There’s an interesting documentary that was posted over at MTV Iggy of Victoria Bergsman, front woman of The Concretes and female vocals to Peter Bjorn and John’s song ‘Young Folks.’ In her latest project, Victoria goes to Pakistan to record music.
Under the moniker “Taken By Trees,” her second solo album is a blend of floaty, Northern European vocals and the traditional sounds of Pakistan. Bergsman said she went East because she is a “fan” of Sufi music and a lover of such artists as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.[MTV Iggy]
They set up a makeshift studio in the Lahore home of their hotel owner. [T]he electricity would go off for an hour every third hour. That was the least of their problems. Bergsman and Soderstrom had to pretend to be married in the traditionally patriarchal society. She also had to convince the local musicians that a woman could run a recording session. [NPR]
There is some language in the documentary that I find problematic (“Pakistan was more mysterious” or “people all over, miserable, dirty, poor, dead animals”), though overall her soft lilting voice tempered her words significantly. But what compelled me to bring this dialogue to Sepia Mutiny was an offline conversation with musician friends.
MadGuru, who had just returned from collaborating with local musicians in Pakistan for his animated short Gul, stated:
“I think it’s really cool that she went there and recorded her music, but she seems really clueless about how the traditional music there is improvised and played/recorded live…I had music recorded in Pakistan last summer myself, so I do know how frustrating it can be to try and figure things out, but at least one should go to a place to record the music they play, with some knowledge of what it is instead of expecting the whole world to play like session musicians at a studio and think they lack talent if they don’t.”
The rebuttal argument from someone else was, “At least the Pakistani artists got paid.” But is that enough? Is it really about ‘getting paid’ or is it about the integrity of music is made? Should we reward Victoria’s bravery for being ‘creative outside the box’ and going to Pakistan despite all odds? Personally, I think it would have been braver if Victoria had fought harder to find female musicians to collaborate with, as she initially wanted. The Concretes started as an all girl band, and I think her past working with female musicians may have led to a different Pakistani experience (and album) all together.
The entire album, East of Eden, can be listened to streamed online here at NPR, though the album doesn’t come out till September 8th. I find the album very ethereal sounding and the Desi sounds are intertwined with her unique style. Take a listen and tell me what you think.
I would suspect musicians of the Desi diaspora have a unique perspective on this topic, especially those that have collaborated with artists in South Asia. What do you think, about the documentary, her music and South Asian music collaborations?
