Jonathan Richman :: “Ishkode! Ishkode!” - Blue Arrow Records

A spiritual awakening that begins in the dancing feet of ritual and exits through the chest in some sort of holistic blast that can be seen from many miles away. Where the natural elements of the world meet the zodiacs of space and time, effortlessly lurks this poetic presence of perhaps one of the most eagerly expressive figures in music in the last 20th century, Jonathan Richman. Born into a Jewish family, Richman grew up in Massachusetts before relocating to the Big Apple to pursue his cosmic connection with the Velvet Underground in 1969. While there, Richman took artistic refuge on the couch of the band’s late manager, Steve Sesnick, before realizing that his dream of sonic seduction within the band would not manifest as he had hoped, so he returned to Boston to put together his very own outfit just a year later, The Modern Lovers. There’s no intellectual irony, or cosmic coincidence in that Richman would go on to establish such a monumental parallelism in music from the bones of the VU. It was simply in the stars, or cards as they say, but what does that mean when referencing the historical motivation and idyllic inspiration that Richman specifically wielded so romantically during this time in his early career? How did he pursue the VU, only to then form his own band that would in return impact society and culture in such a similar, yet viscerally fantastic way? Ladies and gentlemen, that’s just good shit.

As the stars would eventually align once again, John Cale of the VU would go on to produce the band’s definitive, self-titled classic, while simultaneously sending notable members Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) and David Robinson (The Cars) into galactic stardom after the band dissolved soon after in 1976. Carrying the torch of The Modern Lovers throughout the remainder of the decade and well into the 1980s, Richman would go on to release some of the most romantic, personal and flat out comedic works of his career with titles such as “I, Jonathan”, “¡Jonathan, Te Vas A Emocionar!”, “I’m So Confused”, “Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love” and 2016’s “Ishkode! Ishkode!”, which brings us more up to speed. His debut on the Cleveland, OH based record shop/label, Blue Arrow Records, Richman was the first artist to sign with the young label at the time and has since, exclusively, released various other works with them. 

In the Native American Ojibwe language, the word for fire is ishkode (pronounced ish-ko-de), which also translates to 'first spark in your heart’. With that spark being music, Richman inhales a gorgeous breath of osculating oxygen as he effortlessly exhales into the feverish fire of fantastical faith, isolation, romantic rarity and worldly wisdom with “Ishkode! Ishkode!”. Its homeopathic remedy for the soul is both automatically organic and ultimately polished by this strong and sudden narrative of life, death, love and the perpetuating thought of purpose. Across the album’s 11 tracks, Richman expresses his familiar youthfulness, but the echoing elements of Middle Eastern and South Asian vibrations bring such songs as “Mother I Give You My Soul Call” and “But Then Ego Went Away” into a whole new realm of musical meditation for Richman as something out of a holy holographic portal into the old world. While simultaneously critiquing the poetic language of man, Richman dances around the radical ritual of the open flame in his typical, esoteric performance to the humming rhythm of longtime collaborator and bandmate, Tommy Larkins, and together, the duo, summon and provoke the spirit of the artist in a 15th century fashion that truly teleports listeners to a different time and place in human history.

https://www.bluearrowrecords.com/record-label/jonathan-richman/