Tendervishes
Useful Information For Navigators
Spiral of Life
Street: 10.25.12
Tendervishes = DeVotchKa instrumentals + No Smoking Orchestra
Tendervishes is the kind of band I’d imagine somebody using the word “gypsy” to describe, if that person had never actually heard gypsy music. Perhaps this is something any band making moody use of violins and non-4/4 timings has to deal with, though. Still, when the words “Gypsy rain” are used in “Zapateado,” I have no idea what the hell that means. Romani precipitation? I would have preferred that Useful Information For Navigators be entirely instrumental, as the musicians are more than proficient—a highlight being Tendervishes’ violinist, Mira Zatar. “Foreshadow” is the third piece of music on Useful Information For Navigators, and it’s one of my favorites on the album—a mid-tempo composition with a fantastic melodic line and interplay between all instruments involved. Once again, I could do without the use of voice, whether sung or in speech samples that appear in some pieces, and I’d rather enjoy the impressive musicianship instead.