Joachim Cooder – Dreamer’s Motel
Joachim Cooder has a new album of 7 songs, Dreamer’s Motel, which was produced by Joachim and Martin Pradler; engineered and mixed by Martin Pradler; and mastered by Richard Dodd. Ry plays guitar on a number of the songs, which bring together unique instrumental couplings, like banjo with mbira, or viola with pedal steel.
Joachim’s style is a mix of compassionate meditative psychedelic sounds without the heaviness or driving repetition that typically accompanies music in the contemporary psychedelic genre. He plays an Array Mbira, which is an instrument played sort of like a piano, but plucked with the fingers directly – a heavy and dense wood block with bowed metal strips as keys – that gives off ringing or earthy sounds reminiscent of wooden chimes against the rich wooden backdrop.
The title track is gently playful as it gathers focus, then the coextensive vocals follow one another in winding harmonies. The soundscape is always gentle breezy sounds – nothing heavy – that follow one another in turns and swirls.
“Sight and the Sound” features soft woodsy popping sounds of the Mbira and continued dreamlike vocals, ending in “love don’t die.” “Godspeed Little Children of Fort Smith, Arkansas” pulls in hushed banjo and a wish for little children who will still be growing up “he couldn’t tear his eyes from the tv screen, Daddy’s lost his job, I’m gonna take everyone to the Texas Roadhouse.” You can watch Joachim’s playing technique in this video and see the unique sound the Mbira produces:
“Cool Little Lion” has a loping pace, the ambient richness and earthy tones, and the lion “found its way home “mama o mama there’s a house full of song, a place for you, a place for everyone.” “Sea Level Man” has an island rhythm and somehow a hint of reggae in the mix. It exudes the relaxation of a day next to the beach.
Joachim has a truly unique style that is wondrous, soothing, disarming, and phantasmagoric. It’s a gentle swirl of rhythms and world styles tapping into your illusory imagination. It must be listened to, to grasp. Words only force into categories that which cannot fit. Find more details here on his website: https://www.joachimcooder.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: Joachim Cooder Plays Uncanny Set at Birchmere, and our interview with Joachim here: Interview: Joachim Cooder ‘Dreamer’s Motel’ Has a Story In Every Room
Musicians on the album are Joachim Cooder on vocals, array mbira, and drums; Martin Pradler on bass, acoustic guitar, piano, and keyboards; Ry Cooder on guitars, banjo, mandolin and electric banjo; The Darwin Community Brass Ensemble on horns; Juliette Commagere on vocals; Rayna Gellert on viola; Glenn Patscha on pump organ; Juliette Commagere on vocals; Kieran Kane on banjo; and Ben Peeler on pedal steel.