Phantom Songs

One thing about Berlin's 17 Hippies -- if one song doesn't grab you, just wait three or four minutes and it'll be followed by something completely different. In the space of the first three tracks of Phantom Songs, they leap from trancey, neo-gamelan music to lightly twisted French chanson to "Across Waters," which sounds as if it could have been taken from the Leonard Cohen songbook. Their entire career has been marked by stylistic eclecticism, and they see no reason to stop now, even mixing up Balkan brass and a bizarre gavotte (with banjo) in "Biese Bouwe." In lesser hands, this kind of mix 'n' match could easily turn into sonic mush, but they do it with such love (and knowledge) that it becomes a joyful little gumbo. "Lazy Friends & Promises" is very sweet psych folk, positively glowing with innocence, only to be followed by a cover of Captain Beefheart's "Gimme Dat Harp Boy" that substitutes strings and brass for the gutbucket blues feel of the original to give the song a fresh feel. That's just a sampling of the delights; in other words, it's another 17 Hippies album. There's no other band quite like them, and they keep plowing their very individual furrow, bringing it all to a close on the folk/country-tinged "The Train," which brings everything to a very satisfying conclusion. ~ Chris Nickson|

ベルリンを活動拠点とする楽団の4作目は、東欧系ユダヤ人の音楽・クレズマーを、シャンソンやアメリカン・フォークのエッセンスを盛り込みながら今日的にアップデートしてみせた一枚。ナチス・ドイツが＜ロマ＞と呼んで差別し、迫害した民族の音楽文化を再生することで、多様な文化の差異を認め合いながら尊重し、共存していくという理想を追い求めたのだそう。現代ヨーロッパの精神を象徴するような音楽のひとつだ。
bounce (C)鈴木智彦