Širom are:
Ana Kravanja: violin, viola, ribab, qeychak, balafon, frame drum, chimes, various objects, percussion, fipple flute, voice
Iztok Koren: banjo, three-string banjo, gembri, morin khuur, balafon, percussion
Samo Kutin: hurdy gurdy, bass harp, harmonium, lyres, frame drum, tampura brač, brač, lute, chimes, balafon, acoustic resonator, various objects, voice
“Širom fashion maximalist avant-garde soundscapes from antique acoustic instruments like the balafon and hurdy gurdy. Their artfully rootless roots music makes an impassioned statement both aesthetically and, more opaquely, politically too.” — Uncut
The Slovenian avant-folk trio Širom are back with a sonically and thematically expansive 5th album; a thrilling follow-up to their widely praised 2022 release The Liquified Throne of Simplicity. Navigating almost two dozen instruments (some of which they’ve handcrafted), and hypnotic compositions that often exceed ten minutes in length, Ana Kravanja, Iztok Koren and Samo Kutin court patient, deep-dive listeners via intricately woven atmospheres, rhythms and sonics.
In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper is arguably the sharpest evocation yet of the group’s highly collective music process, enveloping rustic melodic folklore, outernational textures, non-linear song structures and dissonance, and a buzzing ambiance that can at times feel like an ecstatic ritual.
Few experimental ensembles from the last decade have created an ouevre as singular and unmistakable as that of this far-sighted trio from the disparate landscapes of Slovenia. Širom truly sound like no one else.
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It’s just after eight on a lovely early summer’s evening in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. The city’s increasingly metropolitan skyline can only be viewed in glimpses from here, for we’re a mile or so away on the edge of a forest. This far from the urban racket, the only audible sound is the expectant buzz from the some of the city’s sizeable experimental music tribe, with a sprinkling of tourists wondering what they’ve let themselves in for. The Širom machine, a home-made contraption criss-crossed with strings, taut with percussion and pumped full of air, i....... więcej