EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: POUND OF FLE$H
ba:zel // Alder & Ash
ba:zel is a Prague based electroacoustic duo made up of Ewelina Chiu (vocals, flute, keyboard, midi-pedal) and Daniel Vlček (bass, beats, synths). Together with Montreal based instrumentalist Alder & Ash (Adrian Copeland), they have collaborated on a single titled ‘Pound of Fle$h’. The collaboration is timely as it speaks to the impact industry has on the environment. The track will be released as a single via artist-owned Canadian label Mendicant Records.
The track is “…about industry, its impact on the environment and the potential consequences. The meat industry is alluded to in particular as well as the overconsumption of meat in the West. The verses are inspired by the song ‘America the Beautiful’ which begins with: Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. “Pound of Fle$h” sarcastically waxes poetic about the “beautiful” endless waves of grain (mostly grown to feed livestock” and the “perfect” sunny days of a rainless sky (devastating droughts brought on by climate change).
The chorus is a nod to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice who demands a pound of flesh as payment from someone who has not paid his debt....
Full article: https://www.echoesanddust.com/2019/10/exclusive-video-premiere-bazel-alder-ash-pound-of-fleh/?fbclid=IwAR3t0Q9WUyhDx_GSJS48iWZ5SuwQTlJ7SK3fwwoNu4Gu-pEX9ZG9sMj9u1E
Witch-wave Duo Ba:zel UNveil their Video for 'Situation'
Filmed in bohemian paradise with american director mika johnson and italian cinematographer tommaso montaldo
Witch-wave pop duo Ba:zel have unveiled their video for “Situation”, a dark twilight-lit rhythmic incantation conjured by almost trip-hop like irregular percussive beats, overlaid with the siren-like vocals as a falconer tends to his bird of prey, evoking the imagery of the 1985 Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfieffer film Ladyhawke.
“Situation” mirrors the duo’s most recent single “CIVIL” in casting a discerning eye on the strains of urban existence, although “Situation” shifts the attention from how technology serves us to how it may be one of the things that may very well enslave us.
BA:ZEL DEBUT SEMI-ACOUSTIC VIDEO FOR “CIVIL”
For a song about the relationship between person and place, the story behind ba:zel’s latest recording of “Civil” has a poetic perfection.
The avant pop duo, usually based in Prague but playing a string of Western Canadian dates as part of a ‘tour swap’ arranged with Calgary’s Foonyap, wrote “Civil” about the decision for ‘urban migration,’ and the artificial light by which we’re surrounded as a result.
Then, when they were invited to play in the Corpus Christi Chapel (an 18th century Baroque space in Olomouc, Czech Republic) after a screening of a documentary featuring their music, the unique performance venue —and the grand piano that came with it —inspired the duo to create a semi-acoustic version, written especially for the space.
In turn the documentary maker, Andrea Culkova, decided to make a film of the performance — and, as you can see for yourself, the results are stunning.
ba:zel is Ewelina Ai-fen Chiu on vocals, soprano flute, keyboard, and midi pedal, and Daniel Vlček on bass guitar, beats and synths. We asked them a couple of questions about this bewitching video and the story behind it:
Q: What was it like to play in the chapel?
Ewelina: Having been born in Poland and raised strictly Catholic, being invited to experience and interact with these incredible spaces in a different context is enormously exciting. It allows me to truly connect and enjoy the space in a way I wasn’t able to do growing up. The Corpus Christi Chapel is particularly wonderful to play since it’s linked with the university, and both times we’ve played we’ve had a fantastic crowd made up mainly of students. This makes the energy of the show particularly enthralling.
Dan: It’s amazing to play sacral spaces, but also a challenge. They are set up acoustically to be ideal for performing music… but not electronic music. It can be tough to deal with the natural reverb! But playing a semi-acoustic version in that space was ideal.