V / A: Etnofest 2 Lucerna live 2004 - CD

Music knows no bounds, especially at Etnofest, where this recording was made. The bands Jablkoň, Létající koberec, Ba-to-cu, Ghymes and Kale with Věra Bílá are connected by a mysterious bond of rhythms, encircling what seems like the entire Earth.
Everything else may be different. After all, the Dadaist songs of the band Jablkoň are a world unto themselves. They have a polished form, yet they transform from within thanks to the shamanic rumble of singer Michal Němec, pulsating in a sort of molecular collision of guitars and basses. The opening track, 'Ulánbátár' (Ulaanbaatar), is, as its name suggests, controlled musical chaos. The discernible melody in the song 'Námořnická' (Sailor's Song) disintegrates into the roars of “Yo-ho-ho” from the “sailors”, momentarily lost in the pounding rhythms, but the band always maintains the song's structure. Add in the absurd and situational humour, playfulness, and musicianship, and Jablkoň could fit into any festival.
Following the clapped rhythm of Jablkoň's 'Aplaus na rozloučenou' (Farewell Applause), the ensemble Létající koberec (Flying Carpet) takes over, breaking free from the song format in their recording 'Yourney'. The group, centred around drummer and guitarist Petr Piňos, unfurls a resonant tapestry that pulses for eleven minutes. Across this hypnotic bridge, the band arrives at songs like 'Isis' or 'Dejavu', which exude the mysterious romantic beauty of forgotten empires.
The formation Ba-To-Cu, led by dance teacher Monika Rebcová, is closest to African music. The exotic, captivating poetry of drums—instruments with names like djembe, dundun, or kenkeni—has a different form but a shared joy. At Etnofest, the group presented folk music stripped down almost to its rhythmic structures.
The music of the Hungarian band Ghymes is something of an opposite, though not a contradiction. Its ethereal magic originates from the regions of the Carpathian Basin. The musicians have traversed rock, classical, and folklore before discovering the treasures of ethnic music, which they began to develop in their own way. Much like jazz musicians, they have arrived at violin fantasies that float freely above folk roots, or they can conjure a spontaneous musical celebration in the “Balkan” track 'Rege'.
The final performer at Etnofest, Věra Bílá and the group Kale, continues the Romani tradition of a life in music. The music flows like a nomadic and communal life, with the musicians not questioning what has happened to their music over the ages in Central Europe. The name Rompop, which Zuzana Navarová helped them coin, is fitting. Kale rely on the voice of their singer and the irresistible interplay of guitars. They could have added more instruments, but this way is better. From the delicate tremors of the strings, flames of swirling dance music erupt, and the lingering atmosphere of ballads flows from them.
And so we reach the end. Did you realise we’ve travelled around a part of the world?
Vladimír Vlasák

Tracklist

Půbrdlová a Ulánbátár / Říkadla / Námořnická / Popí rondo / Aplaus na rozloučenou / Yourney / Isis / Dejavu / 17 Palců / Came / Tánc a hóban / Rege / Sar me somas terno čavo / Nakamav / Madža nikhaj / Pašo paňori / Tekerel