Ekova
Heaven’s Dust
Six Degrees
Ekova is a crossbreed, like everything on Six Degrees Records. When I found the release, the outside jacket read “combines oud and electronic and acoustic percussion with the transcendent singing of Dierdre Dubois.” It’s a puzzle to solve, at least for me, as I’d rather search the isles of record stores than search CDNow. I figured I could chance it. At the time, the only other release I owned from Six Degrees was The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia. I fell in love with that release, so Ekova seemed a chance to take.
Heaven’s Dust is aptly named. From the moment I pressed play, I was in shock that such music wasn’t used on the soundtrack to Braveheart. Ekova provides beauty with an iron punch to the cerebral cortex. The complexity is astonishing, and can only be discovered at high volumes under headphones. My only regret is that I can only understand English. Other languages only speak to me via the emotion behind it. Dierdre Dubois voice is nothing short of angelic. This is, of course, provided that angels are allowed to carry an ax behind their backs. I’m hoping they start appearing on movie soundtracks. One word of advice: just because the music stops doesn’t mean it’s over.
Six Degrees Records, 602 20th St., San Francisco, CA 94107; http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com
