Harmonium Music Suggestions
July 18, 2012 1:10 PM Subscribe
Harmonium music?
A good friend has recently become obsessed with the harmonium, and is looking for some good music.
All suggestions welcome, as I can't really find anything even close!
A good friend has recently become obsessed with the harmonium, and is looking for some good music.
All suggestions welcome, as I can't really find anything even close!
Harmonium features prominently in Qawwali music, of which Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his ensemble were especially talented performers.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:20 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:20 PM on July 18, 2012
Many Sikh devotional songs also rely heavily on harmonium.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:39 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:39 PM on July 18, 2012
There's a lot of Harmonium on Anna Calvi's very excellent stuff
posted by merocet at 1:47 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by merocet at 1:47 PM on July 18, 2012
The Beatles — "We Can Work it Out"
posted by John Cohen at 2:05 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by John Cohen at 2:05 PM on July 18, 2012
David Eugene Edwards has been known to use harmonium in Sixteen Horsepower and Wovenhand songs. I am having a hard time determining which songs he plays it on or else I would post some links.
posted by Seamus at 2:20 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by Seamus at 2:20 PM on July 18, 2012
Anything from old time American pump organ music will work... as well as gospel. Nathan Hollander was a ne'er-do-well in the Jewish music scene of New York in the 1920s who recorded Klezmer on Harmonium. A few Recordings are on Youtube. He is a forgotten footnote in the history of Klezmer, for possibly good reasons.
posted by zaelic at 2:30 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by zaelic at 2:30 PM on July 18, 2012
I was totally going to suggest the Gurdjieff box set.
Borrowing from another thread, let's not forget dear old Nico. [2]
posted by mykescipark at 2:41 PM on July 18, 2012
Borrowing from another thread, let's not forget dear old Nico. [2]
posted by mykescipark at 2:41 PM on July 18, 2012
Oops, I forgot the links to Nathan Hollander. Bessarabian Doina. And also Rumunski Bulgarish. Also, the Finns and other Scandinavians use the harmonium in folk music,but it looks like the term refers to the pump organ. As is the case in Music for a Found Harmonium.
posted by zaelic at 2:41 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by zaelic at 2:41 PM on July 18, 2012
Lisa Hannigan uses her harmonium a lot. Folksy pop with a great voice.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 2:44 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by swordfishtrombones at 2:44 PM on July 18, 2012
Nico's The End album is one of the most haunting things ever recorded with a harmonium or any instrument.
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 2:45 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 2:45 PM on July 18, 2012
Tom Waits - Just Another Sucker on the Vine and a couple of others on Swordfishtrombones.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:53 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:53 PM on July 18, 2012
Ivor Cutler used it as his sole backing instrument through his long and strange career.
posted by scruss at 3:18 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by scruss at 3:18 PM on July 18, 2012
I've said it before, and I'll say it again ...
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 4:58 PM on July 18, 2012
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 4:58 PM on July 18, 2012
Allen Ginsberg wrote and performed a bunch of sometimes wacky songs for the harmonium.
posted by yz at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by yz at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2012
I don't know that your friend will enjoy their style, but Town and Country use harmonium quite a bit.
As one might expect, it's at least a mildly popular instrument in acoustic drone music in general.
posted by box at 6:14 PM on July 18, 2012
As one might expect, it's at least a mildly popular instrument in acoustic drone music in general.
posted by box at 6:14 PM on July 18, 2012
How about Music for a Found Harmonium by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra?
posted by metaphorical at 6:22 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by metaphorical at 6:22 PM on July 18, 2012
There's a harmonium in the stage version of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and the Beadle sings a song on it: "The Tower of Bray".
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:27 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:27 PM on July 18, 2012
From what I recall of Jon Brion's Punch Drunk Love soundtrack, it's pretty harmonium-heavy. (Probably because a harmonium actually appears in the film as a minor plot point.)
posted by sleeping bear at 11:40 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by sleeping bear at 11:40 PM on July 18, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Specklet at 1:12 PM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]