MAARJA NUUT
Une Meeles
* * *
Estonia is a Baltic nation that isn't Scandinavian, but has
been controlled by Danes and Swedes (as well as Russia). At times its wild
keening vocals sound Balkan, but they're not. At times, the exuberance of
fiddlers such as Maarja Nuut sounds Finnish, though that's incidental and the
only thing really Finnish about Estonians is that they share common language
roots. Why the geography lesson? Because Maarja Nuut's music is hard to pin
down; it will remind you of lots of things, without really being any of them. Especially
given the fact that her tastes run more toward the avant-garde than the folk
wellspring. Consider, for instance, a song titled "Kiik Tabab
Kindaid," which translates "The Swing Wants Mittens." A lot of
fiddle tunes have odd names, but this one personifies the swing, muses on
marriage, and the composition unfolds beneath, then above, a field recording of
humming cellphone cables. Nutt's strings squeal in resonance with the cables,
then drop to a drone to accompany primal vocals. Memo: This is not for die-hard
traditionalists.
At every step of the way Nuut challenges, pushes sonic
borders, and at times begs the question: What is music? "Kargus"
opens to a saw-like barrage of notes that reduce in volume and become something
that sounds to my ear like a drone/triplet hybrid. Nutt this time uses a light
melodic voice to add contrast. "Sammud" is a waltz, but one looped to
body moment and the tune's namesake "Footsteps." Add some plucked
notes and we hear scraping and tapping feet, a 1-2-3 cadence, and a lovely
little melody all at once. The effect is hypnotic. It's oddly delicate, as
opposed to the free-spirited and wilder feel of "Kuradipolka" ("The
Devil's Polka"). It too has a
repeating thread of notes, but these serve to fray the tune rather than unify
it. High notes drift to the edge of our aural comfort zone and then the entire
piece ends abruptly. Or would you prefer some unbridled village-like rapid-fire
vocalizations and some clip-clop percussion? Check out "Hobusemäng"
("The Horse Game"), which apparently is a variation of a ritual game
linked to casting spells. In other words, Maarja Nuut's music is a flight into places
where reality, magic, experimentation, programming, and dreams
collide–appropriate for a project whose Estonian title means "In the Hold
of a Dream." Like most avant-garde projects, this one will confuse some
listeners and induce wonder in others. Place me in the second camp.
Here's a YouTube sampler of this unusual artist.
Rob Weir
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