Mondo Head

Kodo

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Red Int / Red Ink
• ASIN: B0000641BD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #196,898 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > World Music > Far East & Asia

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Mondo Head is the kind of percussion panorama that Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart has been orchestrating since he formed the Diga Rhythm Band a quarter-century ago. This time, he works with another group that shares his dream of a 21st century percussion orchestra. Kodo is a Japanese Taiko drum troupe who take the ceremonial drums of Japan and turn them into a performance vehicle with bells, cymbals, flutes, voices, and dance. Hart teams them up with his Planet Drum cohorts, including Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, Latin percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, and Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. Then he brings in ecstatic singers including Azam Ali of Vas and Turkish-Armenian Arto Tuncboyaciyan to wail and waft across percussion landscapes ethereal and demonic. Indeed, an earlier version of Kodo were called "the demon drummers." More global soundscape than rhythm dervish, Mondo Head is by turns exuberant and serene, profound and playful. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unless you're a big Mickey Hart and/or Kodo fan..., December 19, 2002

By	Adam Weiner "rhythmyk" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...then you might not like this.

This CD really gives one the feel that Kodo recorded these tracks and let Mickey Hart do as he wished. What's more, that's exactly what happened! Unfortunately, almost ALL the taiko on this CD sounds like either an afterthought or is buried under the "busy-ness" of it all.
Tracks 1 and 5 are a blend of 5-7 different artists, and unfortunately, the taiko part sounds "cut and pasted" into the tracks. There doesn't seem to be any reason to have taiko in the middle other than to have a different sound. Sometimes the taiko is providing a base beat or cyclical rhythm, but these chunks in the middle seem disconnected and isolated.

As for the good stuff - Track 10, Kashira, is a taiko-heavy piece that Kodo actually plays in concert. It's quite good, and although there are added instruments to it, the taiko is the focus.
Track 2 is a real treat - singer Yoko Fujimoto wails reminiscent of American Indian chanting. It sounds a bit new-agey, but it really doesn't get into that feel.

There are things to like about this album, but if you're looking for Kodo, buy another CD. I suggest Tataku, Tsutsumi, and Warabe. If you're looking for a Mickey Hart CD, it's pretty good except for the taiko issues I mentioned above.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars more Mickey Hart than Kodo, but it rocks, July 12, 2002

By	Rodney Van Meter III (Half Moon Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews

There are no "pan pipes" here. This is glorious, inventive, adventurous stuff from some of the planet's premiere percussionists.

The structure and tunes seem to be much more heavily influenced by Mickey Hart than by Kodo's traditional approach. Nevertheless, this is new for Kodo, but not a total break.

Anybody who thinks that Kodo should stick to its "time honored traditions" doesn't really know Kodo very well. An important part of their raison d'etre is to bring the world closer together through percussion, which they have done through both concerts and recordings. In Japan, they often play with avant garde jazz musicians (Yamashita, Hino, Umezu) as well as percussionists from Hawaii, Senegal, Brazil, and more -- and even the occasional American gospel singer (Lacey Wright). This year's "Earth Celebration" guests were Airto Moreira and friends, who appear on "Mondo Head". If you want a taste of the international fusion, the absolutely over-the-top must-have CD is "Gathering" -- raw, exciting, exhausting, occasionally imperfect, and unlike anything you've ever heard before. It's too bad they don't bring this sound to the U.S. more often.

Mickey Hart's "newage" (rhymes with "sewage") liner notes aside, the best of this album is absolutely electric. If you had asked me if taiko and tablas could be combined in this way, I'd have told you no, but they pull it off with incredible finesse.

If you can have only one Kodo CD, get "Gathering". If you can have two, add one stocked with straight-up taiko (maybe "Ubu-Suna"; "Live at the Acropolis" leaves me a little cold for some reason). If you can have three, buy this album, and listen to it again and again -- there's always a deeper layer. Listen in the car, listen on your home stereo, listen with the bass turned up -- it sounds different and fresh every time.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you're into panpipes, June 19, 2002

By	Daren S. Williams "all_musics" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're into panpipes buy this. I'm not and I find this to be a real waste of the Kodo drummer's talents. Many groups could have drummed on this disc, for the talent required of this music it really doesn't take Kodo drummers. What's more upseting is that they're responsible for writing all the music. It's just pop, and if you like pop then you can do worse, but if you're into world music, please try anything else in the Kodo repertoire.