Artist: Flying Down Thunder and Rise Ashen
Catalog No: BAL-35
Format: CD, Digital
Release Date: November 9, 2012
File Under: Aboriginal, electronic, house, hip hop
On their second full length release on Balanced Records, Flying Down Thunder and Rise Ashen delve deeper into their musical collaboration, bringing together traditional Algonquin chanting and futuristic dancefloor beats.
Spanning deep house, neo-disco to hip hop, breakbeat and beyond, the sonic architecture of North Wind is like nothing you have heard. The Ottawa duet were nominated for a JUNO Award in 2012 for Aboriginal Album of the Year and after a summer of touring they set to work composing their next opus.
Flying Down Thunder’s mesmerizing hypnotic chants come alive within the framework of the bold rhythms and melodies Rise Ashen articulates and the whole is as fresh as the cool Canadian wind that carries it. This is the future sound of Canada, where music honoring Aboriginal language and culture meets the innovative free spirit of dancefloor mixology.
Northwind showcases the NWT’s MC Godson, whom the pair met while performing in Iqaluit, Nunavut’s youth prodigy, multi-instrumentalist – beatboxer Nelson Tagoona, Ottawa Ojibway singer Dawn Maria, Guatemalan Tito Medina who brings a touch of the very rare Mayan language to the album, Marie Vivie Belleau and Kathleen Merritt who showcase their throat singing, Potawatami/Cree youth Lil Theland singing a song penned by JohnBoy Moosomin, Algonquin youth Wabanokwey and Nano with backup vocals. North Wind is a profound and intricate journey into the frontier between tradition and sonic innovation. It’s like nothing else you have heard.
