artist: ARZA ANAIAK
title: Txalaparta '75 Iraila
label: Strange Days / Cramps
country: Japan
format: CD
title: Txalaparta '75 Iraila
label: Strange Days / Cramps
country: Japan
format: CD
Finally, and/OAR has been able to get some of the Strange Days re-issues of Cramps titles
in the Diffusion shop. These CDs are often hard to find outside of Japan and are usually
very expensive. What makes Strange Days CD re-issues special is the extra care that goes
into replicating the original LP jackets and artwork - and I mean right down to the inner
dust jacket. They also use soft rice paper style plastic sleeves for extra protection of the
CDs, which indicates that Strange Days are a re-issue label of the highest order, and one
that many other labels would do well to learn from because they do it right. Because
Cramps was an Italian label, the liner notes are mostly in Italian, with an extra insert written
in Japanese.
Arza Anaiak was a project of brothers Anton and Jose Arze that involved improvising on a
wooden percussion instrument known as txalaparta. The txalaparta is a Basque music
device similar to the Romanian toacă. In Basque, "zalaparta" means "racket", while in the
nearby areas of Navarre, "txalaparta" has been known to refer to the trot of a horse. Perhaps
rather than an Avant-Garde document (which is what the Cramps label was known for), this
release feels more anthropological. When listening to the sample, keep in mind that there
are two people playing the instrument in sync without a written score. This requires a lot
more concentration and intuition than one might realize.
*Featured on the and/OAR top 300 list at Discogs.
in the Diffusion shop. These CDs are often hard to find outside of Japan and are usually
very expensive. What makes Strange Days CD re-issues special is the extra care that goes
into replicating the original LP jackets and artwork - and I mean right down to the inner
dust jacket. They also use soft rice paper style plastic sleeves for extra protection of the
CDs, which indicates that Strange Days are a re-issue label of the highest order, and one
that many other labels would do well to learn from because they do it right. Because
Cramps was an Italian label, the liner notes are mostly in Italian, with an extra insert written
in Japanese.
Arza Anaiak was a project of brothers Anton and Jose Arze that involved improvising on a
wooden percussion instrument known as txalaparta. The txalaparta is a Basque music
device similar to the Romanian toacă. In Basque, "zalaparta" means "racket", while in the
nearby areas of Navarre, "txalaparta" has been known to refer to the trot of a horse. Perhaps
rather than an Avant-Garde document (which is what the Cramps label was known for), this
release feels more anthropological. When listening to the sample, keep in mind that there
are two people playing the instrument in sync without a written score. This requires a lot
more concentration and intuition than one might realize.
*Featured on the and/OAR top 300 list at Discogs.