Best You’ve Never Heard: Maher Shalal Hash Baz
My dear associate SlyFloyd has a very good handle on the hip-hop world, and has brought some really great artists to light. I, on the other hand, know approximately jack-squat about hip-hop with the exception of a few artists that I assume most folks have heard about already. (Talib Kweli, anyone?)
I’m far more interested with the obscure, the “noisy”, the psychedelic-inspired, and otherwise just generally quirky music.
In the four concert snippets above I feel tones of both Philip Glass - Einstein on the Beach in particular - and the kind of dizzy-handed wistfulness I’ve learned to love and respect from The Velvet Underground’s dreamier tracks. These musicians, centered around core member Tori Kudo, find themselves in the same psychedelic playground as the sisters of Cocorosie.
What got me turned onto the artist was a track found in The Wire #10, a sampler attached to the British music magazine of the same name.
MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ POST OFFICE
Recorded in East Kilbride Arts Centre, Scotland, in May 2002, Blues Du Jour (Geographic) features 41 new compositions by Tori Kudo, the leader of Japan’s Maher Shalal Hash Baz. “Post Office” is one of Kudo’s most gorgeous songs; in his words, the story of a disappearing woman whose hope never vanishes. The track features Alison Mitchell (trumpet) and Katrina Mitchell (xylophone) from The Pastels, in addition to the sevenpiece Maher group which participated in the sessions.
As noted in the description above, “Maher Shalal Hash Baz” is the band name and somewhat of a pseudonym for Tori Kudo himself. But whatever does this psuedonym mean?
Via Wikipedia -
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz - “Hurry o spoil! He has made haste to the plunder!” or “Hurrying to the spoil he has made haste to the plunder” - was the second mentioned son of the prophet Isaiah, mentioned by name in Isaiah 8:1–3. The name is a reference to the impending plunder of Samaria and Damascus by the king of Assyria.
I love a name that leads to hours of reading!
For albums and merchandise, visit the Domino Recording Company. There are a few freebie downloads there as well. There are also a couple freebies at the Last.FM page for the artist.
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