RVNG Intl.’s FRKWYS series, which pairs “contemporary artists with their influential predecessors,” acting as a sort of musical cupid but without the unacknowledged creepiness of an archery-trained half-naked baby flying through the air, continues this June with the release of Cantos de Lisboa, a guitarist’s dream of a collaboration between Steve Gunn and Mike Cooper. Cooper’s the “influential predecessor” in this case, so by virtue of his seniority, it’s possible that he was the one who decided on the location: Lisbon, Portugal, where the two met and created what seems to be a tremendously affecting album, explicitly influenced by the city’s historical (and historically melancholic) Fado genre.
As you might’ve discerned from the album’s title, it’s no use trying to dissociate the music from the city in which the album was recorded. “Canto” means, alternatively, both “corner” and “chant”/”song” in Portuguese, so either way we’re warned of an imminent homage to Lisbon’s culture. And despite that, from what I’ve had the pleasure of sampling, there’s also an obvious tone of American Primitivism, courtesy of Cooper’s lap steel and Gunn’s contemplative, bluesy strumming. Should we be surprised that an international music purveyor of 40+ years and a man with a penchant for exploratory Time Off are able to so easily blend the two?
Cantos de Lisboa comes out June 24 on limited-edition LP, CD, and digital formats; pre-order here. Here’s the official vid for the first track:
FRKWYS Vol. 11: Cantos de Lisboa tracklisting:
01. Saudade Do Santos-o-Vehlo
02. Pena Panorama
03. Song for Charlie
04. Pony Blues
05. The Enchanted Moura
06. Lampedusa 2013
07. Saramago
• Steve Gunn: http://steve-gunn.com
• Mike Cooper: http://www.cooparia.com
• RVNG Intl.: http://igetrvng.com
[Photo: Luis Martins]
More about: Mike Cooper, Steve Gunn
