Winter Moons

Album review

Grooves have been laid down under every imaginable style of music and in every thinkable language. So why not, you might ask, in Saulteaux/Ojibway, a traditional Native American dialect? Don't fret, Spirit Nation has answered your prayers right here, right now with Winter Moons. (So you don't think you're crazy, be forewarned that a couple of lines in Hebrew get snuck into "All My Relations" as a nod to vocalist Tamara Podemski's Israeli father.) It's all the rage, this dance beat/traditional tune thing. Mike D produced a similarly vibed disc of East Indian chanting for Bhagavan Das. Lost in the rhythms as you might get, it is always a little disconcerting when they switch to English or you read the translation. In this case, the lyrics are all about the seven generations, the seven clan animals, the seven spirit beings, and the seven gifts of the seven senses. Oh yeah, and the four directions and five moons for five months of winter. Admirable and inspiring as they are, they're just not necessarily something you want to think about while you're in that pulse. An unusual and intriguing little record.
© Kelly McCartney /TiVo