Iva Bittová & Bang On a Can All-Stars

T

tate

Brown Sugar
Iva Bittová is said to be the Czech Republic's best known avant musician, she's a singer, violinist and composer. She began as a film actress, but eventually made a mark in music as well. Her father was a well known Slovakian Roma (gypsy) musician, her mother a professional singer. Bittová was classically trained in music, ballet, and theater, but also conversant in contemporary traditional/folk musical genres from an early age. After recording a handful of records, Chris Cutler heard her and decided to re-release. Through Cutler, Frith made her acquaintance and featured her in his 1990 film, Step Across The Border (haven't seen it, but have it on order). She's played with everyone from Tom Cora, Pavel Fajt, and Vladimír Václavek, to Bang On A Can All-Stars, and has already assembled a lengthy discography.

I've been listening to her record Elida, which she recorded with Bang On A Can and released in 2005 on Cantaloupe. Her vocal stylings sound a bit like early Kate Bush blent with a touch of Meredith Monk, and the compositions show the influence of Eastern European folk and nursery rhyme genres (though not in a kitsch way, the sonics are quite holistic, fully realized). The record is quite striking.

So, has anyone heard her music? Or seen her films? My gf will be interviewing Bittová next week, as Bittová will be performing here soon with Bang On A Can. Apparently Bittová has toured extensively through Europe and the UK, so I thought that people might (a) have something to add or (b) enjoy finding out about her.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
haven't heard of her, so i can't add anything, but she sounds fascinating and i think i might like her if the kate bush influence is really there.

will the interview go up on your gf's blog? i'm sure everyone would love to read it
 
M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
We showed 'Step Across the Border' when it was given a DVD release in the UK, I liked it alot as a film, which surprised me, didnt think I would...
 
C

Chris

fractured oscillations
I'm not familiar with her but very interested...

It's interesting you're bringing up an artist that's influenced (to a degree) by Eastern European folk right now... My mother is visiting from Slovakia (my parents currently teach out there), and she brought me some gorgeous Slovak folk she hunted down.

I'm very into anything old Europe sounding... folksy, droney; but as close to the "real" thing as possible (not that new-age store, Enya tripe). It's just one of my many musical obsessions (ironic because I'm also very into the futuroid* in music), but this particular fascination goes back to my earliest memories living in Germany, probably because my parents used to take me on lots of hikes through dark forests and amidst old castles/villages... so that sort of imagery just really imprinted itself into my imagination...

Well this is some of the most primitive music I've ever heard... modal, droney... it has almost gabber-like rhythms, shrill flutes, creaky (Nordic folk sounding) violins... It sounds somewhere between Nordic, Celtic, and Russian folk, but less caught up with history's musical developments. I mean this stuff sounds like even the Renaissance eluded Slovakia's local folk traditions (musically that is)... it's practically pre-medieval.

But it's strikingly beautiful to me... though I do get a sense that this kind of old stuff was used to cast everyone into a drunken, nationalistic frenzy that created a proud sense of collective identity, but also level of devotion that would inspire one to fight for his tribe. Very jingoistic. Definitely kind of a gabber vibe... except really pretty. I might post some of it later if I can...

*nod to Reynolds there
 
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