My one big indulgence from yesterday's record convention was this little item by Popol Vuh, which I talked down from fifteen to ten dollars. It's a middle period album, recorded in 1980, after they'd been around for a decade already, and was released on the German label Innovative Communication on 45 rpms. By the end of the '70s someone had learned that you could gain better fidelity by mastering an LP in 45 RPMs rather than 33, and several bands around this period used this innovation (including Pere Ubu on their 'Songs of a Bailing Man' LP). Sadly, this was often confusing to consumers who weren't sure if they were buying an LP or a 12 inch single. In the case of this Popol Vuh album, however, I'm sure it would sound pretty awesome slowed down to 33!
The album title means (it's been a while on my German, so correct me if I'm wrong) "It's quiet, so I AM" and it's rather telling in its hidden suggestion of what the grooves hold. Recorded after a string of incredible soundtracks for Werner Herzog's best films, Popol Vuh took a breather and returned to their roots in playing tantric mantras of guitar, drum, piano and choir vocals. Produced by electronic music artist Klaus Schulze, it's a very un-electronic album (no synths at all, in fact the only electrical elements here are Daniel Flichelscher's guitar patterns and the studio equipment!), but Schulze was a genius in sound placement. The guitar chimes clear and spookily at the beginning of "Lass los" on side two, a trademark of earlier recordings where the guitar would lead off the track, but this song has a sort of dark energy to it from Florian Fricke's vocal arrangements, with the genius being in how Daniel's guitar are the brighter, more hopeful elements. There is such an earthy, sacred feeling to Popol Vuh's music here, something they seemed so capable of doing (and why Herzog used them so often). It's kind of a reminder of something I sort of got into for a while and miss having the time to do: meditate. Not in a hokey "ommmm" kind of way, but in a sitting in a dark room with candles burning and simply laying on my back with my eyes closed thinking nothing but whatever images the music brought to my mind. It's hard to explain how important this kind of thing could be (meditation) but it got me through several great depressions! My schedule lately hasn't given me time to do much of anything, and the closest I get to meditation these days is falling asleep watching 'Cash Cab' on the DVR while I'm rocking my two year-old Boo back to sleep in the middle of the night when I get home from work. The music of Popol Vuh (which got more new-agey as they went on after this, but nothing they ever did was horrible!) is just so amazing to me in its simplicity, as far as how they could blend such simple elements into something rather complex, and beautiful. Despite their influence on various ambient house acts and post rock bands, there really never was anyone else like Popol Vuh, and ten dollars for this wonderful piece of peace is a small price to pay! I got a few other things as well (which I'll get to in later posts), but I really only bought a few things yesterday. I was really trying NOT to spend more than I made (and, all in all, I made out okay!). I'm so happy I scored this beautiful album. Now I need to remind myself to turn the speed back down to 33 rpm (that's the other thing about this concept!).