Elpmas is an album by the American composer and musician Moondog, released in 1992 via Kopf.[1]
| Elpmas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1992 |
| Studio | Academy of St. Martin's in the Streets |
| Genre | |
| Label |
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| Producer |
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Background and recording edit
Elpmas was recorded at Academy of St. Martin's in the Streets, a studio in Germany owned by Andi Toma.[1] The album's title is the word "sample" read backwards; it was the first time Moondog used sampling in his music.[2]
Reception edit
Der Spiegel wrote that the music on Elpmas lies between folk music and minimal music and called it pleasant.[2] "Blue" Gene Tyranny of AllMusic described it as a "wonderful CD built from environmental sounds, gently rocking marimbas, lovely counterpoint for winds, foot-taping rhythms, and sweetly sung wisdom from a chorus".[3] Moondog's biographer Robert Scotto called it "the strangest of his German productions and in many ways the most like his earliest New York albums".[1] He wrote that it primarily appealed to those who appreciated Moondog's eclectic side and propensity to move his music into new phases and that it confused those who expected a unified expression. He called it "a little too much over the edge perhaps".[1]
Track listing edit
All tracks are written by Moondog
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wind River Powwow" | 7:11 |
| 2. | "Westward Ho!" | 6:00 |
| 3. | "Suite Equestria (Trail Versus Road and Trail)" | 7:14 |
| 4. | "Marimba Mondo 1: The Rain Forest" | 5:33 |
| 5. | "Fujiyama 1 (instr.)" | 4:43 |
| 6. | "Marimba Mondo 2: Seascape of the Whales" | 5:51 |
| 7. | "Fujiyama 2 (Lovesong)" | 5:01 |
| 8. | "Bird of Paradise" | 2:40 |
| 9. | "The Message (a cappella male chorus)" | 1:01 |
| 10. | "Introduction and Overtone Continuum" | 2:25 |
| 11. | "Cosmic Meditation" | 24:10 |
Personnel edit
- Henry Schuman – oboe
- Peter Wendland – violone, viol
- Johannes Leis – piccolo, saxophone (alto, tenor, bass)
- Götz Alsmann – banjo
- Andi Toma – vocals, whistling
- Akbar Huck – vocals
- Max Alsmann – vocals
- Nobuko Sugai – recitation
- Moondog – keyboards, percussion
References edit
Citations edit
- ^ a b c d Scotto 2013, p. 296.
- ^ a b Der Spiegel 1992.
- ^ Tyranny.
Sources edit
- Tyranny, "Blue" Gene. "Elpmas". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- Scotto, Robert (2013) [2007]. Moondog: The Viking of 6th Avenue, Revised Edition. Port Townsend, Washington: Process Media. ISBN 978-1-934170-41-0.
- Der Spiegel (9 March 1992). "Tippelbruder im Geiste" (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2020.