Jahrtal/Reprisen & Instrumentalstuecke/Merlin's Nose/2009 CD Review

  Jahrtal  is  a  musician  from  Austria  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  combines  drone,  psychedelic  and  neo  folk  together  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2009  album  "Reprisen  &  Instrumentalstuecke"  which  was  released  by  Merlin's  Nose.

  Sound  effects  and  synths  bring  elements  of  dark  ambient  and  drone  to  the  recording  as  well  as  mixing  in  some  heavy  distortion,  while  the  flutes  and  other  folk  instruments  bring  the  psychedelic,  ethnic,  and  neo  folk  elements  to  the  album.

  Acoustic  guitars  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  bring  in  more  folk  music  elements  and  there is  no  use  of  vocals  or  song  writing  present  on  this  recording  except  briefly  on  one  song  and  they  are  all  clean  singing  neo  folk  vocals,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  dark  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  album  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Jahrtl  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  drone,  psychedelic  and  neo  folk,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Reprise  II"  "Reprise  VII"  "Im  Jahrtal"  and  "Reprise  XI".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/785822-Jahrtal

Jahrtal Interview

1. Can you update us with what is going on with Jahrtal these days?


Jahrtal recently is working on some musical themes.


Some days ago we also did an English version (using the original Blake poem “Night”) of the song “Nacht” for a sampler with psychedelic music and folk music, that should be released in 2011.



2. How would you describe the musical style that you are working on?


If you call our music psychedelic folk that would be quite ok.



3. The recent album was based on the writings of William Blake, what made you decide to recite these poems in a different language, and do you plan on working on other poets during future releases?


I wanted to record some of the poems of William Blake and set them to music back in the 1970s. I also like and mainly agree with the messages of these poems; messages of a free, critical but always loving mind.


I first came in contact with the poetry of William Blake through Allen Ginsberg's LP "Songs of Innocence and Experience" that I heard on the radio when I was a teenager. I was very fascinated by this music and tried to find this LP for many years in vain. Not having been able to find this record I finally decided to create my own versions of some of the songs. This was the beginning of "Lieder von Unschuld und Widerfahren". To translate the poems into German was a challenge for me. I wanted to find the right words in my native language. This was a very beautiful and interesting work, bringing me very close to the poems.


I have not yet thought about working on more Blake writings or working on other poets, although it could be an incitement to continue with William Blake songs, another challenge...


For many years I have been thinking about setting to music songs and poems by the wonderful Tibetan poet and saint Milarepa.


We will see if Jahrtal will be able to do that.





4. What are some of the other music styles that you have experimented with besides folk?


In the 1980s I was primarily engaged in sound works and acoustic collages and in combination with this in art installations and radio works. You can find some sound samples of these works on my homepage http://ewald-spiss.de/ or here http://www.myspace.com/espiss



5. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?


Besides making music I also was engaged in drawing and painting and will try to keep this up.


My wife Christine and myself we love music and try to give our best although I do not consider myself to be a great musician and live performer. I am more like a drawer and painter working in the studio or in the field solely without an audience.


There is an idea to set into music a Buddhist fairy tale. Another long time idea is to pay homage to my teachers - this could become a crossover project between Jahrtal and the sound works I did in the 1980s.


Yes, there are some ideas for the future - but there is no hurry - we will see, what time will bring about.



6. How has your music been received so far by neo-folk and regular folk music fans worldwide?


Jahrtal has received some friendly reviews. I think Jahrtal is not so popular, but this does not matter, since our music reaches the people, who like it.



7. What are some other poets that you find interesting besides William Blake?


I very much like Romantic Poets like Novalis, Tieck and Eichendorff but also the writings of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder.





8. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?


Long time favorite bands are The Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange, Fairport Convention... I also like so called World-Jazz, especially with Indian or oriental influences. One good example is Don Cherry’s “Relativity Suite”. There is a lot of interesting music in all styles of music.


At the moment I have rediscovered for me Baroque music like that of Corelli and Marais – wonderful music for theorbe and viola da gamba.



9. Outside of music what are some of your interests?


My family, the teachings of Buddha, art, nature, taking long walks in forests and mountains together with Christine and our small black dog…



10. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?


Thank you very much for your interest!

https://www.discogs.com/artist/785822-Jahrtal

Jahrtal/William Blake von Unschuld und Widerfahren/Ahnstern/2009 CD Review

Jahrtal is a Psychedelic Folk project from Austria and this is a review of their album "William Blake Lieder von Unschuld und Widerfahren" which was released in 2009 by Ahnstern.

There are alot of many different folk instruments such as a sitar, lute, banji, dulcimer, gzitar, harpzither, psalter, flute, dubuk, schalm, violin, organ and bird's voice which all bring the music a heavy psychedelic folk feel.

Acoustic guitars use a lot of finger picking and open chords with a small amount of a distorted electric guitar being used at times with some solos, that make you feel like you are in a folk music gathering, while the vocals are all clean singing vocals with some female singing being used at times.

Lyrics are based on the poem's of William Blake and are all translated in german, while the production has a mid 60's, early 70's folk feel.

In my opinion Jahrtal are a very good Psychedelic Folk band, and their approach to reciting William Blake is a lot different than bands that have recited hes work in English, if you are a fan of this genre, you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Nacht" "Wiegerlied" "Das Schulkind" and "Ach ! Sonnenblume". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/785822-Jahrtal