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CD
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NB 006CD
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This is the third worldwide solo release by multi-instrumentalist and composer Alejandro Franov, the key figure in the Argentinean experimental music scene today. He is also known as the sound producer for Juana Molina's works. Digitaria (named after the constellation which is often associated with the brightest star, Sirius) was influenced by the birth of his first child, and consequently, the soul behind this album is simply the contagious joys around him, which are indeed reflected in this delightful album. More precisely, Digitaria lies somewhere in-between his albums Khali -- the organic and Aixa -- the more digital and experimental. But as with all of his previous albums, this multi-instrumentalist uses numerous unique instruments such as sitar, bandoneon, marimba, kalimba, samplers and keyboards, Bolivian bass flute, whistle, and voice to create his own universe. The album also features guest artists Santiago Vazquez and Horacio Lopez, who are also well-established musicians in the Argentinean music scene.
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CD
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XQDX 1005CD
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Alejandro Franov is one of the most important musicians in Argentina, brought to worldwide critical acclaim by singer/songwriter and actress Juana Molina. After the success of his last album Khali (having been licensed to the German label Staubgold for worldwide release), Aixa is his latest update. Compared to the more composed and acoustic Khali album, Aixa takes further steps into the realm of sounds, experimenting with tones, textures and spaces -- the fundamentals and joy of making music. In the creation of the album, his usual arsenal of ethnic instruments were used, such as sitar, kalimbas, Paraguayan harps and Chinese gongs to obtain the magical and borderless Franov sound. However, he also used more electronic devices this time, manipulating over 10 analog outboards. Franov considers Aixa a further development from his first solo album, Accesorion -- sounds of instinctive sketches which were shaped over and over until the tracks flow into themselves, evoking the obscure moods of these ever-changing times. The title "Aixa" refers to the Axia cassettes he used as a child to record radio programs. Someone pointed out later on that the cassette brand's name was actually Axia instead of Aixa, but it is childhood memory that really counts.
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LP
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STAUB 078LP
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LP version; now deleted on CD. This is the first worldwide release by Argentinian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Alejandro Franov. Franov is one of the key figures of the alternative folk and world music scene of his country, brought to worldwide critical acclaim by singer/songwriter and actress Juana Molina. Khali -- which is mainly based on three instruments -- the African mbira, the Paraguayan harp arpa and the Indian sitar -- is the result of Franov's studies in African and Arabic music, especially the music of the Shona from Zimbabwe. He carefully combines these unique instruments with percussion, voices and minimal electronics in order to create a comfortably floating stream of world music in the purest sense, hardly relating to any certain country or region.
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