Bleep

The late Armenian folk musician Djivan Gasparyan was given the moniker “Master of the duduk” for good reason. A woodwind instrument closest to the oboe, but with a uniquely sighing quality that nearly approximates the human voice, Gasparyan became a student of its beguiling tones at young age, joining Armenian orchestras and teaching at a conservatory in his native Yerevan, Armenia. The mournful, but virtuosic music he composed and performed himself largely went unnoticed in the Western world until Brian Eno reissued his debut LP I Will Not Be Sad In This World on his own Opal imprint long after its initial 1983 release in the Soviet Union.

His 1993 followup Moon Shines At Night continued Gasparyan’s remarkable story, this time with the help of UK experimental label All Saints Records. With help from producer Michael Brook, Moon Shines At Night definitely shades closer to contemporary ambient music of the time, but still retains the ineffable quality at the heart of Gasparyan’s prior work. These dual recordings have maintained a steady crop of admirers over the years, and now All Saints is issuing Moon Shines At Night on vinyl for the very first time.

Moon Shines At Night opens with the droning ‘Lovely Spring’, a threadbare-yet-devastating track composed of little more than a low held synth note and Gasparyan’s bellowing duduk runs. Much of the record plays out in similar fashion, and all of it is equally moving. The few detours, like the sighing, uncredited vocals on ‘7th December 1988’ simply add more mystery to the proceedings. What’s most remarkable about the record is its intimacy, every note from Gasparyan’s duduk is felt, and each deep breath before it is captured in crystal clear quality. A mix of both the amateur and the professional in the recording and playing that lends a special quality to this deeply unique music.