BSPH: Vangelis - The Dragon

Everybody knows Vangelis. The guy who coined a melody for Ween's "Japanese Cowboy", of course! And "Blade Runner" - dada-dada dada-dada dada-dada dum-dum dum dum dum... But how about taking a look at the composition from the past so deep it's cold outside? Right on!



"The Dragon" is a composition by Vangelis recorded in 1971 and released in 1978 on an album of the same name. It is an odd piece in Vangelis catalogue. In fact - it is not even officially released - the 1978 album was a cash-in bootleg. Vangelis himself disowned it and characterized as "bad" because it was never really finished. What you can hear is a sketch. A starting point, something meant to be developed but ultimately left undone.

But that doesn't mean we have to dismiss this composition. It is what it is but it exists and deserves a listen. It is one of the most unusual and downright strange things Vangelis had ever composed.

"The Dragon" is long and brooding stomp with some eastern stylings. It is composed in epic fantasy medieval style. It is very much like very-very drawned-out composition of Vangelis former Aphrodite's Child - just bigger, longer and more about the journey than a destination. The length of "The Dragon" is its defining feature. It goes and goes and goes. It moves forward relentlessly. This makes a lot of space for musicians to play off each other occassionally returning to a central theme before bouncong back to another soloing bout.

It is a broad strokes composition written from a bird's eye point of view. It is something like a conqueror's rampaging march retold in one digestive bit. Menacing and swaying. This makes the arrangement overcroaded - instruments literally fight for the spotlight. Everything is big and pushed to the forth and there is rather distinct void in the background. This evokes unease.

Even though it is a jam-session - it is neatly structured. Bleating fuzzy bass keeps the things close to the ground (and instantly reminds you of Frank the Goat) and tight while combined efforts of  drums and acoustic guitar make a steady propulsive groove.

On top of it - the strings are dancing like the flags of the marching army (with slight unmistakable Bolero flavour). They are lashing and slashing with that particular swish through the air. Then comes a battle sequence of sorts in a form of back and forth solo of heavy wah-wah'ed guitar and violin. They clash before guitar takes over for a while and then violin comes back whirling around guitar and tossing it off its feet - making it run away delirious and scheming a vicious comeback. Each bout is more intense. You get the notion that violin is trying to reason demented guitar. This bout runs through the whole composition. It transforms the beat: makes it thicker and more thunderous but also disorienting. Sometimes it moves along steadily and then it suddenly starts to overrun the rest as if trying to escape from this rattle and hum. Or it is trying to scare away hungry mosquitos who buzz around the would-be victim in the night. If that's the case - then it is severely glorified.

Rhythmic patterns of "The Dragon" are drawing a tapestry of endless lacing of the everlasting shoe with a sentient whip in futile but annoying attempts to slip away. It is repetitive in a mesmerizing way. According to Giorgio Gomelsky, who produced the sessions, the idea was to find certain kind of grooves via extensive jamming - grooves that can performed with minimal dynamic variations that will make a trance-like beat colored by tactical use of improvisation on top of it. The result will be like a boiling water - the proceedings stay more or less the same but nevertheless it is everchanging. And the whole thing evaporates in your head where it can fully blossom.