DJIVAN GASPARYAN: I WILL NOT BE SAD IN THIS WORLD/MOON SHINES AT NIGHT REVIEW – HAUNTING INSTRUMENTALS
Robin Denselow
theguardian.com, Thursday 17 July 2014 22.00 BST
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Djivan Gasparyan
I Will Not Be Sad In This World + Moon Shines At Night
All Saints Records
2014
Djivan Gasparyan is one of the world’s most distinctive, haunting
instrumentalists. He’s a master of the oboe-like duduk, made of apricot
wood and traditionally played by shepherds in his native Armenia, with
which he creates surely the most plaintive and atmospheric noises on
the planet, as heard on Ridley Scott’s Gladiatorand Peter Gabriel’s
soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Now
comes the re-release of two of his classic recordings. On I Will
Not Be Sad in This World, an instrumental set released in Russia in
1983, his pained, expressive playing is matched only against gentle
drone effects. Brian Eno said it was “one of the most beautiful and
soulful recordings I have ever heard”, and brought him to London to
work with producer Michael Brook. The resulting Moon Shines At Night,
released in 1993, is even more intense, with Gasparyan singing on
two tracks. Exquisite.