Meredith Monk - Book Of Days (1990)

It was in 1984 that Meredith Monk first conceived of the imagery that would lead to the film Book Of Days - a monochrome scene of a young girl in a medieval Jewish village.  The nonlinear narrative would end up focusing on the girl's strange visions of 20th century life, that she would attempt to explain to her grandfather (see image above), before finding a kindred spirit in a 'madwoman' portrayed by Monk.  Certainly sounds fascinating - anyone out there ever had a chance to watch it?

The soundtrack would feature mostly brief vocal pieces that Monk had been concurrently working on, most of them acapella, occasionally with subtle drone instrumentation from a keyboard, organ, dulcimer, hurdy gurdy or cello.  On completion of the film project, Monk decided to re-record the music from the film, plus some pieces that she hadn't been able to include, and restructure the running order.  The result was this, her fourth album for ECM; intended by Monk and Manfred Eicher to be 'a film for the ears'.

Book Of Days the album remains an oft-cited high point in Meredith Monk's discography, and for good reason.  The preponderance of short acapella pieces really lets her vocal, compositional and vocal arrangement talents shine, and their structure here flows beautifully as an album completely apart from its soundtrack origins.  This is vocal music that sounds truly timeless, notwithstanding the occasional use of a digital keyboard (which actually fits just fine on Churchyard Entertainment and Madwoman's Vision in a Badalamenti-sinister kind of way).  The occasional acoustic instrumentation mentioned earlier perfectly fleshes out the austere vocals too.  A highly recommended jewel of a record.

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Previously posted at SGTG: Dolmen Music | Turtle Dreams 

Meredith Monk - Turtle Dreams (1983)

Meredith Monk's second release for ECM again selected pieces from theatrical and film works to produce a great album experience.  The sonic palate is more varied than on Dolmen Music, so even though this album is ten minutes shorter than its predecessor, you actually get a broader snapshot of Monk's sound-world of the period.

The first half of Turtle Dreams is taken up by its title track.  In its original conception, the four performers shown on the album cover above provided the focal points of sound and movement, while the backdrop was intermittently superimposed with images of a turtle crawling across cityscape footage.  A made-for-video reduction has survived, and remains one of the most wonderfully weird YouTube experiences I've ever had.  Musically, Glass/Reich-esque organs provide a sedate backing to Monk's voice, just on the edge of comprehensibility, before the rest of voices join in and the singing switches to the much more primal vocalese that Monk excelled at.

The four pieces on the album's second half are ran together in a varied and fascinating patchwork.  View 1 is first and longest, and starts with rippling piano arpeggios before settling down.  This isn't just a straightforward voice-and-piano ballad like on the first side of Dolmen Music though - the voice parts are more treated, mostly with echo, and little bits overdubbed.  Sped-up overdubs of the opening piano riff are also dropped in at times, along with a low growl of didgeridoo in the background.  After a loud synth fanfare closes this amazing piece, we're next offered two minutes of mechanical, industrial sound in Engine Steps, then Ester's Song, a minute of keyboard and voice.  The closing track on the album, View 2, was also taken from the original Turtle Dreams production, and winds this album up in style as Monk's amazing voice coos and soars over a flutey synth backing.

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Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music (1981)

Been enjoying this album a lot on these past few autumnal weekends - gorgeous, unique music, much of it just piano and (one hell of a!) voice, and just enough magnificent weirdness, from a singular musician and composer.  Meredith Monk (b. 1942 in NYC) stands alongside Yoko Ono for me as one of the most fearless and boundary-pushing explorers of the potential of the human voice in music, and Monk's singular craft as a composer and performer continues to this day.

Dolmen Music marked the beginning of her ongoing relationship with ECM, and presented five examples of her work from the 70s.  After the beautiful opener Gotham Lullaby, which was composed for a 1975 theatre piece by frequent early collaborator Ping Chong, the next three pieces were taken from Monk's 'solo opera' Education Of The Girlchild (1972-3).  Performed as the stages of a woman's life in reverse, the selections here are by turns joyously euphoric (Travelling), comical (The Tale) and melancholic (Biography).

The second half of the album is taken up by its title track, a six-section choral suite from 1979.  After a ghostly cello introduction, Monk's lone voice is soon joined by the male voices, giving the impression of a sombre ritual from some long-lost culture.  The full vocal ensemble broadens this out, its full flight interspersed with smaller pairings and solos, and the return of the cello.  Eventually that instrument gets a dramatic, rattling solo, before the voices gradually gather again for the stunning finale.  A brilliant work of breathtaking dynamics, topping off an essential album.  More Meredith Monk to come in due course.

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