Bloodwood: the art of the didjeridu
Alan Dargin with Michael Atherton
Natural Symphonies
Reviewed by Jill Hickson

This is a collection of 10 of the most unusual musical pieces I have ever heard featuring the didjeridu. The title Bloodwood comes from the type of tree used to make the traditional didjeridu; it is found in Alan's home in Arnhem Land. The didjeridu used in the recording is over 100 years old and was given to Alan when he was five years old.

Alan Dargin is thought by many to be Australia's finest exponent of the instrument. This is his first album. Alan's aim is to gain a greater recognition and acceptance of the didjeridu as a musical instrument. He has toured Europe a number of times since his first international public performance in Paris when he was seven years old. Later this year, he is touring the United States and in May is working on tour with Jimmy Barnes in Australia.

A number of the pieces on the CD incorporate traditional music which was used for thousands of years in Aboriginal ceremonies and dances depicted the Dreamtime, the Aboriginal equivalent of Genesis.

Alan also uses modern styles and ventures boldly into the realm of experimental music. For example, “Trinity” features whale sounds, a double bass and the didjeridu. There is a piece called “Hitchhiker's Nightmare”, recorded live, of Alan busking on the streets of Sydney. “Fantastic plastic”, recorded in the perfect sound environment of the National Acoustics Laboratory in Sydney with a two-metre piece of plastic electrical piping, produces the lowest drone notes ever recorded from a wind instrument. In “Gaia”, nature sounds are used in perfect harmony with the didjeridu to describe a day in the life of the planet.

In producing this wonderful collection of sounds, Alan teams up with Michael Atherton, a producer, composer and musician who specialises in medieval, folk, cross-cultural explorations and experimental music. He plays a myriad of ancient and modern instruments including the didjeridu, guitar, Pan flute and percussion instruments.

The last track on the album features both Alan and Michael playing didjeridu together with a synthesiser and tubular bells. This is a collection album for music lovers of the unusual.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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