Accordion Music

If you can have dance music, or work out music, can you have lying-awake-at-night music? I'll have to contact the relevant authorities…


Madagascar

Well, assuming that you can, I’ve found the perfect soundtrack, gotta be. Just bought this album from Emusic by American band, Madagascar, full of slow waltzes and polkas, and played on accordions, glockenspiels, various percussions instruments and (rather wonderfully) the occasional musical saw. Vocals are pretty limited, used more like other backing instruments.

Madagascar are made up principally of the Lambright Brothers, Anthony and Michael from Baltimore and have recorded two albums. I’ve done a bit of searching and the tracks I've posted here are available from their website, (plus two others), and when you’ve been enchanted by them, you can buy the albums through Emusic.

There is also a link on their site to this Youtube video, a clip from a 1919 silent film called “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari”, which Madagascar have apparently written background music for:



At the moment, the king of the accordion is ex-Neutral Milk Hotel man, Jeremy Barnes with his whirling, demented A Hawk and a Hacksaw records. I’ve seen him play, he’s first class entertainment, but I’m not sure I’d buy the record. Madagascar are different though, playing a sort of nineteenth century ambient music (if that makes any sort of sense). The songs are long, slow and surprisingly beautiful.

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