Tako Toki are like desert island musicians who, castaway without their instruments, were forced to construct their own. Lucky for us, they are as skilled in making instruments as they are in creating original songs with which to show off their handicrafts. Un Dimanche á Monaco is the band’s follow-up to their well-received debut, Hirsute Farfelus, with a similar mash of musical styles.

Before discussing the music, we need to talk about their instrument closet. They really have built everything they play out of bric-a-brac, odds and ends, and rubbish. I’m not sure from listening which is which, but they call their instruments, in an incomplete list, tassofons, tilofons, and tubofones, clarinuts, didjerimou, and klarbass, and my favorite, kitchenofon. (I will refer to what I hear by the names of store-bought instruments that they sound like.) The most surprising thing for me was how accurate the instruments were to pitch and how good they sounded under the harsh scrutiny of modern recording microphones that have documented a rich, high-quality sound.

They have also very effectively matched their choice of instruments with the style of music that inspires their compositions. Right off the top, “Yinitza” features a laughing clarinet singing a klezmer tune accompanied by bassoon for the bass, frantic two-time percussion, and the exuberant human yelps found on many klezmer recordings. As on this track, many tunes feature improvisations that show an impressive degree of musicianship.

On the cumbia-inspired “Le Cuenta,” the characteristic flute carries the tune, augmented by a Spanish singing chorus, and remarkably rich-sounding Latin percussion. The title track surrounds us with afrobeat woodblocks, shakers, and rattles scattered around the mix. The melody is played on a marimba ornamented with bells and cymbals. Again, the lead player improvises over the tune and often against the beat with jazzy chops. The flute returns on the samba-inspired “Ambiguidade,” and on “Aksum” it traces a trance-like Middle Eastern tune reminiscent of a 60s TV spy-show theme.

Full of fun and one of a kind, Un Dimanche á Monaco celebrates our universal love of rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic sounds and the varied, wonderful ways cultures have organized that love in what we call music. At the same time, playing on literal pieces of junk, Tako Tiko reminds us, as we contemplate many mall music shops filled with gleaming wood and brass instruments and countless unused guitars lying in closets, that musicians will always find a way to make music.

Find the artist online.

Further reading:
Tako Toki - Hirsute Farfelus (Review)
Terje Isungset - Glacial Poetry (Review)

Subscribe and Support RootsWorld