Howling Dogs & Lost Souls
After more than 30 years of musical projects like scoring films for a.o. Henning Mankell as well as providing riddims for Lee ‚Scratch’ Perry and of travelling the globe in search of the silence between the musical notes, Zilverzurf has finally arrived at home. And is now inviting you in to share his lovely conclusions crowned by the ultra sensual voice of Zilverzurf’s charismatic daughter Lykke Li… so move closer to the fireplace and open your ears and heart, because you are in for a real treat!
With this, his latest album offering, Johan Zachrisson aka Joao Sueco aka Zilverzurf adds yet another uniquely beautiful collection of truly outstanding music to his long and pretty amazing discography. The wise producer, guitarist, fieldrecording fanatic and globetrotter from Stockholm, Sweden works some serious magic on the international music scene for more than three decades now and perfectly embodies what those „in-the-know“ would describe as „an outernational genius“ of a very special kind, blessed with the status of a musical legend (not only in his country of origin)… as well as the best of connections to folks in high places around the globe, of course.
Member of (and driving force behind) Sweden’s reggae superheroes Dag Vag in the 1970s, scoring films for a.o. Henning Mankell, providing riddims for Lee ‚Scratch’ Perry & Adrian Sherwood, recording sessions & productions in places like Jamaica, India, France, England and North Africa (just to name a few…) – Johan Zachrisson has been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. And he has just recently bought a no-return ticket to the small south Portugese village of Estorninhos: the place where „Howling Dogs & Lost Souls“ mainly came about. And so, in more than one way, this album is the soundtrack to a homecoming… escaping to here from the hectic life in Stockholm since the late 1980s on a regular basis, Mr. Zilverzurf and his wife decided to finally move to the place that had been their secret retreat for such a long time. „Our children had more or less grown up, and we were longing for the silence and stillness in Estorninhos”, the man admits. “As always I had to bring my little studio, because if I can not record music, I don´t know what to do…“.
Heavily inspired by the rich sounding athmosphere around his new, yet so familiar mountaintop home located somewhere deep in the hills of Portugal as well as by the many people from different countries who stranded in that same place (likewise trying to find inner peace and sanity far away from the everyday pressure of the modern western urban society), Zachrisson gathered musical friends from along the way as well as assorted local musicians to make this album happen. Spiced up by field recordings, moods and influences from his many travels, „Howling Dogs & Lost Souls“ is somewhat like the organic essence of „world music from another world“ – or, as he himself likes to describe it: „My initial idea was simply to make chill out music for grown ups“.
Easier said than done, for real. Eleven timeless instrumentals, crowned by the ultra sensual vocal tune „Céu Sem Fim“ featuring Zilverzurf’s charismatic daughter, the untouchable darling of cool, Miss Lykke Li…
… all made of sweet melancholy, sheer beauty, impeccable songwriting skills and masterful musicianship fusing into a genre bending, effortless and deep masterpiece of pure quality. After more than 30 years of travelling the globe in search of the silence between the musical notes, Zilverzurf has finally arrived at home. And is now inviting you in to share his lovely conclusions… so move closer to the fireplace and open your ears and heart, because you are in for a real treat!
“In music, to me, silence is as important as non-silence. The Music is everywhere… in the silence, in the barking of the dogs and in the song of the crickets, the frogs calling for rain. In the guitars, in the saxophone and in the rhythm that moves us forward.”
1. The Painful Accordion
2. In Search Of A Purpose
3. Tagege
4. Saved Pressure
5. Living My Life
6. Mohabad (Version)
7. The Kalimba Dance
8. The Moment Is Gone (Saxophone Rmx)
9. Travelling Slowly
10. Somewhere Out There
11. Céu Sem Fim
12. Céu Sem Fim feat. Lykke Li
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Zilverzurf – “Howling Dogs & Lost Souls” – epk from Poets Club Rec. on Vimeo.