Naturton - an overlooked phenomena







The cultural breakthrough of the 1960's brought certain qualities to light which seemed not to find any place in the mainstream culture obsessed with material prosperity and steady gender roles and straightforward ethos of consumerism. Within the slowly enhancing itself movement of music, theatre, visual arts who had on one hand a potential to carry some sociological or spiritual message and on the other hand had plenty of trance-related, entertaining potential came out with people who had something more to say than just platitudes of subcultural contents. Young people started to travel which until then was more of a tourism industry derivative. Travel as a spiritual journey, quite often had a substance of anthropological nature getting through to cultures which were quite obviously connected with long religious and spiritual traditions like India, Japan, Nepal, China, Afghanistan etc. But on the margins of that there were people trying to understand and after much elaborate research re-invent the ideas they have learnt and very often experienced - relate to the ethnic traditions they have been brought in or explored on their own.
Willi Grimm and Gerard Widmer and their project Naturton stems from this cultural breakthrough in a way that can make you feel astonished by the fragrance never known before but yet seemingly familiar. A duo of native australian didgeridoo and slovakian fujara is nothing like you know before - still after over 20 years of activity -sounding fresh as ever - straying away from the clichees of world music and the file of "relaxation music" drenching the very core of things - meeting of instruments from obviously two different continents but yet finding the mutual outlet and building the musical language on their own terms - and deepening it by field studies - 3 years that Willi spent in Australia - made it extraordinary journey into the sound devoid of new-agean ornaments - full throttle of the tone and foremostly something that is in a way so pure and innocent that can be related to any experience possible as long as it is something having something related to working with listener's awareness, touching your own senses.   It can act as a form of therapy or just pure raw form that unfolds itself as something that can ease off the typical stereotypes connected with musical experience so much overindulged with modern way of processing it, compressing it, editing and eventually modify it to the point of using it as a musical wallpaper where the awareness of sound simply doesn't exist being replaced by absorbing it passively. Naturton sound encourages to surpass this borderline and positively tune it to harmony.
Impressive list of concerts and workshops done over the years along with publishing a few sound materials on cds might make you think that both gentlemen are doing their job effortlessly and without a stress of proving their musical background or identity which is something that is also another thing that can be found as a counterstrike to the musical careers of artists being overproductive and trying to keep afloat with their releases and everyhing that comes along as a model of career. Such approach takes a very positive and constructive toll - a way of gaining experience as a process that might take years but eventually it is a proof just for yourself.
Naturton is not only self-referential phenomena - as a pure form - it is evolving - Gerard and Willi collaborate with other musicians and being active in terms of live-acts gives them plenty of opportunity to find common ground and contextual knowledge and self-awareness that will definitely make them even more vivid gem as they are now.

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