Sing, For Song Drives Away The Wolves

Issued in 1993, Sing, for Song Drives Away the Wolves is Florian Fricke's remixed and updated version of Popol Vuh's soundtrack album for Werner Herzog's Coeur de Verre (Heart From Glass), 1976. The original material is saturated in the heritage of East Indian classical music as it met the droning evolution of Krautrock. On Sing, the original seven tracks are present with beefed-up basslines, layered keyboards and guitars, and more punched-up kit drums. Unlike most update projects, this one works because of the obvious reverence Florian Fricke has for the material. It may be rocked up, but it still sounds like nothing else out there. This is music of bliss and mysticism, it resonates with its gradually unfolding themes and variations, and presents the listener a veritable world of sonic warmth to enter into and remain for as long as one wishes. The effect of these modern tracks is riveting; their punch is undeniable, but so is their subtlety. This new version of the album also contains the title track from Einsjäger and Siebenjager "You Shouldn't Awake Your Beloved Before It Pleases Her" from 1974. Almost 19-and-a-half minutes in length, it complements this sound beautifully in that it unfolds acoustically from Fricke's piano, a soprano saxophone, and drums. The same feeling of ecstasy eventually draws itself out of the music as an electric guitar enters the fray and transforms it into a driving, droney dirge. While Coeur de Verre is more desirable for those who like originals, Sing should not be discounted. Fricke was one of the few musicians who understood how to remix his own music.