A few years ago, I was exchanging music with a few travelling friends, all sound artists and musicians in the quest of imaginary landscapes. At this time, these friends were exploring the Northern Europe, working in the Baltic states and in Scandinavia. And they copied for me several gigabytes of MP3 coming from these areas. All these files held strange names and titles, with a lot of “K” and “L”. The sounds from these musics were all familiar and colourful, sweet and fresh, like a full box of old-style candies. Repetitive, folkish, naive, archaic and secret. Amongst these strange names, there was one who stroke me : Pekko Käppi. It was mainly a bowed stringed instrument played in the most minimalistic way, not unlike a Tony Conrad piece. The chanting sounded like epic poetry whispered in a small countryside house. The lo-fi quality of the recording was adding to the feeling that this was an ethnographical document but I could not decide when it was recorded, in the 30’s or the 90’s. But for sure, it sounded like the musical portrait of a northern european village.
Then, in Autumn 2008, in Taiwan, in the countryside of Kao-Hsiung County, in a region where chinese Hakka culture is still living, I learned that the guy behing the clattering name, Pekko Käppi, would eventually come and play. During one starry night, this gentleman-viking played his once forgotten and then retrieved instrument. He sung the cold stones, the ancient trees, the arctic light. The stories were dark, humourous, obsessive. An amazingly exotic music in this tropical location. A surreal collage.
And the audience of Meinung, this small taiwanese city, became fascinated, able to stay until the last moment of the performance without losing the concentration. In a junior high school, he stunned more than 500 students, most of them keeping their mouth wide open during the songs. He even got a high consideration amongst the old guys playing traditional music Bayin in front of a small temple. Later, Pekko sung a few of these pieces in a not-so-special bar in Taipei. And even amongst the other musicians who are only musicians, the Finnish Jouhikko player transported us once again.
Who is Pekko Käppi doesn’t matter. And nobody would care of his appearance, even if it was quite surprising amongst the taiwanese people. Pekko has a simple and humble attitude, so one would not concentrate his attention on his person. Pekko is not a character, but while listening to his music, one would go directly through him, above him. The intensity of his music isn’t a matter of volume or obvious emotions, it is a strong capacity of evocation. The song absorbs the audience and dissolves them into the old stories.
As a sound artist I’ve listened and participated to numerous experimental music performances but very few had the power of Pekko’s concert. Folk music is oftenly disregarded by contemporary composers or artists. Folk music has been lessen by World music and some clumsy multicultural hybrids. But Pekko has shown with his sincerity and talent that Folk music can be a way of recovering the musical humus, a way to reconnect ourselves to the cultural mycelium. His music feeds, overwhelms, sparks, spawns. It embodies the Scandinavian landscape.
Right now, Night Herons are flying in front of my window in the suburb of Taipei, and the tones of the Jouhikko dances with them.
(Y.D. - 02.12.2008)
Have a listen :
www.pekkokappi.com
www.myspace.com/pekkokappi
About the Jouhikko :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jouhikko
Performances organized by:
www.treesmusic.com
www.wretch.cc/blog/meinungmusic
Jouhikko的風
陽光突然敲破黑暗，照耀著墳中的瑪莉。瑪莉起身，全身充滿流動的空氣，她開始跑。
穿過草原穿過森林向前不斷奔跑，她並不清楚快樂，也不知道傷悲。
像一陣風在草上，就像
一陣輕風在草原上
輕風奔馳，一陣一陣
它經過湖面的霜草原的夜
越來越急越來越沉那風生自海吹拂過苔蘚
河水不停流奔傳說如藤蔓延夜啊夜的絲弦
微風與歌，十八萬七千八百八十八個
傾聽地心的型態
火光與弦，十七萬九千五百八十四座
水面上的觀夢台
就像馬毛與冷杉做的琴曾被猛烈地焚燒與遺忘
就像光線在時間中寫的歌曾和異教徒一起熄滅
又再復活。Jouhikko
Jouhikko。
如同最古老的咒
在響起的瞬間帶我們去到黑暗與深
冷 及結晶
雪在雪中燃燒無聲，泥土下
生命之種種，最簡短
與最漫長的詠嘆調
風重覆旋轉，歌直達地心
天空和原野從此得到撫慰
河流得到故事
記憶得到湖水
那人不說自己是誰，但他擁有
會呼吸的風。那風在琴中
忽忽長出一大片草
草原自歌聲悠蕩出
一匹馬，一棵樹。
馬在樹下
低頭吃草
瑪莉還在奔跑
- 給芬蘭的Jouhikko樂人Pekko Käppi 。
後記：部份詩句來自pekko在演唱時所講述的歌謠內容。此外，芬蘭國土有187888座湖和179584個島。
(Wan-Shuen Tsai 蔡宛璇 - 11.2008)
