Hand To Earth — Ŋurru Wäŋa

Over the course of six tracks, each of which clocks in at over 5 minutes, the experiment is put to the test anew. Traditional instruments, ancient languages and forms, are processed through a suite of newer devices and a host of guest musicians. Structurally, the pieces are incredibly similar – a kind of earnest, atmospheric electronica that sits behind vocal phrasing – where the voices of Daniel and David Wilfred are the stars. The spoken word by Sunny Kim that interrupts said voices on the opening track, "Guku", hints at the degree to which context and clarity are often sacrificed at the expense of connection to the real (we are literally hearing the language that sang the world into being). I am told that all of this has to do with belonging, but I was at pains to hear such gestures, musically speaking, anyway. The pieces strike a note between ethnographic recordings and ambient electronica, with little concern for the problematizing of one through the other, which would have made the effort more comprehensible, sonically. Live, this must be something completely other, so it was not surprising to learn that the group was on tour when important sections of the material on Ŋurru Wäŋa were recorded. 

 

Fans who are interested in contemporary takes on the aforementioned sources, will certainly find this less alienating and more inviting. As for others, I am happy to admit that I don't know. For more