K.I.A.

 Allelujah by K.I.A.

Allelujah mixes a 17th century choral chant with contemporary electronic dancehall beats, and appears on the K.I.A. album “Adieu, Shinjuku Zulu” as well as the downtempo chillout compilation “DXLR8” feat. chill songs by K.I.A. as well as Shinjuku Zulu

Other songs by K.I.A. / Shinjuku Zulu that use chants and electronic beats are “Eyeah“, “Operafrica”, “Sayasaya” and “A.E.M” (by K.I.A. , all uptempo), “Tuktuyuktuk to Timbuktu” and “Howdydaomaori (Shinjuku Zulu, both downtempo).

HEAR ALLELUJAH BY K.I.A on SPOTIFY: LINK
HEAR ALLELUJAH BY K.I.A on APPLE MUSIC: LINK

SONG STORY:

For me, chants in music are the equivalent of abstract art; you rorschach yourself into a meaning and vibe. The vocal provides the human link, but the lack of lyrics allows you to bring your own experience or state of mind to the work (think audible ink blot.) The same track could resonate as being haunting/relaxing, sad/uplifting, or ancient/futuristic, etc., depending upon your mood, the time of day you listen to it, how much caffeine (or other substances) you have ingested, your location, whatever.

Of course I'm a big fan of words, and appreciate great lyricists like Sufjan Stevens-- Casimir Pulaski Day is such a great song-- and of course the obvious writers like Dylan, Cohen, and so on, but with a song with lyrics you're somewhat stuck in one emotion or human experience-- a meter maid, anarchy, uh, being under umbrellas, or riding in cars. (In case you're from mars, attributions are as follows: the Beatles, Sex Pistols, Rihanna, and any number of artists-- Gary Numan, Loverboy, Beach Boys, Kraftwerk...)

Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) found a fantastic place between literal meaning and non-linear meaning: she would choose words from piles of foreign (non-english) dictionaries and fashion them into lyrics. The words were most often chosen exclusively for their poetic sound, and because they are 'real' words she's able to construct a melody around the syllables so it seems like a language. The lyrics seem recognizable and are suggestive, or more correctly are evocative, but I defy anyone to explain what a lot of the songs are 'about'.

So combining that abstraction with the emotional, as well as my continuing interest in mixing eras, below are a couple of my aural paintings (links to iTunes): My Jackson Pollack: "E-yeah!" from the Adieu Shinjuku Zulu CD by K.I.A. My Barnett Newman: "MMM" from the Sonorous Susurrus CD by K.I.A. My Mark Rothko: "Allelujah" from Adieu Shinjuku Zulu. (Maybe in a later post I'll include my Ellsworth Kelly and maybe a Malevich song or two.)

FWIW, I'd describe Alleluljah as 17th century dancehall (realizing of course that one man's 17th-century-dancehalll is another man's Caribbean New Age). FINAL THOUGHT: What if computers had been invented in, say, Trinidad instead of Silicon Valley? Relating that thought to music, I always found it very interesting that dub, a very electronic. abstract and futuristic type of music, came not out of some major high-tech urban enviroment like Berlin or Tokyo, but a relatively small third-world island nation. Listen to some Lee Scratch Perry's stuff from Jamaica 35 years ago and you'll directly here studio techniques that an artist like Trentemoller uses today. And here's links to examples of the above painter's work: "Pollack" , "Rothko" , "Newman".

“Allelujah” can be heard in “Friends” star Courtney Cox tv series “Dirt” on FX, where she and her date get “physical” in a limousine

(All Shinjuku Zulu and K.I.A. songs available for licensing. All master and synchronization rights to K.I.A. and Shinjuku Zulu songs are 100% owned by Kirby Andersen. To license K.I.A. or Shinjuku Zulu songs for film, tv or commercial productions, contact info[at]nu4ya[dot]com, with “song licensing” in the subject field.)