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" 16 Haiku & Other Stories " (Tongue Master)

16 Haiku is a collection of settings of English translations of the poetry of the Greek Nobel laureate George Seferis. It consists of 22 tracks constituting a tentative whole; tentative in that alternative readings exist and are already surfacing. The voices belong to a select group of performers, chosen for their empathy and openness to such a project; people like Alejandro Escovedo, Steve Wynn, Edith Frost and Carla Torgerson. The music is performed by Sigmatropic, a floating ensemble gathered around the Greek musician Akis Boyatzis. They emerged in the late 90's as purveyors of a Hellenic-hued electronica and about two years ago released an album of settings of Seferis' poems, mainly haiku, in Greek.
The success of that record led to the idea of an English language version and Theodore Vlassopulos the London- based owner of Tongue Master Records was set the task of gathering suitable voices to take part. The whole project was a risky business; English-speaking countries hold little store in their poets, see less affinity between music and poetry, and tend to characterise enterprises like this as pretentious and absurd. Fortunately the singers who came on board didn't hold these views. Just as well, as they were required to sublimate themselves to a larger whole; and what's interesting to see is how they deal with the 17 syllables they're presented with. As it's equally interesting to see how the listener reacts. For this is a record you need to meet half-way. It operates very like a soundtrack, commenting or counterpointing. And you do need to know the territory; unless you can effortlessly conjure the Aegean it¹s an idea to watch the video clips. A broad bay, a man floating across it, a sunny unsullied island, Carla Torgerson riding a bicycle, a salad being prepared. A sense of warmth, a sense of ease with history, a sense especially of water, is necessary to empathise with these performances. And as they come so you do warm to them, and what surprises they hold. Haikus indicate brevity but really listen and these pieces become long. Through extended intros, repetitions, and a curiously tidal quality whereby the tracks retreat from their endings, they elongate; not "MacArthur Park" long but way beyond aphorism or catch-phrase length. Then the voices become strange and not recognisable, or perhaps it ceases to be important who they are, so that the words become the focus, and then when the words become familiar so the voices regain primacy. There are exceptions; Robert Wyatt never ceases to be Robert Wyatt but then neither Mark Eitzel or Howe Gelb ever really become themselves. On one level 16 Haiku is unashamedly cerebral, and it's certainly by no means for everyone, but allow it the time and its rewards are immense. Trust me; there are discoveries to be made I've not even hinted at.

- NICK WEST

SIGMATROPIC

" 16 Haiku And Other Stories " (Tongue Master)

OK, first the facts: this is an album derived from the haiku poetry of Nobel laureate George Seferis, with music by Akis Boyatzis who, with a band of like-minded fellow Greek musicians, calls himself Sigmatropic. A Greek language version of this album was released in 2002, but Boyatzis has now created an international version utilising the same music, but with the poems translated into English and now featuring an impressive array of guest vocalists, with some very familiar names amongst them. So, that's a Greek take on traditional Japanese poetry, set to Greek electronica, and sung by Brits and Yanks. Some brew.
The disc opens with some church bells, some big drums, some very Craig Armstrong film-soundtrack music, and Robert Wyatt doing his fragile non-singing thing. So far, so moody. Following tracks are gentler and with acoustic elements sweetening the sound - Haiku 1 sung by Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab), and Haiku 2, sung by Martine Roberts (Broken Dog), instill a Cocteau Twins feel, before the ever-expressive Mark Mulcahy does a bit of a Sylvian thing on Haiku 3. The variety and brevity of the tracks (an inevitable shortcoming of the haiku form) ensures a strong 'soundtrack' feel to the whole thing, but there's a unifying, almost dramatic, element in the rhythms and the different voices singing and speaking the short, oft-repeated lines. Things shuffle and throb along nicely, with contributions from the stellar cast that includes the likes of Mark Eitzel, Howe Gelb, Alejandro Escovedo, Cat Power, Steve Wynn and James William Hindle. All find themselves in unfamiliar territory here, a world away from their traditional musical environs. And this is where the album's appeal is found, in this curious melding of tradition and form. Populated across its twenty-two tracks with alumni of the lo-fi school (including Simon Joyner and Lee Ranaldo), it's only artists with a naturally dramatic voice, such as John Grant (The Czars) or James Sclavunos (The Bad Seeds, The Vanity Set), or the seductive tones of Pinkie Maclure, Edith Frost or Carla Torgerson (The Walkabouts) who really seem at home here.
You'll catch many flavours - from Tom Waits to New Order - but it's the Greek and the strange that percolates up through the lyrics. Blue skies, bees, clear seas, heavy breasts in mirrors, jasmine, goddesses, and statues all feature, with the elements and nature the dominant themes.
'Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories' demonstrates the success of eclecticism, of mixing digital sounds and beats with some of the most organic singers you could wish for, with various stringed instruments counteracting the potentially new-age vibe. It all makes for a dramatically unique listening experience.

Jeff Cotton

SIGMATROPIC

" 16 Haiku And Other Stories " (Tongue Master)

Arty farty nonsense? Certainly Haiku - Japanese poetry - set to music might seem that way. But put these together, take a have a litany of stars -Howe Gelb, Mark Eitzel, Robert Wyatt (amongst others) and if done right you can have what is a marvellously affecting, involved mix of aural snippets. And that’s what Sigmatropic - Akis Boyatzis - has done. The clever bit is how haiku - each 3 lines of text with 5, 7 and 5 syllables that don’t even rhyme (and are usually about the sea...) can sound involving and not repetitive. This is down to Boyatzis’ songwriting and production, who turns the mosty basic ‘lyric’ into something magical. Take a typical line - Lee Ranaldo’s ‘Haiku 12’ “the boat goes in circles/what’s wrong with the rudder / the boat goes in circles / and not a single gull in sight”. OK, as well as the shimmering musical trickery he’s also added a few extra words. It’s cheating I guess, but that’s what they call artistic licence.

Stuart McHugh

SIGMATROPIC

" Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories " (Tongue Master) * * *

Star-crammed electro-mysticism from Greece's Akis Boyatzis

Originally released in Greek early last year, Boyatzis' musical adaptation of the poetry of Nobel Laureate / compatriot George Seferis undergoes an international makeover. Eighteen guest vocalists from both sides of the pond (including Robert Wyatt, Alejandro Escovedo, Mark Eitzel, Steve Wynn and Howe Gelb) add English translation to power-popper-cum-sound collagist Boyatzis' delicate noise paintings. Superb offerings from The Czars' John Grant (" Haiku 14B ") and Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo (" Haiku 12 ") are the most linear, but Cat Power's " Haiku 10 " and Carla (Walkabouts) Torgerson's " Haiku 5 " are softer and more smearily beautiful.

ROB HUGHES

SIGMATROPIC

" 16 Haiku And Other Stories " (Tongue Master)

Sigmatropic's mainman, Akis Boyatzis, has roped in some friends to set the haiku poetry of Nobel laureate George Seferis to music. The roll call includes: Cat Power, Robert Wyatt, Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Mark Eitzel and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. While Sigmatropic might not strictly adhere to the original 17-syllable, three-line verse form, the music still mostly captures the relaxed beauty of Seferis' original Aegean Sea observations in 22 short vignettes.

JON ROGERS

SIGMATROPIC

" Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories " (Tongue Master) 7/10

Nobel Laureate George Seferis is recognised as being the most distinguished Greek poet of the pre-WWII generation, his complex but accessible rhymes, full of dreams of exile and nostalgia for his birthplace, were a huge influence on writers as diverse as Stephen King and Henry Miller. Progressive rock musician Akis Boyatzis hit upon setting his work to music and recorded " Sixteen Haiku " in the original Greek, which proved a big hit in his homeland. Now re-worked in English with an enviable roster of British and American artists, including Robert Wyatt, Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, Mark Eitzel, Cat Power and Howe Gelb, Boyatzis gives it a suitably exotic undertow, all melancholic acoustic textures, Mediterranean-tinged ambient soundscapes and a pinch of Western gothic. Rather like Hector Zazou's international co-productions, it's slightly uneven but occasionally brilliant and overwhelmed with a deep sense of loss and longing.

NEIL GARDNER

SIGMATROPIC

" Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories " (Tongue Master) ****

Stunning. Now that’s out of the way; the question is: why? To answer, a little background: Haiku is a non-rhyming Japanese poetic form consisting of three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, and the Haiku (plural) in question were written by Nobel laureate George Seferis. Obviously, Seferis’ words have been set to Sigmatropic’s music, which combines electronics with Mediterranean folk stylings under the guiding hand of Greece’s Akis Boyatzis. So far, so boring; the masterstroke is in recruiting, among many others, the voices of Robert Wyatt, Mark Mulcahy, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, The Czars’ John Grant and Bad Seeds/Vanity Set alumnus James Sclavunos. Picking out the efforts of Cat Power and Carla Torgerson does the others a disservice, so find your own favourites; they’re here somewhere.

FELA LEWIS