hear and react to, good or bad, we love it... cheers!

p.s. here some older music we decided to re-release that was only previously released DIY by hand.

soundcloud.com/500records/sets/form-1

Form And Fate - The Form And Fate Of Lakes. 2007

01 Emotions vs Deceptions
02 Norwegian Black Metal Sword Fight To Death
03 The Ballad Of Austin Post
04 Intermission
05 It Will Come To Us
06 The Form And Fate Of Lakes Part I
07 The Form And Fate Of Lakes Part II
08 You Should Be Stopping

I once had the pleasure of seeing a glacier in New Zealand. We flew a light aircraft through Milford Sound and had the glacier pointed out to us by the pilot. Though it seemed small it was a magical experience to see and I will take that flight to the grave. So when trawling blog world I found this album cover and was impressed. Now that is a glacier. The one I was so transfixed by in NZ was a wee baby in comparison.
Where is that glacier that Form And Fate have used for their album art? I have searched via google and am unable to find an image. It would be an experience to go there.
And Form and Fate!? An interesting name for a band and considering the title of the album, The Form And Fate Of Lakes, the glacier seems appropriate.

So on to the music. How does it stack up? Not too bad. It is instrumental post rock and well played, (name a post rock album that is not well played), better with a bit of volume, (name a post rock album that is not ditto), and better through the headphones, (name a post rock album that is not ditto).

I like the track The Ballad Of Austin Post. Gently played with a clean sound that is given some grunt with the occasional feedback. It Will Come to us has some nice guitar leading the melody and a bit of drone in the background occasionally. Throughout the album the bass is generally subdued with the percussion to the foreground. The rhythm section is subtle in general though. Mix and match!? The guitars are, well....... typical post rock. Crafty, jangley and precise.

Lets be honest. Post Rock is the new Jazz. The players are always fantastic, especially live. People like me love the stuff. Maserati are the soup, Mogwai are the main course, Battles are the desert and Form And Fate, or who ever takes your fancy, is the after dinner mint. But the public at large? Nah! It is not easy on the ear. No vocals and no discernible melody. The heroes of the past sang about women and drink and drink and women and Satan and women and drink and drink and women while the Guitarists played 20 minute solos and exposed the hose pipe via the too right Levis. So that means that the likes of Post Rock wank bands with wank names like Form And Fate are going to be but footnotes in the history of local music, in this case San Francisco, while the members become accountants and dentists and later in life meet for dinners and reminisce about how they don't make music like they used to and how present day pop is so poor and it was not like that back in blah blah blah.

Good album, glad to have played it 4 or 5 times, will probably not play it again for many a long year and in all honesty l would prefer to see the glacier. (Where ever it is)[/QUOTE]

NumberNineDream · 01-07-2010, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4ZZZ

Transe Soufie d'Alep Aleppian Sufi Transe by Ensemble Al Kindi and Sheikh Habboush - 2005

In 1992 I went and caught a movie that had got my attention. It was called Baraka and I came away transfixed by the music as well as the wonderful scenery presented. This was a docu drama with no words and an appropriate piece of music to suit the scene. This was the movie that introduced me to the sublime Hosts of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance. This movie also introduced to me to Whirling Dervishes and that is what you see on the cover of this album. While trawling blog world this album stood out in the fact that it reminded me not only of Baraka but the amazing dancing of these people who are of a Sufi order called Mevleviye. To see them whirl around for a considerable length of time has to be seen to be believed.

If one is to listen to an album like this it is going to be difficult to explain as it is not something that I have had much contact with. To quote the the blog.

Make of that what you will. I do like the cover though. As stated above it reminded me of a scene from the wonderful Baraka. But it also reminded me, on reflection, that we Music Banter members are also very Western centric in our tastes. We think that because we listen to a wide range of genres we are in fact versatile. But are we? The vast majority of music discussed, Rock, Jazz, folk and Classical, is predominantly western in it's roots. Would anyone listen to sufi music, or for that matter any Eastern religious or ethnic styled music that is not within those genre confines? Most would not. And lets be honest even the rather oddly termed World Music genre is really a fusion of non west with the western sounds to make it more palatable. Am I being cynical? I hope not as I like ethnic fusion. See my love of Dead Can Dance for example.

After all that I will admit that this has been a listening experience that I am unable to appreciate or understand and in reality would have liked to have had this on a DVD with some eastern scenery to make it more entertaining, and that is not the word I am looking for but none other come to mind. In the end I guess I am saying that culturally I am not of the East be that of middle of far so as open minded as I think I am some things will always be difficult. I am happy to have had the experience of listening to Sufi chanting as part of my life's experiance but in the end would rather see Whirling Dervishes and Sufi singers live in the Middle East while being a despised tourist than listening here in my home town and on my Walkman.

I love twirling dervishes!
I used to laugh at them when I was quite young, as what they did seemed a bit too absurd. However, last year, we got to study them in one of our classes, and it's just amazing how simple all this concept is. They don't feel anything really, it's not like they're torturing themselves in some way. It's one of the many oriental meditating techniques, the dervishes would be twirling while reciting a mantra in their head, until they reach this moment of pure clarity. When twirling, with the right technique, they don't get dizzy (which makes twirling for more than five hours possible) all the blood rushes into their brain, and they feel elevated.

Unfortunately there's not much genuine Sufi dervishes nowadays. Usually, some twirl in events, but they're just show people, not Sufis. Though many still exist in Turkey mostly, but I don't think they'd be twirling all on the streets.

Astronomer · 01-07-2010, 11:27 PM

This is such a good idea, it's true that even though most of us will believe that the cover art doesn't make a difference to the music, covers definitely will lure us in or put us off.

4ZZZ · 01-07-2010, 11:36 PM

Geez. That is a serious thread revival. I think I might have to consider a few more revues. Never thought anyone took much notice of my drivel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 500records

There is a story to this cover... but the short of it... the photograph was made by Austin Post, who has photo every glacier in North America, this one is Glacier Bay in Alaska. 50 years ago when he made this photograph he predicted it would melt irreversibly and calve icebergs... the same iceberg the Valdez was trying to avoid when it ran aground. 50 years ago there were very few icebergs in glacier bay.

Thanks for that 500records. One day I might get lucky and get to Glacier Bay. Alaska is on a very long must do list. I will PM you later.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NumberNineDream

I love twirling dervishes!
I used to laugh at them when I was quite young, as what they did seemed a bit too absurd. However, last year, we got to study them in one of our classes, and it's just amazing how simple all this concept is. They don't feel anything really, it's not like they're torturing themselves in some way. It's one of the many oriental meditating techniques, the dervishes would be twirling while reciting a mantra in their head, until they reach this moment of pure clarity. When twirling, with the right technique, they don't get dizzy (which makes twirling for more than five hours possible) all the blood rushes into their brain, and they feel elevated.

Unfortunately there's not much genuine Sufi dervishes nowadays. Usually, some twirl in events, but they're just show people, not Sufis. Though many still exist in Turkey mostly, but I don't think they'd be twirling all on the streets.

And thanks for that info as well. I had never given the technique any thought. We live in a wonderful world full of interesting phenomena that should amaze us if we are open minded.

01-07-2010, 11:27 PM	#54 (permalink)
Astronomer we are stardust Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,894	This is such a good idea, it's true that even though most of us will believe that the cover art doesn't make a difference to the music, covers definitely will lure us in or put us off. __________________

01-07-2010, 07:02 PM	#52 (permalink)
500records Groupie Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bay Area, Ca Posts: 1	There is a story to this cover... but the short of it... the photograph was made by Austin Post, who has photo every glacier in North America, this one is Glacier Bay in Alaska. 50 years ago when he made this photograph he predicted it would melt irreversibly and calve icebergs... the same iceberg the Valdez was trying to avoid when it ran aground. 50 years ago there were very few icebergs in glacier bay... Form and Fate has a new release coming out in late Spring early summer 2010 on 500 Records. If anyone is following this thread and wants to hear the long version of the story let me know... thanks for listening... and for the wonderful review and praise... I'll try to remeber to post the next album cover here and some pre-release promos for everyone to hear and react to, good or bad, we love it... cheers! p.s. here some older music we decided to re-release that was only previously released DIY by hand. soundcloud.com/500records/sets/form-1 Form And Fate - The Form And Fate Of Lakes. 2007 01 Emotions vs Deceptions 02 Norwegian Black Metal Sword Fight To Death 03 The Ballad Of Austin Post 04 Intermission 05 It Will Come To Us 06 The Form And Fate Of Lakes Part I 07 The Form And Fate Of Lakes Part II 08 You Should Be Stopping I once had the pleasure of seeing a glacier in New Zealand. We flew a light aircraft through Milford Sound and had the glacier pointed out to us by the pilot. Though it seemed small it was a magical experience to see and I will take that flight to the grave. So when trawling blog world I found this album cover and was impressed. Now that is a glacier. The one I was so transfixed by in NZ was a wee baby in comparison. Where is that glacier that Form And Fate have used for their album art? I have searched via google and am unable to find an image. It would be an experience to go there. And Form and Fate!? An interesting name for a band and considering the title of the album, The Form And Fate Of Lakes, the glacier seems appropriate. So on to the music. How does it stack up? Not too bad. It is instrumental post rock and well played, (name a post rock album that is not well played), better with a bit of volume, (name a post rock album that is not ditto), and better through the headphones, (name a post rock album that is not ditto). I like the track The Ballad Of Austin Post. Gently played with a clean sound that is given some grunt with the occasional feedback. It Will Come to us has some nice guitar leading the melody and a bit of drone in the background occasionally. Throughout the album the bass is generally subdued with the percussion to the foreground. The rhythm section is subtle in general though. Mix and match!? The guitars are, well....... typical post rock. Crafty, jangley and precise. Lets be honest. Post Rock is the new Jazz. The players are always fantastic, especially live. People like me love the stuff. Maserati are the soup, Mogwai are the main course, Battles are the desert and Form And Fate, or who ever takes your fancy, is the after dinner mint. But the public at large? Nah! It is not easy on the ear. No vocals and no discernible melody. The heroes of the past sang about women and drink and drink and women and Satan and women and drink and drink and women while the Guitarists played 20 minute solos and exposed the hose pipe via the too right Levis. So that means that the likes of Post Rock wank bands with wank names like Form And Fate are going to be but footnotes in the history of local music, in this case San Francisco, while the members become accountants and dentists and later in life meet for dinners and reminisce about how they don't make music like they used to and how present day pop is so poor and it was not like that back in blah blah blah. Good album, glad to have played it 4 or 5 times, will probably not play it again for many a long year and in all honesty l would prefer to see the glacier. (Where ever it is)[/QUOTE]