The
opportunity to premiere the fascinating debut album by the Spanish
band Aegri Somnia is a special pleasure for me, and therein lies a
story that I will tell — and part of that story includes commentary about the music
by a friend of mine who I think of as a Renaissance man, an American close to
my own advanced age who spent much of his younger formative years living in
Madrid, and hasn’t ever lost his fascination for the country and its people.
For this purpose I’ll refer to him as Oudekerk.
But
first, an introduction to the band and the music.
photo by
Johan Bergs
Aegri
Somnia is a collaboration between two Spanish artists with very different
backgrounds — Cristina R. Galván (aka Lady Carrot), who comes
from the world of Castillian folk music, and Nightmarer, who has been a
participant in the avant-garde metal bands As Light
Dies and Garth Arum. I’ll borrow their own words in explaining the
genesis of their collaboration:
“It all
began in 2012 in an old and haunted house located in a northern Spanish valley,
surrounded by loneliness, silence and the smell of wet earth. In an old iron
kitchen where termites were almost heard devouring the wooden beams, a musical
session was improvised with a tambourine, cookware as percussion, traditional
songs and lugubrious chords coming from an electric guitar.
“Two
vastly different worlds converged and married in the eyes of the silent and
celebrating spirits who inhabited the house. And thus Aegri Somnia was born,
Spanish traditional music, unknown even for most of Spanish people, mixed with
a harmonic eccentricity typical of musical styles such as black metal. Songs
reinforced with a bittersweet soundtrack which emphasizes the message our
ancestors passed to us.”
photo by
Johan Bergs
And so,
this album Ad Augusta per Angusta was the result of that union.
It is, in the band’s words…
“… a
compilation of Iberian popular folk songs from the late 19th and the early 20th
century. A travel through the rural Spain watered by our ancestors’ sweat and
blood, an approach to the magical Spain with its lights and its shadows, and a
gaze into the abyss of the black and tenebrous Spain with the inner cruelty and
brutality of human beings. Pieces of memory, tradition, secrets and myths transmitted
over the years from generation to generation, around bonfires, while long
working days under the sun or during celebrations. Small samples of popular
wisdom which, unlike others already entered into the mists of time and have
been rescued from our elder memory before their demise.”
You’ll
get a further sense of what’s unusual about the songs by looking at the list of
instruments performed by these two artists:
Cristina
R. Galvan: Galician and Castilian tambourine, pandero cuadrado, palo de agua, spoons,
almirez, shells, and claps
Nightmarer:
electric and acoustic guitar, fretless bass, keyboards/synths, programming,
violin, accordion, wind chimes, claps, and stomps
And with
this background, I’ll turn to that story I promised.
photo by
Johan Bergs
When I
heard the first two songs from this album that had been released for public
streaming, “Ronda De Mayo” and “Señor Platero”, I shared them
with Oudekerk. You certainly couldn’t call him a metalhead, but I thought
he might appreciate Aegri Somnia’s creations both because of his own
knowledge of Spain and affection for it and because he seems to have eclectic
musical tastes and an open mind.
He was
quite taken with those two songs, and wrote me the following note, which
I’ve edited slightly because it was a private message, and which I’m now
sharing with Oudekerk’s permission:
As
you pointed out on NCS, this pair has done some really interesting
things by blending a number of different “heirloom” Spanish musical genres,
including some that date back to the pagan era (pre-300 AD). Because of Spain’s
history, even this ancient music has taken on various newer influences
including Celtic, Visigothic, Arab and Sephardic Jewish scales, tones,
measures, and flourishes.
I think
that Aegri Somnia’s work continues the tradition of synthesis by
impressively combining these ancient influences with newer twists that the
band’s instrumentalist (Nightmarer) describes as “metal on the vanguard.”
The
singer, Cristina Galván, apparently is the one with the deep knowledge of
Spanish folkloric music, including ones from the Madrid (Castilla – La Mancha)
region and elsewhere.
The
first song you listed on NCS, “Ronda de Mayo,” originated in a tiny town north
of Madrid called Paredes de Buítrago. There are several interesting dimensions
to the song and its origin. First, it’s a celebration of the last night of
April and the first day of May – the end of winter and the start of planting
season.
One of
the videos Galván has posted (here) highlights the origins and
strangely syncopated beat of the song. It also highlights how spectacular her
voice is, even sitting on her sofa at home. In the notes to the video, she also
points out that the “Ronda” form is heavily influenced by Arab music. Another
song is here.
This is
rather “inside baseball”, so ignore it if you wish: I don’t know whether the
band realized the rather humorous image conjured up by the name of the town the
song comes from. Paredes de Buítrago, the town name, means “walls of vulture
roosts,” which seems a rather strange counterpoint to a song about planting
seeds and springtime desire. Rather metal, actually….
Galván has
posted several other videos, which I think are intended for primary school
students, so I surmise that she may be a school teacher in addition to being a
musician. The videos are interesting, in that they explain the various
different forms of Spanish folkloric songs, the measures involved, etc., but
she also demonstrates them on a tambourine in a pretty amazing display of
musicianship. Also, should you wish, you can learn how to play spoons like a
Spaniard!
I
mentioned that there was something about the band’s work that reminded me of
Sephardic (Spanish Jewish) music. The Jews were kicked out of Spain at the same
time as the Muslims, in 1492. Here is a link to a song that might
prove my point (or not).
One of
the pieces I read on them said that the two principals started Aegri
Somnia in a rented old (they say haunted) house in a valley in the
northern Spanish countryside five years ago. The album is obviously a labor of
love, with that kind of gestation period.
And yes,
it’s evident, even from simply listening, that this album is a labor of love —
a labor that has produced something rare and entrancing, vibrant and moody,
exotic and evocative. I hope you get lost in it just as I have.
The
album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Nightmarer at Fireflowers
Studios from 2011 to 2016. It was mastered by Simon Da Silva at Empty
Hall Studios.
The
album will be jointly released on January 30 as a digital download
and in a jewel-box CD with a 12-page booklet by Symbol of Domination
Productions (Belarus) and United By Chaos (Finland). You
can order it here:
https://symbolofdomination.bandcamp.com/album/sodp089-aegri-somnia-ad-augusta-per-angusta-2017
Check
these lengths for further information about the album and the band:
http://aegrisomniafolk.blogspot.com
http://aegrisomniafolk.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/aegrisomniafolk
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