Label: Drumony Records – DRUM 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Jazz, Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Experimental, Free Improvisation, African
Mesmerising, all-hypnotic private self-release from expat Zimbabwean musician living in London Lori Vambe, presented via his own Drumony Records imprint in 1982. It’s pretty impossible to place Vambe’s work next to any others, or compare him to other musicians, but to me it feels there’s a kinship with other ‘outsider’ artists such as Michal O’Shea or Pierre Jean-Croset who attempted to transcend the confines of genre (and themselves) by exploring the possibilities of self-built instruments. Similar to O’Shea’s zither-like ‘Mo Cara’ or Pierre JC’s richly harmonic ‘Harmonic Lyres’, Vambe’s created his own ‘Vambez Stringdrum’ - allegedly an instrument of his own invention that combines the drum and guitar in one self contained body, allowing the performer to play both instruments simultaneously. Patent pending! The results are caught in a strange cross-section between raw ethnographic recordings, folk, spiritual jazz and psychedelia, bordering on krautrock at times when everything gets flipped in reverse, yet the whole feel remains distinctly rooted in the African continent. Repeated passages induce a mantra-like state of meditation, and whilst the mood is one of concentration and focus, there’s an obvious sense of the divine in the air. Very special! (VG+/VG+ - slight noise in some parts due to pressing).
Tracklist
A1 Intro 3:30
A2 Drumgita 8:14
A3 Ancient Boogie (Mantra) 1:56
A4 Artnam 1:00
A5 Mantra 1:53
A6 (One) Boogie Home Going 4:11
B1 Going Home Boogie (One) 5:38
B2 Un Minuto (One) 1:00
B3 Un Minuto (Two) 1:21
B4 Going Home Boogie (Two) 5:48
B5 Going Home Boogie (Three) 2:49
