Drongomala

**NEW RELEASE APRIL 2008 - LOUIS OAK ANDERSON**
Album: Up North in the Coalshed Artist: Louis Oak Anderson FMCDA005 songs written by Louis Oak Anderson arranged and produed by Drongomala louis oak anderson - voice and guitar, Ian Dixon - flute and clarinet, Drongomala - voice and percussion genre: true folk sounds a bit like: Incredible String Band, Nick Drake check it: Ian Dixon has played with Primal Scream and turned down Van Morrison and is featured on another release we have coming up in the summer 2008 - 12000 Miles as the White Crane Flies	Drongomala on Louis 'Oak' Anderson and Up North in the Coalshed At a stag party up on the Scottish island of Jura a friend of mine played me some tracks by Louis 'Oak' Anderson that he wanted me to hear. I really liked it and I ended up producing an EP for him. I was lucky enough to get Iain Dixon on flute. Ians Flute ran from Macbeth to Puck. I sang harmony to Louis and played gypsy percussion on pizza boxes and Oxo canisters. Louis' answering machine message often says he's moving into a new caravan soon. This was in 2006 and then the master tapes were stolen. In March 2008 I finally manged to recover the sessions and mix it. a couple of years later and I'm glad I managed it That island of Jura was where the KLF burned a million dollars. Louis' voice has the sound of loss and anger and tenderness and his metronomic guitar plucking pushes the music forward yet it feels relaxed. I think he sings the gentle songs the best. Louis has tons of songs and these are just the ones I wanted him to record. I hope you like it It's was done Up North In the Coalshed Available at Gigs Now - in iTunes in May 2008'ish.

PRESCRIPTION NO 1. A short lived but glorious electro punk band from Manchester featuring Drongomala, Sink and Tree in this high octane debut EP.

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ElectroRaga Manchester, UK 22 Jul 2006

HLI & Drongomala Birmingham, UK 12 Aug 2006

BLOG WITH PICS

ELECTRORAGA ON MYSPACE

Electro Raga is a project orchestrated by Drongomala which is based on North Indian Raga forms. It's both a pre-recorded and a live-improvisation project .... meaning.....there will be CD's but the live performances are different every time.

We are not purists - we are not ethnopimps - we are punks

Electroraga is gearing up for some more live performances and recordings this year. We filmed the last event which we'll put some vidz up for soon. See more info below.....

PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS......

Electro Raga 2 - Manchester, Saturday 22nd July 2006

As part of the Futresonic Festival Drongomala and the Zeitgeist Orchestra performed open air throughout manchester on Saturday 22nd July.

We filmed the whole day and there can't have been anything close to this ever happening in good olde Manchester before. It's a beautiful thing - check it out....

Musicians : Drongomala, ER Janardhan, Daniel Weaver, Brother Ghazi, Olly Farshi

SEE THE VIDEOS

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ElectroRaga1 - Manchester Friday June 16th 2006

A quick note just to big up the lyrical warriors and poetic messengers that stepped down from Birmingham to be part of the Zeitgesit Orchestra for Friday nights show with Broad Minded. Malkauns was performed to a basement party crowd.

Wasif (The What Supreme - verbalist) and Tom (Sensei C - verbalist/clarinet) play out as the duo HLI (Headlighter Islanders) but like proper scenesters are involved in all kinds of activities. On Friday and Saturday they took their heat over to Manc for Drongomala and Flying Mountain.

The electroraga piece was a beautiful thing and everyone pushed themselves out into that jazzy primal scream therapy territory that is needed to pull off a 14 minute unrehearsed jam. HLI dropped their tight live set afterwards and the night couldn't have been inaugurated better.

....on the Saturday we then dropped two jams in spooky electric (my studio). Ep in the summer sometime.

Big Up Wasif and Sensei C - the real spirit of hip-hop runs through these guys.

Title : 100 Fields

Artist : Drongomala

Catalogue : FMCDA003

Label : Flying Mountain

Release Date : Oct 06

Track List : Motherless Child, Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Old Time Religion, Down By The Riverside, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, When the Saints Go Marchin In, This may be the Last Time, Silent Night

Future Special Releases : Jesus Gonna Be Here, The Cross

100 Fields front cover by Sarah from Cochin A collection of Drongomala's favourite gospel songs done with his South Indian Folk Band in Kerala.

While in India Drongomala got the inspiration to play some of his favourite gospel songs with South Indian musicians and friends. It was a whim in the remaining three days in the country and was hurriedly arranged.

The musicians were more used to Hindu devotional recordings and most had never heard any of the tracks being recorded for the record. The musicians gave their heart and soul to the project and their fresh ears on the melodies and moods of these classics adds a new dimension to the traditional gospel greats.

The record is not something that should be classed as strictly Christian or Hindu - the musicians themselves were a mix of Christian, Hindu, Muslim and agnostic but all had the same goal of trying to make a record about universal peace. We just happened to use some old gospel songs to get there. We are pluralists. Music and life itself is our religion.

The studio recording was also joined by painters capturing the scene from which some paintings were done.

This is Drongomala's third record and it seems each record couldn't be more different than the last. Enjoy this release - it has big heart, a romantic sound and hits the Zeitgeist right in the important bits.


100 Fields Musicians by Drongomala
	I met the choir (Sandra, Merlin, Lenoy, Ramesh and Sujith) the day and before the recording and walked through the songs we were to do. Hearing the choir grow as a group during the sessions was a delight for us all and we had great fun making this record. They are all excellent solo singers in their own right. Merlin's vocal beatboxing is also pretty hot.
	A.R. Biju - Veena Biju is a young Veena player that did some sessions on the later Scale recordings. Biju also did sessions for the Scale album and is a rising star in the South Indian Carnatic scene. I love his melody.
	Balu Balu Kamath is a mridangham maestro. He has played with a great number of the top names in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music. Recently he perfomed in Cohin with Amjad Ali Khan. Balu provides the rhythm for this record and holds the musicians togther with a folk simplicity of rhythm. Perfect playing.
	Sanjay Jaiswal. Bass Vocals. I first met Sanjay when I shared a rickshaw with him at 1 in the morning. He is singing bass vocals on this record and I only wished I'd hooked up with him sooner. He's working on his debut album for Flying Mountain.
	Jon Thorne - double bass. I met Jon through a friend at a concert in Manchester. I hadn't heard him play until he turned up on the day for the overdubs and he knocked my socks off and some of my toenails. There are not many musicians that can muster up the mojo needed to be back at the original live sessions a continent away. That double bass is a crazy time machine. Check out his website at : www.jonthorne.co.uk
	Ian Holmes-Lewis. Percussion overdubs. Ian is the musical director for a band called Sambangra - (South American samba and Indian rhythms Bhangra) He is also working on a project called Samsalamat (a collaboration, between Qawwali music from Lahore and his group Sambangra from Manchester). Find out more at www.sambangra.com
The front cover was painted from live sketching during the studio sessions by a wonderful artist called Sarah from Cochin. I really dug this art jam happening at the same time as us. She has exhibitions at the Kerala Khatakali Centre in Fort Cochin, Kerala. http://www.kathakalicentre.com/

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MySpace - 100 Fields

STREAMING CLIPS

As alot of these songs are very old and other folks will have different intepretations of how they came about. That's fine and I claim no definitive description here.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?—is borrowed from a traditional gospel hymn. In the 1930s, A.P. Carter borrowed that same song, adapted it, and put his name on it for his group The Carter Family. Many people have covered this record - my favourite being the Staple Singers version.

"When the Saints Go Marchin' In" originally became a musical staple at New Orleans funeral parades, "during which the mourners would march to its stirring melody as they paid homage to those they were about to bury.

This May Be The Last Time. I only know this through Mahalia Jackson's version - when she sings it you really believe it.

The Cross. Written by Prince’ Rogers Nelson and on the 1987 album "Sign o' the Times". A new song compared to the rest but a classic gospel track. The lyrics are among the best I've heard in a devotional tune....applicable to all hard times in all hard cities. Unforntunately his record company reps won't allow us to release this which is a shame - we will keep trying though.

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" Many say that the song was about dying and going to Heaven. Others say it was a plan to escape to the north with the help of the Underground Railroad (sweet chariot), a collection of white and black people sympathetic to escaping slaves. I changed the word a little for the second verse to give praise to Saraswati Devi - the Indian godess of music.

Silent Night. I looked on the internet and it's amazing how many sites, words and pictures are devoted to this hymn now synonomous with Christmas all over the world. Written by Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr in Germanym,1818. It is a lullabye, a call for calm, and a peace song. This one isn't a gospel song as such but it but I wanted to take the chance to get an interpretation with Veena.

Motherless Child. Traditional.

Jesus Gonna Be Here. Written by Tom Waits and on the Bone Machine album. There is only a few cover versions of this from what I know - my favourite being the one done recently by the Blind Boys of Alhabama.

Down By The Riverside. This song, sometimes titled "(Ain't Gonna) Study War No More", was often sung during the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements of the 1960s. Fantastic lyrics.

Amazing Grace. The arrangement inspiration for this track was the one written by the Blind Boys of Alhabama - it uses the chords of the Animals song "House of the Rising Sun" over the traditional melody.

Gimmie that old time religion. Mahalia Jackson's version of this song is wonderful.

drongomala and 4d

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MYSPACE

Drongomala and 4D eventually got around to a serious collaboration after a friendship and jam seession that began two years before in London.

While Drongomala was in San Francisco mixing his latest record 'Scale' he hooked up again with 4D ..... before too long a studio was set up in the kitchen and things started to simmer....

Their common love of breaks, books and music fuelled the writing process for the record. Rappers and verbalists from the Bay and Oakland made it out to complete the jams.From demos to mixes in a month. The vibe was hip hop and funk and the methodology punk....

Guests......
AZEEM - well known rapper and performer from Oakland.
BLACCSMYTH - rapper
JOEL - bass guitar
THECREOS - turntablist from Japan based in SF.
CHELA SIMONE - verbalist from SF
FOLKLORE - rapper working with Suregeon Generals.

elemental back

THE MUSICIANS. Weather reports below.....
Azeem. "Azeem is a Wizard". Too right. Azeem when you can get him to the cauldron brings all kinds of potions and verbal notions. Azeem has 3 or 4 killer tracks on Elemental album and his reputation as one of the hot West Coast rappers is well deserved. Azeem doesn't only 'rap' - he does stand up theatre and is working on a number of writing projects.
Blaccmyth. Elemental of Fire. The only problem with Blaccsmyth is keeping up with him. This guy is a tornado and sessions with him are like jumping into a stolen car. His ability to swing from tragic to comic gives his punches heavyweight status.
TheCreos. A turntablist from Tokyo living in San Francisco. TheCreos swept the cigarette wrappers and beer bottles to one side - got his gear on the table and it was on. Old school baby.
Joel. E-Bass - this guy is a fitness coach to the stars in his spare time. We were feeling him bigtime and he had the bass doing sit ups and star jumps in no time.
Some bloke that I never got his name....answers on a postcard...he was Blaccsmyths mate.
Chela Simone. Chela is a rapper, a singer, a songwriter and a mother. When Chela is rapping you double take what you are hearing - her sweetness in tone gets her under your radar and then she stomps about on your notions of rappers. She drops a verse on 'When I was Young'. Watch out for her new album on Crowded Castle productions.
Folklore. This cat came in and said nothing - sat and listened to the jam we were getting on with and then hit the mike. Great stuff from Folklore on Dirt of the World - 7 minute hiphop improv at it's best.
Hanif by all rights should have a horse. He breezes in to the studios and souks of this world with a swirling cape - drops his mystic verses and then dissapears again off into the sunset. The sound of a bridle rattling and his laugh as he goes to the next adventure. Check him out on 'Darth Fader'.
	24 hr diner lady - our favourite one...killer shakes and ham and eggs at silly times of the morning.

Throwing ideas back and forth so quickly that it's a blur between writing and recording. It's also the sound of Elemental Triggering Breaks like a drummer

Elemental Triggering Breaks like a drummer

the breaks and the fact that we were chopping up the beats live and triggering things via MIDI. I think we knocked out some of the rappers with what we could do with the mininal gear' . It's also worth mentioning that this was done in a kitchen, with one mic and our hard drive was an iPod. I kept thinking "this is punk as f*@k".

Old school sampling is where it's all crazy mapped across the keyboard - speeding up and slowing down. Squeezing sounds and filtering out the alternatives. HiFi gear meets LoFiFunk.

dec PEOPLE WE DIG DUG DURING or Namechecks disguised as search engine co-ercison : Public Enemy, Melle Mel, Cash Money, ALL of Motown and the newschool, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Wu Tang Clan, Mos Def, E40, the Chemical Brothers, Heavenly Social Era, Lyricist Lounge, MC Pitman, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development,Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic + Parliament, The Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, Q-Bert, Tricky....if you are famous and feel bad at being left out then contact us

Title : ScaleArtist : Drongomala

Catalogue : FMCDA001

Label : Flying Mountain

Release Date : 6th Feb 06

1 Rise and Fall 2 Be A Bird 3 Out of Them All 4 Fear Is a Tree 5 I Am Me and She Is She 6 Love Is a Lifeboat 7 Money 8 Dig Up Yer Ancestors 9 No Man Is An Island 10 Poppy Flower 11 Stay Before I Go (aalap) 12 Stay B4 I Go 13 Pieces

Get the chords and lyrics to Love is a Lifeboat

MySpace - Scale

SCALE. This is Drongo's first release proper and contains songs that were developed in the UK and finished in Kerala, South India. Fusion without jos sticks.

silverbox The demos for Scale were first begun in Spooky Electric studios in Leith Edinburgh. Some songs had been waiting around for years and had old sessions from turntablists and bass players. Generally a massive bag of unfinished ideas. The project then moved to London when I ran out of money in Scotland and had to get a job to fund the next stage. While working during the day the demos were fleshed out more fully into 'records' at night. india map
light bulb pre storm The decision was then taken to move the studio by ferry in a large crate to Kochi, Kerala in the South of India. This was a lucid moment of appropriate madness and the landscape for completing the album and recording improvs from Carnatic musicians was set. Kochi is not known for it's musicians in the same way that Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Varanassi and other states are however the reasoning was to just find people and experiment.

dsc scale the musicians Trying to find the correct house to rent to stick all the music gear in was quite nightmarish not to mention delays with shipping and problems with politicians and customs. We nearly went a bit mad for a month and a couple of times the plug nearly had to be pulled. Luckily many people in Kerala speak English and our lives slowly became easier the more Malyalam we learnt. We eventually found a place outside Ernakalam/Kochi.

100fieldcutout While waiting for the equipment to arrive I managed to meet Suji in Fort Cochin - a music hub who knew many established and young players. Suji runs a venue where traditional Khatakali dance and Indian music concerts are held 365 nights a year whether an audience comes or not. . He;s hardcore. He soon became the man I'd call to see what musicians were around. Sujindran is a human music hub in Ernakalam/Cochin and was a great friend and help during the making of the record. If you are ever in the South of India then you must check out his nightly concerts..http://www.kathakalicentre.com/

With the studio sent back to the UK in April 2004 I worked on some gospel cover songs in preparation to do an extra record of live Gospel/Carnatic fusion. These would be live sessions with Acoustic Guitar, Voice, Veena, Mridingham and and Tampura. For the next month we travelled around India and I used my laptop and acoustic to write more songs.

We arrive back in UK to record lead and backing vocals and to add some electric guitar. Unfortunately we are broke and the banks aren't playing ball at all. We spend winter on a Greek Island. Demo'ing and writing the next two albums while one sits ready and the other pending.
Hyde Street Studios - San Francisco

hyde street studios san francisco Finally mix time arrives and Drongomala heads to San Francisco. Hyde Street Studios where James Brown recorded 'Man's World'. After hooking up with mix engineer Mica Luc at Hyde Street - Scale is finally in the can.

STREAMING AUDIO CLIPS

WONDERLUST VOL1. A compilation by artists affiliated with the Wonderlust label. This contains three tracks by Drongo. Stone Against Stone, Radio Repair Girl and the co-written 'The Waves' with David Galbraith.

BUY HERE | LISTEN HERE

See their website on www.wonderlust.co.uk

Interview for Radio Wonderlust Release (2001) .

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